BRUBBLE

Europe has invented a lot of stuff - from kindergarten to the seatbelt to chicken mcnuggets. So to unpack all of this, Dan and Simon take a completely uneducated stab at ranking each* European country by their inventions.

From the Isle of Man to Svalbard, from New Caledonia to Sint Maarten, there are a lot of European "Dependant Territories". So, in Dan and Simon take a look at all of them and examine who they are, what they do, and what makes them special. Check out pt 1 on YouTube, which released a few days ago: https://youtu.be/j8FVngMBkVM Check out pt 2 on YouTube, which released a few days ago: https://youtu.b...

From Greenland to the Falklands, from Gibraltar to French Polynesia, there are a lot of European "Dependant Territories". So, in Dan and Simon take a look at all of them and examine who they are, what they do, and what makes them special. Tune in in a few days for Part 2! Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/j8FVngMBkVM

A bit of a different podcast this time around: I read some books in 2024. Here, I review them with a mixture of emotions. Watch this podcast in video format on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0C0MWkKfhU&t=9s. Timestamps: 00:47 - The Mysteries (Bill Watterson & John Kascht) 07:23 - Something Wicked This Way Comes (Ray Bradbury) 10:50 - The Edible Woman (Margaret Atwood) 17:56 - Hollywood...

From Qatargate to Hungarian MEPs and from Ibiza to Croatian "secret clubs", politics is filled with scandals. But scandals often say as much about the strength of our democracies as it does about the idiocrasy of those who get involved with them. In this (very long) episode of the BRUBBLE podcast, join Dan and Simon as we navigate a tier list of over 35 recent European political scandals. We unpac...

Back for a summery-special, Dan and Simon take a look at 32 European tourism slogans to find out which one actually wants to make us go there. From Slovakia (Come to Slovakia Good Idea) to the UK (See Things Differently) to Latvia (Magnetic Latvia), there's a range of tourism slogans out there, from corporate blandness to creative misses. So, what makes a good slogan? Which nation really did it be...

As we head into the summer of 2024, we’re coming off the European parliamentary elections – a moment serving as the inflection point each 4 years for setting the agenda of European politics. But let’s rewind a few years to 2016, where digital emerged – and has remained – as a top priority for the EU. However, while we all agreed on the urgency, we didn’t all agree on the actions to be taken. In th...

Time is something universal that nobody escapes – not even the policy and advocacy people or our world! While we all know there are debates about issues like Daylight Savings Time and Time Zones, Time Policy is a field that can go much deeper to explore political, social, and economic inequalities. Today, spend some time with us on the BRUBBLE podcast as I talk to Ariadna, who’s a full-time advoca...

Every month or so, we sit down here at the BRUBBLE podcast to do a more fun episode looking at various parts of European culture... From Picasso to Monet, and da Vinci to Munch, European countries have produced some great artists who've made some great paintings. But... which country has the best painting? Join Simon and Dan as we spend a few hours trying to figure that out! And, go watch along on...

Financial literacy is one of the most important skills one can have. And while this skill is not exactly commonplace in Western Europe, the picture becomes even more drastic when looking at Eastern Europe – where in some countries, up to 80% of adults can be considered financially illiterate. In particular, woman can particularly be impacted by this gap. Cristina saw this gap – and started FeminEa...

We know that the Russian aggression in Ukraine poses an existential threat not only to Europe, but also European values. Thus, Europe remains committed to Ukraine’s defence – a commitment that goes beyond just rhetoric. And in doing so, we’ve seen in recent months real questions being asked about the state and strength of Europe’s defense industrial base – resulting in the EC recently publishing t...

As we all know, Europe today is in the midst of a wave of elections – including not only key domestic races, but also the European parliamentary elections. And one of the key themes that we’re seeing advocates lobby this year is that we have a real chance to make great strides on gender balance and representation, especially as currently only 41% of MEPs are women. And we also have the real possib...

Happy April Fool's! For ages, people have reported seeing animals, figures, and beasts which... really shouldn't exist. Of course, our American neighbours have a their fair share of tall tales about "cryptids". But us Europeans also partake in this! So, join Dan and Simon as we take a critical and historical look at 32 of Europe's most infamous cryptids and mythical creatures, ranging from the Loc...

I’m going to wager that when I talk to my grandchildren, the biggest thing that has changed over our lives has been technology. After all, in my lifetime, we went from fax machines and dial-up internet to smartphones and artificial intelligence. For us who are interested in this transformation, an especially important topic to follow has been how governments have been adapting to the digital trans...

As the European Elections draw closer, we’re hearing a lot about the issues that are impacting the average European. But the average European is 44 years old... So, what are the issues that matter for young Europeans? How have these issues changed in the past year, and across geographies? And most importantly, what can we, as young Europeans do, to achieve progress on these issues? Joining Simon t...

One day, I’d like to be a homeowner – but as I see housing prices, this dream seems further and further away every day. As many are noting, Europe is currently in a housing crisis, facing both issues of housing shortages and affordability. And these issues often compound to disproportionately impact the least well off in our societies. So, what really is the European housing crisis? What’s causing...

It's a new year - and a new episode of ranking random political-ish stuff on this episode of the BRUBBLE podcast! Have you ever looked at the alphabet-soup of international organizations and wondered which one of them have the best logos? While, we did - and we set out to find the answer. Today, watch us dissect 32 of the most iconic international institution logos and see who wins in a march-madn...

According to EC President von der Leyen, EU Africa relations are a key focus for our union. Thus, it was quite concerning to see, during the late summer/early autumn of 2023, a new wave of undemocratic coups sweeping across Africa, particularly targeting Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Gabon. Thus, a few months now removed from these coups, it might be an apt point to look back and reflect...

It’s been a busy year for European politics: wars have been raging, new legislation has been passing, and elections have been voted. But if we were to gather all the top stories of the past year and make a top 10, what would it look like? Well, Joao, Julien, Niko, and I decided to do just that. Join us as we go over the top stories of the year and debate our way into our collective top 10! And don...

Welcome back to another episode of the BRUBBLE podcast! We're back with our favorite, light-hearted political-ish series: RANKING, where we determine what the best really is. Simon and Dan team back up to take a big swing at finding out, once and for all, what the best European Landmark is. To do that, we've taken 32 iconic landmarks and put them in a march-madness style bracket. Listen or watch t...

For many of us here in Brussels, cycling is just a way to get to work – but to others, it’s a whole line of work! Over the past years, we’ve seen both sustainability and urban planning initiatives drive quite a few efforts to bring cycling to more people in the European Union, including last month’s European Declaration on Cycling proposal by the European Commission. This leaves us to ask: why is...

Welcome back to another episode of the BRUBBLE podcast! We're back with our favorite, light-hearted political-ish series: RANKING, where we determine what the best really is. Simon and Dan team back up to take a big swing at finding out, once and for all, what the best European animal is. To do that, we've taken 32 iconic (and some not-so-iconic) national animals and put them in a march-madness st...

Europe is seemingly in the age of crises: during the past few years, we’ve weathered COVID-19 – but we’re still dealing with the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis, the energy crisis, increasing tensions with China, inflation and housing; the list goes on, with each crisis having their own harsh implications on the European economy. Recognising this trend, the European Commission published in June...

Welcome back to another episode of the BRUBBLE podcast! We're back with a new potential series: RANKING, where we determine what the best really is. Simon and Dan are starting today by looking at the top EU flag. What makes a good flag? What makes some stand out? Which flag is really best? ________________ And, if you're in the Brussels area and would like to be on the BRUBBLE podcast, please cont...

Golden Passports present an interesting dilemma for the European Union, threading an interesting dilemma between diverse themes such as small states rights, migration, and rule of law. So, what are Golden Passports? And why are they problematic? Joining me today on the BRUBBLE podcast is Nils, who’s a PhD student focusing on this subject matter. ________________ Feel free to connect with Nils at h...