Lisa Burke Show

Four Africans living in Luxembourg share why the future of Africa-Europe capital is ownership, not aid, & the people structuring it are already in the room There is a moment in the conversation when Cheikh Ndiaye, a fund lawyer at Elvinger Hoss Prussen who was born and raised in Senegal, describes his job in one word: plumbing. He designs the structures that let capital move across borders, legall...

From testicular cancer to children’s stories, book clubs and summer reads, this episode celebrates the healing power of books and community. Books can entertain us, educate us and carry us away for a few precious hours. But sometimes, they help us survive. In this edition of The Lisa Burke Show, Lisa is joined by writer, translator and lifelong bookworm Tom Weber, Mariana Mendes, founder of Betwee...

Four women, three missions, one artist and a comet parked in space. Inside the Asteroid Day Festival episode of The Lisa Burke Show. For the Asteroid Day Festival in Luxembourg, four remarkable women came into the RTL City studio, three scientists and one artist, each travelling through heat, early flights and long journeys because they care deeply about how we explore, understand and protect ours...

Fred Neuen, Annabel Schoellen, Daniel Klautsch and Monica Serban on the LVGA, indie hits, cosy science games and why everyone is secretly a gamer. Video games are now the biggest entertainment economy on the planet, bigger than music and film combined, and Luxembourg is quietly building its corner of it. I welcomed four guests who each see it differently: Fred Neuen, president of the Luxembourg Vi...

As MUDEC's first Luxembourgish Executive Director retires after 24 years, Raymond Manes shares the love story behind Miami University in Luxembourg. For almost six decades, a slice of American university life has been quietly thriving in the Grand Duchy. The Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center, known to most simply as MUDEC, has welcomed students from Ohio to Luxembourg since 1968. T...

ALFI's Serge Weyland and McGill's Patrick Augustin on funds, Europe's pension time bomb, and why financial literacy may be its most urgent lesson. Luxembourg is known to many as the heart of European finance, yet the story of how it earned that title is one we rarely hear told plainly. On this episode, I sat down with two guests perfectly placed to tell it: Serge Weyland, CEO of the Association of...

Henrietta Orosz reveals how beauty became her business, moving from service-provider to judge, author and inventor. It was a genuine pleasure to host Henrietta in the studio. Her story is a reminder that the most interesting careers are usually the ones that require courage, and that Luxembourg is slowly becoming a place for beauty businesses too. “Beauty is not just surface. It is psychology, com...

AI, Talent and the Future of Europe: Why Universities Matter More Than Ever As AI reshapes jobs, health and society, University of Luxembourg Rector Jens Kreisel explains why universities matter more than ever. The future belongs to people who can learn, adapt and think critically. That was the central message from University of Luxembourg Rector Jens Kreisel when he joined The Lisa Burke Show for...

The man who helps finance Europe's defence: Robert de Groot, vice president of the European Investment Bank There is a particular kind of power that comes with someone who decides, quietly, which ideas get funded and which don't. Robert de Groot, and his team, holds that power over an extraordinary range of things: military bridges in Poland, rocket launchers in Spain, satellite-to-smartphone star...

From entrepreneurial burnout to authorship on realignment, Pascal Wiscour-Conter shares his learnings You know that feeling when someone speaks and every single word lands? Not because they're loud or made slick slides or rehearsed an elevator pitch to death, but because you sense they mean it? Pascal Wiscour-Conter calls this alignment and has spent three years building the science to prove it. P...

Boycotts, soft power, and sequined bodysuits - the definitive guide to Eurovision 2026 with two of Luxembourg's sharpest voices If you think Eurovision is nothing more than glitter, key changes, and strategic voting between neighbours, think again. Seventy years in, Europe's biggest song contest continues to be fun alongside the loaded messaging and controversy. Five countries are boycotting. The...

A film about bureaucracy, jazz, and the story of how three cities:Strasbourg, Luxembourg & Brussels, became the unlikely home of a continent's big idea. It's the founding question nobody thought to ask. Six nations sat down after World War II, determined never to fight again, and forgot to decide where they'd actually meet. In the middle of the night on July 23rd, 1952, exhausted negotiators gave...

Dirk Daenen, the man who brought TEDx to Luxembourg, reveals the science and the secrets behind becoming a truly confident speaker. You'd think the man who coaches Luxembourg's most compelling public speakers would have been born fearless on stage. You'd be wrong. Professor Dirk Daenen, communication expert, TEDx Luxembourg organiser, and the person quietly responsible for some of the most-watched...

Entrepreneur René Beltjens pedals 7,000km from Estonia to Gibraltar with 2Wheels4Purpose to raise €1 million for breast cancer research at Saint‑Luc. René Beltjens is a brilliant business man, co‑founder of Alter Domus amongst many more accolades, but as a young family man he had to endure the very hardest family situation. His young wife was diagnosed with breast cancer aged just 30 right after t...

Consultant oenologist Jean Cao and organic winemakers Jeff Konsbrück and Mathieu Schmit reveal why Luxembourg wines deserve global recognition. The tiny stretch of vineyards along Luxembourg's Moselle River, just 42 kilometres of slopes producing some of Europe's most distinctive white wines and Crémants, remains remarkably unknown to the wider wine world. On The Lisa Burke Show this week, three e...

"I never felt that Lithuania is a soft target. I saw Brussels always as the softest target of all." Lithuania's Foreign Minister, Kęstutis Budrys, passionately lays out why Europe must wake up to the war already being waged against it in this interview. "If we are not doing this, there will be a huge price. And believe me, that price will be much higher than 5% of GDP." Drawing on more than 20 yea...

Ambassadors unite to defend Ukraine & keep Europe's attention from drifting. How an Advocacy Coalition is turning solidarity into sustained action. In the studio this week: six female ambassadors plus a Ukrainian representative. Between them, decades of global diplomatic experience. We discuss how to keep a continent's consciousness alive when the news cycle is relentless and fatigue sets in. My g...

Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk and Deputy Minister Alona Shkrum join Lisa Burke to discuss the Advocacy Coalition and the cost of silence for Europe My Guests: - Her Excellency Ambassador Barbara Karpetová, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg - Inna Yaramenko, the Representative of the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights in the Grand Duchy of Luxe...

Actor and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador on climate action, inequality, education, and the power of optimism. Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, famed for his role in Game of Thrones as Jamie Lannister, takes his role as a UNDP Goodwill Ambassador very seriously. Nicolaj spoke with urgency and optimism about the need for cooperation, climate action, and stronger global institutions in an increasingly fragmented wor...

From Graiguecullen to Luxembourg - a visit ahead of Ireland’s EU Presidency, as Carlow is paired with the Grand Duchy. I never thought I’d be able to get Killeshin into an article - my home village in Ireland, where my father grew up, and where he is now buried. 
However, it turns out that Minister Jennifer Murnane O’Connor knew my dad, goes to Killeshin at least once a month and is also a first c...

Nine young ladies discuss closing intersectional gaps, crisis management, and why the world needs more female diplomats now. The Future of Diplomacy is Female: A Masterclass in Leadership Lisa's studio was filled with the energy of nine bright young ladies aged 16 to 19. They won the 'Diplomat for a Day' competition, a joint initiative by the British and Canadian embassies designed to encourage gi...

Insights from the EIB Group Forum 2026: EIB President Nadia Calviño joins global leaders to discuss security, space, and why dignity is our best defence. The EIB Group Forum 2026, held in the heart of Luxembourg, served as a powerful reminder that Europe is no longer taking its security, energy, or democratic values for granted. Under the theme "A Strong Europe in a Changing World," a stellar line...

Mistral AI’s CEO Arthur Mensch calls time on 3‑Month Notice periods and points to the lack of CMOs in Europe, not talented engineering. Europe’s AI Champion With a Warning Arthur Mensch, co‑founder and CEO of Mistral AI, has become one of Europe’s most visible AI leaders, scaling his company from zero to around 800 employees in under three years. Speaking at the EIB Group Forum, he combined optimi...

Jerusalem pastor Sally Azar and analyst Ashraf Al-Ajrami on daily life under occupation, peace principles, and what Europe can do now. My guests this week are Rev. Sally Azar, political analyst and former Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs Ashraf Al-Ajrami, and Meryem-Lyn Oral, Communications Manager from EPICON. Rev. Sally Azar and Ashraf Al-Ajrami came to Luxembourg with the EU-funded Eu...

Cambridge Chancellor joins Lisa Burke to explore AI’s impact on education, free speech, climate challenges and why universities still matter. On this episode of The Lisa Burke Show, Lisa welcomes The Rt Hon the Lord Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury and the 109th Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. A former Labour Cabinet Minister, culture champion, environmental leader and the first ope...