Is Europe losing its voice? For decades it has been building digital markets, creative industries and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and yet in a world dominated by American tech giants and Chinese manufacturing power, a generation of European entrepreneurs is asking whether they need to leave for Silicon Valley or Shanghai to be taken seriously.

In this episode of Off Script, Elizabeth Kuiper and Naina Madan sit down with Alain Heureux, a serial entrepreneur, business angel and innovation leader who has been building companies and ecosystems across Europe since 1984. Alain led the IAB in both Belgium and Europe and today runs the Virtuology Academy, training leaders at companies like Saint Gobain, Etex and BNP Paribas.

Together they ask what European sovereignty really means in practice, whether Europe's diversity is its greatest strength or the thing holding it back, and what it actually takes to keep the continent innovative. Alain makes the case for big European brands reinvesting in their own cities, the way Philips reinvented Eindhoven into a thriving tech hub that now creates thousands of jobs, points to what universities like Munich's TUM are getting right, and argues that we should be teaching entrepreneurship to young people from the start. Underneath it all sits the bigger question: how do we stay human in the age of AI?

His reading recommendation for anyone thinking about where we go next is the work of Yuval Noah Harari, because before we talk about technology, we have to talk about people.

📚 Recommended: Yuval Noah Harari's books 🎙️ Listen and follow Off Script wherever you get your podcasts.

Keep listening, keep questioning.

Fewer than a thousand journalists are meant to keep watch over decisions that shape the lives of 450 million Europeans. So what happens to democracy when trust collapses, disinformation outruns fact, and AI can manufacture a convincing lie in seconds?

In this episode of Off Script, Elizabeth Kuiper and Naina Madan sit down with Lise Witteman — investigative journalist, head of Follow the Money's EU desk, and author of Who's Watching Brussels? Lise has spent years following the money trails most people never see: suitcases of alleged cash, conveniently deleted messages, and the watchdogs who, at the crucial moments, could only watch from inside their cage.

Together they get into the questions that matter right now — why it was small investigative newsrooms, not big tech or legacy media, that held leaders like Orbán to account; how you tell what's true when trust has eroded; whether social media is journalism's greatest tool or its biggest enemy; what the rest of the world does better; and what Europe actually needs to build to own its information landscape, not just its infrastructure.

A sharp, honest conversation about truth, trust, and why independent journalism is the content that gives Europe's democracy its meaning.

📕 Who's Watching Brussels? by Lise Witteman

English → https://shop.ftm.eu/products/whos-watching-brussels-lise-witteman

Nederlands → https://winkel.ftm.nl/products/wie-let-er-op-brussel-lise-witteman

New episodes of Off Script regularly. Keep listening, keep questioning.

In this episode of Off Script, we sit down with Javier Carbonell, policy researcher at the European Policy Centre in Brussels, to explore one of the most urgent questions in European politics today: why are young men drifting toward the far right, and what can be done about it?

Javier unpacks the economic frustrations behind the anti-feminist backlash, the paradox of a generation that is less sexist yet more hostile to feminist politics than ever, and why the manosphere fills a void that mainstream politics has failed to address.

A conversation about masculinity, economic precarity, and what democracy needs to offer young men right now.

In this episode of Off Script, we sit down with Alex Sossa: dancer, coach, and community builder, to explore what it truly means to grow up gay in a traditional environment, and what freedom actually looks like today.

Born and raised in a humble Catholic family in Mexico, Alex always knew his ambitions stretched beyond his hometown. He eventually made the bold move to Europe, building a life rooted in movement, music, and human connection, and today teaches at Animo Studios while developing his own work in the mental health space.

But this conversation goes beyond one person's story. We talk about the tension between progress and persistent stigma, the pressure of cultural and religious expectations, and what it really means to belong, not just to be tolerated, but to be fully seen.

From growing up and first understanding his identity, to leaving home, finding freedom, and now helping others do the same, Alex brings honesty, warmth, and hard-won perspective to every answer.

Keep listening. Keep questioning. And above all, keep the conversation human.

The classroom has always been a mirror of society. Right now, that mirror is cracked, complex, and full of possibility.

In this episode of Off Script, hosts Elizabeth Kuiper and Naina Madan sit down with Wytze van der Gaast, a teacher at Meertalig Atheneum Woluwe in Brussels, for an unfiltered look at what education really looks like in 2026.

What we cover:

• The lived reality of teaching today — the pressure, pace, and impossible expectations
• How teachers keep up with students shaped by TikTok, gaming culture, and digital anxiety
• Preparing students for jobs and challenges that don't yet exist
• Teaching democracy and civic values in classrooms with 20+ nationalities
• Social media's impact on mental health, learning, and classroom dynamics
• AI in education: powerful tool, existential threat, or too early to judge?
• What gives educators hope — even now

Why listen? Because whoever you are — parent, student, policy maker, or professional — the future of education affects you. And the people on the front lines of it deserve to be heard.

Off Script. Real conversations. No filter.

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