Ep 185, presented by BP: Europe's vaccine blame game — Brussels bubble struggles

<p>POLITICO's Chief Policy Correspondent Sarah Wheaton joins Andrew Gray, Rym Momtaz and Matthew Karnitschnig to talk through an <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-coronavirus-vaccine-struggle-pfizer-biontech-astrazeneca/">in-depth story </a>she co-authored with health reporter Jillian Deutsch on the EU's race to procure coronavirus vaccines.</p><p>The <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-slams-astrazeneca-but-fails-in-push-for-vaccine-stella-kyriakides-pascal-soriot/">news</a> that the EU won't be receiving nearly as many doses as expected in the early months of this year has triggered a furious blame game between Brussels, EU capitals and drugmaker AstraZeneca. As Sarah explains, much of the debate revolves around whether the EU's insistence on solidarity — negotiating with pharmaceutical companies on behalf of all 27 countries — ultimately hindered its ability to secure vaccines quickly enough.</p><p>Our special guest is filmmaker Nadine van Loon. We explore the themes in her forthcoming documentary, <a href="https://cinecrowd.com/en/notes-from-brussels">"Notes from Brussels,"</a> which follows the lives of three women working in the EU quarter. Van Loon's personal story — having previously worked in the Brussels bubble but now observing it from the outside — gives her a valuable double-perspective on what it takes to thrive personally and professionally in what can feel like an all-consuming environment.</p><p>The podcast panel returns with recommendations to help you get through lockdown. Andrew kicks off with a <a href="https://www.netflix.com/be-en/title/80994082">French Netflix thriller</a>. Rym offers up <a href="https://lcp.fr/programmes/emission-speciale/sommets-dans-les-secrets-des-negociations-europeennes-1ere-partie">an EU documentary</a> where you'll also see some familiar POLITICO faces. Sarah longs for the days of in-person theater but promises <a href="https://www.facebook.com/superfuncomedyshow">this virtual comedic endeavor</a> to be worthwhile in the meantime. And Matt rec