Lisa Burke Show

RTL Today

A place for conversation that spans life in Luxembourg and beyond. Each week an international guest list will reflect on the week’s news, plus a whole host of other topics: politics to pollination; education to entrepreneurship; science to singing. Luxembourg sits in the beating heart of Europe and its diverse population provides a global perspective on a number of world issues.

  1. 3 DAYS AGO

    Irish Minister Jennifer Murnane-O’Connor, 17/03/2026

    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 cousin of Ollie Hennessy - a brilliant musician (who also worked with my dad) whom I’ve had the pleasure of singing with. And I thought Luxembourg was small! Jennifer Murnane O’Connor is a Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow - Kilkenny and Minister of State at Ireland’s Department of Health. Ireland will hold the EU Presidency from July to December 2026, during which time the 26 counties of Ireland will be paired with the other 26 countries of the European Union. Luxembourg will be paired with Carlow. This is not an accident. There is a deep historical connection between Luxembourg and Carlow. Carlow, Echternach and a centuries‑old bridge County Carlow and Echternach are rooted in centuries of history through St Willibrord. These historical, symbolic connections make it somehow easier to open up cultural conversations, generate tourism, deepen civic relationships and even spark new business and educational partnerships. Murnane O’Connor visited Echternach, the basilica and learned more about Saint Willibrord, whose pilgrimage binds Echternach to Carlow and nearby Leighlinbridge where a relic is held in the cathedral. County Pairing: Carlow meets Luxembourg Ireland’s 2026 EU Presidency will include a new “County Pairing” initiative that links each of the 26 Irish counties with one of the 26 other EU member states. Under the programme, ambassadors and ministers will visit their counties for public events about Europe, with a strong emphasis on bringing Brussels beyond capitals and big cities. For TD Murnane O’Connor, success in December 2026 would mean visible, practical links: school and university exchanges, twin‑town projects between local councils, joint cultural festivals and sport. “Community groups, schools, sports clubs, businesses – they all need to be involved so that we build something that lasts.” A growing Irish community, and 'soft ambassadors' abroad Luxembourg is home to more than 2,500 Irish citizens, a number that surprised even the Minister. She met many of them at a reception hosted by Irish Ambassador Jean McDonald, whom she calls “an absolute lady, an excellent ambassador” along with GAA members, Darkness Into Light organisers and the Irish Young Professional Network. For Murnane O’Connor, Irish people abroad are 'soft ambassadors' whose pride in their identity quietly shapes how Ireland is seen in Europe. Her young Carlow intern, Amy, summed up the generational angle: when Irish students think of going abroad, they still imagine the USA, the UK or Australia, “but to think that there’s so many people here working in EU institutions and in financial work in Luxembourg is fantastic.” And many of us never leave. “Most of the people I spoke to came for two or three years,” the Minister noted, “but if you go over three years, you never go home.” A like‑minded partnership in a turbulent world The timing of her visit underlined just how closely aligned Luxembourg and Ireland see themselves in Europe. On the same week, Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Luc Frieden and Finance Minister Gilles Roth were in Dublin meeting the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, as both countries prepared for debates on competitiveness, the single market and financial services. Ireland and Luxembourg are frequently described as “like‑minded” on European competitiveness and financial services, and both host significant financial sectors. Yet they are also pushing back together against Franco‑German efforts to centralise EU financial supervision by expanding the powers of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) at the expense of national regulators. Luxembourg fears that turning ESMA into a centralised supervisor would “add complexity, bureaucracy and costs” without genuinely strengthening the single market, Finance Minister Gilles Roth argued in Brussels. Ireland’s Finance Minister Simon Harris echoed that view, insisting that “centralising supervision is not necessary” even as he expressed determination to conclude negotiations by year‑end, with Ireland due to hold the rotating EU Presidency in the second half of the year. For Murnane O’Connor, this kind of alignment shows how small states can punch above their weight in EU debates when they work together. Ireland’s EU Presidency: unity, security and everyday impact “Being in Europe is very important for us. It’s about unity: working together to protect jobs, support agriculture, advance education and keep people secure.” Jennifer wants ordinary citizens to feel this Presidency on the ground: in town‑hall debates, farm meetings, cultural events and youth projects funded under the Communicating Europe Initiative. For Ireland, it is also an opportunity to showcase a country that has evolved from its agricultural roots into a global tech and finance hub without losing sight of the land and the farmers who work it. The average farmer in Europe is 54 years old, and younger people are increasingly reluctant to take over family farms. Climate change, volatile fuel and heating costs and the seven‑days‑a‑week nature of the job make it a tough sell. “Farmers are the lifeline of who we are. We need to support them, protect them, and make sure we mind the land.” Public health, wellbeing and a new drugs strategy Beyond Europe, the Minister’s 'day job' is to work on public health, wellbeing and Ireland’s national drugs strategy. In Luxembourg she visited ABRIGADO, a frontline facility that works with some of the most vulnerable people in society, and was struck by its almost 20 years of experience, multi‑disciplinary approach and the kindness of the staff. Back home, she has just launched a public consultation on Ireland’s new national drugs strategy – the first major rethink in a decade, reflecting how drug use has spread beyond cities into rural communities and small towns. She is especially focused on awareness, prevention, family support and tackling stigma. The Minister is also moving fast on one of the most contentious youth‑health issues of the moment: vaping. She has brought legislation to the Dáil to ban disposable vapes and restrict the proliferation of sweet flavours and eye‑catching packaging that clearly target younger people, along with new rules on nicotine pouches and display bans similar to those already applied to cigarettes. “Vaping has become a huge challenge in Ireland. These are the changes you can make as a politician – and they matter to parents and to young people.” Her broader health and wellbeing brief includes everything from walking trails to men’s sheds and emerging women’s sheds, community spaces supported by small government grants where people, often retired or widowed, can meet, learn, volunteer and avoid isolation. There are more than 380 women’s sheds in Ireland already, in addition to a larger network of men’s sheds. “You don’t want anyone feeling alone,” Murnane O’Connor said. “Being involved in your community is one of the best things you can do for your health.” A personal political journey Murnane O’Connor’s political story is interwoven with that of her late father, who served for over 20 years on Carlow’s town and county councils. When he fell ill, he asked her to stand so that “between us” they could continue serving; she became a councillor two and a half years before he died, and has been in politics ever since. “Politics is like a calling. You have to love it. It’s seven days a week, and every election is a new battle, but the rewards are exceptional when you can change someone’s life with something simple.” Happy St. Patrick’s Day “I want to wish everyone a happy St Patrick’s Day. I’m so proud - we’re all so proud - to be Irish. It’s a great day, and we’re delighted to share it with Luxembourg.”

    49 min

  2. 5 DAYS AGO

    Luxembourg Teens Become Diplomats for a Day: Empowering Future Female Leaders, 15/03/2026

    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 girls to become advocates for change in a field where women remain under-represented. The winners: Lisa Betz, Priya Trivedi, Martina Gil Tierno, Aknur Borjakova, Sophie Goettsch, Xamantha Gavadan, Zoe Gaicio, Candice Boutoleau, and Anne Banthrongsakd, were selected for their compelling essays on closing intersectional gaps between men and women. Trial by Fire: Crisis Management The day began with a high-stakes crisis simulation involving an imaginary island and a hotel fire, forcing the students to act as embassy managers under intense media pressure. Candice Boutoleau, who acted as a manager, noted the stress of "critically thinking on the spot," while Aknur Borjakova managed communications to keep the public calm despite "fake news" and information leaks. "I think that whatever you're saying is a clear answer that's going to guide people. And it's okay to not know... but it's better to wait and then tell people correctly inform them rather than just putting out numbers that are incorrect." Priya Trivedi Safety and STEM The conversation shifted to the daily realities of being a young woman. Lisa Betz spoke candidly about the "uncertainty" women feel when going out at night, comparing her experience to that of her brother. "It feels unfair because I know that men don't have to put up with these things and they don't have to be scared to go out. They don't get told all these things." Lisa Betz The disparity extends to the STEM fields. Anne Banthrongsakd, a participant in the Luxembourg Informatics Olympiad, highlighted the "enormous disparity" in computer science, noting there were only three girls compared to 20 boys in the semi-finals. She advocated for the philosophy of 'see it to be it' urging for more female figures in STEM to break biased mindsets. Global Perspectives and New Solutions The winners brought perspectives from the Philippines, Laos, and back to Europe, addressing issues from domestic abuse to healthcare research. Candice Boutoleau proposed a revolutionary concept: an anonymous radio station where victims of domestic abuse could share their stories to build a global community. Xamantha Gavadan emphasized that while western countries have made progress, the global fight must include ending practices like female genital mutilation and restrictive divorce laws. The day included a formal lunch with the Luxembourg Ladies Ambassadors Club, meetings with Minister Obertin and MP Gusty Graas, and a certificate reception to mark their journey as the diplomats of tomorrow.

    54 min

  3. 6 DAYS AGO

    President Nadia Calviño, Nikolai Coster-Waldau, Oleksandra Matviichuk, Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski: A Strong Europe in a Changing World: EIB Group Forum 2026, 14/03/2026

    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 lineup of speakers and an international audience explored how investment and individual action are shaping a resilient future. In this video you’ll find: 00:00 Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), on the EIB’s mission, European resilience, and the main levers of competitiveness. 16.40 Nikolai Coster-Waldau, Actor and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador on climate optimism, the UNDP’s mission, and the strength of European unity in Greenland. 26.46 Oleksandra Matviichuk, Nobel Peace Prize Winner & Chair of the Center for Civil Liberties; on the resistance in Ukraine, the power of ordinary people, and reclaiming European values. 42.00 Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, ESA Astronaut from Poland, on the "European story," space as critical infrastructure, and the Space Tech EU funding program. The EIB: Financing the European Success Story Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank (EIB), describes the institution as one of the EU's greatest success stories. By leveraging capital from Member States, the EIB transforms infrastructure, from highways and hospitals to high-risk innovative startups in the space sector. President Calviño emphasised that 2026 is the ‘year of competitiveness’ focusing on market integration and simplification to help European companies remain resilient against global shocks. An Optimist’s Guide to Humanity Actor and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Nikolai Coster-Waldau brought a message of hope, urging a shift away from "doom and gloom" climate communication that creates division. Through his project, An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet, he explores human innovation and the common values that connect us. He emphasised that whilst the planet will survive, our focus must remain on protecting one another through unity and solidarity. Dignity as Action: The Frontline of Freedom In a deeply moving speech, Nobel laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk reminded the forum that "ordinary people can change history". Detailing the harrowing reality of the invasion in Ukraine, she argued that the collapse of the international order was preceded by an ethical crisis. For Matviichuk, the fight for Ukraine is a fight for the very idea of freedom, asserting that "dignity is action" and that Europe must move beyond being a "consumer of democracy" to becoming its fierce protector. From Outer Space to Strategic Sovereignty Polish astronaut Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski shared his journey as a student in Łódź to the International Space Station: a path only made possible by Poland’s EU accession and the Erasmus programme. He highlighted that space is not just for dreamers; it is "invisible, critical infrastructure" that synchronises power grids and stock markets. Through the €500 million Space Tech EU program, the EIB and ESA are now funding the next generation of European technological champions. https://www.undp.org/goodwill-ambassadors/nikolaj-coster-waldau https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Human_and_Robotic_Exploration/Astronauts/Slawosz_Uznanski-Wisniewski https://www.nobelprize.org/events/nobel-prize-dialogue/brussels2024/panellists/oleksandra-matviichuk/#:~:text=Oleksandra%20Matviichuk%20is%20a%20human,the%202022%20Nobel%20Peace%20Prize.

    58 min

  4. 13 MAR

    Europe’s AI Superstar Slams “Catastrophic” Hiring Rules in Europe, 13/03/2026

    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 optimism about Europe’s AI potential with a blunt diagnosis of what is holding it back. For Mensch, Europe’s problem is no longer a lack of raw engineering talent, but the systems around it: hiring rules, fragmented regulations and shallow scale‑up experience at the executive level. Unless these are fixed, he argues, Europe risks remaining dependent on foreign AI providers for its economic, strategic and cultural future. “Viscosity of Hiring” Why Three Months Is a Catastrophe The most notable part of Mensch’s intervention, talking to a room-full of European executives and bureaucrats, was his attack on Europe’s “viscosity of hiring,” the drag created by long notice periods and HR rules that slow fast‑growing companies to a crawl. “The biggest problem in Europe are the notice periods… The viscosity of hiring is much, much higher than in the US. An employee who wants to leave his company has to give a three‑month notice period. And that’s a full catastrophe.” Mench believes that workers who want to leave should be able to move in about a week, not three months; the current system locks in talent and cripples high‑growth companies that need to assemble teams at startup speed, not bureaucratic speed. This viscosity exists across Europe, with some countries even worse than others, making it systematically harder to build fast‑scaling tech champions than in the US. 
“We should give more right to employees, make sure that if they want to leave their company, they can leave… in like a week.” For founders, investors and policymakers, he is precisely clear: if Europe wants to compete in AI, it cannot afford a labour market calibrated for a different era, and not global competition. The Hidden Talent Crisis: Not Engineers, But Executives Mensch also dismantles a familiar cliché: that Europe’s problem is a shortage of technical people. In his view, Europe is actually very good at producing junior engineers, and Mistral’s strategy is built around that. Mistral hires junior talent from across Europe, with major pools in Paris, Luxembourg, Warsaw, Germany, Greece and a large second office in London. The company deliberately opens local offices so people can stay in or near their hometowns, given the right project and compensation. They also bring back experienced Europeans from the US to inject seniority into teams. The real shortage, he says, is in senior leadership: “The biggest hurdle we find ourselves in is to hire senior people, executives, people that have scaled go‑to‑market teams, people that have scaled marketing teams. The talent shortage is not where you would expect it… Here, there’s basically zero CMO that actually can do what we need to do in Europe.” In Silicon Valley, he notes, he could interview ten strong CMO candidates in a week and hire one the week after. In Europe, he says, there are “basically zero” CMOs who have already done what a company like Mistral needs to do at scale. This is the deeper ecosystem problem: Europe has produced fewer companies that have already gone all the way from start‑up to IPO, so there are fewer seasoned executives who know how to ride that curve. Stock Options, Regulation Nightmares and Fragmented Rules Mensch is pragmatic about compensation and competes with the seven figure plus salaries at US tech giants. He says top recruits can earn similar salaries at Mistral, heavily leveraged with stock options and equity. Given the company’s trajectory, he argues that joining Mistral has already been more attractive financially than joining Google for some. However, he calls Europe’s fragmented stock option regimes “a bit of a nightmare” - there are effectively 27 different systems to navigate. He would welcome more unification, even though he recognises fiscal rules make that hard. This sits on top of broader regulatory friction: country‑by‑country tweaks to EU rules complicate life for fast‑growth companies, from tax and social security to HR processes. Scaling a European company means learning, then re‑learning, the rules in every new market. His core ask is simple: remove easy‑to‑fix blockers such as notice periods and fragmented stock option rules so that European scale‑ups can allocate their energy to technology and markets, not legal contortions. Sovereignty, Strategic Autonomy and Europe’s AI Cloud Despite his criticism, Mensch is in many ways betting on Europe. He founded Mistral after time at Google DeepMind and in French academia because he feared there would be no European champion in generative AI at all. He frames AI sovereignty in three pillars: Economic sovereignty: if Europe remains 80% dependent on US AI providers, value created here will be reinvested in R&D there, widening the gap. Business continuity: if critical processes across utilities, industry and public services run on foreign AI, Europe becomes a “client state” vulnerable to someone else’s off‑switch. Cultural plurality: AI systems are “interaction machines” with built‑in cultural biases; fully centralised control of these systems is, in his view, incompatible with democracy. Mistral’s response: - Build state‑of‑the‑art models that can be deeply customised for enterprises and states, including on‑premises deployment to keep sensitive data in‑house. - Focus on B2B rather than consumer, letting European companies and institutions serve their own end users. - Invest deliberately in multilingual capabilities, accepting slightly lower performance in English to raise performance in European languages such as French and German. 
“You can’t focus on just building domestic technology for Europe, you need to be an exporter.” Mensch is sharply critical of the concentration of consumer AI in a few global players and warns that this will be a major factor in upcoming elections. Open Source, Humanities and Bias: A Broader Vision of AI Mistral’s philosophy is strongly rooted in open source. Mensch insists that open technologies drive the internet and that Europe needs open, sovereign building blocks if it wants a say in how AI evolves. Contrary to stereotype, his teams are not only pure engineers. The research group is dominated by PhDs, but some are humanities‑trained. Journalists and other humanities experts work on “model behaviour”, ensuring outputs are usable, responsible and culturally aware. He cites a project with a humanities‑heavy Molière specialist team that used Mistral models to generate a new Molière play in the playwright’s style. On gender, he offers a snapshot: about a third of Mistral’s research team are women; over half of his leadership team are women; around a quarter of engineers are women. He argues that Europe “exits” women too early from research and scientific tracks and says Mistral actively does more outbound to potential female candidates to compensate for lower application rates. Bias inside the models remains, in his words, a “hard topic”, but one they tackle through specific evaluations and behaviour checks. The Future of AI in Europe, If Viscosity Falls In his closing remarks, Mensch describes AI as an inflection point big enough to redefine Europe’s economic structure. He sees an opportunity to create large‑scale, vertically integrated European AI cloud service providers that reduce dependency on foreign digital services. 
“The new dependency… is a process dependency and a business continuity risk. So we need such actors to emerge.” But his implicit condition is stark: Europe must make it possible to build and scale these actors at speed. That means tackling hiring viscosity, simplifying stock options and making it easier for European founders to assemble world‑class teams in weeks, not quarters. Arthur Mensch and Mistral is so far a success story -he issued a blueprint and a warning. Europe’s AI decade will be decided as much in HR law and fiscal codes as in research labs and data centres.

    19 min

  5. 10 MAR

    Defending Our Future: Why Ukraine’s Fight is the Frontline of European Security, 10/03/2026

    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 Luxembourg, and Vice President at LUkraine - Oleksandra Matviichuk, Chairwoman of the Center for Civil Liberties, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. - Alona Shkrum, First Deputy Minister for Development of Communities and Territories of Ukraine. - Kristina Mikulova, Head of Regional Hub for Eastern Europe for the European Investment Bank In this powerful episode, the conversation shifts from the abstract concept of 'aid' to the urgent reality of strategic investment in European security. As Ukraine enters its fourth year of full-scale invasion, a new initiative has been developed by Ambassador Karpetová with the help of Inna Yaramenko. 'The Advocacy Coalition - Defending Our Future Now' has launched in Luxembourg to remind the continent that defending Ukraine is synonymous with defending the future of democracy itself. This year-long set of events will pass the baton between the founding embassies: Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom, to stand united in the conviction that defending Ukraine means defending Europe’s future. Beyond Charity: A Strategic Investment Supporting Ukraine in 2026 is now viewed as a strategic investment in the infrastructure of European security. Alona Shkrum, Ukraine’s First Deputy Minister for Reconstruction, explained that waiting for hostilities to cease before rebuilding is not an option. "If we do not reconstruct water, utilities, energy supply, schools, and hospitals, then people will leave," she noted, emphasising that keeping the economy functioning allows Ukraine to fund its own defence and protect the eastern borders of the European Union. The scale of destruction is staggering: the road damage alone is equivalent to the distance from Luxembourg to Iran, and the amount of housing destroyed, over 3 million units, exceeds the total housing stock of Denmark. Humanising the Numbers Whilst the statistics are overwhelming, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk focuses on "humanising the numbers". She shared the harrowing story of 10-year-old Ilya from Mariupol, whose mother died in his arms in a frozen apartment after they were caught in Russian shelling. Matviichuk also recounted the experience of Professor Ihor Kozlovskyi, a philosopher who spent 700 days in captivity and gave lectures on philosophy to rats in his solitary cell just to hear a human voice. "Dignity is action," Matviichuk told the audience, asserting that the "accountability gap" in international law must be closed by establishing a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression. A Year of Intensive Advocacy The Advocacy Coalition, a partnership between LUkraine, the European Commission, and nine resident embassies in Luxembourg (but they're open for more partners), will host monthly events throughout 2026. These events will tackle critical themes such as countering disinformation, reconstruction, and the role of the Ukrainian diaspora. The first event will take place at the European Parliament in Luxembourg on March 23, featuring a keynote address by Matviichuk, focussing on the abducted children. Unity as the Strongest Weapon The message from my guests underlines that unity is the strongest weapon against authoritarianism. As Ambassador Barbara Karpetová noted, even a small nation like Luxembourg can provide "shared inspiration" by standing together, mirroring the visionary leadership of historical figures like Pierre Werner, former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, whose home she now resides in. The Power of Ordinary People Matviichuk emphasises that "ordinary people can do extraordinary things". Inna cites the 700 Luxembourgish families who offered to host refugees within just three days after the invasion began. Digital Engagement: The Coalition is launching an Advocacy Platform, a digital ecosystem featuring authentic testimonies from diplomats, volunteers, and citizens to humanise the impact of solidarity.

    1h 33m

  6. 7 MAR

    Pastor Sally Azar, Ashraf Al-Ajrami: Israel Palestine: Two Voices on Occupation, Identity, and Europe’s Role, 07/03/2026

    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 European-Palestinian-Israeli Trilateral Dialogue Initiative (EPICON) to speak honestly about what life feels like to grow up in Israel and Palestine. Jerusalem-born pastor Sally Azar (the first female Palestinian pastor, ordained in 2023) describes a childhood where crisis becomes routine: "You’re always protected… to not really know what’s going on around you.” Azar explains how separation is built into daily movement and also the mindset: “We live next to each other and not really with each other,” as people go to different schools, use different buses, and live in different neighbourhoods. And then there are the literal walls purposely dividing people. This is not shared humanity, and people on each side of the wall do not truly know how people live on the other side. Political analyst and former Palestinian Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs, Ashraf Al-Ajrami, traces how a child’s sense of injustice can harden. “I felt the occupation since my childhood,” he says, describing how the idea of resistance took hold early. Ashraf spent twelve years in Israeli prisons living in inhumane conditions. Both guests return repeatedly to the same tension: the conflict’s engines are political power, rights, and forced inequality, not religious. Sally underlines “we’re not fighting Jews… we’re fighting an Israeli occupation,” knowing the sensitivity around confusing political critique with antisemitism. And yet, in the middle of the bleakest realities, she insists on a moral counterweight: “there’s nothing more powerful than love.” So what, concretely, can Europe do? Al-Ajrami argues that this is not charity but self-interest: “It is a flavour of the values of Europe,” he says, pointing to the economic and security consequences when conflict grinds on. They both urge Europe to act with one, confident voice, and to enforce human rights not hatred and separation. Links (all at the end) EPICON https://linktr.ee/epicon.project Sally Azar https://www.elca.org/people/rev-sally-azar Ashraf Al-Ajrami https://www.all4palestine.org/ModelDetails.aspx?gid=14&mid=88205&lang=en

  7. 28 FEB

    Lord Chancellor Chris Smith on AI, Education, Free Speech and the Future, 28/02/2026

    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 openly gay Cabinet Minister in the world, Lord Smith reflects on a lifetime of public service and the evolving role of universities in a fast‑changing world. He describes a university’s purpose as more than teaching or research: it is a place where “truth is honoured, evidence is sought, and debate happens.” At Cambridge, he reminds new students that they’re not there to become better than others, but to become “the best version of themselves.” Yet he is clear that university is not the right path for everyone, arguing that the UK’s push toward 50% university attendance diluted its value. On AI, Lord Smith recognises the power of large models to analyse vast bodies of knowledge instantly, but stresses the need for human judgment: AI can imitate style, but “it can’t be genuinely creative.” He warns too of our “post‑Trump age,” where misinformation has become normalised, making critical thinking more essential than ever. Lord Smith also reflects on his legacy as Culture Secretary, where he introduced free admission to UK national museums. A moment with a father and daughter at the Science Museum, he says, confirmed that “a career in public life was worth it.” Museums, he argues, are part of a nation’s collective memory and should never be gated by wealth. In discussing climate challenges, Chancellor Smith draws from his years chairing the Environment Agency, emphasising the need to trust scientific experts and to prioritise resources wisely. His lifelong love of the Scottish mountains began in a school expedition to Torridon, a formative experience that shaped his passion for nature and environmental stewardship. As Chancellor, he sees his role as both ambassador and advocate for higher education, calling the UK university fees system “broken” and in urgent need of reform. Above all, he places hope in the next generation: “Whenever I despair, I think about our young people… and that gives me hope.” A conversation spanning education, ethics, environment and the future, this episode is a powerful reminder of why leadership grounded in empathy, curiosity and truth still matters.

    49 min

  8. 21 FEB

    How to Thrive in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, 21/02/2026

    Where can we retain the human touch, impactfully, in the age of AI? Thomas Scherer, cloud architect & computer scientist working for Google joins Lisa. One Saturday night, Thomas sat down with Gemini and asked, "What will make me the happiest person in the world?" Over the course of the next few hours, he got some fascinating results. All of this is part of the story of AI in our lives today, but there is so much more. This conversation is a small reflection of where we are with AI and why we should embrace its benefits, learning as much as we can with careful curiosity. From Horses to Cars “What do I do with my horse-riding skills now that the car has been invented?” With this statement, Thomas reminds us that mega shifts in our human experience is historically normal, and a reflection of the human mind’s brilliance. The AI Shift is just another technological step change. AI is replacing ‘commodity tasks’ - those which are repetitive, standardised processes, providing us with more time to lean into creativity. We become the navigator whilst the more mundane jobs could be taken over by AI. A new way to Search Traditional search engines try to match words whereas modern AI systems match meaning. When you search for trousers for instance, AI systems can use images and semantic understanding to infer style, intent, and context rather than just scanning for the keyword ‘pants or trousers.’ Large language models (LLMs) such as Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and so on, predict the most likely next word, turning colossal amounts of data into fluent conversation, explanation, and even advice based solely on statistical probability of word patterns. We don’t even need to invent the perfect query as they can also predict this. AI as Your Collaborative Partner Used well, AI is more like a creative collaborator: a brainstorming partner that proposes alternative angles, structures, and prompts. For small businesses, it can become an extra “virtual team,” generating draft podcasts, social posts, or marketing visuals that can then be curated and refined. But all the while, it remains the human who sets the objectives and the required tone. This also lends itself to the possibility of many people becoming autonomous, single-person businesses. Agents: When AIs Start Working Together When you give an AI tools and sub-tasks, it can orchestrate them toward a goal. One agent might create images; another might check whether those images match the brief (e.g. 'sunny landscape, not rain’); together, they negotiate improvements until the output fits what you asked for. Even non-technical people can use early agent-like products. NotebookLM, for instance, lets you upload documents, then: - Ask questions about them in natural language. - Generate personalised podcasts from your own material that you can listen to during a commute. - Work across multiple languages, both in sources and in the audio you generate. A recurring complaint in companies is: “Our data is too messy to do AI.” That is partly true for training bespoke models: bad data in, bad model out, but paradoxically, AI is also very good at cleaning data in the first place. You can literally give such a tool a messy folder of information and ask to make sense of it. Because it understands patterns in addresses, email formats, names, and categories, AI can, for example: - Standardise your contact lists so mailings no longer bounce. - Extract fields from scanned paperwork and fill out forms for you. - Help you perform a “data spring clean” on everything from CRM records to home admin. For an individual drowning in paperwork, this is transformative: scan, upload, and ask the AI to pre-fill or summarise, then you simply review and sign. Everyday Simplifications with AI You do not need to be a computer scientist to get real value from AI. A good starting sequence for a normal day could include: - Identify what you hate doing: repetitive emails, calendar logistics, summarising long documents, or form-filling. - Ask the AI directly: “Show me how to use you to spend less time on this task,” then iterate based on its suggestions. - Start with non-sensitive data and low‑risk tasks, and only move to personal or client material once you understand the provider’s terms and privacy guarantees. People in Luxembourg working across languages can also benefit from live translation and dubbing: tools already exist that let you speak in German and be heard in French or English in your own voice, with a slight delay, in meetings or recorded content. Jobs, Risk, and the Human Edge AI is reshaping the job market. In the UK, one study found that companies using AI had eliminated 11% of previous roles and left another 12% unfilled, while creating 19% new roles, which is a net loss of 4% overall, with the UK faring worse than the US on the balance between jobs lost and created. That reality naturally fuels both excitement and anxiety. What AI targets first are commodity tasks: copy-pasting, routine classification, basic template writing, or standardised analysis. The more your work relies on unique human context, judgment, empathy, and rapport, from live concerts to therapy and even parenting, the harder it is to replace. The opportunity, and pressure, is to climb the value chain: stop being the engine that moves the data and become the navigator who decides where to go. Trust, Safety, and Owning Your Self Image and Voice As AI systems get better at imitating voices and faces, distinguishing fake from real becomes a societal survival skill. Voice scams already exploit cloned speech to convince parents their child is in danger, and manipulated images can travel faster than fact‑checks. Two layers of protection are emerging: - Technical safeguards such as watermarking in generated images or audio, which allow downstream tools to flag AI‑created content. - Legal and ethical frameworks like GDPR in Europe, which treat your appearance and voice as personal data requiring your consent for alteration and reuse. - Providers also increasingly commit to indemnifying users when material generated within the rules is later challenged on copyright grounds, shifting some of the risk back to the platforms that trained the models. Prompting: Talking to AI so It Really Helps You do not need to be a prompt engineer, but a few habits make a big difference. First, describe what you do want rather than only what you do not want: “Keep the face unchanged and brighten the background” works better than “Don’t change the face.” Second, you can use AI to improve your own prompts: - Tell it your goal (“I want a video that shows X for Y audience”). - Ask: “Write a detailed prompt I can paste into a video/image generator.” - Edit the suggested prompt so it fits your tone, context, and constraints. Over time, this becomes a self-teaching loop: the AI drafts the prompt, you tweak and observe the output, and your intuitive sense of what to ask for gets sharper. AI, Emotions, and the Limits of the Machine Some people now confide in chatbots as if they were friends or therapists. In one late-night experiment, Thomas asked Gemini to interview him and figure out what would make him “the happiest person in the world”; the system eventually pointed out contradictions in his answers and nudged him toward deeper reflection. That shows how AI can mirror back patterns in your own thinking and ask probing questions. But it still lacks the embodied empathy, nuanced perception, and ethical responsibility of a trained human therapist, who reads not just words but tone, pauses, posture, and history. AI can supplement support; it should not replace serious care. Why You Should Start Now Paradoxically, Thomas’s biggest fear is not that AI will take over, but that people will be left behind because they are too afraid to try it. Like refusing to learn to drive when everyone else has moved to cars, opting out of AI entirely risks shrinking your options just as the toolset explodes. The most practical stance is curious, critical use: test it, set boundaries, keep the human touch at the centre, and let the machines handle the drudgery.

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About

A place for conversation that spans life in Luxembourg and beyond. Each week an international guest list will reflect on the week’s news, plus a whole host of other topics: politics to pollination; education to entrepreneurship; science to singing. Luxembourg sits in the beating heart of Europe and its diverse population provides a global perspective on a number of world issues.

Information

  • Channel
    RTL Today
  • Creator
    RTL - Lisa Burke
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    91
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © CLT-UFA S.A.
  • Show Website
    Lisa Burke Show

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