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A news commentary with James Kanter & guests
Ideas / Conversations / Wed 24th Jun / 7-8.30 pm
Live & On the Record: A Podcast Launch with James Kanter
Doors open at 6.30pm
Europe’s news is loud and moving fast. What’s Behind the News keeps up and cuts through the noise.
Join us for the live debut of the show bringing Europe's most consequential stories to life - on the record, in the room, in front of you.
Hosted by veteran Brussels journalist James Kanter, each episode brings together a rotating cast of fellow reporters and analysts to break through the clutter: EU power plays, the fault lines, the stories that shaped the week and the ones that slipped past the front page. Unscripted. Unfiltered. Live in front of you.
This is journalism doing what it's supposed to do: telling it as it is. And this is a live show for people who want to know what's really going on behind and beyond the headlines.
This first recording is where it all begins. Come join us and dig into the stories defining Europe right now.
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James Kanter is an American and British award-winning journalist and Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. Previously at Herald Tribune and The New York Times. He's co-founder and editor of the Podcast EU Scream.
Natasha Mellersh is an international journalist specializing in human rights, public international law, and migration. As a correspondent for Deutsche Welle (DW), she extensively covers European migration policies, integration and regularization programs, particularly in Spain and the broader EU. She is also a qualified solicitor (England & Wales).
Simon Van Dorpe is an EU investigative journalist at Follow The Money, and an expert on EU competition and industrial policy. His focus is on corruption and on how large multinationals - from tech giants to European lobby champions - set the agenda in Brussels. Previously he was at Politico Europe, Belga and Trends.
Estelle Nilsson-Julien is a broadcast and digital journalist at Euronews. She's producer and presenter of The Cube, a daily fact-checking show on disinformation and manipulation. Alongside this, she covers news and feature stories from across Europe. Versatile across formats, she spans the full production process, from presenting and filming to editing and writing.
All My Precious Madness by Mark Bowles
Culture | Thurs 25th Jun | 7:00-8:30 pm
Monthly meet up to discuss a great read, along with drinks & good company.
*Doors open at 6.30pm. The book club begins at 7pm.
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Great news! The author, Mark Bowles, joins us virtually to discuss his award-winning novel together.
This is the last book club before the summer break! Join us.
‘Unapologetically erudite and frequently brutal' - The Telegraph
Henry Nash has hauled his way from a working class childhood in Bradford, through an undergraduate degree at Oxford, and into adulthood and an academic elite. But still, he can’t escape his anger. As the world – and men in particular – continues to disappoint him, so does his rage grow in momentum until it becomes almost rapturous. And lethal. This is the story of a man at odds with the world. A man who wants to escape his violent past but instead – most emphatically – repeats it.
A savagely funny novel that disdains literary and moral conventions, All My Precious Madness is also a work of deep empathy – even when that also means understanding the darkest parts of humanity. One of the most electric debuts of the last decade.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mark Bowles is a published author and a committed teacher. Born and raised in Bradford, he went on to study at Liverpool and Oxford Universities. His first novel, All My Precious Madness, was published by Galley Beggar in 2024, and has been nominated for the Goldsmiths Prize and the Authors’ Club First Novel Prize. His second novel, How Do People Stay the Same, will be out in Spring 2025.
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ADDITIONAL INFO
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Bar open with snacks
Social | Sat 27th Jun | 5-7pm
Curious about Full Circle? Join us for a drink & discover what we're all about.
Whether you're already part of our community or simply intrigued, you’ll have the opportunity to meet the team, explore the house & hear more about our future plans – including what the different types of Full Circle memberships have to offer. It’s a relaxed & informal setting, ideal for asking questions & seeing if this is a place where you feel at home.
We warmly welcome current members & their guests too – so feel free to bring a friend or two along. It's a lovely way to connect with others who share a curiosity for ideas, culture & community. No pressure, just good company & a great conversation.
We're looking forward to welcoming you!
Bar & snacks
The New Map of Europe: Decoding the EU-Ukraine Integration and What it Means for Us with Sandra Melone & Diego de Ojeda
The New Map of Europe: Decoding the EU-Ukraine Integration and What it Means for Us
with Sandra Melone & Diego de Ojeda
Conversations | Sat 27th Jun | 5-7pm
For our last session before the summer break, we talk about the tangible, current institutional relationship between the EU and Ukraine, and what that structural reality transforms for everyday Europeans.
Right now, the relationship has moved past emergency solidarity into a highly technical, high-stakes phase: the formal opening of the first negotiation clusters for Ukraine's EU accession. Meanwhile, the massive Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC 2026) in Gdańsk takes place on June 25–26, the day before our session.
We are no longer just talking about a neighbour in crisis, but also about the future borders, economy, and identity of the European Union itself. With Ukraine's accession negotiations moving into the rigorous "Fundamentals" phase and major recovery frameworks shifting from emergency aid to deep economic coupling, integration is actively happening.
For EU citizens, this is not a distant foreign policy file, it is a domestic reality. It challenges the Union's very architecture: how decisions are made, how agricultural and regional funds are distributed, and what it means to share a single market and a security umbrella with a nation under martial law.
This session is a space to unpack the realities of this transition. We will look past the macro-bureaucratic language to ask what an integrated EU-Ukraine actually looks like on the ground, and how it reshapes the rights, responsibilities, and future of every EU citizen.
Open to everyone | Booking required
Bar open
Diego de Ojeda is currently Head of Unit for Defence and Preparedness at the Secretariat General of the European Commission. He has over 20 years of experience in international relations, with a specialisation in the Common Foreign Security Policy, the Middle East, Russia and Public Communication.
Hosting the Series is Sandra Djuvara Melone, CEO of Zancora Consulting, which she founded in 2021, with a strong expertise in peacebuilding, conflict resolution, crisis management, human rights and, not last, gender. With a vast experience on the ground, she has worked across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. She knows first hand what living through civil war is like. Sandra is the Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Search for Common Ground, Europe, one of the world’s leading international non-governmental organisations working in peacebuilding and conflict transformation, where she's been involved in various roles since 1995. Sandra is a founding member of the European Platform for Conflict Prevention and Transformation (EPCPT), of the European Peacebuilding Liaison Office (EPLO), and of the Child Soldiers Initiative (CSI). Before dedicating her career to conflict transformation, Sandra worked in human rights advocacy with Amnesty International, and in international education.
SINGLES APERO
Social | Sat 27th June | 7-9pm
The Singles Apero is our popular series of monthly encounters where you can meet other social singles in a safe space without matching pressure. Feel free to bring any single friends along or just come by yourself.
This is our last get together before the summer break. Come join us or see you back in September!
Open to all singles | Booking required
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We only have 120 tickets and we always sell out!!
It's time to dust off your dancing shoes and join a traditional Scottish ceilidh.
No previous experience or dancing skills required - the band will be calling out the steps as we go along. If you're a ceilidh regular then you know how much fun it is!
Bring your friends or come along but please, no spikey heels on our rather beautiful wooden floor.
* 7.30pm doors open - bar snacks available
* 8.00pm start dancing!
* 10.30pm Band finishes
*TICKET INCLUDES 1 DRINK (BEER, WINE OR SOFT)
BAR SNACKS AVAILABLE ALL EVENING
Bar & light food
The Hoggies are the original Brussels-based Scottish ceilidh band.
You already know us, you know what we do, and that by coming YOU make this a great event!
Get your EARLYBIRD pass for the entire weekend today!
FULL CIRCLE HOUSE
89 Ch. de Vleurgat, Brussels 1050, Belgium +32 (0)2 644 3777 I info [ AT ] fullcircle.eu
BOOK A VISIT
OPENING MON-WED & FRI 9AM-5.30PM THURS 9AM-9PMSAT 2PM-7PM (or 9PM) SUNDAY & PUBLIC HOLIDAYS - CLOSED
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