Sam Steen of Ara City Radio does 33-hour radio marathon in a crowdfunding effort for the imperiled station. How did he get into radio, why Ara needs support and what's so special about Luxembourg?

Joanne Zhou is a Chinese journalist who lives in Luxembourg. She talked to Luxventures on differences between media in China and Luxembourg, coronavirus pandemic and making sense of life in a new country on a different continent.

You might think it weird to talk about curling just as Summer is about to, well, break out. And you would be right, of course. But then again, a lot of things in Luxembourg were weird in the past two or three months, so why stop now? For many people the past two months of lock-down have only exacerbated that familiar feeling of being trapped (or cocooned, depending on your point of view) inside the expat bubble, with minimum interaction with the local population and the internet as the...

Tama Moiser is a New Zealander who years ago landed on Europe’s shores and eventually made a decision to move to Luxembourg. While to some that may seem strange, peculiar or downright silly, it made perfect sense to her. And it turned out to be – to turn a popular phrase – a call that aged well.

Lisa McLean, Ara City Radio station manager says that Luxembourg during the coronavirus lockdown reminds her of how things were when she arrived here more than twenty years ago.

One thing that you can be sure about lunchtime in Luxembourg is, that you will never be alone. The other thing about lunchtime in Luxembourg is, that you’ll probably hear more than three languages spoken simultaneously at any given time. Which is precisely what happened the other day in this cosy little Greek restaurant in the centre of the capital. In this podcast I trick unsuspecting expats into sharing their experience with Lëtzebuerg. What to expect, how to adapt,...

They say that everything is bigger in Texas. If so, just how big does Luxembourg look from the Lone Star State? By local standards, Joseba Echave is a relatively new arrival. A Spaniard who came to the Grand Duchy not from Spain but from the land of cowboys, Davy Crockett and, well, nice weather. So, how’s the transition going? My name is Aljaž Pengov Bitenc and this is Luxventures, your podcasting guide to navigating life in the Grand Duchy. In this...

Some people become expats by choice. Others, by necessity. Some, however, are expats by profession. Most of these are called diplomats and Luxembourg is full of them. Austrian ambassador Gregor Schusterschitz was, until recently, a staple in Luxembourgish diplomatic and media circles. His musings on Twitter were especially witty. Then Brexit happened and Ambassador Schusterschitz was appointed as head of the Austrian delegation in the Brexit working group. Needless to say, things got...

You’ll be forgiven for thinking that people mostly just keep coming to Luxembourg. Sometimes, people also leave Luxembourg. But very rarely do people leave Luxembourg to live on a boat. As cosmopolitan as Luxembourg has become, it is no substitute for actually seeing the world with your own eyes. And I literally mean »seeing the world«, as my guest in this episode has seen a good part of it, mostly in places that are deep, blue and pretty much devoid of...

Outside of doing some serious drugs, few things can feel so other-worldly as dealing with the real estate market in Luxembourg. And since no one wants a bad trip, one way or the other, we’ve got your back. No matter whether you’re renting or buying in Luxembourg, the feeling that you’re banging your head against a brick wall  – four brick walls, to be exact – is nothing to be ashamed of. If it is any consolation, you are definitely not alone. Helping us getting to terms...

Usually, arranging for a guest to appear on a podcast – let alone Luxventures podcast – takes time. Scheduling conflicts, prior obligations, uneasiness about this weird journalist character wielding the microphone, it all matters. But then again, sometimes you get stuck in front of a train station in Brussels at 3 AM and lo, behold… For all intents and purposes, Slovenian photographer Matic Zorman came to Luxembourg directly from the Middle East. Ever since the move, he has tirelessly...

Compared to their colleagues in local schools, teachers at the two Europeans schools in Luxembourg are increasingly at a disadvantage in terms of salary and job safety. How can this happen in a country where teaching is one of the highest-paid professions in the public sector and what – if anything – will the next few days bring in the year-long struggle to level the playing field? Usually in this podcast we trick unsuspecting expats into sharing their experience with...

If you like Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, then you’ll like this episode of Luxventures. Not only does it feature two middle-aged guys in a motorised vehicle, it is also marginally funnier. But since neither Nick Wilkinson nor myself own massively overpriced cars, we literally talked in the back of a bus. The dreaded line 222, to be exact. We did talk about massively overpriced cars, though. An buses. And ticket inspectors. But we also talked about...

The first episode of the new season features Ellen Salloum, a Syrian mother of two who was forced to leave her country on account of the conflict there. She talks about her fears and worries as well as relief and piece of mind when she realised she and her family will stay in Luxembourg for a bit. We talked about how Luxembourg and its people look from the standpoint of someone who was primarily trying to escape from a war-zone but who also had little say over their final...

This is the final episode of Luxventures in 2018. Holiday season is upon us, office parties are aplenty and kids’ school Christmas shows are horrifyingly cute. But we won’t talk about that. At least not all that much. Instead, we’ll talk about the EIB, European Investment Bank. You know, that complex on the edge of Kirchberg where sometimes you get the feeling the 70’s called and asked for their architecture critic back. But rather than architecture, about which this...

In this episode of Luxventures we change tack a bit and talk about politics in Luxembourg. Or, rather, we talk about the first rule of talking about politics in Luxembourg. Which is that one should never talk about politics in Luxembourg. Especially if one is an expat. OK, so things are not really that weird, but there are nuances to Luxembourgish political attitudes which might be hard for expats to understand. Especially if one comes from a very political and/or divided society, like...

Vio Dudau is a Romanian photographer who ended up in Luxembourg while searching for a more moderate climate. Yes, you heard that right. But other than the weather, the perennial topic of life in Lëtzebuerg, we talk about setting up your own business (hint: it’s not all that easy), life outside your run-of-the-mill expat bubble and, of course, the best spots to snap pictures in and of Luxembourg. Check out Vio’s website photographer.lu or hook up with him on Facebook. There you’ll find...

In this episode we talk to Valter Mavrič, a compatriot of mine who moved to Luxembourg some fifteen years ago and never looked back. For he most part that’s because he’s busy heading the General directorate of the European Parliament for Translation, or DG TRAD as it is affectionately known on the inside. But also because not only has Valter adopted Luxembourg, Luxembourg seems to have adopted him. Which is why we talked about breaking out of the expat bubble, whether it is worth it...

After an unplanned two-month-long hiatus, we talk to a fellow podcaster. Martin Jonsonn is a podcaster based in Luxembourg but hailing from Sweden. Although you’d never guess just by listening to him since his English is infuriatingly perfect. Martin in an incredibly nice and smart guy and very easy to talk to, so it is little wonder we covered a broad range of subjects. Not in the least podcasting. Among other things, Martin also produces LetzCast, a podcast tackling broadly the same...

In this episode of Luxventures wa talk to Alexa. Well, not Alexa as such, although we’ve heard of people talking to the artificial assistant as if it were a real person, which is kind of sad. Rather, we speak to Max Amordeluso, EU Lead Evangelist for Amazon Alexa, who landed in Luxembourg about three years ago on a really cold spell in mid-July and had about a week to get his head around the place he now calls home. Or, to be exact, one of his homes. What brings a man from Florence to...

All that glitters is not gold. Sometimes all that glitters is just f*****g glitter that gets everywhere and is impossible to get rid of leaving you feeling stupid and slightly dejected, pondering your choices in life. Which is what looking for a job in Luxembourg can feel like. Specifically, a job for the significant other, who tagged along with their eurocrat / financial / IT / steel & metallurgy / space-mining sector-dwelling spouse. Sure, playing the desperate housewife of any gender...

By far and large Canadians are so infuriatingly nice, that it’s easy to understand why they can get on other people’s nerves. I mean, even the prime minister’s motorcade signals when making a left turn. But what, if anything, irks Canadians in Luxembourg? Or, at the very least, one particular Canadian. In this episode of Luxventures we talk to Karen Wauters, who has seen Luxembourg develop from a sleepy little place only Eurocrats and bean counters got their kicks out of to the bustling...

Welcome to the inaugural edition of Luxventures, your guide to navigating life in the grand duchy. My name is Aljaž Pengov Bitenc and I’ll be hosting this thing. For the most part this means tricking unsuspecting expats into sharing their experience with Luxembourg. But somewhere along the way they’ll also be sharing with me life hacks that helped them adapt to their new environment. Luxventures will hopefully get published at a rate of one episode per month. Be that as it may, i hope you...