Welcome to the third episode of The Middle Ground, a new talk show and podcast, not on politics, but on the people of Brussels.

This week's guest is Kelly Agathos, the Greek-American performer who founded two standout projects in Brussels: The Schuman Show, an EU-themed info-comedy, and ImproBubble, the city's improvisational theatre club. Kelly lives and breathes performance, comedy, and storytelling.

In this conversation, we discuss what it feels like to trade a promising career in EU institutions for an untraditional, disruptive path in creative arts that actually makes you happy. Kelly shares the founding story of The Schuman Show, why improvisation is useful far beyond the stage, and the perks and challenges of life as a performer in Brussels. We discuss whether Europeans can laugh at themselves, and how she finds her own middle ground in all the busyness. Watch till the end to discover who she thinks has the best gastronomy in Brussels - Greeks or Italians.

The episode is hosted by Viktorya Muradyan.

You can find more about The Schuman Show on https://www.schumanshow.eu/. Discover and join the ImproBubble on https://www.improbubble.com/. And of course, find out more about Kelly Agathos on her website, https://www.kellyagathos.com/.

🔵 About The Middle Ground

We’re Valeriya and Viktorya, two immigrant best friends who came to Brussels from Ukraine and Armenia. We bonded over war, visas, jobs, and endless receptions, and eventually built a home together – with a blue couch overlooking the Belgian capital and the heart of the EU. That couch has become the place where we laugh, vent, and try to make sense of this city we’ve learned to love. One night, we realised Brussels was missing exactly that: a cosy, human space for honest conversations.

That’s how The Middle Ground was born: a mix between a talk show and a podcast for all the people of Brussels – not just those with titles and badges, but also those who keep the city alive with their work, love, stories, frustrations, victories, and humour. We want to show a Brussels where everyone belongs, and where you can build a beautiful, happy life even before you’ve “made it.”

Every week, we invite someone onto the couch to talk about their journey, their lessons, and the truths we usually only share over coffee or beers. It’s funny, warm, sometimes cheeky, and always real.

👉 Join our community: We need you to make this project work. You are the soul of Brussels, your life and your stories keep this city alive. Subscribe, comment, share your thoughts, and let’s find our middle ground together.

If you are interested in being a guest, please fill out this form, and we will get back to you.

🌍 Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠LinkedIn⁠, and ⁠TikTok⁠

📧 Get in touch with us: ⁠[email protected]⁠

🔗 Connect with the producers and hosts:

Valeriya Izhyk → ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn⁠

Viktorya Muradyan → ⁠Instagram⁠ | ⁠LinkedIn

Welcome to the third episode of The Middle Ground, a new talk show and podcast, not on politics, but on the people of Brussels.

Our guest this week is Francesco Cappelletti. Born and raised on a picturesque farm in Tuscany, he found his second home in Brussels. Trained as a classical violinist, he transitioned to the world of international relations and politics in Brussels.

In this conversation, we dive into what it feels like to teach the younger generation nowadays, and how it took him only 1000 euros to run a campaign for European elections. Francesco opens up about the complicated surgery he underwent and how his dog, Dante, helped me go through it with more optimism and love than ever.

The episode is hosted by Valeriya Izhyk.

🔵 About The Middle Ground

We’re Valeriya and Viktorya, two immigrant best friends who came to Brussels from Ukraine and Armenia. We bonded over war, visas, jobs, and endless receptions, and eventually built a home together – with a blue couch overlooking the Belgian capital and the heart of the EU. That couch has become the place where we laugh, vent, and try to make sense of this city we’ve learned to love. One night, we realised Brussels was missing exactly that: a cosy, human space for honest conversations.

That’s how The Middle Ground was born: a mix between a talk show and a podcast for all the people of Brussels – not just those with titles and badges, but also those who keep the city alive with their work, love, stories, frustrations, victories, and humour. We want to show a Brussels where everyone belongs, and where you can build a beautiful, happy life even before you’ve “made it.”

Every week, we invite someone onto the couch to talk about their journey, their lessons, and the truths we usually only share over coffee or beers. It’s funny, warm, sometimes cheeky, and always real.

👉 Join our community: We need you to make this project work. You are the soul of Brussels, your life and your stories keep this city alive. Subscribe, comment, share your thoughts, and let’s find our middle ground together.

If you are interested in being a guest, please fill out ⁠this form⁠, and we will get back to you.

🌍 Follow us on ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠, ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠, ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠, and ⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠

📧 Get in touch with us: ⁠⁠[email protected]⁠⁠

🔗 Connect with the producers and hosts:

Valeriya Izhyk → ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠

Viktorya Muradyan → ⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠

Welcome to the very first episode of The Middle Ground, Brussels’ new talk show and podcast, not on politics, but on the people of Brussels.

Our first guest on the blue couch this week is Julius Fintelmann, a 23-year-old journalist and co-founder of The European Correspondent. Once destined to be an opera singer, Julius traded a career in culture to study law and build a truly European journalism with a pan-European newsroom, bold storytelling, and yes… a now-famous collection of turtlenecks.

In this conversation, we dive into what it takes to build a media startup from scratch, the lessons classical music can teach journalism, what it feels like to be labelled a national security threat in Türkiye, and why Brussels, with all its quirks, contradictions, and guilty pleasures, is the perfect place to call home. Julius also opens up about burnout, resilience, and the toll of chasing a dream in your early twenties.

🔵 About The Middle Ground

We’re Valeriya and Viktorya, two immigrant best friends who came to Brussels from Ukraine and Armenia. We bonded over war, visas, jobs, and endless receptions and built a home together, with a blue couch overlooking Brussels. That couch has become the heart of our lives, a place where we laughed, vented, and tried to make sense of this city we learnt to love. One night, we realised Brussels was missing exactly that: a cosy, human space for honest conversations. That’s how The Middle Ground was born: a unique mix of a talk show and podcast for ALL the people of Brussels, not just the ones with titles and badges, but also the ones who keep the city alive with their work, love, stories, frustrations, victories, and humour. We want to show a Brussels where everyone belongs, where you can build a beautiful and happy life, even before achieving your dreams.Every week, we invite someone onto the couch to talk about their journey, their lessons, and the truths we usually only share over coffee or beers. It’s funny, warm, sometimes cheeky, and always real.

👉 Join our community: We need you to make this work. You are the soul of Brussels, your life and your stories keep this city alive. Subscribe, comment, share your thoughts, and let’s find our middle ground together.

🌍 Follow us on Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and TikTok

📧 Get in touch with us: [email protected]

🔗 Connect with the producers and hosts:

Valeriya Izhyk → Instagram | LinkedIn

Viktorya Muradyan → Instagram | LinkedIn