Shows / The Interview
The Interview
Conversations with people shaping our world, from all around the globe. Listen to The Interview for the best conversations from the BBC, the world's most trusted international news provider. We hear from titans of business, politics, finance, sport and culture. Global leaders, decision-makers and cultural icons. Politicians, activists and CEOs. Each interview is around 20-minutes, packed full of insight and analysis, covering some of the biggest issues of our time. How does it work? Well, at…
Episodes
- The Interview
Fawad Chaudhry: Is Imran Khan reneging on his promises to Pakistan?
Who holds the reins of power in Pakistan? Prime Minister Imran Khan leads a government elected in 2018; if Pakistan is a genuine democracy, then that’s where…
- The Interview
Tito Mboweni: How much has Covid damaged South Africa?
South Africa is wrestling with a continued health and economic crisis courtesy of Covid-19, but the country’s ruling ANC party is also distracted by internal…
- The Interview
Ben Hodges: Is America's global power waning?
Stephen Sackur speaks to retired US general Ben Hodges, former Commander of the US Army in Europe. The 20th century was in many ways shaped by America’s…
- The Interview
Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s Ambassador to the EU
Russia’s relations with the West have been poor for some time but now they have reached a new level of hostility. Since the imprisonment of Russian opposition…
- The Interview
Husam Zomlot: Palestine's balance of power
The latest round of conflict between Israel and militant groups in Gaza has left the Palestinian Authority looking sidelined and powerless. Is this a permanent…
- The Interview
Kaja Kallas: Do Nato and the EU have Estonia's back?
When hostility between Russia and the West, is high the Baltic states get nervous. Will membership of the EU and Nato protect Estonia from the possibility of…
- The Interview
Tzipi Hotovely: Israel's ambassador to the UK
The escalating violence between Israel and the militant Islamic groups in Gaza has the potential to inflict terrible bloodshed, but will it change any of the…
- The Interview
Harry Theoharis: What is in store for European summer holidays?
We have reached the point in the Covid pandemic where the impacts of the virus are varying wildly. Here in the UK, infection rates have been contained and a…
- The Interview
Fawzia Koofi: The future for women in Afghanistan
Zeinab Badawi interviews Fawzia Koofi, the first woman to lead a political party in Afghanistan, and is part of an Afghan delegation in talks with the Taliban…
- The Interview
Mohammed Alyahya: Does Saudi Arabia still have America's support?
Month by month, US President Joe Biden is shifting away from Trump-era foreign policy positions. But how dramatic will the pivot be? In the Middle East, there…
- The Interview
Mohamedou Ould Slahi: What is the Guantanamo legacy?
Stephen Sackur interviews Mohamedou Ould Slahi, a Mauritanian citizen who was once identified as a high value al-Qaeda terrorist, serving 14 years in America’s…
The InterviewArtists Gilbert Prousch & George Passmore
Gilbert Prousch and George Passmore first met as art students in London in the late 1960s and ever since then they've been together as a couple and as an…
- The Interview
Dmytro Kuleba: Has the Russian threat to Ukraine receded?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dmytro Kuleba. A few days ago, the Ukrainian Government was pleading for international help to…
- The Interview
Sir Peter Westmacott: Are we at peak geopolitical risk?
Russian troops are massing on Ukraine’s border, while China and the US are locked in Cold War-style hostility. Cyberwarfare makes states, systems and…
- The Interview
Navalny aide Vladimir Ashurkov: Is Putin about to eliminate his most dangerous opponent?
The imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny describes himself as a walking skeleton. He’s refusing food in protest at his medical treatment, and…
- The Interview
Michael Mann: The new climate war?
President Biden is promising hundreds of billions of dollars to speed up the decarbonisation of the US economy – the White House wants cooperation with China…
- The Interview
Silvia Foti: When truth trumps family loyalty
Stephen Sackur interviews Silvia Foti, an American writer whose grandfather was a Lithuanian man hailed as heroic patriot who paid with his life resisting the…
- The Interview
Serj Tankian: System of a Down frontman on activism and music
Serj Tankian is the frontman of world-renowned rock band System of a Down, but is also an arch advocate for his family’s homeland, Armenia. His passionate…
- The Interview
Tsitsi Dangarembga: Are better days coming for Zimbabwe?
Zeinab Badawi interviews playwright, novelist and filmmaker Tsitsi Dangarembga, one of Zimbabwe’s most influential and acclaimed cultural figures. Arrested for…
- The Interview
Amrullah Saleh: Is the Afghan peace process running out of road?
If Afghanistan is to find a way out of seemingly never-ending war the next few weeks will be critically important. The Biden Administration is pressing the…
- The Interview
Ken Rogoff: Does Bidenomics make sense?
The Covid pandemic looks like a watershed moment in global economics. Big Government is back as the failsafe engine of economic growth, as the usual fears such…
- The Interview
Barbara Amiel: What do the super-rich owe the rest of the world?
The proportion of wealth owned by a super-rich elite continues to grow in societies around the world. The glaring disparity between the 'have-mosts' and the…
- The Interview
Sir Vartan Melkonian: From Beirut street child to the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Sir Vartan Melkonian began his life as an Armenian refugee in Lebanon, spending his early years in an orphanage outside Beirut, followed by living rough on the…
- The Interview
Erika Lust: Can porn be feminist?
Porn is one of the biggest drivers of internet traffic and a generator of vast amounts of money, but also an industry in a state of flux. The biggest online…
- The Interview
Marina Abramović: A remarkable career pushed to the limits
Much of the art we love is presented via a medium - be it a canvas, a recording or celluloid. Stephen Sackur interviews Marina Abramović, an artist whose…
- The Interview
Jean-Claude Juncker: Is Covid an unprecedented test of EU cohesion?
The Covid-19 pandemic has presented the European Union with an unprecedented test of its cohesion and competence. Right now, the scorecard looks decidedly…
- The Interview
Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee: Is the concept of ‘one country, two systems’ dead?
It seems the Biden Administration is putting greater emphasis on human rights issues in its already fraught relationship with China. Will that prompt Beijing…
- The Interview
Baroness Minouche Shafik: What do we owe each other?
The idea of a social contract between the individual and the state is a staple of political philosophy. But what happens when that contract is threatened by…
- The Interview
Stephen King: Are you afraid of the dark?
Millions of readers all over the world are drawn to fiction that explores our fears. Horror sells and no-one does it better or more prolifically than Stephen…
- The Interview
Vjosa Osmani: Acting President of Kosovo
The legacy of conflict and hate left behind after the collapse of Yugoslavia is not easily overcome. They know that in Kosovo, which declared independent…
- The Interview
Adar Poonawalla: How to vaccinate the world
Stephen Sackur speaks to Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the biggest vaccine producer in the world, Serum Institute of India. He went all-in on a production deal…
- The Interview
Dr Sasa: Does Myanmar have a democratic future?
Dr Sasa has a remarkable life story, which has taken him from a remote mountain village in western Myanmar to a place in the international media spotlight as a…
- The Interview
Jewher Ilham: Fears for her Uighur family in China
A combination of personal testimony, leaked documents and satellite imagery points to a systematic policy of repression of the Muslim Uighur population of…
- The Interview
Evan McMullin: What next for anti-Trump Republicans?
Despite losing the presidency and both Houses of Congress, Donald Trump still seems to have a chokehold on the Republican party. So what will Republican…
- The Interview
Khin Zaw Win: Protests in Myanmar
Mass protests against military rule across Myanmar have been met with increasing force, and the death toll is rising. Stephen Sackur interviews Khin Zaw Win, a…
- The Interview
Valdis Dombrovskis: Is the EU ready to aggressively defend its interests?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the European Commission’s Executive Vice-President with responsibility for the economy and trade, Valdis Dombrovskis. Protectionism…
- The Interview
Harvey Goldsmith: Can live music survive Covid?
Stephen Sackur interviews one of the UK’s top live music promoters, Harvey Goldsmith. One of the many costs of the Covid pandemic means that, in much of the…
- The Interview
Dr Seth Berkley: How to ensure the whole world gets a Covid vaccine
Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that a vast gulf is opening up between Covid vaccination rates in the richest countries and the poorest. But still the numbers…
- The Interview
Elizabeth Neumann: The battle for the soul of the US Republican Party
How far does the Republican party need to go to reinvent itself following Donald Trumps defeat in the November Presidential election? Elizabeth Neumann, a…
- The Interview
Timothy Snyder: Lessons from history
Stephen Sackur speaks to Timothy Snyder, renowned American historian of totalitarianism and the Holocaust, about the Trump presidency. Professor Snyder…
- The Interview
Douglas Stuart: Stories of tender souls in tough places
Stephen Sackur speaks to the Booker prize-winning author Douglas Stuart. His novel, Shuggie Bain, centres on a boy growing up amid poverty, addiction and…
- The Interview
Yogendra Yadav: Are farmers' protests a defining moment for India?
Thousands of Indian farmers are keeping up their long-running protest against farm law reform. Stephen Sackur interviews Yogendra Yadav, leader of the Swaraj…
- The Interview
Kirill Dmitriev: Russia's Sputnik V a vaccine for humankind?
Right now the world is seeing two sides of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The one he wants you to see is the scientifically advanced nation offering the world an…
- The Interview
Clément Beaune: Is Covid-19 exposing weaknesses in the EU?
Stephen Sackur speaks to France’s Europe Minister, Clément Beaune. The European Union faces a huge Covid challenge. The vaccine rollout has been slow, internal…
- The Interview
Laurie Santos: Can we learn how to be happy?
Stephen Sackur speaks to American psychologist Professor Laurie Santos, whose work at Yale University on the science of happiness has won her an audience of…
- The Interview
Evan Medeiros: How should Biden approach China?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Evan Medeiros, who was President Obama’s top adviser on China policy. Under Donald Trump, US-China relations soured dramatically. A…
- The Interview
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya: Has Belarus’s revolution stalled?
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya says she won last year’s presidential election in Belarus, and she is still intent on toppling Europe’s last de-facto dictator…
- The Interview
Dr Soumya Swaminathan: Is vaccine inequity undermining the fight against Covid?
The roll out of Covid-19 vaccines has boosted hopes the virus can be tamed. But it will have to be worldwide effort if it is to be effective, and right now the…
- The Interview
Madawi Al-Rasheed: Can the Saudi Crown Prince's authority really be challenged?
President Biden has reportedly paused arms sales to Saudi Arabia as his administration reviews relations with its long-time strategic ally. But is there any…
- The Interview
Thomas Byrne: Ireland's twin challenge
The new year sees Ireland facing the twin challenges of Covid and post-Brexit economics. How is the country coping? And is Dublin’s strategic vision of…
- The Interview
Leonid Volkov: Protests on the streets of Russia
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is the most resilient opponent Vladimir Putin has ever faced. Navalny survived assassination by Novichok, returned to…
- The Interview
Yuli Edelstein: Israel's Covid-19 vaccination programme leads the world
Israel is leading the world in the roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine. More than a million Israelis have had their second dose, the prime minister claims the…
- The Interview
Lina Khan: Can big tech companies be tamed by US antitrust laws?
Can and should anything be done to halt the inexorable rise of the global technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook? Over the past decade we’ve…
- The Interview
Kenneth Chan: Is democracy lost in Hong Kong?
The Chinese government began this year by intensifying its crackdown on the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong. Amid mass arrests, the surveillance of the…
- The Interview
Tamara Rojo: Ballet in a pandemic
Some of the things the Covid pandemic has taken away are easier to quantify than others. The death toll and the job losses make headlines, but the closed arts…
- The Interview
Alan Dershowitz: Trump's second impeachment
Donald Trump has secured a unique place in the history books as the first president in American history to be impeached twice. What that means in practical…
- The Interview
Virologist Barry Schoub: South Africa's covid situation 'is bleak'
South Africa is now grappling with a highly transmissible new strain of Covid-19 that is causing international concern. Stephen Sackur interviews Professor…
- The Interview
Alan Rusbridger: Fact v fiction
Stephen Sackur interviews Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian and now a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board. The Covid-19 pandemic is a test of…
- The Interview
Admiral James Stavridis: The aftermath of the capitol riot
The Trump inspired insurrection on Capitol Hill failed. But the wounds to America’s body politic are now raw and deep. The President remains Commander in Chief…
- The Interview
Neil Ferguson: Did the UK get its Covid strategy wrong?
Stephen Sackur speaks to British epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose early modelling of Covid-19 made him an influential advocate of the lockdown…