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
Ronny Tong: Has China killed Hong Kong's special status?
Residents of Hong Kong are living with a new reality - a draconian national security law made in China and imposed on the territory with no meaningful…
- The Interview
Nadya Tolokonnikova: Pussy Riot & Russian protest
Vladimir Putin can now seek to extend his rule in Russia to 2036 thanks to a constitutional referendum, stage managed by the Kremlin. Is there any prospect of…
- The Interview
Kathy Sullivan: Exploring space and the Mariana Trench
The human impulse to explore new frontiers has taken us into space and to the deepest, most remote corners of our own planet. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks…
- The Interview
Armando Iannucci: Is this a bad time to be funny?
It’s the job of the professional satirist to find the funny and expose the absurd in humanity’s most serious endeavours. But are there times when satire just…
- The Interview
Maria Ressa: Is the press under attack in the Philippines?
No world leader better epitomises the strong man style of political leadership than President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. One hallmark of his rule? A…
- The Interview
André Leon Talley: Race, fashion and Vogue
Since George Floyd died in Minneapolis with a white police officer’s knee on his neck, new conversations about racism and discrimination have begun all over…
- The Interview
Chile Eboe-Osuji: Can the International Criminal Court achieve its goals?
President Trump has just widened the scope of US sanctions placed on top officials of the International Criminal Court describing the court as an extraordinary…
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Jim McGovern: Can Biden unite the left?
President Donald Trump is in trouble. Coronavirus has plunged the US economy into recession, the killing of George Floyd has inflamed racial tensions and the…
- The Interview
Arancha Gonzalez: Why isn't the world working together?
Covid-19 has presented governments across the world with a common threat, but the response has been far from united and collaborative. Has the pandemic further…
- The Interview
Epidemiologist Ian Lipkin: Are we getting the pandemic response right?
All of us fervently want to believe the worst of the coronavirus pandemic is over. Governments around the world are easing lockdowns and focusing on economic…
- The Interview
Simon Cheng: 'We need to fight for democracy in Hong Kong and China'
One year ago, pro-democracy street protests began in Hong Kong. At the time, Simon Cheng was an employee of the British consulate in Hong Kong. Last August, he…
- The Interview
Mary Frances Berry: A new era in civil rights?
Will the waves of protest and anger that have swept through US cities since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis make a lasting difference to race…
- The Interview
James Graham: How much do we care about protecting our culture?
The coronavirus pandemic has dealt a devastating blow to the performing arts. No one knows when audiences will again be able to pack into a theatre to see a…
- The Interview
Rutger Bregman: Are humans essentially good?
In times of crisis we learn plenty about who we really are – and so it is that the global coronavirus pandemic is revealing truths about humankind – and how we…
- The Interview
Mário Centeno: Can the Euro survive Covid?
Europe has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic – now that most countries have controlled the spread of infection and begun to ease their lockdown, does…
- The Interview
National General Secretary of India's BJP, Ram Madhav
In some countries the coronavirus pandemic appears to have enhanced national unity and solidarity, in others it’s exposed deep fault lines. In India the crisis…
- The Interview
Raghuram Rajan: Should economies pile up debt to cope with Covid-19?
The Covid-19 pandemic has plunged the world economy into a deep recession. How long will it last and what kind of recovery can we expect? That in part depends…
- The Interview
Rocco Forte: Can hotels recover?
No sector of the global economy has been harder hit by Covid-19 than the travel and hospitality industry. Millions of workers dependent on travel and tourism…
- The Interview
French Minister for Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire: EU faces 'gravest crisis'
When faced with the Covid-19 pandemic, the European Union struggled to respond with collective action. The countries first and worst affected, Italy and Spain…
- The Interview
Anders Tegnell: Is Sweden the best model for coronavirus response?
Much of the world responded to the Covid-19 pandemic with a lockdown strategy. Now there's much focus on finding a sustainable post-lockdown strategy that…
- The Interview
David Miliband: President, International Rescue Committee
It may be a global pandemic but Covid-19 has hardly united the world around a collective response. We have seen world leaders focus on national self-interest…
- The Interview
Luiz Henrique Mandetta: Brazil's sacked Health Minister speaks out
While some countries are claiming success in their effort to curb Covid-19, Brazil is increasingly looking like an outlier. The rate of new infections is still…
- The Interview
US Democrat Senate Candidate Jaime Harrison: Joe Biden 'bringing calm to the storm we're in'
The Covid-19 death toll in the US has gone beyond 70,000 and scientists now expect it to go far beyond 100,000 within the next month. At the same time…
- The Interview
Dutch MEP Sophie in't Veld: 'Decline of the EU is possible but it's in our own hands'
The coronavirus pandemic has presented Europe with a massive challenge – and so far the EU’s response has been found wanting in several key respects. As the…
- The Interview
Liu Xiaoming: Is China a victim of Covid-19 or the source of the problem?
As the global effort to control Covid-19 continues so arguments about culpability for the spread of the pandemic intensify. At the centre of the story is…
- The Interview
Jens Stoltenberg: Has Nato risen to the challenge of Covid-19?
The coronavirus pandemic is a multi-layered global crisis. It starts with public health, but it reaches deep into the world economy and the global security…
- The Interview
Yuval Noah Harari: Covid-19 - a new regime of surveillance?
The coronavirus pandemic has presented humanity with an almighty shock. Here we are, with our evermore interconnected, technologically-advanced societies…
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Brian Cox: From poverty to Succession
Brian Cox, star of the global hit HBO drama Succession, is currently in New York, the US city worst affected by the virus. His long career has taken in…
- The Interview
David Nabarro: Is the WHO failing its greatest test?
With nation states across the world struggling to contain the coronavirus pandemic, there’s an urgent need for an internationally coordinated response. That’s…
- The Interview
Zoltan Kovacs: Is the EU facing its first de facto dictatorship?
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted governments around the world to take emergency measures. Liberties have been restricted in the name of safeguarding…
- The Interview
Ola Källenius: Surviving coronavirus's economic shock
Every day, the havoc wrought by the coronavirus pandemic on public health and on the global economy worsens. Economic activity beyond the barest of essentials…
- The Interview
Antonio Guterres: How should the UN fight Covid-19?
Zainab Bedawi talks to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, who has described the Covid-19 crisis as "a threat to the whole of…
- The Interview
Margaret Heffernan: Is it time to embrace uncertainty?
The worldwide spread of coronavirus and its significant negative impact on the global economy represents a powerful illustration of the perils of forecasting…
- The Interview
Laurence Boone: Is enough being done to prevent a recession?
HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Laurence Boone, chief economist at the global economic forum, the OECD. Leaders around the world have adopted the language…
The InterviewEoin Ó Broin: Will Sinn Fein be part of Ireland's government?
HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Sinn Fein’s Eoin Ó Broin. Coronavirus is first and foremost a global health crisis. But its impacts go so much further. The…
- The Interview
Mufaddal Hamadeh: Is the world indifferent to Syria's sufffering?
Idlib, Syria’s sole remaining rebel province is on the verge of the biggest humanitarian crisis of the 21st century". So says the UN’s top official responsible…
- The Interview
Ian Goldin: Will Covid-19 cause a new recession?
The Covid-19 crisis is not only a threat to people's health and wellbeing, it is already having severe financial consequences, which many fear will result in a…
- The Interview
Congressman Anthony Brown: Is Joe Biden really the best the Democrats can do?
The US political landscape has shifted dramatically in the last few weeks. The Democratic Party’s search for the best candidate to beat Donald Trump in…
- The Interview
William Kentridge: The unnaturalness of apartheid
Zeinab Badawi is in Johannesburg, interviewing William Kentridge. He is considered one of the world’s greatest living artists. He is versatile, hard-hitting…
- The Interview
Gabriel Attal: Has the magic worn off France's Emmanuel Macron?
President Emmanuel Macron’s bold promise to break the political mould in France has collided with reality. His reform plans, from tax to pensions, have stirred…
- The Interview
David Tait: Speaking out about sexual abuse
David Tait appeared to have a perfect life: all the trappings of a successful and highly lucrative career in the City of London, a wife and young family at…
- The Interview
Mmusi Maimane: Can his new party become a force in South Africa?
Hardtalk is in Cape Town to speak to Mmusi Maimane, who stood down last October as leader of the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance. In his first…
- The Interview
Professor David Heymann: The fight against coronavirus
"Get ready" is the message from health experts fighting COVID-19, the coronavirus. At least 80,000 people are already infected in more than 40 countries, and…
- The Interview
Dr Yasser Abu Jamei: Mental health in Gaza
HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Dr Yasser Abu Jamei, director of Gaza’s biggest mental health program. The past few days have seen rising tension in Gaza –…
- The Interview
Alan Dershowitz: Are the rich above the law?
In the United States all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law, but having money and power helps if you need legal difficulties to disappear. HARDtalk’s…
- The Interview
Tarana Burke: What difference has #MeToo made?
Tarana Burke first coined the phrase MeToo, long before the Harvey Weinstein case. She continues to reach out to marginalised women and girls. What difference…
- The Interview
Halima Aden: Challenging supermodel stereotypes
The designer catwalk and the glossy magazine cover are powerful cultural signifiers. Top models who occupy those spaces are deemed to have a look that attracts…
- The Interview
Agnes Callamard: Investigating the Khashoggi and Soleimani killings
There are international laws and norms designed to prohibit states from bumping off their enemies, internal or external. But look around the world, and its…
- The Interview
Paul Krugman: Nobel Prize-winning economist warns of threat to America’s economic future
Remember the time when political discourse was founded on those quaint concepts - facts, evidence, and expertise? Now it seems partisanship infects every…
- The Interview
Len McCluskey: What's the future of the UK Labour Party?
Like many of Europe’s long-established parties of the left, the UK Labour Party is in big trouble. In last December’s election, Labour wasn’t just beaten, it…
- The Interview
John Kani: Art and activism
For a generation of black South African artists who came of age in the apartheid era, art and activism were intertwined; the liberation struggle was their life…
- The Interview
Ian Blackford: Does the SNP have a winning strategy?
Ian Blackford is the Scottish Nationalist MP for a vast tract of north-west Scotland, and the leader of the SNP’s 48-strong band of Westminster MPs. He is a…
- The Interview
Ai Weiwei: Huawei, Hong Kong and being an artist in exile
China's rise to economic superpower status has not brought with it an opening up of politics or culture. Far from it. The Communist Party has intensified its…
- The Interview
Lauri Love: The realities of cyber security
Stephen Sackur speaks to the accused computer hacker Lauri Love. For nations, corporations and all of us as individuals, the age of the internet has heightened…
- The Interview
Jean-Claude Juncker: What's next for the EU and Britain?
Britain is at an historic fork in the road - taking the UK in a new direction, and maybe Europe too. Many on both sides didn't think it would come to this…
- The Interview
Patrick Suckling: Is Australia becoming a climate pariah?
Since September 2019, bush fires in Australia have consumed 10 million hectares of land – an area almost the size of England. People have died, homes have been…
- The Interview
Mindu Hornick: Don't let Auschwitz memories erode
It’s 75 years since allied troops entered the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz. The very word Auschwitz still stirs a unique level of horror. It was the place…
- The Interview
Don Bacon: Will Republicans regret their loyalty to Trump?
Perhaps it’s misleading to describe the unfolding events in the US Senate as the ‘impeachment trial’ of Donald Trump. After all, this is a process which may…
- The Interview
Alexander Blackman: How should crimes on the battlefield be handled?
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has promised to take steps to protect military personnel from what he describes as vexatious legal claims. It’s a controversial…
- The Interview
Tony Garnett: Making TV with a radical purpose
The British film and TV producer Tony Garnett died last week, aged 83. In 2016 Stephen Sackur spoke to him about his life and pioneering work which began in…