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
Political and Social Activist - Jay Naidoo
According to Oxfam, South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the World - the wealth of the two richest citizens outstrips that of the poorest…
- The Interview
Moazzam Begg
Hardtalk speaks to the British Muslim campaigner Moazzam Begg. He was detained at Guantanamo Bay between 2003 and 2005, and then last February he was held for…
- The Interview
Robbie Rogers - Footballer
Professional football has a problem with homophobia. There are gay footballers, but most feel compelled to keep their sexual orientation a secret. Hardtalk…
- The Interview
US Economist Luigi Zingales
American capitalism is in crisis - that's the view of Professor Luigi Zingales. He blames the links between big government and big business. For the man who…
- The Interview
Chinese Dissident - Wu'er Kaixi
Chinese dissident Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader during the pro-democracy protests in 1989, takes part in a live debate on democracy with Stephen Sackur. The…
- The Interview
Werner Herzog
Draw up a list of the greatest living film makers and Werner Herzog would surely occupy a prominent place. He is responsible for some of the most wildly…
- The Interview
Widow of Yasser Arafat - Suha Arafat
Zeinab Badawi is in Malta to speak to Suha Arafat – the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Ten years after his death, Mrs Arafat gives a rare…
- The Interview
Richard Barrett
In the wake of the Paris attacks mounted by home grown militants swearing allegiance variously to al Qaeda in Yemen and the self-styled Islamic State…
- The Interview
Yehuda Glick
Jerusalem boasts one of the most bitterly contested pieces of real estate in the World - known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims…
- The Interview
Economist - Costas Lapavitsas
Greek voters may be about to plunge the European Union into a fully-fledged economic and political crisis. Opinion polls suggest the leftist, anti-austerity…
- The Interview
Chair of UK Defence Select Committee - Rory Stewart
The West's strategic vision appears as clear as mud. After protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the appetite for military intervention has all but…
- The Interview
Scientist - Monica Grady
Are we any closer to learning about the origins of our universe after the historic landing in November of a European robot probe on a comet? The mission began…
- The Interview
Director General of the International Red Cross - Yves Daccord
The International Red Cross doesn't take sides; it prioritises field operations over political grandstanding. It's the humanitarian organisation that reaches…
- The Interview
Lord Coe
The sporting world has been tainted by the constant drip of doping allegations, bribery and corruption - does it need a 'Mr. Clean' to fix it? Hardtalk speaks…
- The Interview
Sir Antony Sher: Taking the stage
In a programme from 2014, Stephen Sackur interviews Antony Sher, widely regarded as one of the finest contemporary classical actors. How did a self-styled…
- The Interview
South Africa’s Public Protector - Thuli Madonsela
As South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog, Mrs Madonsela claims President Zuma ‘benefited unduly’ from a $25 million facelift for his private home and wants…
- The Interview
Nobel Peace Prize Winners 2014 - Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai
Hardtalk speaks to the joint winners of the 2014 Nobel Peace prize, Kailash Satyarthi and Malala Yousafzai. The judges awarded them the prize in recognition of…
- The Interview
Author and Columnist - Alaa al-Aswany
Whatever happened to the Egyptian revolution? Those heady days of people power in Tahrir square now seem like a collective delusion. A military strong man is…
- The Interview
Writer and Academic - Cornel West
Around the world the election of Barack Obama to the White House was seen as a watershed moment for race relations in America. The first black man to be…
- The Interview
UN Special Co-ordinator, Middle East Peace Process - Robert Serry
Israelis and Palestinians seem to have given up on the idea of negotiating a compromise peace. From Jerusalem to Gaza mutual mistrust is deep and getting…
- The Interview
Crime Writer - James Ellroy
Hardtalk speaks to the man who has been called America’s greatest living crime writer. Through works such as the Black Dalia and LA Confidential, James Ellroy…
- The Interview
Former Senior Adviser to the State Department - Vali Nasr
Have the United States and Iran blown their best chance of striking a deal to stop Iran acquiring nuclear weapons in exchange for a lifting of sanctions? And…
- The Interview
President of Pakistan, 2001-2008 - Pervez Musharraf
Hardtalk speaks to Pervez Musharraf, former army chief and president of Pakistan. He thought he could ride a wave of popular support back into power on his…
- The Interview
Infectious Diseases Specialist - Geraldine O’Hara
Ebola is wreaking havoc on three west African nations - Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The official death toll is beyond 5000, the real victim-count is…
- The Interview
Sir Nicholas Winton
Sir Nicholas Winton is now 105 years old, when he was just 29 he helped rescue more than 600 mostly Jewish children from Nazi persecution in Czechoslovakia. He…
- The Interview
Former Prime Minister of Russia - Mikhail Kasyanov
Just how far is Vladimir Putin prepared to push, in his high stakes confrontation with the West over Ukraine? New allegations of Russian military incursions…
- The Interview
Tourism Minister, Zimbabwe - Walter Mzembi
Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe is 90 years old. His grip on power is still tight but it won’t last forever. In recent months the jostling for the…
- The Interview
President Syrian National Coalition - Hadi al-Bahra
With international focus firmly on the power of the so-called Islamic State, has there been a lack of attention on the Assad regime and the role that it has…
- The Interview
Extra Time: Australian Rules Footballer - Adam Goodes
Extra Time is in Melbourne Australia and if there’s one sport which can uniquely claim to be home-grown it is Australian rules football, a high octane mixture…
- The Interview
Former National Security Advisor of Iraq - Mowaffak al-Rubaie
Who can rescue Iraq and defeat the extremists of the self-proclaimed Islamic State? The militants have seized about a quarter of the territory of Iraq and…
- The Interview
Surgeon and Writer - Atul Gawande
When a dying person asks their doctor if he or she can do anything to help, is it easier for the doctor to provide a false hope than have a difficult…
- The Interview
Minister of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone - Abubakarr Fofanah
Is the world winning the war against ebola? The World Health Organisation describes it as the most severe acute public health emergency in modern times and…
- The Interview
Guitarist and Founder of Status Quo - Francis Rossi
Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur talks to Francis Rossi, guitarist, singer and founder of the band Status Quo – one of the most popular and durable acts in the…
- The Interview
Nigerian Human Rights Activist - Shehu Sani
Days ago the Nigerian government announced a ceasefire deal with the militant group Boko Haram - officials predicted the imminent release of more than 200…
- The Interview
Mozilla Executive Chairwoman - Mitchell Baker
Many of us who use the internet for work and leisure come to feel that we couldn't live without it. The web opens up the world, but does it also harbour…
- The Interview
Turkish Ambassador to NATO - Mehmet Fatih Ceylan
National governments and security organisations are becoming increasingly preoccupied with the threat posed by the extremist group calling itself Islamic…
- The Interview
Former US Ambassador to Iraq - James Jeffrey
President Obama is just where he didn't want to be - fighting another war in the Middle East. He promises that American troops will not be dragged back into…
- The Interview
Former UN Negotiator - Giandomenico Picco
Is there a new brand of violent extremism that is identifiably different from all forms of militancy that have gone before? The question is prompted by the…
- The Interview
CEO, Axel Springer - Mathias Döpfner
Twenty-five years after the world’s most notorious wall came crashing down, Germany is Europe’s undisputed, dominant nation. This is a reflection of economic…
- The Interview
Joe Hockey MP - Treasurer, Australia
Next month the international club of rich nations, the G20, will meet in Australia. For much of the past decade the host nation boasted one of the strongest…
- The Interview
Prime Minister of Finland - Alexander Stubb
A sense of gloom is hanging over Europe. Years of economic stagnation are at the heart of it, but there are other factors too - for example, the security…
- The Interview
CEO, International Rescue Committee - David Miliband
The Middle East is in turmoil, beset by ethnic, religious and sectarian conflicts that together have created one of the gravest global humanitarian crises…
- The Interview
Chief of the Defence Staff, British Armed Forces, 2010-13 - General Lord Richards
The US led military operation against the so-called Islamic State organisation has raised a host of awkward questions. Is the makeshift coalition fighting a…
- The Interview
Director, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - Professor Peter Piot
The warnings about Ebola have been apocalyptic - Liberia's defence minister says it threatens his country's existence, while the US president says it threatens…
- The Interview
EU Counter-terrorism Coordinator - Gilles de Kerchove
How serious a threat to western security is the extremist group that calls itself Islamic State? According to those governments now backing military action…
- The Interview
Economist - Lord Stern
World leaders gathered at a UN climate summit in New York recently and pledged again to tackle global warming. Yet again this year global greenhouse emissions…
- The Interview
Opera Singer - Jessye Norman
Hardtalk speaks to Jessye Norman, who is acknowledged as one of the greatest singers of her generation. Her voice has enthralled audiences in the world’s…
- The Interview
UK Deputy Prime Minister 1995-1997- Lord Heseltine
The Scottish people voted 'No' to independence, but they may just have changed British politics forever. More powers are to be handed to the Scottish…
- The Interview
Neuroscientist - Professor Susan Greenfield
The size and capacity of the human brain distinguishes us from all other forms of life on earth, but how well do we really understand the functioning of our…
- The Interview
Chief Prosecutor, ICC, 2003 to 2012 - Luis Moreno-Ocampo
Twelve years ago the International Criminal Court was set up to be the scourge of war criminals and mass killers everywhere - there would be no more impunity…
- The Interview
Peter Bofinger - Member of the German Council of Economic Experts
Is the Eurozone economy turning Japanese? Flat-lining growth, depressed prices and a general air of economic despondency are surely warning signs of a…
- The Interview
Professor of Geography, University of Oxford - Danny Dorling
Can we afford the world's super-rich and what have they ever done for us? Hardtalk speaks to a leading British social thinker - professor Danny Dorling of…
- The Interview
Singer, Songwriter and Guitarist - Chrissie Hynde
Chrissie Hynde, who has one of the most distinctive voices in rock music and a record of success going back to the 1980s. Her band, The Pretenders, found…
- The Interview
President of European Commission - Jose Manuel Barroso
The European Union confronts a host of problems from an economic slowdown inside the Eurozone to the crisis in Ukraine. Jose Manuel Barroso has been president…
- The Interview
President of Ukraine - Petro Poroshenko
There is a consensus view that the crisis in eastern Ukraine represents the most serious threat to Europe's security and stability since the fall of the Berlin…
- The Interview
President, Georgia - Giorgi Margvelashvili
This week's Nato Summit in Wales comes against a background of escalating tensions between Russia and Nato over the conflict in Ukraine, with calls for tougher…
- The Interview
Ambassador-at-large, Ukraine Foreign Ministry - Olexander Scherba
Vladimir Putin is reported to have said he could take the Ukrainian capital Kiev in two weeks if he wanted to. As he offers increasingly brazen support to the…
- The Interview
Political Scientist - Francis Fukuyama
Hardtalk speaks to Francis Fukuyama, one of America's leading political scientists who, 25 years ago, watched the Communist bloc unravel and concluded that…
- The Interview
Secretary General, Palestine Liberation Organisation Executive Committee - Yasser Abed Rabbo
Hardtalk is in the West Bank to talk to Yasser Abed Rabbo, who was a senior member of the Palestinian negotiating team in the years after the Oslo Peace…
- The Interview
Writer and film-maker - Xiaolu Guo
It's 25 years since the Tianamen Square Massacre in Beijing that saw hundreds killed and many more detained. One award-winning British-Chinese writer and…