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
General Bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the UK - Bishop Angaelos
Do Christians have a future in the Arab world? It's a question raised with a new sense of urgency as an extraordinarily violent brand of jihadi extremism…
- The Interview
Special Assistant to the US Ambassador to Iraq, 2003 - 2009, Ali Khedery
American warplanes are once again attacking targets in Iraq, ordered into action by a President who made it his business to end US military involvement in the…
- The Interview
Minister of Intelligence, Israel - Yuval Steinitz
With a ceasefire now in place in Gaza, the Israeli government faces a simple question: what exactly did Operation Protective Edge achieve? For all the death…
- The Interview
Afghan Presidential Candidate - Abdullah Abdullah
Afghanistan's presidential election was supposed to mark the country's progress, instead it threatens to inflict new wounds. The long drawn out process…
- The Interview
Doctor and Activist - Dr Mads Gilbert
The Hamas/Israeli ceasefire in Gaza has allowed Palestinians time to assess the cost of the Israeli offensive both in human lives and damage to buildings and…
- The Interview
Intelligence and Security Chief, Kurdistan Regional Government - Masrour Barzani
The United Nations has declared its highest level of emergency in Iraq as a humanitarian crisis follows the rapid advance of Islamic State militants. There…
- The Interview
Andrei Konchalovsky – Russian Film Director
In August 1914, 100 years ago, the five great powers of Europe declared war on one another. For countries like Britain, Germany and France the significance of…
- The Interview
Secretary General of NATO - Anders Fogh Rasmussen
NATO is 65 years old – does it lack the vigour, resources and political will to be an effective military force on the world stage at a time when conflicts…
- The Interview
Karl von Habsburg
Hardtalk is in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia Herzegovina, to mark the centenary of the start of World War One. Stephen Sackur talks to Karl von Habsburg -…
- The Interview
Prime Minister, Moldova - Iurie Leanca
Hardtalk is on location in Chisinau, capital of Moldova where the stage is set for another tug of war between Russia and the European Union. With the backing…
- The Interview
Ama Ata Aidoo - Author
Hardtalk speaks to the acclaimed Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo who has arguably done more than any other writer to depict and celebrate the condition of women…
- The Interview
Former Deputy Defence Minister, Israel - Danny Danon
Israel says its current campaign in Gaza is in response to rocket strikes from Hamas militants and is aimed at destroying illicit tunnels Hamas uses to smuggle…
- The Interview
Former Education Minister, Nigeria - Obiageli Ezekwesili
A few months ago international attention was fixed on the remote forests of north-eastern Nigeria - believed to be where 200 kidnapped schoolgirls were being…
- The Interview
Naturalist and Wildlife Film-maker - Chris Packham
Hardtalk is in the heart of the English countryside, a habitat that is rich in wildlife but for how much longer? The impact of human beings here, as in so much…
- The Interview
Lord High Chancellor, 2003 – 2007 - Lord Falconer
Just a handful of countries allow assisted dying or euthanasia or both - most notably Switzerland and the Netherlands. It is a difficult and contentious area…
- The Interview
Thomas Piketty - Economist
Just occasionally a big idea makes waves across the world. Hardtalk speaks to French economist Thomas Piketty whose book Capital in the 21st Century, has…
- The Interview
Swedish Foreign Minister - Carl Bildt
The European Parliament are selecting a new set of officials including the key post of commission president. The choice of EU insider Jean-Claude Juncker has…
- The Interview
Adviser to Israel Prime Minister - Dore Gold
The kidnap and murder of four teenagers - three Israeli and then one Palestinian - has triggered protests and violent clashes in both Israel and the Occupied…
- The Interview
Mohamoud Nur - Mayor of Mogadishu, 2010 - 2014
Most of us probably don't associate local government with racing pulses and grave danger. But few local government jobs are like the Mayor of Mogadishu's…
- The Interview
Economic Historian - Deirdre McCloskey
Is rising inequality the sickness that could yet kill capitalism? It's a debate currently raging in politics as well as economics. President Obama says income…
- The Interview
Salih Muslim Mohammed – Democratic Union Party, Syria
The extremist group Isis is expanding its foothold in Syria, after its recent gains in neighbouring Iraq. The first town it seized was Raqqa in northern Syria…
- The Interview
War Correspondent - Anthony Loyd
More than 60 journalists have been killed in Syria's civil war. Across the world journalists have become targets as never before, murdered, kidnapped and, in…
- The Interview
Governor, Central Bank of Ireland - Patrick Honohan
Three years ago Ireland was a basket case economy - hollowed out by broken banks, bad debts and a property crash. What about now? Ireland was the first of the…
- The Interview
Chief Science Officer, SENS Foundation - Aubrey De Grey
Imagine life without ageing. You could live for hundreds of years with the mental and physical attributes of your 25-year-old self. Would you be tempted?…
- The Interview
CEO, EasyJet - Carolyn McCall
Low cost airlines have revolutionised the European aviation business over the past 25 years - offering cheap flights, no frills and a service sometimes to be…
- The Interview
Photographer - David LaChapelle
Hardtalk is in the gallery district of London’s West End to meet one of the most successful and controversial fashion and celebrity photographers of the last…
- The Interview
British Foreign Secretary, 2001 – 2006 - Jack Straw
The UK Independence Party topped the UK polls in the recent European elections putting pressure on the Conservative and Labour Parties to reconsider their…
- The Interview
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Author
How should we make sense of Nigeria's 21st Century identity? Newly anointed as Africa's number one economy, it is an oil-rich emerging power. But it is also…
- The Interview
Senior Adviser to Nigeria’s President - Doyin Okupe
It took the abduction of more than 200 school girls to focus international attention on the appalling level of violence and insecurity in north-eastern…
- The Interview
Ugandan Opposition Leader - Kizza Besigye
Dr Kizza Besigye is a former ally of Uganda’s President Museveni who has become his biggest critic and the country’s best known opposition figure. As the…
- The Interview
Advisor to the Presidential Administration of Russia, 2001 to 2013 - Professor Sergey Karaganov
How far can Vladimir Putin push his iron-fist foreign policy? Crimea is his, but Russia's next move in eastern Ukraine is much less clear cut, as is the extent…
- The Interview
Actor - Viggo Mortensen
Hardtalk speaks to award-winning film star, Viggo Mortensen. Known to many for his starring role in The Lord of the Rings, he is not your average Hollywood…
- The Interview
Foreign Minister, Estonia - Urmas Paet
The crisis in Ukraine has put the spotlight on the relationship between Russia and the EU. How much carrot and how much stick should the EU wield when it comes…
- The Interview
President of South Sudan - Salva Kiir Mayardit
In December 2013 South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could…
- The Interview
US Assistant Secretary of State - Victoria Nuland
What can Western nations like the US do to stop Ukraine from breaking up or falling into civil conflict? Hardtalk is at the US Embassy in London to speak to…
- The Interview
Deputy Information Minister, Zimbabwe - Supa Mandiwanzira
Zimbabwe's fortunes have for three decades been tied to one man - President Robert Mugabe. Now, once again, Zimbabwe is staring economic catastrophe in the…
- The Interview
Former Vice President of South Sudan - Riek Machar
In December 2013 South Sudan became engulfed in a civil conflict which has claimed thousands of lives and prompted fears it could lead to genocide. A ceasefire…
- The Interview
Co-founder, Free Belarus Theatre - Natalia Kaliada
Belarus is Europe's last old-fashioned dictatorship - a country where political dissent gets you beaten up and locked up. Hardtalk speaks to one Belarussian…
- The Interview
Nobel Literature Laureate - Wole Soyinka
Nigeria's century has been described as "100 years of trauma". This is no more apparent than in the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by a militant…
- The Interview
Minister for Communications, Australia - Malcolm Turnbull
Whoever dubbed Australia the lucky country was on to something - this vast, resource-rich nation has outperformed other rich world economies over the past…
- The Interview
Economist - Jeremy Rifkin
What if we lived in a radically different world? An internet driven, smart world where individuals and communities generate their own free energy, produce and…
- The Interview
Foreign Minister, Yemen - Abu Bakr al-Qirbi
Yemen is the Arab world’s slow motion car crash; a humanitarian, economic, and security disaster that makes few headlines in the outside world. The Yemeni…
- The Interview
Presidential Adviser, Syrian National Coalition - Rime Allaf
It must have looked like a position of great influence in the new post-war Syria - Presidential Adviser to the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and…
- The Interview
Anti-Apartheid Activist - Ahmed Kathrada
Hardtalk speaks to Ahmed Kathrada, one of the big names of South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. He was sentenced to life in prison alongside Nelson Mandela…
- The Interview
French Fashion Designer - Jean Paul Gaultier
Hardtalk speaks to the French fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier who was known as the 'enfant terrible' of the fashion world for his witty and daring designs…
- The Interview
Brazilian Film-maker - Jose Padilha
Jose Padilha is one of Brazil's most successful and controversial film makers. His movies focus on violence and corruption in the favelas of Rio. Is his dark…
- The Interview
Campaigning Widow of Pat Finucane - Geraldine Finucane
Healing a society traumatised by sectarian violence is hard - anyone doubting it should take a look at Northern Ireland today. The de facto war between the IRA…
- The Interview
Former British Army Officer - Major Richard Streatfeild
The British military pull out from Afghanistan will soon be completed. Digesting the painful lessons from a 12-year deployment will take a whole lot longer…
- The Interview
Brazilian Environment Minister - Izabella Teixeria
Environment minister Izabella Teixeria's government says it is now protecting Brazil’s unique biodiversity. But agribusiness and urbanisation are still taking…
- The Interview
Mining CEO - Daphne Mashile Nkosi
Hardtalk is in Johannesburg to talk to the only black woman in South Africa to head a mining company. Daphne Mashile-Nkosi has made a fortune out of her…
- The Interview
Musician and Former Child Solider - Emmanuel Jal
In a special edition of HARDtalk broadcast live from London, as part of the BBC’s Freedom Season, Zeinab Badawi speaks to the acclaimed South Sudanese singer…
- The Interview
Suspended Head of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) - Zwelinzima Vavi
South Africa holds elections in May and complaints from workers are getting louder. Unofficial figures show that nearly half of the working population does not…
- The Interview
President of Zambia (1964 -1991) - Kenneth Kaunda
As part of the BBC’s Freedom season, Zeinab Badawi speaks to Kenneth Kaunda – leader of the struggle for independence, he was sentenced to hard labour in…
- The Interview
Artistic Director/Lead Principal, English National Ballet - Tamara Rojo
Tamara Rojo - artistic director and lead principal of the English National Ballet - talks about her new production, a ballet about one of the bloodiest…
- The Interview
Chairman, China International Capital Corporation - Jin Liqun
Since the financial meltdown of 2008, China has been the key driver of growth in the global economy. In Beijing, it is easy to see how the country's brand of…
- The Interview
President of Bulgaria - Rosen Plevneliev
There has been widespread condemnation of Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin’s decision to absorb Crimea after its referendum to break away from Ukraine. But…
- The Interview
Spokesman for Vladimir Putin - Dmitry Peskov
Stephen Sackur speaks to Dmitry Peskov, spokesman to Russia’s President Putin following the decision of EU and US leaders to impose sanctions. With…
- The Interview
Artist - Ai Weiwei
Hardtalk is in Beijing for a special interview with China’s most famous artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei. Under constant surveillance, prevented from leaving…
- The Interview
Founder, Defense Distributed - Cody Wilson
We live in the internet age but perhaps most of us haven’t realised just how radically it will change our lives. As part of the BBC’s Freedom Season, Hardtalk…
- The Interview
Foreign Minister of Poland - Radoslaw Sikorski
It is the biggest crisis confronting Western Europe in 20 years - Ukraine could be just days away from losing a key part of its territory. Russia stands on one…