The Interview
BBC World Service
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 the BBC, our journalists interview amazing people every single day. And on The Interview, we bring them to you.
It’s your one-stop-shop to the best conversations coming out of the BBC, with the people shaping our world, from all over the world.
Get in touch with us on emailTheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
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 the BBC, our journalists interview amazing people every single day. And on The Interview, we bring them to you.
It’s your one-stop-shop to the best conversations coming out of the BBC, with the people shaping our world, from all over the world.
Get in touch with us on emailTheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Apr 3, 2012 • 23min
Juergen Stark - Former member, Executive Board of the European Central Bank
Lake Como in northern Italy is the venue for an economic conference hosted by the Ambrosetti Forum. The economic policy-makers gathered here are fervently hoping that the worst of Europe's sovereign debt crisis is over - but is it? Stephen Sackur speaks to Juergen Stark who was - until his shock resignation in 2011 - a key figure on the board of the European Central Bank. He quit because he disagreed with the ECB's crisis management. Much has changed in the last few months, but has the eurozone really been saved?
Apr 2, 2012 • 23min
Sir Alan Ayckbourn - British Playwright
Alan Ayckbourn is often described as the most performed playwright alive in the world. A revival of his play Absent Friends has opened in London's West End. And a new play - his 76th - premieres this summer. After more than 50 years of writing and directing, what is it about Alan Ayckbourn and his portrayal of relationships in the English suburbs that can still fill theatres around the world?
Mar 30, 2012 • 23min
Nabeel Rajab - President of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights
A year ago revolution was in the air in the Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain - what about now? After months of violence which killed dozens of protestors, the Bahraini king commissioned an independent inquiry - then he promised to implement sweeping reforms. Stephen Sackur speaks to Nabeel Rajab - one of Bahrain's most outspoken human rights activists. Has this strategically vital Gulf monarchy successfully reformed itself from within?
Mar 28, 2012 • 23min
Len McCluskey - Leader of Unite, Britain's biggest union
Britain has already seen the first skirmishes in what could be a protracted battle between the Cameron government and organised labour. In the short term, schools and fuel suuplies could be hit by strikes; looking further ahead, there's talk of union protests targeting the London Olympics. Stephen Sackur speaks to Len McCluskey, leader of Unite, Britain's biggest union. He talks of defending workers' rights within the law, and outside it, if necessary. How far is he prepared to go?
Mar 26, 2012 • 23min
Frank Chikane - South African Head of Presidency, 1999 - 2009
Frank Chikane served in the South African presidential office from the time of Nelson Mandela to Jacob Zuma - so he was privy to what went on behind the scenes. Now he has written a book in which he describes for the first time his account of Thabo Mbeki's removal as South Africa's president. He says it was a painful and humiliating episode for Mr Mbeki and it exposed the deep rivalry at the heart of the ruling African National Congress which continues to divide it today.Zeinab Badawi asks if the ANC become so riven with factionalism and corruption that it can no longer govern effectively.
Mar 23, 2012 • 23min
Sir Mark Walport - Director, Wellcome Trust
In a special edition of Hardtalk, recorded in front of an audience in the village of Portmeirion in North Wales, Stephen Sackur talks to Sir Mark Walport the Director of the Wellcome Trust. One of the world's most important funding institutions for biomedical research, it distributes close to a billion dollars' worth of grants every year. Much of it goes to cutting edge genetic research which promises to transform human healthcare, but also raises profound ethical questions. Our scientific knowledge is expanding but what about the wisdom with which we use it?
Mar 21, 2012 • 23min
Aimee Mullins – Athlete, actor and model
Hardtalk is in New York City with a guest who is a woman who has spent her life challenging assumptions that go with the label 'physically disabled'. Aimee Mullins had both of her legs amputated below the knee when she was just a year old. She went on to become a champion athlete, an actor and highly paid model. She has been feted as an inspiration across America. Stephen Sackur asks, What is the real lesson of the remarkable story of Aimee Mullins?(Image: Aimee Mullins. Credit: Reuters)
Mar 19, 2012 • 23min
Otis Williams - The Temptations
Otis Williams is the sole constant in the life of one of the most successful groups in Motown history. He formed The Temptations in 1961, and the record sales tell a story of extraordinary success.If rock and roll was about sex and drugs, Motown was all that and more. So how has he sidestepped the cocaine addiction, the drink and the depression that killed other members of his group? Did he ever feel he got his just rewards for so much success? And when will he finally decide he has had enough?(Image: Otis Williams. Credit: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Mar 16, 2012 • 23min
Mohamed Waheed - President of the Maldives
The Maldives was plunged into political crisis when the former president Mohamed Nasheed resigned, claiming to have been forced out of his position. He was succeeded by his former vice president - Mohamed Waheed - who denies allegations of taking part in a coup. President Waheed is now building a government of national unity, but with tensions still running high between him and supporters of his predecessor, how safe is the island nation's democracy?(Image: Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed Hassan. Credit: Associated Press)
Mar 14, 2012 • 23min
Abdel El-Menway - Former Head of Egyptian TV
A year has passed since the uprising that ended the 30-year rule of Egypt's former president, Hosni Mubarak. Since then the country has struggled to establish democracy and credible elections under the control of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces. Human rights abuses are continuing and the animosity between pro-democracy activists and the Establishment is escalating. Abdel El-Menawy is the former head of Egyptian television. He helped draft Hosni Mubarak's final speech and has written a book detailing the final days of his rule. Presented by Stephen Sackur.(Image: An Egyptian boy wearing an Egyptian national flag in Tharir Square. Credit: Getty Images)
