The Interview

BBC World Service
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Jul 30, 2023 • 24min

Isabella Tree: Is rewilding a pathway to a healthier planet?

Stephen Sackur is at the Knepp Estate in the south of England to speak to conservationist Isabella Tree. Her estate is a world-renowned example of rewilding but is she building a pathway to a healthier planet or putting eco-principles above the needs of people?(Photo: Isabella Tree in her office)
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Jul 26, 2023 • 24min

Agnes Callamard: Is Amnesty facing a credibility crisis?

Holding governments to account for their abuses of human rights is hard. It requires focused forensic investigation, impartiality and no little courage. For six decades, Amnesty International has been advocating for prisoners of conscience in the face of state repression. But in recent times it’s both broadened its focus and faced unprecedented criticism. Stephen Sackur speaks to Agnes Callamard, Amnesty's secretary general. Is her organisation facing a credibility crisis?
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Jul 23, 2023 • 23min

Lewis Pugh: Pushing the limits of the human body

Stephen Sackur speaks to the master of extreme swimming Lewis Pugh. From the North Pole to Antarctica, his death-defying swims are designed to focus attention on the damaging impact of climate change on our blue planet. Is this a form of activism that works?
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Jul 21, 2023 • 23min

Gabriel Boric: Can the new left bring change to Chile?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric. Still just 37, he was elected amid excited talk of a new brand of progressive left politics in Latin America - but his ratings have plummeted. What's gone wrong for the young leader with big reformist ambition?
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Jul 19, 2023 • 24min

Mikhail Zygar: Is Putin in a vulnerable position?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to dissident Russian journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar, who has rare insights into the inner workings of the Kremlin. After the challenge to Vladimir Putin’s power and an aborted mutiny last month, how weak is the Russian president?
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Jul 17, 2023 • 23min

Tomás Saraceno: What does 'being human' mean?

Stephen Sackur interviews one of the world’s most innovative contemporary artists, Tomás Saraceno. His work involves spiders, balloons, dust and air. At its heart is a challenge to us all: Are we ready to reinvent what it means to be a human in a complex ecosystem on a small planet?
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Jul 14, 2023 • 23min

Laurence Boone: Can France's government deal with social divisions?

Does France’s government have a clear strategy to deal with the deep social and economic divisions that led to the worst outbreak of violence and rioting for years, following the killing of a French youth by police? Zeinab Badawi speaks to France’s Europe minister Laurence Boone.
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Jul 12, 2023 • 23min

María Corina Machado: The existential fight for Venezuela

Stephen Sackur speaks to Venezuelan opposition politician Maria Corina Machado, currently seen as the most likely challenger to socialist authoritarian president Nicolas Maduro in elections due next year. Maduro has survived the collapse of his economy and international sanctions. Has Venezuela’s opposition been outmanoeuvred?
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Jul 7, 2023 • 23min

Ann Leslie: What does it mean to be a foreign correspondent?

Another chance to hear Stephen Sackur’s 2008 interview with the acclaimed writer and journalist Dame Ann Leslie, who has passed away at the age of 82. She is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest British reporters of the last 50 years, but is the golden age of the intrepid foreign correspondent now gone for good?
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Jul 4, 2023 • 24min

Peter Boghossian: Has academia been corrupted by ‘woke’ ideology?

Stephen Sackur speaks to controversial philosopher Peter Boghossian, who spoofed a host of US academic journals to expose what he claims is the corruption of academia by politically fashionable ‘woke’ ideology. Is he stoking the fires of a dangerous culture war?

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