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
Jan 15, 2021 • 23min
Alan Dershowitz: Trump's second impeachment
Donald Trump has secured a unique place in the history books as the first president in American history to be impeached twice. What that means in practical terms isn't clear. There’ll be no Trump trial in the Senate before Joe Biden moves into the White House, but Democrats insist he will be held to account for the assault on the Capitol. Stephen Sackur speaks to the veteran lawyer Alan Dershowitz, part of the defence team in the first impeachment. Will he get involved in the sequel, and how will it play in a divided America?
Jan 13, 2021 • 24min
Virologist Barry Schoub: South Africa's covid situation 'is bleak'
South Africa is now grappling with a highly transmissible new strain of Covid-19 that is causing international concern. Stephen Sackur interviews Professor Barry Schoub, virologist and Chair of the South African Government’s Advisory Committee on Covid-19 vaccines. What does the country’s Covid crisis mean for the worldwide effort to end the pandemic?(Photo: Professor Barry Schoub appears via video link on Hardtalk)
Jan 11, 2021 • 24min
Alan Rusbridger: Fact v fiction
Stephen Sackur interviews Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian and now a member of Facebook’s Oversight Board. The Covid-19 pandemic is a test of global public health systems, but it also presents a profound challenge to our media and information networks. How do we ensure that fact prevails over fiction?(Photo: Alan Rusbridger appears via video link on Hardtalk)
Jan 8, 2021 • 23min
Admiral James Stavridis: The aftermath of the capitol riot
The Trump inspired insurrection on Capitol Hill failed. But the wounds to America’s body politic are now raw and deep. The President remains Commander in Chief with his finger on the nuclear button, but is that tenable for the next two weeks? What are the dramatic death throes of the Trump presidency doing to America’s standing in the wider world? Stephen Sackur speaks to retired US admiral and former Supreme Commander of Nato’s armed forces James Stavridis. How deep is the hole America is in?
Jan 6, 2021 • 23min
Neil Ferguson: Did the UK get its Covid strategy wrong?
Stephen Sackur speaks to British epidemiologist Professor Neil Ferguson, whose early modelling of Covid-19 made him an influential advocate of the lockdown strategy. The UK is back in lockdown and infections are surging. What has gone wrong, and why have other countries done better?
Dec 21, 2020 • 24min
Hermann Hauser: Is Europe failing to create tech champions?
The tech sector is fast becoming a battleground where the world’s greatest economic powers, the US and China, are competing for power and influence. Where is Europe in this race to shape the digital future? We speak to Hermann Hauser, a tech entrepreneur and venture capitalist who has profoundly shaped Europe and the UK’s technology sector. Is Europe failing to build its own tech champions?
Dec 16, 2020 • 24min
Christopher Ruddy: Is the media amplifying division in America?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Christopher Ruddy, CEO of the conservative Newsmax media group and close personal friend of Donald Trump. His network has tried to outfox Fox News by being Trumpier than Trump. The President's unfounded claims of a stolen election might have been great for ratings, but what's it done to America’s body politic?
Dec 14, 2020 • 23min
Bernardine Evaristo: Is British culture changing?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Bernardine Evaristo, the Booker Prize-winning author of Girl, Woman, Other. In any society, the voices that are listened to, and the stories that are shared, say much about who is deemed to belong and who is excluded. On that basis, Britain is changing, but how deep does the cultural change go?
Dec 11, 2020 • 24min
David Beasley of the World Food Programme: Is the world set for new famines?
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the World Food Programme, the UN agency dedicated to feeding the hungry and fending off mass starvation. This week the award was handed to the body's executive director, David Beasley, in recognition of the agency’s worldwide effort to overcome the challenges of conflict and Covid-19. 2020 has been a terrible year for those experiencing extreme hunger; is there a real danger that 2021 will be even worse?(Photo: David Beasley, director of the WFP appears via videolink on Hardtalk)
Dec 7, 2020 • 24min
Owase Jeelani: Making life and death decisions
Stephen Sackur speaks to the paediatric neurosurgeon Owase Jeelani. Brain surgery carries with it an awesome burden of responsibility. And within neurosurgery there are particular challenges that take the physical and ethical pressure to an extreme. Imagine doing complex brain surgery on small children; then imagine trying to split conjoined twin babies joined at the head. Mr Jeelani's work has made headlines around the world. How does he deal with the stress of life and death decision-making?
