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
Oct 24, 2018 • 23min
Minister of State, UK Foreign Office - Alan Duncan MP
Turkey’s President Erdogan says the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was a savage crime meticulously planned in Riyadh. He wants all those responsible to stand trial in Turkey. As the pressure on the house of Saud mounts, will the kingdom’s partners in the West take punitive action? Stephen Sackur speaks to Alan Duncan, Minister of State in the UK Foreign Office. Has the time come for Britain to stop lucrative arms exports to Saudi Arabia?(Photo: Alan Duncan MP in the Hardtalk studio)
Oct 22, 2018 • 24min
Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah
What gives each of us our sense of who we are? At the most personal level we all have our own family background. In the most general sense we are, all of us, part of the human species. But it’s the stuff in between that puts us in groups or tribes and often motivates our behaviour. Gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality- these are the persistent fault lines that seem to separate us from them. Stephen Sackur speaks to Kwame Antony Appiah, an academic and public intellectual who says we need to rethink identity to escape the myths of the past. But how?Image: Kwame Anthony Appiah (Credit: Getty Images)
Oct 19, 2018 • 24min
Malawi's Vice President - Saulos Chilima
HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to Vice President of the small southern African state of Malawi, Saulos Chilima- a former business executive turned politician. Mr. Chilima was President Mutharika’s running mate in elections in 2014. Now he has left the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and says he will run against him in presidential elections next year to - as he put it - ‘save the country from destruction and corruption’. Why is he criticising a government of which he still is a member? And if corruption is really as bad as he describes, why didn’t the Vice-President use his influence to stop the rot?Image: Saulos Chilima (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Oct 17, 2018 • 23min
Vice President of European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness
The Brexit endgame is underway. This is the week the UK Government and the European Union earmarked for agreeing a deal on the divorce and outlining a future relations. But on the eve of another EU summit, there is still talk of an impasse- focusing on the Irish border and Northern Ireland’s status after Brexit. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Mairead McGuinness, an Irish MEP and vice president of the European parliament. Is Brexit about to get very messy and very costly?Image: Mairead McGuinness (Credit: Getty Images)
Oct 12, 2018 • 23min
Professor at Columbia Law School - Kimberlé Crenshaw
The United States of America is a republic divided. The Trump presidency has exposed fissures that run along lines of race, gender, education, and culture. In next month’s mid-term elections the fight for political power will be between the two traditional parties, Republican and Democrat, but perhaps a different sort of activism is needed to deliver real change? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Kimberlé Crenshaw - a professor of law, a social activist and influential advocate of the idea of intersectionality. Is it the group, not the individual that matters most in today’s America?Image: Kimberlé Crenshaw (Credit: Getty Images)
Oct 12, 2018 • 23min
Is Saudi Arabia Heading Down a Dangerous Path?
The Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. Amid a welter of speculation and lurid allegations, a cloud of suspicion now hangs over the Saudi Government. The record of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, suggests a determination to silence all criticism. Stephen Sackur speaks to Saudi academic Madawi al-Rasheed and former senior US diplomat, Nicholas Burns. Is ‘MBS’ taking his kingdom down a dangerous path?(Photo: Saudi academic Madawi al-Rasheed)
Oct 10, 2018 • 23min
Imam of Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen - Sherin Khankan
Almost two billion of the world’s people are Muslim, and yet half of them, the female half, have traditionally played little or no role in the institutions of their faith. That is changing, albeit very slowly. Stephen Sackur speaks to Sherin Khankan who became Scandinavia’s first female Imam when she opened the Mariam mosque in Copenhagen. Her focus on women’s rights in a 21st Century brand of Islamic practice has stirred controversy and debate far beyond Denmark’s borders. Is Islam ready to empower women?(Photo: Sherin Khankan. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
Oct 8, 2018 • 23min
Cuban conceptual artist Tania Bruguera
Tania Bruguera's pieces and immersive performances have attracted international acclaim but prolonged harassment from the Cuban authorities. Is she artist, activist or both?
Oct 4, 2018 • 23min
Cuban Conceptual Artist - Tania Bruguera
Tania Bruguera's pieces and immersive performances have attracted international acclaim but prolonged harassment from the Cuban authorities. Is she an artist, activist or both?(Photo: Cuban artist Tania Bruguera poses in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern. Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP)
Oct 3, 2018 • 24min
Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to the world’s oldest head of government, Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. He came back to office in May after election victory against his own former ruling coalition. The country has been mired in allegations of corruption swirling around the previous government, which have dented confidence at home and abroad. First time round, he was Prime Minister for more than 20 consecutive years until 2003. Can Mahathir Mohamad leave his own chequered past behind and lead Malaysia to a brighter future?
Some people might find opinions expressed toward the end of the interview offensive.Image: Mahathir Mohamad (Credit: Reuters)
