Stephen Sackur speaks to the Turner Prize winning British artist Lubaina Himid. Her work has always put black people and their stories front and centre. Four decades ago she was seen as a radical, now she is embraced by the establishment. What does that say about modern Britain? (Photo: Artist Lubaina Himid is awarded the Robson Orr Ten Ten Award 2021 and unveils the new work at 11 Downing Street, London. Credit: Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)
Oct 25, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Aiden Aslin, the British man who joined the Ukrainian army and was captured, tortured and sentenced to death by Putin’s forces. He got out in a prisoner swap, traumatised but alive. Why did he risk his life for someone else’s cause? (Photo: Aiden Aslin)
Oct 21, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to US Democratic Party congressman Adam Smith. The Biden mission to the Middle East at a time of war and spiralling regional tension was always a gamble. How does the US navigate its multiple interests at this time of maximum danger?
Oct 20, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK Husam Zomlot. Hamas surely knew its murderous attack on Israel would provoke an overwhelming military response. The jihadists, it seems, wanted a devastating war. But what about Palestinians not with Hamas? As conflict in the Middle East escalates, what are their options? (Photo: Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Ambassador to Britain, attends a news conference at the Arab British Chamber of Commerce. Credit: London. Clodagh Kilc...
Oct 18, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. Just how solid is the West’s support for Kyiv? And what happens to Ukraine if the flow of weapons, money and diplomatic support is called into question from Washington to Warsaw?
Oct 13, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Hamas’s murderous attack on Israel from Gaza killed more than 1,200 people and has prompted an Israeli response which has already killed more than a thousand Palestinians. Unimaginable horror has been unleashed; where will it end?
Oct 12, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to long-standing Israeli politician Danny Danon. He is a member of the Knesset for the ruling Likud party and sits on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. Hamas’s murderous assault on Israel from Gaza is one of the darkest chapters in the country's history. The Israeli military response has already cost many Palestinian lives and has barely begun. Can a new conflict in the Middle East be contained and where does it end?
Oct 10, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Conservative politician and former UK environment minister Lord Deben. After Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a major shift in green policies, is political short-termism undermining climate action?
Oct 05, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Paolo Gentiloni, the European Union's economy commissioner. He’s at the centre of efforts to turn the bloc into an economic superpower capable of rivalling the US and China. But is the EU simply too divided to project real geopolitical power?
Oct 04, 2023•23 min
Zeinab Badawi speaks to Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar. Can he steer the country through its current political turmoil until postponed elections are held?
Oct 02, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs. From the Ukraine war to Yemen, Syria, Sudan, Myanmar and Ethiopia, is the UN system failing those in greatest need?
Sep 28, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur is in Tallinn for an exclusive interview with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas. This small Baltic state knows all about subjugation to Moscow and is a steadfast supporter of Ukraine, but just how risky is it to defy the Russian bear next door?
Sep 26, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to exiled Afghan human rights campaigner Shaharzad Akbar. She is focused on the fight to end what she calls the Taliban’s gender apartheid. Given the scale of poverty and repression in Afghanistan, what is the right international response? (Photo: Shaharzad Akbar in the Hardtalk Studio)
Sep 22, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Green Party of England and Wales politician Caroline Lucas. She’s the party’s only Westminster MP, but she’s decided to quit. Is that because putting the planet first is never going to be a pathway to power?
Sep 18, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the acclaimed Israeli historian and author Yuval Noah Harari. Having given us an explanation of the success of humankind in his book Sapiens, he’s now in darker territory. From Israel to the United States, he says democracy is in danger. Are humans losing the ability to trust and co-operate?
Sep 17, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to former Russian deputy energy minister Vladimir Milov, who once served Vladimir Putin. Now he’s a die-hard opponent of Russia’s premier, living in exile and trying to rally a Russian resistance movement. But from the battlefield to the economy, could Putin yet outlast his enemies?
Sep 15, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Mustafa Suleyman, a British pioneer in the field of artificial intelligence and a leading voice in a debate which matters to all of us. How can we take advantage of the vast potential of intelligent machines without sowing the seeds of our own destruction?
Sep 13, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billström. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine pushed Sweden to seek Nato membership but right now the country is also grappling with a wave of gun violence and bombings instigated by violent crime gangs. Why are Swedes feeling so nervous?
Sep 07, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a loyal backer of Donald Trump as he bids to win back the White House. Does his comeback spell trouble for America?
Sep 05, 2023•23 min
With a Trump versus Biden presidential re-run looking likely, how close is the United States to political meltdown? Stephen Sackur speaks to Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, the first woman to be speaker of the US House of Representatives and a leading figure in the Democratic Party.
Sep 03, 2023•23 min
Zeinab Badawi speaks to Sudan's former ambassador to Washington Nureldin Satti. The conflict that broke out in April between two rival generals in Sudan has been escalating with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence. More than 4 million people have been forced to flee their homes amidst reports of widespread atrocities. Can a humanitarian catastrophe be averted in Sudan?
Sep 01, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Peter Boehringer, Vice Chairman of Germany’s far-right Alternative for Deutschland party. They are anti-immigrant, anti-EU, anti-military aid for Ukraine, and are running second in national polls. Does their rise threaten Germany’s stability?
Aug 30, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the former punk rock star turned environmental campaigner Feargal Sharkey. He is leading the campaign to clean up Britain’s waterways with fishermen and conservationists pitted against the privatised water industry and state regulators. Can he reverse the tide of environmental degradation?
Aug 27, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the Hong Kong lawmaker Dominic Lee. He is a staunch defender of the Beijing-inspired national security crackdown, which has all but eliminated Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. But is China undermining Hong Kong’s desirability to traders and investors?
Aug 23, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Jasvinder Sanghera, who as a child escaped a forced marriage and has been a lifelong advocate for survivors of abuse. She was hired by the Church of England to help them confront abuse allegations. But she and they are now at odds. What went wrong?
Aug 20, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to exiled Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy. He has tried and failed to engineer the downfall of the country's ruler, Hun Sen, for decades. Now Hun Sen’s son is taking over. Few in Cambodia expect anything significant to change, including the relative impotence of the opposition. Has Sam Rainsy been comprehensively outmanoeuvred? (Photo: Cambodian opposition figure Sam Rainsy speaks during a press freedom event at the Gran Melia Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia, 19 May, 2023....
Aug 18, 2023•23 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the leading British playwright and screenwriter Lucy Prebble. Her credits include Enron and The Effect in the theatre, and Succession and I Hate Suzie on television. In an era of polarising culture wars and with perceived threats from AI, are writers feeling a deep sense of unease?
Aug 15, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the pioneering performance poet John Cooper Clarke. He was once dubbed the bard of punk and all his life he’s used words, rhythm and rhyme to find humour and truth in the chaos of everyday life. Where does his word magic come from?
Aug 14, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to the UK’s former environment minister Lord Goldsmith. He resigned from Rishi Sunak’s government, accusing the prime minister of being uninterested in the environment. Since then, the government has approved new oil exploration. Is a green backlash reshaping politics?
Aug 11, 2023•24 min
Stephen Sackur speaks to Nathan Law, the exiled Hong Kong democracy activist who’s now a wanted man with a million-dollar bounty on his head from the territory’s Beijing-backed authorities. Has China’s systematic repression effectively eradicated dissent in Hong Kong?
Aug 09, 2023•23 min
