Humza Yousaf: Is the SNP's supremacy in Scotland under threat?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Scotland’s First Minister Humza Yousaf. His first year in the top job has been tough. Is the Scottish National Party's supremacy in peril?
Apr 07, 2024•23 min
The Interview
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 [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
Podcasts are better in Metacast mobile app
Don't just listen to podcasts. Learn from them with transcripts, summaries, and chapters for every episode. Skim, search, and bookmark insights. Learn more
Episodes
Naomi Alderman: Power and technology
Another opportunity to hear Stephen Sackur's interview with the writer and computer game creator Naomi Alderman. Her most recent novel - The Future - is a techno thriller set at the end of days. Is the apocalypse she imagines all too possible?
Apr 05, 2024•24 min
Tom Shakespeare: Redefining disability
Stephen Sackur speaks to the bioethicist, disability rights campaigner and writer Tom Shakespeare. Should we embrace difference, rather than use science to root it out?
Apr 03, 2024•23 min
Lila Rose: Could abortion be banned in the entire US?
Stephen Sackur speaks to one of America’s fiercest opponents of abortion rights, Lila Rose. The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, but she wants to go much further - to a total nationwide abortion ban. Is that a step too far for the American public?
Apr 01, 2024•24 min
Mohamed Irfaan Ali: Is oil a blessing or a curse for Guyana?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Guyana’s President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. Vast offshore oil and gas reserves are transforming the Guyanese economy. But amid territorial tension with neighbouring Venezuela and environmental concerns, will oil prove to be a blessing or a curse?
Mar 29, 2024•24 min
On the road in Guyana
Stephen Sackur is on the road in Guyana, South America, home to globally significant ecosystems and now one of the world's biggest offshore oil and gas reserves. As Guyana experiences record economic growth, will its people feel the benefit?
Mar 27, 2024•24 min
Judith Butler: Gender and identity
Stephen Sackur speaks to philosopher Judith Butler, who has been at the centre of the fierce debate about sex, gender and self-identity for three decades. Their new book suggests those sceptical of gender fluidity and self-identity are part of a global authoritarian trend. Is that fair?
Mar 25, 2024•24 min
Luis Abinader: Will the Dominican Republic help Haiti?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the President of the Dominican Republic, Luis Abinader. His country’s economy is growing fast, as neighbouring Haiti sinks deeper into an economic and security crisis. Will the Dominican Republic help a neighbour in need, or put self-interest first?
Mar 22, 2024•23 min
Chris Mullin: Have lessons been learned from the Birmingham Six injustice?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the former politician and justice campaigner Chris Mullin. He did much to expose the miscarriage of justice which saw six men wrongly convicted of IRA bombings in Birmingham 50 years ago. Were the right lessons learned from that grave injustice?
Mar 20, 2024•24 min
Jan Egeland: Is the international community failing to protect the most vulnerable?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council. He’s just back from Gaza; before that, he was on the Chad/Sudan border. Hundreds of thousands of people are in life threatening danger. Is the international community failing to protect the most vulnerable?
Mar 18, 2024•24 min
Claude Joseph: Can anything save Haiti?
Haiti is on the brink; armed gangs are rampant, basic services are broken, millions of people are at risk. The prime minister is stepping down, and there are calls for armed international intervention. Can it be saved? Stephen Sackur speaks to Claude Joseph, the country’s former acting prime minister.
Mar 14, 2024•23 min
Leonid Volkov: Is the anti-Putin movement out of options?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Leonid Volkov, long-time ally and adviser to Russia’s late opposition leader Alexey Navalny. President Vladimir Putin is almost certain to be resoundingly re-elected in upcoming elections. His most dangerous political opponent is dead. Is it game over for the anti-Putin movement?
Mar 13, 2024•23 min
Ericka Huggins: Do the Black Panthers have lessons for Black Lives Matter?
Stephen Sackur is in Oakland, California, to speak to Ericka Huggins, an original member of the 1960s Black Panther Party. She experienced violence, imprisonment and vilification in the controversial campaign for black power. Do the Panthers have lessons for the Black Lives Matter movement?
Mar 13, 2024•23 min
Riyad Mansour: Why are the diplomats failing?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the UN. Talks to end, or at least suspend, the war in Gaza haven’t worked. The humanitarian situation for two million Palestinians and the 100-plus Israeli hostages is desperate. Why are the diplomats failing?
Mar 13, 2024•23 min
Sathnam Sanghera: Britain's imperial legacies
Stephen Sackur speaks to the writer Sathnam Sanghera, whose own identity as the British son of Indian immigrants led him to look afresh at the legacy of the British Empire.
Mar 06, 2024•23 min
Salome Zourabichvili: Where does Georgia's destiny lie?
Russia’s neighbour Georgia is closely watching what happens in Ukraine. It shares a 900km border with Russia, who invaded in 2008. Russian troops are stationed in two separatist regions. Georgia has just been granted EU candidate status and talks of joining NATO, yet its government is seen by some as sympathetic to Russia. Sarah Montague talks to the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili. Where does Georgia's destiny lie - with Russia or the West?
Mar 01, 2024•24 min
Ciarán Hinds: Is Northern Ireland a creative powerhouse?
Stephen Sackur interviews Northern Irish actor Ciarán Hinds, whose career took him from the troubled streets of Belfast to an Oscar nomination. Right now, Northern Ireland is a creative powerhouse; why, and will it last?
Feb 28, 2024•24 min
Jens Stoltenberg: Is Russia really preparing for a war with Nato?
Sarah Montague is at Nato’s headquarters in Brussels to speak to its outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Two years after Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, is Vladimir Putin now preparing for a war with Nato?
Feb 26, 2024•23 min
HARDtalk: Defying Putin
In a special programme in the run up to Russia’s presidential election in March, HARDtalk looks back on interviews with those few Russians who have been ready to stand up to Vladimir Putin. From the late Boris Nemtsov to Alexei Navalny whose death was announced recently, what motivates those ready to risk everything to challenge Putin?
Feb 23, 2024•23 min
Nikolai Denkov: Is Bulgaria a weak link in Europe's security?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov. His country is trying to wean itself off Russian energy, and sends weapons to Ukraine, but many Bulgarians are still pro-Russian. As Europe tries to beef up its own security, is Bulgaria a weak link?
Feb 21, 2024•23 min
Alexey Navalny: The interview
Russian authorities have announced the death of one of the country’s most significant opposition leaders Alexey Navalny in a remote penal colony in the Arctic Circle. Stephen Sackur spoke to him in Moscow in 2017 about the risks involved in being a prominent critic of President Putin. (Photo: Alexey Navalny. Still from his 2017 interview with Stephen Sackur)
Feb 19, 2024•23 min
Bassem Youssef: Can laughter ever provoke political change?
Stephen Sackur is in New York for a special edition of the programme with Egyptian American satirist Bassem Youssef. During the Arab Spring, his mockery of Egypt’s leaders won him millions of fans, but after the military took over he fled to the US where he has reinvented his comedy career. Can laughter ever provoke political change? (Photo: Bassem Youssef, comedian and political satirist)
Feb 16, 2024•24 min
Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsya: Does Ukraine feel betrayed?
Stephen Sackur is in New York City for an exclusive interview with Ukraine’s top diplomat at the United Nations, Sergiy Kyslytsya. With partisan warfare in Washington DC blocking crucial military assistance to Kyiv, does Ukraine feel betrayed? (Photo: Still taken from the Hardtalk interview with Sergiy Kyslytsya)
Feb 13, 2024•24 min
Cornel West: Could enough votes taken from Joe Biden help Donald Trump get elected?
Stephen Sackur is in New York City to speak to Cornel West, the high-profile philosopher, writer and activist who has launched his own bid for the White House. Running as independent, he looks unlikely to win but could this anti-war socialist take enough votes from Joe Biden to help Donald Trump get elected a second time?
Feb 12, 2024•24 min
Vassily Nebenzia: Is Russia influencing global opinions?
Stephen Sackur is in New York City, home of the United Nations, to speak to Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN. Ambassador Nebenzia is a key player in Vladimir Putin’s combative diplomatic strategy to accuse the West of seeking to impose its will on the world, from Ukraine to the Middle East. How effective is Moscow in the battle for world opinion?
Feb 07, 2024•24 min
José Ramos-Horta: Peace and reconciliation
Stephen Sackur speaks to José Ramos Horta, President of Timor-Leste. Are there lessons for the world to learn from his extraordinary life?
Feb 05, 2024•24 min
Abdalla Hamdok: Can Sudan find peace?
Zeinab Badawi speaks to the former prime minister of Sudan, Abdalla Hamdok. He is at the heart of negotiations to bring peace to the country after ten months of conflict, in which thousands have died and millions have been displaced. Can his efforts succeed?
Feb 01, 2024•24 min
Ronald Lamola: Is South Africa's genocide case against Israel a geo-political game changer?
Stephen Sackur speaks to South African justice minister Ronald Lamola, a key player in the country’s genocide case against Israel presented to the International Court of Justice. The court’s preliminary ruling has made little immediate difference to the war in Gaza, but longer term could it be a geo-political game changer?
Jan 31, 2024•24 min
Jasvinder Sanghera: Abuse and the Church of England
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?
Jan 29, 2024•24 min
Radek Sikorski: Will Poland's new government unite or divide the country?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Polish foreign minister Radek Sikorski. Poland has been a key pillar of the Western alliance supporting Ukraine against Putin’s invasion, but is war fatigue undermining that bond? And is Poland's new government going to unite the country or divide it?
Jan 26, 2024•24 min
For the best experience, listen in Metacast app for iOS or Android
Open in Metacast