The Interview

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

The conflict in Colombia between the state and left-wing rebels has been running for more than 50 years. Hundreds of thousands have died and millions more are displaced. Tim Franks speaks to the Colombian government's chief peace negotiator Sergio Jaramillo. Can he make a deal?(Photo: Sergio Jaramillo, Colombian High Commissioner for Peace)

Britain has the same prime minister but a new government. David Cameron's Conservative Party won last week's general election outright - his former coalition allies were reduced to a rump. He now has a mandate to renegotiate the country's membership of the European Union, with the threat that the British people could vote in a referendum to leave altogether. With the forces of independence on the march in Scotland, and evidence that they have been roused in England, too, is the UK being pushed apart? Hardtalk speaks to Sir Malcolm Rifkind, UK Foreign Secretary 1995-1997, Sir Menzies Campbell, Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson 2001-2006 and Pat McFadden, UK Shadow Europe Minister.(Photo: Left to right, Sir Menzies Campbell, Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Pat McFadden. Credit: Carl Court, Justin Tallis, Oli Scarf/AFP/Getty Images)

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

Tim Franks speaks to the Portuguese Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque who has one of the most unforgiving jobs in politics. She is committed to reviving her own country’s battered economy, to saving the single currency, and somehow to ensuring that Greece pays its debts and stays inside the Euro.(Photo: Maria Luis Albuquerque. Credit: Eric Piermont/AFP/Getty Images)

Hardtalk speaks to a man from the highest echelons of the US foreign policy establishment. Dr Richard Haass has worked in the State Department, advised US presidents, and is now president of the influential think-tank the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He believes we are witnessing the end of one era of world history and the dawn of another. A new 'era of disorder' - more chaotic and more dangerous than any time in a generation. He says American foreign policy is partly to blame and US authority has been diminished. So how dangerous is the world now? And what could be done about it?(Photo: Dr Richard Haass. Credit: Reuters)

Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to a novelist whose fictional world is filled with drugs, sex, sleaze and alienation. Scottish writer Irvine Welsh draws deeply flawed characters and makes them entertaining and all too human. His first bestseller was Trainspotting, a tale of heroin ravaged youths from the wrong side of Edinburgh’s tracks. His latest book returns to the same turf. He now lives most of his life in the US, so how come his imagination is still so heavily stirred by Scotland and his working-class roots?(Photo: Scottish author Irvine Welsh. Credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Many people are familiar with cases involving terminally ill patients who believe that they should have the right to die. But what about making this a right for everyone - even if they are fit and healthy? Zeinab Badawi speaks to the controversial Australian Dr Philip Nitschke who believes anyone over 50 should be able to plan an end to their own life. But is he not just encouraging acts of suicide?(Photo: Dr Philip Nitschke. Credit: David Mariuz/Getty Images)

Zeinab Badawi talks to the American economist and hi-tech entrepreneur Pippa Malmgren. By 2025 robots and artificial intelligence will be performing a lot more of the jobs that humans do at present. What is not clear is whether as a result of this, prospects will be brighter or bleaker for us. Will technology create more jobs than it destroys? Will only the brightest and most talented survive in jobs - leading to greater inequalities in society and could artificial intelligence even pose an existential threat to humans?(Photo: Economist and hi-tech entrepreneur Pippa Malmgren)

There was a clear winner in last month’s Israeli election but there is not yet a new government. Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu is taking his time, talking to smaller right-wing and religious parties, but also according to rumour, toying with the possibility of inviting the centre left Zionist Union into a national unity government. Stephen Sackur speaks to the man Netanyahu defeated in the battle for the premiership, Isaac Herzog. For him the election was a major disappointment, so what does he and the Israeli left, do now?(Photo: Isaac Herzog. Credit: Thomas Coex/AFP/Getty Images)

The brutal gang rape and murder of a student on a bus in Delhi in 2012 provoked widespread shock and outrage and put the spotlight on violence against women in India. A recent documentary about it provoked huge controversy. The film called India's Daughter featured an interview with one of the five convicted rapists, who expressed no remorse and blamed the victim for fighting back. The Delhi government prevented the film being shown in India and there were demands by the Indian government for it not to be aired by the BBC. HARDtalk talks to the documentary's director, Leslee Udwin. Was her film sensationalist and voyeuristic?Image: Lesley Udwin. Credit: Getty Images

Brandon Bryant's story provides a rare glimpse into a secret world and raises questions about the nature of 21st Century warfare. He joined the US Air Force straight out of college. He was picked to join one of the United States' most controversial and important military programmes - the deployment of armed unmanned aerial vehicles, better known as drones - to hunt down and kill some of America's most dangerous enemies. The experience has left him haunted and angry. We find out why.

Two years after the death of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s socialist revolution is in trouble. The country's oil reliant economy is ravaged by inflation, shortages and corruption. Those hit hardest are the poor, Chavez's bedrock supporters. Hardtalk speaks to one of the most prominent and outspoken members of the Venezuelan opposition - Maria Corina Machado. How close is chaos in Venezuela?(Photo: Maria Corina Machado, Venezuelan opposition leader. Credit: Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images)

The scale of humanitarian suffering in Syria is impossible to capture in words delivered from the comfort of a radio studio - 12 million people are in dire need of emergency aid. Hardtalk speaks to Valerie Amos, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs operation. Is Syria part of a wider story of international humanitarian failure?(Photo: Valerie Amos, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Credit: Joseph Eid/AFP/Getty Images)

Do the world's richest individuals owe anything to the societies within which they flourish? Is the notion of 'giving back' a choice or a moral obligation? As part of the BBC’s Richer World season Hardtalk speaks to one of Britain's wealthiest men, the billionaire John Caudwell. He made his fortune out of mobile phones and now divides his time between backing new businesses and philanthropy. What are the ingredients for a healthy capitalist society?(Photo: John Caudwell at the Caudwell Children The Legends Ball in Battersea, London. Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

Hardtalk speaks to a legend of the music business, a man who has written and performed some of the most memorable tracks of the last four decades. Nile Rodgers co-founded Chic, the band which defined the late '70s disco generation. From his own band Chic, to his collaborations with everyone from Madonna to Daft Punk, his beat goes on – so what is the secret to his special sound?(Photo: Nile Rodgers at the Spotify seminar, St. James's Church, Piccadilly, 2015. Credit: Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Hong Kong's self-styled umbrella revolution blew itself out before it could deliver any long-term change in the former colony's political weather. Hardtalk speaks to one of the pro-democracy movement leaders, Benny Tai. Months of street protests failed to pressure Beijing into concessions on the election of Hong Kong's next chief executive - so where does the campaign for political reform go now?(Photo: Benny Tai, an original founder of the pro-democracy Occupy movement, surrenders to the police in Hong Kong. Credit: Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks with US venture capitalist and philanthropist Nick Hanauer, live from the BBC’s Radio Theatre in London. Nick Hanauer is an American dotcom billionaire businessman. He believes that the rich in America should pay more taxes and has warned of revolution if wealth inequality is not addressed. Is American capitalism in danger of collapse?(Photo: Nick Hanauer. BBC copyright)

Stephen Sackur speaks to General Sir Richard Shirreff, recently retired as deputy commander of Nato forces. He has recently described British Prime Minister David Cameron as hesitant and vacillating, and claims Britain and Nato are exhibiting dangerous weakness on conflicts from Ukraine to Syria. But is there a viable strategic alternative?(Photo: General Sir Richard Shirreff. Credit: Nato)

For the past five years Britains Liberal Democrat Party have been the junior partner in a coalition with the Conservatives. They have helped deliver a stable government and have wielded power for the first time in their modern history. Yet the electorate seems ready to condemn them for it in the coming British general election. We speak to Liberal Democrat government minister David Laws. What does his party’s experience say about politics in Britain today?(Photo: David Laws. Credit: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

Lord Levy is a prominent figure in British public life on two counts - as a leading voice in a British Jewish community which is increasingly concerned about rising levels of anti-Semitism, and as a key fund-raiser for the Labour Party in the era of Tony Blair and new Labour. Lord Levy remains an influential businessman, networker and fundraiser, but in terms of both the Jewish community and today's Labour Party are there problems that just can't be fixed?(Photo: Lord Levy, former Labour Party fundraiser. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

The Philippines is Asia’s only predominantly Christian country. The Roman Catholic Church has huge influence - divorce and abortion are illegal for example. The Church is currently engaged in a huge battle with the government over its plans to provide free contraceptives to the poor. Stephen Sackur talks to the Catholic Church’s most senior cleric in the Philippines, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and asks, is the Catholic Church helping or hindering the development of the nation?(Photo: Philippines' Luis Antonio Tagle greets visitors during the courtesy visit after being appointed by the pontif on November 24, 2012. Credit: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images)

Stock markets in New York and London are sitting close to record highs - if the Dow is your guide then we are living in the best of times. But it doesn’t feel like that in the real world, what with the Eurozone crisis, a host of geopolitical uncertainties and frightening levels of global debt. Hardtalk speaks to Neil Woodford, Britain’s most successful investor of recent years. Is this a time for economic confidence, or caution?(Photo: Neil Wooford, head of investment, Woodford Investment Management. BBC copyright)

The Conservative peer, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi is one of the most prominent Muslims in Britain. She was the first Muslim to sit in the cabinet, before she resigned last year over government policy on Gaza. As a former minster for communities and social cohesion why does she believe there is a lack of trust between the government and British Muslims?(Photo: Baroness Sayeeda Warsi arrives for a Cabinet meeting at Number 10 Downing St. Credit: Getty Images)

Aimen Dean was a trusted member of Al Qaeda's inner sanctum in Afghanistan in the late 1990s. With his Quranic learning and fervent commitment to holy war, this young Saudi received a personal audience with Osama Bin Laden and came to know most of Al Qaeda's key leaders. But Aiman Dean did not share the group's enthusiasm for terror attacks inflicting mass civilian casualties. After the bombings of US embassies in Africa in 1998, he left Afghanistan and began working as an informant for the UK security services. What does his extraordinary story tell us about the nature of the jihadist threat?

The UK has become the first country in the world to legalise the creation of what are commonly known as 'three-parent babies' and the first such infants could be born next year. The process allows mothers who carry rare but fatal genetic disorders to have children without passing on the diseases. Opponents say the change has been introduced too soon and marks a slippery slope towards designer babies. Hardtalk speaks to one of the most celebrated doctors in modern history - professor Robert Winston - one of the main pioneers of the IVF technique that revolutionised infertility treatment. But are ‘three-parent babies’ a revolution too far?

Berlin doesn’t house any of the European Union’s key institutions, but there is no doubt this is the power capital of Europe – something Greece’s new left-wing Government now knows all too well. Germany calls the shots when it comes to shaping Europe’s economic policy. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to an influential member of Chancellor Merkel’s CDU party – Vice-Chairman of the parliamentary party Michael Fuchs. In the high stakes showdown over Greece’s debt, has Germany used its power wisely?

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

Hardtalk speaks to the activist and rapper Tef Poe. He's described the fatal shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, of unarmed teenager Michael Brown as a "declaration of war" by the police. Tef Poe has stated that "my grandparents endured this type of treatment so we wouldn't have to". So if you are young, black and poor in America today are you at war with the police? This interview forms part of the BBC’s Richer World Season.(Photo: Tef Poe)

In a special edition of HARDtalk, Zeinab Badawi is in Brussels to speak to Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil. He has travelled to the city to tell EU officials that his country has been overwhelmed by Syrian refugees. More than one million Syrians live in Lebanon – many of them have fled the oppression and brutality of the Assad government. So why then does his political party have an alliance with Hezbollah that backs the Syrian President?(Photo: Gebran Bassil. Credit: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images)

Pakistan's Intelligence Service has long been accused of looking both ways: of tackling terrorists when they target Pakistan but actively supporting them when they target Afghanistan or India. But when 152 people were killed in the school in Peshawar, Pakistan's Prime Minister said it was time to change. That the country would no longer distinguish between "good" and "bad" Taliban. Today's guest is General Asad Durrani, who used to run the intelligence service - Are they really prepared to make enemies of their former friends? And what difference will it make?

It's a year since the protests in Ukraine's Maidan Square - protests that led to the fall of the pro-Russian government. Russian-born Andrey Kurkov has published his diary of the time. He's one of the country's most famous authors and supported the uprising. But, although he lives in Ukraine, he writes in Russian and because of that he's been rejected by some as a Ukrainian writer and accused of being a traitor by Russians. Sarah Montague asks him what role do language and culture play in war? And was the uprising worth it?(Photo: Andrey Kurkov. Credit: Volodymyr Shuvayev/AFP/Getty Images)

Sarah Montague talks to Juan Mendez, the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Torture. He was a human rights lawyer in Argentina in the 70s when he was arrested, imprisoned and tortured. He has said he owes his life to those in America who took a principled stand against torture. But now Juan Mendez says the world has become more accepting of cruelty and America has been compromised by its own brutal treatment of prisoners. So is torture ever morally justifiable?(Photo: Juan Mendez. Credit: Getty Images)

Should scientists working with governments and officials give opinions or just stick to giving scientific facts? Hardtalk speaks to the Scottish microbiologist Professor Anne Glover. She has just left her post as the first chief scientific adviser to the EU Commission President, and this is her first extensive broadcast interview since then. Whilst she was still in the post she said that in-house politics had hampered the efficiency of her role. Was she at loggerheads with the EU Commission?(Image: Science apparatus. Credit: Lixuyao/Thinkstock)

According to Oxfam, South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the World - the wealth of the two richest citizens outstrips that of the poorest 50% of the population. Twenty years after the end of apartheid, why is that so? As part of the BBC’s Richer World season Hardtalk speaks to Jay Naidoo, leader of the South African trade union movement during the liberation struggle and a cabinet minister under President Nelson Mandela. Why hasn’t freedom reduced inequality?(Photo: Members of the Alexandra Trampoline Club in Alexandra Township, Johannesburg, South Africa. The township is next to the wealthy suburb of Sandton. Credit: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Hardtalk speaks to the British Muslim campaigner Moazzam Begg. He was detained at Guantanamo Bay between 2003 and 2005, and then last February he was held for seven months in a British prison. In October all terrorism-related charges against him were dropped and he walked free. He believes that current counter-terrorism measures are fuelling the very problems they are trying to tackle and are alienating and radicalising some Muslims. So how should Muslim communities work with the authorities to prevent the extremists carrying out attacks?(Photo: Moazzam Begg. Credit: Rob Stothard/Getty Images)

Professional football has a problem with homophobia. There are gay footballers, but most feel compelled to keep their sexual orientation a secret. Hardtalk speaks to Robbie Rogers, a US international who plays for LA Galaxy. He broke football's great taboo by very publicly coming out after a spell in English football. But why haven't other gay footballers followed his lead?(Photo: Robbie Rogers #14 of Los Angeles Galaxy. Credit: Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

American capitalism is in crisis - that's the view of Professor Luigi Zingales. He blames the links between big government and big business. For the man who cites Margaret Thatcher as his hero, his answer is more competition; more free markets; an end to subsidies and lobbying and less privilege for the few. That's the way he says that capitalism can "rediscover and renew its moral foundation". So can it really be the answer to tackling inequality and mending the American dream?(Photo: Wall Street sign near the New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese dissident Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader during the pro-democracy protests in 1989, takes part in a live debate on democracy with Stephen Sackur. The year 2015 marks 750 years since the first Westminster parliament and 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta. These landmark moments underpinned the establishment of Parliamentary democracy and the legal system in the UK and around the world. The BBC's Democracy Day will look at democracy past and present and encourage a debate about the future of democracy. How democratic are we?(Photo: Chinese dissident Wu'er Kaixi speaks during the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in Taipei, 2014. Credit: Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)

Draw up a list of the greatest living film makers and Werner Herzog would surely occupy a prominent place. He is responsible for some of the most wildly beautiful images captured on film. If you've seen Fitzcarraldo you won’t have forgotten the steamship being hauled over a mountain. He's seen as the film industry's obsessive genius; the director who once threatened to shoot his lead actor to prevent him quitting. After five decades making movies is Werner Herzog's love of film as intense as ever?(Photo: Werner Herzog with an award during the Lola - German Film Awards in 2013. Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

Zeinab Badawi is in Malta to speak to Suha Arafat – the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Ten years after his death, Mrs Arafat gives a rare broadcast interview about their marriage, why she believes he was assassinated and why she has chosen to live in Malta and not amongst the Palestinian people who so revered her husband.(Photo: Suha Arafat at the 8th Annual Dubai International Film Festival held in Dubai. Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)

In the wake of the Paris attacks mounted by home grown militants swearing allegiance variously to al Qaeda in Yemen and the self-styled Islamic State, politicians in the west have promised to beef up security measures. Hardtalk speaks to Richard Barrett, a former UK counter-terror chief and until recently head of a UN team monitoring al Qaeda, about to how best confront the jihadist threat.

Jerusalem boasts one of the most bitterly contested pieces of real estate in the World - known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. Jews are not allowed to pray there, many Jewish religious leaders say Jews should not set foot there, but that consensus is breaking down. Hardtalk speaks to Yehuda Glick an activist who has been variously described as a dangerous extremist, and a campaigner for religious freedom. Three months ago he survived an assassination attempt. Why does he persist with his divisive campaign on Jerusalem's holiest ground?(Photo: Yehuda Glick. Credit: AP)

Greek voters may be about to plunge the European Union into a fully-fledged economic and political crisis. Opinion polls suggest the leftist, anti-austerity party Syriza is likely to emerge as the biggest party in Greece's late January election. If so the next Athens government may reject the terms of the bailout which is keeping the country afloat. And then what? Hardtalk speaks to Costas Lapavitsas, a London-based Greek economist who has been advising Syriza's leaders.(Photo: Greek economist Costas Lapavitsas)

The West's strategic vision appears as clear as mud. After protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the appetite for military intervention has all but disappeared. But given the threat of jihadist extremism and the spread of turmoil across the Middle East, non-intervention is seen as an unacceptable risk. The net result is uncertainty. Hardtalk speaks to Rory Stewart, a British Conservative MP who has worked in both Iraq and Afghanistan.(Photo: Rory Stewart)

Are we any closer to learning about the origins of our universe after the historic landing in November of a European robot probe on a comet? The mission began 21 years ago, and the probe Rosetta travelled nearly six and a half billion kilometres to reach the comet. The scenes of cheering and hugs amongst the expert team at the European Space Agency in Germany reflected the deep joy and sense of accomplishment. Hardtalk speaks to professor Monica Grady, a member of the Probe's scientific team. Now the euphoria has subsided - what did we learn from this historic landing?

The International Red Cross doesn't take sides; it prioritises field operations over political grandstanding. It's the humanitarian organisation that reaches the conflict zones others fail to reach. Or is it? Hardtalk speaks to Yves Daccord, Director General of the ICRC. From Syria to South Sudan, is the Red Cross model of scrupulously neutral intervention broken beyond repair?Picture: Yves Daccord, Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross

The sporting world has been tainted by the constant drip of doping allegations, bribery and corruption - does it need a 'Mr. Clean' to fix it? Hardtalk speaks to Sebastian Coe – former British Olympic champion. He set 12 world records during his athletics career on the track and went on to hold many roles in various sporting organisations. Now he wants to become the president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, the IAAF. What more can be done to help clean up sport?(Photo: Lord Sebastian Coe addresses the media as he unveils his IAAF presidential campaign manifesto. Credit: Andrew Redington/Getty Images)

In a programme from 2014, Stephen Sackur interviews Antony Sher, widely regarded as one of the finest contemporary classical actors. How did a self-styled outsider became a doyen of the British theatrical establishment?(Photo: Actor Sir Antony Sher. Credit: Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)