The Interview

Stephen Sackur speaks to Gillian Slovo, whose acclaimed fiction, plays and memoirs reflect an extraordinary backstory. The daughter of South African parents whose struggle against apartheid brought prison, exile and, in her mother’s case, assassination. Has her writing exorcised demons?(Photo: Gillian Slovo in the Hardtalk studio)

Stephen Sackur is in Helsinki to speak to the President of Finland Alexander Stubb. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Finland to take the strategically significant step of joining Nato. But is it wise for Finland to pick sides in the deepening conflict between Russia and the west?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Sir Ron Dennis, founder of the McLaren Group and one of the most successful team leaders ever in Formula 1 racing. He was known as a technical innovator and perfectionist focused on marginal gains in every aspect of race car design. Sir Ron and his McLaren team won a host of F1 constructors' and drivers' world championships with some of greats of motor racing: Niki Lauda, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Lewis Hamilton. What fuelled his drive to win?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Canada’s defence minister Bill Blair. When it comes to military spending, Canada lies well short of Nato’s target. But with fears of Russian aggression on the rise, not least in the Arctic region, are Canadians changing their attitude to defence strategy?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Lithuania’s foreign minister Gabrielius Landsbergis. He wants the West to ramp up support for Ukraine to defeat Putin; he’s infuriated China with his stand on Taiwan. He calls it values-based foreign policy, but is Europe backing him?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Jonathan Haidt, the American social psychologist whose work focuses on how social and cultural change affects our minds and thoughts. How worried should we be about what smartphones and social media are doing to our children’s mental health?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Mihai Popșoi, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Moldova. The former Soviet Republic in south east Europe is now seeking EU membership. Just as in neighbouring Ukraine, Moldova’s western orientation has infuriated Moscow; is another conflict looming?

In 2021, Stephen Sackur is travelled to New York to speak to writer Paul Auster, who died this week aged 77.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Ami Ayalon, former director of the Israeli Security Agency, also known as Shin Bet, and now a fierce critic of Prime Minister Netanyahu's government. Is today's Israel ready to listen to the lessons of one of its ageing warriors?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Lebanon’s economy minister, Amin Salam. After years of economic meltdown, Lebanon is once again threatened by escalating regional conflict involving Israel and Iran. Does the Beirut government have the will or the means to prevent a further slide into chaos?

In an exclusive interview, Stephen Sackur speaks to Joan Donoghue, who has just retired as president of the International Court of Justice. In January, the court found there was a plausible case for Israel to answer for alleged violation of the Genocide Convention. Has the ruling changed anything in Gaza?

Another chance to listen to Stephen Sackur’s 2013 interview with American philosopher Daniel Dennett, who has died aged 82. Described as one of the Four Horsemen of New Atheism, Dennett wrote powerfully against religion. But do humans really want to live in a world where atheism rules and religion is dead?

Stephen Sackur speaks to veteran US diplomat Richard Haass. Levels of geopolitical risk are sky-high; from the direct hostilities between Israel and Iran, to the continued conflict and suffering in Gaza, to the ramping up of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. How should America respond?

If the West doesn't step up assistance for Ukraine, will the war be lost? Stephen Sackur speaks to former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Danny Danon, Israeli MP and former ambassador at the United Nations. Israel and Iran are on the brink of a war which could ignite the entire Middle East. Having neutralised an Iranian missile barrage, will the Israeli government listen to its allies and step back, or seek a new level of retribution and deterrence?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the actor Eddie Marsan, whose ability to play troubled, sometimes violent characters has made him a staple on stage and screen. He’s a relative rarity, an actor with genuine working class roots. Is there a diversity problem in the performing arts when it comes to class?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Paul Caruana Galizia, whose mother, Daphne, was a Maltese journalist who was assassinated for exposing endemic corruption and sleaze. Six years on, have her family won their fight for accountability and justice?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Zimbabwean opposition politician Job Sikhala. He was recently released after almost two years in jail. Now he’s promising to build a grassroots movement to challenge the ruling Zanu-PF party. But amid economic crisis and political repression, is change possible?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

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?

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.

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?

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?

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?

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?

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?

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)

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)

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)

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?

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?

Stephen Sackur speaks to José Ramos Horta, President of Timor-Leste. Are there lessons for the world to learn from his extraordinary life?

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?

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?

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?

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?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the writer and computer game creator Naomi Alderman. Her latest novel - The Future - is a techno thriller set at the end of days. Is the apocalypse she imagines all too possible?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Regina Ip, an influential pro-Beijing lawmaker in Hong Kong. For years China has been tightening its grip on the territory it took back from Britain. Pro-democracy activism, political opposition and press freedom have all been curtailed. So what is Hong Kong’s future?