Location:
United Kingdom
Networks:
BBC
Description:
In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.
Language:
English
Episodes
Jonathan Haidt: Are phones and social media affecting our children's mental health?
5/5/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:59
Mihai Popșoi: Is Moldova the new Russian battleground?
5/4/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Paul Auster: 'We are divided in ways we have never seen before'
5/3/2024
In 2021, Stephen Sackur is travelled to New York to speak to writer Paul Auster, who died this week aged 77.
Duration:00:23:12
Ami Ayalon: Is Israel fighting an unwinnable war?
5/1/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:56
Amin Salam: Can Lebanon's government avert catastrophe?
4/29/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Joan Donoghue: Has the ICJ ruling changed anything in Gaza?
4/26/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:57
Daniel Dennett: Philosophy and atheism
4/24/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:57
Richard Haass: How should the US respond to global risks?
4/20/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Arseniy Yatsenyuk: Could Ukraine lose?
4/19/2024
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.
Duration:00:22:57
Danny Danon: Will Israel listen to its allies?
4/16/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Eddie Marsan: Do the arts neglect working-class people?
4/15/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:43
Paul Caruana Galizia: Can his family get justice?
4/12/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:48
Job Sikhala: Is change possible in Zimbabwe?
4/10/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:57
Humza Yousaf: Is the SNP's supremacy in Scotland under threat?
4/7/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Naomi Alderman: Power and technology
4/5/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:31
Tom Shakespeare: Redefining disability
4/3/2024
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?
Duration:00:22:58
Lila Rose: Could abortion be banned in the entire US?
4/1/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:34
Mohamed Irfaan Ali: Is oil a blessing or a curse for Guyana?
3/29/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:32
On the road in Guyana
3/27/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:34
Judith Butler: Gender and identity
3/25/2024
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?
Duration:00:23:31