Stephen Sackur speaks to American psychologist Professor Laurie Santos, whose work at Yale University on the science of happiness has won her an audience of millions thanks to her podcast and free online courses. With strict lockdowns in many countries around the world, isolation, economic insecurity, the absence of family and friends, Covid is putting enormous pressure on our mental health. Can we really learn how to be happy?

Laurie Santos: Can we learn how to be happy?

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

Government

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.

Arseniy Yatsenyuk: Could Ukraine lose?

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?

Danny Danon: Will Israel listen to its allies?

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?

Eddie Marsan: Do the arts neglect working-class people?

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?

Paul Caruana Galizia: Can his family get 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?

Laurie Santos: Can we learn how to be happy?

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