The Interview

Stephen King was the chief economist at HSBC from 1998 to 2015. He now says 'Western led globalization is in big trouble. We may be witnessing the collapse of the post-war international economic and political order'. Stephen Sackur asks him why he thinks globalisation could go into reverse and what damage could be done to economies across Europe and the United States.

(Photo: Stephen King on Hardtalk)

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Nicola Benyahia, the mother of a deceased ‘IS’ fighter. After terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, the UK is preoccupied with questions about how best to counter the Jihadist threat. For politicians the focus is on policing, intelligence, and detention powers. Nicola Benyahia's son Rasheed was radicalised in Birmingham, went to fight with the so called ‘Islamic State’ group in Syria and was killed aged just 19. She now offers support to other families facing the dangers of radicalisation at home. How best to close the door on the Jihadis?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to US Democratic Party insider Jake Sullivan, a key adviser to senior Democrats, including Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State as well as on the campaign trail last year. President Trump has attracted a lot of criticism at home and abroad over his rhetoric and style of leadership. But is he not proving more effective in important foreign policy issues, like the fight against extremists than the previous Democratic administration?

(Photo: Jake Sullivan)

Stephen Sackur talks to Rachel Dolezal, the ostensibly black American human rights activist whose life unravelled in 2015 when it turned out that she was the daughter of white parents. So what gives us our sense of who we are? Our upbringing and our communities both have a huge impact, but what about the most basic pillars of identity that we tend to regard as immutable? Is our racial identity something we can define for ourselves?

(Photo: Rachel Dolezal talks to Stephen Sackur as part of BBC Identity season)

Stephen Sackur is at the 2017 Hay Literary Festival to speak to the US Senator Bernie Sanders - the longest serving independent in US congressional history. He was credited with injecting passion and belief into the race for 2016’s Democratic presidential nomination - a race that was eventually won by Hillary Clinton. But did he plant the seeds of a political revolution in the United States?

(Photo: Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT) react during a news conference on release of the president"s FY2018 budget proposal, 2017. Yuri Gripas /Reuters)

What hope is there for the people of South Sudan? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan, David Shearer. South Sudan's lethal cocktail of civil war, ethnic division, failed governance, widespread hunger and disease threatens millions of lives. It represents a tragic failure on the part of the rulers of Africa's newest country, and on the part of the United Nations mission there which has brought neither peace nor protection.

(Photo: David Shearer, Head of the United Nations mission in South Sudan)

President Trump has regularly criticised the New York Times and accused it, and other media, of propagating ‘fake news’. Does its claim to be fair in its reporting stand up to scrutiny? Hardtalk is in New York city to speak to Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times. The paper has been at the forefront of reporting into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election and the first months of the Trump presidency. Stephen Sackur asks Dean Baquet how far the public can trust the New York Times' regular use of anonymous sources to report on the inner workings of the White House.

(Photo: Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. After the collapse of the Soviet Empire, a new, freer, more prosperous region emerged in eastern Europe, anchored in the EU and Nato. The EBRD was created to foster that transformation to democracy and the free market. These days many of its investment projects are in Turkey, Central Asia and North Africa - has mission creep undermined its founding values?

Stephen Sackur speaks to renowned academic Gilles Kepel, an expert on Islamist terrorism in France and beyond. His work is influential - it was cited by newly elected French president Emmanuel Macron during the recent campaign - and to some, controversial. In the wake of the terrible suicide bombing in Manchester, a familiar question is being asked again - is the West any closer to an effective counter terror strategy?

(Photo: Midlle East specialist and Professor at the Paris Institute of Political Studies (IEP) Gilles Kepel, 2012. Credit: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Elif Shafak, the Turkish novelist and writer who lives much of her life in London. A dozen years ago Europeans looked at Turkey and thought they saw a country becoming more like them - embracing western values and on a long term track to EU membership. But today Europe sees authoritarianism, conservatism and repression embodied in the all-powerful figure of President Erdogan. Does the West get anywhere close to understanding Turkey's complex culture and politics?

(Photo: Author Elif Shafak taking part in a debate for the BBC's 100 Women season. Credit: Henry Iddon)