The Interview

In March British boxer Nick Blackwell almost died after a bout with Chris Eubank junior. HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to Chris Eubank senior who now manages his son.

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur talks to the President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solis. They used to call Costa Rica the Switzerland of Latin America; it seemed so much more stable, peaceful and prosperous than its neighbours. But now that image is fading as the country faces a budget crisis, endemic poverty, organised crime and corruption. President Solis came to power promising change, so what’s gone wrong?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Dr Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency and one of the world's most influential observers of the global energy market. The price of oil has more than halved over the past two years. That's great news if you're an oil consumer but it's alarming if your priority is to wean the world’s economy off carbon emitting fossil fuels. Does cheap oil make decarbonising the world economy even more difficult?

(Photo: Dr Fatih Birol in the Hardtalk studio)

Stephen Sackur talks to Libyan politician Mustafa Abushagur, briefly prime minister in 2012 and a backer of the unity government. Over the last five years the Libyan state has been shattered into fragments - now it has a UN backed government committed to restoring unity. But the political scene remains confused and jihadists from Islamic state pose a continued threat. Is Libya beyond salvation?

(Photo: Dr Mustafa Abushagur in the Hardtalk studio)

Hardtalk presents a special programme recorded in front of an audience in the BBC’s Radio Theatre in Central London and a guest whose all consuming passion for this subject was forged in his childhood. Alfred Dubs, now Lord Dubs, arrived in Britain as a six-year-old fleeing Nazi persecution. He wants Britain to take more child refugees. What is Europe's responsibility to people fleeing conflict?

(Photo: Lord Dubs in the BBC's Radio Theatre)

Stephen Sackur talks to Brian Eno, the hugely influential contemporary music maker once styled the ‘brainiest guy in pop’ – except the word ‘pop’ does not really fit. Briefly a member of Roxy Music in the early '70s, he then went his own way, creating ambient music, developing audio-visual installations and collaborating with a host of big names including Bowie, U2 and Coldplay. His output has been prolific and varied, but what is he? A musician, a composer, or an artist impossible to label?

(Photo: British musician and activist Brian Eno speaks at the the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025 (DiEM25), 2016, Berlin. Credit: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

After the British Labour Party suffered a crushing election defeat a year ago, the shell-shocked party took a dramatic turn to the left. New leader Jeremy Corbyn presented himself as the anti-austerity, anti-war antithesis of Tony Blair's new Labour. So, how is the Corbyn formula working? HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to Labour stalwart, shadow Foreign Secretary Hilary Benn and asks, does Labour present a credible alternative to the Cameron government?

Germany is indisputably the most powerful nation in Europe, but does it have the will and the means to prevent the EU being undermined by division and fragmentation? The migration crisis and the Greek debt disaster have posed challenges that Angela Merkel has struggled to overcome. Stephen Sackur speaks to Norbert Röttgen, senior figure in the Christian Democratic party and chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the German parliament. Can German leadership rescue the European project?

Stephen Sackur talks to Vladimir Milov, founder and leader of the Democratic Choice movement. There are few more thankless tasks in world politics than being an opposition leader in Russia. Vladimir Putin's approval ratings continue to defy gravity, even in the teeth of a prolonged economic recession. Kremlin opponents are starved of media airtime, routinely harrassed and often locked up, or worse. Maybe democracy isn't a Russian priority?

South Africa's president Jacob Zuma is on the ropes. In recent months he's been dealt blow after blow - by the courts, by political opponents, even by erstwhile friends. Only the knee-jerk loyalty of the ANC has saved him from impeachment and disgrace. HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to South Africa's trade and industry minister Rob Davies and asks: if the president won’t jump, does he need to be pushed, for the good of the country?

Image: Rob Davies Minister of Trade and Industry, Credit: Michelly Rall/Getty Images