The Interview

Katie Razzall, the BBC’s culture and media editor, speaks to American singer-songwriter Patti Smith during her UK tour marking the 50th anniversary of her ground-breaking debut album Horses.

Best-known for her hit Because the Night, she shares the story behind the song, co-written with Bruce Springsteen, and reflects about being at the vanguard of a new wave of artists in the 1970s.

Patti also opens up about her new memoir, Bread of Angels, a deeply personal journey through her music, her relationships, and the chance discovery of a devastating secret that changed everything.

Presenter: Katie Razzall

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Patti Smith. Credit: Stefania D'Alessandro/WireImage)

Zoe Kleinman, the BBC’s Technology editor, speaks to Canva CEO Melanie Perkins about the current tech and AI revolution that is transforming the internet and the world. Perkins, who is still only in her late-30s, is well-known for her entrepreneurial drive, having quit university at just 19 years old to launch her first venture.

Unlike many of today’s Silicon Valley-based big tech companies, Canva started out in the Australian city of Perth with a mission to ‘empower the world to design’.

It offers a variety of templates and tools to help users without technical skills or a design background to create a range of professional-looking graphics and presentations, from wedding invitations to business pitch decks.

Since launching in 2013, it has grown to become a multi-billion dollar business used by around 250 million people every month.

The success of Canva has catapulted Perkins into a number of lists ranking the world’s most powerful women, compiled by the likes of Forbes and Fortune. But it is a far cry from the very early days, when she was rejected by over 100 investors as she sought to get it off the ground.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: Zoe Kleinman

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Canva CEO Melanie Perkins holds a microphone. Credit: Alisha Jucevic/Getty Images)

“This is giving parents another weapon in their arsenal for their lives and for the happiness and mental wellbeing of their children.”

Katy Watson speaks to Australia’s Communication Minister Anika Wells about the world’s first social media ban for children under 16.

Presenter: Katy Watson

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media

(Image: Anika Wells. Credit: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

Nick Robinson speaks to Shabana Mahmood, British Home Secretary, about her far-reaching proposals to shake up the UK immigration system, designed to make asylum seekers think twice before attempting to enter the country illegally.

She also shares her own experience of racism as the daughter of Pakistani immigrants, and her belief that ensuring secure borders is the best way to combat this.

Presenter: Nick Robinson

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Shabana Mahmood. Credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Getty Images)

Marianna Spring, the BBC’s social media investigations correspondent, speaks to Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa, co-founder of the independent Filipino news outlet Rappler.

With over 40 years in journalism, Maria describes today’s information landscape as a war zone, where online attacks, including doxxing, misogynistic hashtags, and manipulated images don’t just stay online. They spill into real-world intimidation and violence.

This conversation explores the rise of online misogyny, the weaponisation of social media by authoritarian regimes, and the global impact on press freedom. Maria draws on her experience in the Philippines to offer insights for resisting digital repression and calls out tech giants for failing to protect democracy.

She also shares her vision for accountability and action and what needs to happen to safeguard journalism and democracy in the digital age.

Presenter: Marianna Spring

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Maria Ressa Credit: Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Amol Rajan speaks to Sir Nick Clegg - former deputy Prime Minister of the UK and, more recently, former President of Global Affairs at Meta - about big tech, AI and the future of social media.

Sir Nick first appeared on the world stage back in 2010, when he became the UK’s deputy prime minister after his Liberal Democrats party went into a coalition government with David Cameron’s Conservatives.

After leaving Westminster in 2017, he surprised many political observers when he was hired by Facebook, now known as Meta, to head up their global affairs and communications. In 2022, Sir Nick was then promoted to become the company’s president of global affairs, where he oversaw policy and government relations.

Sir Nick subsequently worked closely with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg for several years, but decided to step down at the beginning of this year.

And now, amid growing concerns over the regulation of big tech, the growth of AI and the future of the internet itself, he’s drawing on his vast experience from both Westminster and Silicon Valley to offer insight into what could be ahead.

Thank you to the Radical with Amol Rajan team for their help in making this programme.

Presenter: Amol Rajan

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Sir Nick Clegg. Credit: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

‘When it comes to women's lives, things have progressed, maybe not always in a linear way.’

Devina Gupta speaks to author and columnist Twinkle Khanna about the lives of women in 21st century India.

Born into a family of Bollywood royalty, Khanna initially followed her parents Dimple Kapadia and Rajesh Khanna into acting. However, despite appearing in dozens of films and receiving accolades for her performances, she considers herself to have been a ‘failed actress’.

After a short stint as an interior designer, she turned her hand to writing, and soon realised how much she could make people laugh.

As a prominent writer, however, Khanna has faced significant backlash - including for comments challenging both traditional roles within marriage and religious customs that label women impure during menstruation. Her outspoken views on gender norms and marital expectations have led to heated debate on social media, and made her the subject of widespread trolling.

So with the follow-up Mrs Funnybones book coming out over a decade later, she’s now asking the much larger question: what, if anything, has changed for Indian women in that time.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Twinkle Khanna: Credit: SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images)

“The current state of the art AI technology is prone to some errors… you have to learn to use these tools for what they are good at, and not blindly trust everything they say.”

Faisal Islam speaks to Sundar Pichai, chief executive of Google and its holding company Alphabet, about artificial intelligence and its impact on how we live and work.

He tells me that we are at an extraordinary moment in technology, with the potential for enormous benefits but also risks. AI should not be blindly trusted, he says, as it is still prone to errors. And it will disrupt society through its impact on jobs, but also on the climate, thanks to its “immense” energy needs.

Thank you to Faisal Islam and Priya Patel for their help in making this programme.

Presenter: Faisal Islam

(Image: Sundar Pichai. Credit: CAMILLE COHEN/AFP via Getty Images)

‘So-called turmoil or shortcomings in my life? I turn them into power or energy’

Best known for playing the serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter in the 1991 thriller ‘The Silence of the Lambs’, Sir Anthony’s journey to Hollywood stardom started with humble beginnings.

Born into a working class family in the Welsh steel town of Port Talbot in 1937, his parents first ran a bakery, and then later a pub. Their strong work ethic was imparted on their son, who, despite struggling socially and educationally in his early years, was determined to make a success of himself. Throwing himself into reading and creative pastimes like music and art, Sir Anthony studied at both the Welsh Royal College of Music and Drama and the Royal Academy for Dramatic Art.

His early career saw him working alongside greats including Katharine Hepburn, Lawrence Olivier, Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole across both stage and screen, with his international breakout coming in the 1980 film ‘The Elephant Man’, which received multiple Oscar and Golden Globe nominations.

It would be another decade before he truly cemented his place as a Hollywood A-lister: playing the infamous serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, regarded by many critics as one of the greatest film villains of all-time. The role won him the first of his two Oscars, with the second coming for his performance in the 2020 film ‘The Father’.

But the 87-year-old’s long journey to the very top was not only a professional struggle, but at times a personal struggle too, having also battled alcoholism early on in his career - which he says made him a difficult person to work with.

Thank you to the Culture team for their help in making this programme.

Presenter: Katie Razzall

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Sir Anthony Hopkins Credit: Darren Arthur/Getty Images for GEA)

BBC North America correspondent Nomia Iqbal speaks to Noura Erakat, Palestinian-American human rights attorney and professor at Rutgers University.

Noura Erakat reflects on the global response to the war in Gaza and what international law can and cannot do in times of crisis. We explore what accountability might look like and why, for many Palestinians, the law has so often failed them.

She talks about growing up as part of the Palestinian diaspora in the United States and how this has shaped her life.

Presenter: Nomia Iqbal

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Noura Erakat Credit: Barbara Monteiro)