The Interview

Colm Tóibín is an Irish writer whose intense, lyrical novels have won him awards, acclaim and most importantly millions of readers around the world. Colm Tóibín isn't so much a flamboyant storyteller; he's more an acute observer of character and the deepest human feelings. There are recurring themes in his work - loss, mourning, sexual repression and exile which might suggest a dark, brooding presence - but how close is that to the real Colm Tóibín?

(Photo: Colm Tóibín. Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

Zeinab Badawi talks to the South African jazz musician and political activist Hugh Masekela. His life and music have reflected the struggles of the anti-apartheid era and the subsequent years of black majority rule. So why does he now describe South Africa as fast turning into a rubbish dump and becoming removed from its authentic African culture?

(Photo: Hugh Masekela. Credit: C Brandon/Redferns/Getty)

Hardtalk speaks to the man who has been called 'America’s greatest living crime writer'. Through works such as the Black Dalia and LA Confidential, James Ellroy has created a uniquely dark portrait of America. His is a nightmare vision of crazed killers and corrupt cops. He writes of what he knows – his own mother was murdered when he was a child. So is that simple, terrible fact the key to understanding all the words he has ever written?

(Photo: James Ellroy. Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

South Africa's Democratic Alliance, the country's main opposition party, has its first ever black leader. Mmusi Maimane took over in May this year from Helen Zille. He says he wants to represent all South Africans regardless of colour, but the vast majority of black South Africans support the ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela. Can Mmusi Maimane win them over and take race out of South African politics?

(Picture: Mmusi Maimane campaigns around Protea South on October 23, 2013 in Soweto, South Africa. Credit: Foto24/Getty)

For more than three decades the ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem has performed as principal dancer at most leading ballet establishments, redrawing the boundaries of the genre. But at the end of this year she will be giving her last performance in a worldwide farewell tour. She will undoubtedly go down in ballet history as one of the greatest dancers of all time - but she is famously been dubbed 'Mademoiselle Non' for being too assertive. Hardtalk speaks to her about that as well as the poisonous rivalries in the world of ballet and her activism to save the planet.

(Photo: Sylvie Guillem. Credit: Getty Images)

Could Turkey be slipping back into conflict? A fragile three year peace process between the government and Kurdish militants from the PKK, the Kurdistan workers’ party, has broken down. Several Turkish soldiers and police have been killed in the past few weeks and the government blames the PKK. Zeinab Badawi talks to Turkish MP Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Honorary President of the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP). What is he doing to prevent a further escalation of violence in Turkey?

The migrant crisis on both sides of the English Channel has led to accusation and counter accusation in Britain and France as thousands of migrants make nightly attempts to enter the UK illegally. What is clear is the EU's migration system isn't working. Hardtalk speaks to Calais' deputy-mayor Philippe Mignonet and senior British Conservative MP Tim Loughton. How can Europe move beyond the blame game and find a fair and just solution for everyone?

(Photo: Migrants continue to try and board lorries bound for the UK on June 2015 in Calais. Credit: Getty Images)

A host of countries around the world still impose the ultimate punishment on the most serious criminals - death. What is it like to be in command of the machinery of state-sanctioned execution? Hardtalk gets a rare insight from Allen Ault, who spent years running the corrections system in the southern US state of Georgia. He organised the killing of criminals until he could stand it no more. Now he is an opponent of the death penalty. Stephen Sackur finds out why.

(Photo: Allen Ault)

The prime minister Alexis Tsipras is facing a rebellion from the hard left in his party, Syriza, who accuse him of going back on his promise to reject austerity. However, it is not just economics that is at the heart of the disagreement; it is a struggle for what kind of country Greece wants to be in the 21st Century. Zeinab Badawi talks to Stathis Kouvelakis - a Syriza central committee member. Who is winning the argument in Greece?

(Photo: Stathis Kouvelakis)

There are a number of successful contemporary artists whose work sells for millions of dollars. But how many of them will leave an enduring mark when the clamour of fashion and hype has moved elsewhere? Hardtalk speaks to one of Britain's best known and controversial artists Marc Quinn. He sculpts, he paints, he manufactures extraordinary objects, and sometimes he enrages the critics - but will his work stand the test of time?

(Photo: Artist Marc Quinn poses with a maquette for his Fourth Plinth proposal entitled Alison Lapper Pregnant. Credit: Getty Images)