The Interview

Stephen Sackur speaks to the acclaimed Senegalese musician Baaba Maal. His records and musical collaborations have won him millions of fans worldwide, and he’s intent on helping his native Sahel region overcome its many challenges. Can this music icon make a difference?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the pioneering performance poet John Cooper Clarke. From his early days as the bard of punk to a decade lost to heroin and then the worldwide success of his poem I Wanna Be Yours and now a new tour, John Cooper Clarke has used words, rhythm and rhyme to find humour and truth in the chaos of everyday life. Where does his word magic come from?

Earlier this week, Russian political activist Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in Russia for charges linked to his criticism of the war in Ukraine. He was found guilty of treason, spreading "false" information about the Russian army and being affiliated with an "undesirable organisation" – charges he denied. In 2017, HARDtalk spoke to him as he recovered in the US from what he said was a poisoning attempt in Moscow. Shortly before, he had been rushed to hospital in the Russian capital when his organs started shutting down. He said he knew immediately what was happening because the same thing had happened to him two years earlier. Both times he claimed he was the victim of deliberate poisoning, and that he was targeted because of his opposition to President Putin and the Russian government. He told the programme that despite the risks, he intended to return to Russia.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister. Budapest is an outlier in both the EU and Nato, unwilling to arm Ukraine, eager to maintain close ties with Moscow, and dismissing demands to respect EU values. Will its defiance come at a price?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Christo Grozev, Bellingcat's lead Russia investigator. His work has exposed crimes and embarrassed the Kremlin. What motivates this digital detective?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Israeli MP and former UN ambassador Danny Danon. Amid political turmoil at home, a deteriorating security situation and stinging criticism from Israel’s allies overseas is the Netanyahu administration now jeopardising Israel’s future?

Ben Ferencz, the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg Nazi trials, has died aged 103. He also helped liberate the death camps of Europe when he was serving in the US military. In 2017, Zeinab Badawi travelled to Florida to interview him at his home. Did he believe the Nuremberg trials have made genocide and crimes against humanity less likely to be committed in the world today?

As President Biden visits Belfast and Dublin to mark 25 years of the Good Friday Agreement, Stephen Sackur speaks to Congressman Richard Neal, an influential voice when it comes to US policy on Northern Ireland. Will US/UK relations be tied to what happens next in Northern Ireland?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the renowned lawyer and author Geoffrey Robertson KC, who has long experience as an international human rights defender and a war crimes trial judge. Is the fact that President Vladimir Putin faces war crimes charges while still sitting in the Kremlin a sign of how far we’ve come, or how far we have to go when it comes to global justice?

Sarah Montague speaks to David Beasley, the outgoing head of the World Food Programme. During his tenure, the agency’s budget has more than doubled but the number of those close to famine is growing and conflict is disrupting food supply. How can the world’s most hungry be fed?

(Photo: David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme appears via videolink on Hardtalk)