The Interview

Stephen Sackur speaks to the former prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan. He was ousted from power last year but thinks he can stage a comeback in elections scheduled for the autumn. Is Pakistan facing a period of political chaos?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of the Young Vic theatre in London. His work poses questions about race, identity, equality and justice. In an era of political polarisation, are audiences prepared to engage?

Stephen Sackur is at the Knepp Estate in the south of England to speak to conservationist Isabella Tree. Her estate is a world-renowned example of rewilding but is she building a pathway to a healthier planet or putting eco-principles above the needs of people? (Photo: Isabella Tree in her office)

Holding governments to account for their abuses of human rights is hard. It requires focused forensic investigation, impartiality and no little courage. For six decades, Amnesty International has been advocating for prisoners of conscience in the face of state repression. But in recent times it’s both broadened its focus and faced unprecedented criticism. Stephen Sackur speaks to Agnes Callamard,...

Stephen Sackur speaks to the master of extreme swimming Lewis Pugh. From the North Pole to Antarctica, his death-defying swims are designed to focus attention on the damaging impact of climate change on our blue planet. Is this a form of activism that works?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the President of Chile, Gabriel Boric. Still just 37, he was elected amid excited talk of a new brand of progressive left politics in Latin America - but his ratings have plummeted. What's gone wrong for the young leader with big reformist ambition?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to dissident Russian journalist and writer Mikhail Zygar, who has rare insights into the inner workings of the Kremlin. After the challenge to Vladimir Putin’s power and an aborted mutiny last month, how weak is the Russian president?

Stephen Sackur interviews one of the world’s most innovative contemporary artists, Tomás Saraceno. His work involves spiders, balloons, dust and air. At its heart is a challenge to us all: Are we ready to reinvent what it means to be a human in a complex ecosystem on a small planet?

Does France’s government have a clear strategy to deal with the deep social and economic divisions that led to the worst outbreak of violence and rioting for years, following the killing of a French youth by police? Zeinab Badawi speaks to France’s Europe minister Laurence Boone.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Venezuelan opposition politician Maria Corina Machado, currently seen as the most likely challenger to socialist authoritarian president Nicolas Maduro in elections due next year. Maduro has survived the collapse of his economy and international sanctions. Has Venezuela’s opposition been outmanoeuvred?

Another chance to hear Stephen Sackur’s 2008 interview with the acclaimed writer and journalist Dame Ann Leslie, who has passed away at the age of 82. She is widely acclaimed as one of the greatest British reporters of the last 50 years, but is the golden age of the intrepid foreign correspondent now gone for good?

Stephen Sackur speaks to controversial philosopher Peter Boghossian, who spoofed a host of US academic journals to expose what he claims is the corruption of academia by politically fashionable ‘woke’ ideology. Is he stoking the fires of a dangerous culture war?

Zeinab Badawi speaks to Jennifer Morgan, Germany's special envoy on international climate action. How is she trying to build partnerships to reduce greenhouse gas emissions amid accusations that the rich world is not doing enough?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Anielle Franco, Brazil’s minister of racial equality. She was appointed by President Lula de Silva to tackle entrenched race inequality in everything from policing to schooling and business, just five years after her activist sister, Marielle Franco, was assassinated in Rio de Janeiro. Anielle Franco has vowed to fight racism and continue her sister’s work for social justi...

Stephen Sackur speaks to the Church of England’s first black woman bishop, Rose Hudson-Wilkin. Her home patch, Dover, is at the centre of the political and moral debate about migration; her church is beset by arguments over gender, sex and safeguarding. Can the Anglican church hold together?

Stephen Sackur interviews Patrick Verkooijen, the CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation. Back in 2015, world leaders pledged to speed up cuts in greenhouse gas emissions in a bid to stop our planet warming by more than 1.5°C. Most climate scientists now believe that threshold will be crossed, and soon. Is Patrick Verkooijen's focus on making the world climate change resilient an admission that th...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in London for a Ukraine Economic Recovery Conference. Will Ukraine get the help it needs?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the Indian opposition politician and writer Shashi Tharoor. On the face of it, India’s a rising superpower, the world’s most populous nation, with a growing economy and a popular leader. How strong is the argument that India is heading in the wrong direction?

Another chance to listen to Stephen Sackur's 2022 interview with the Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, who has died aged 92. He exposed US government lies about Vietnam, and helped hasten President Nixon’s downfall. He dedicated his life to warning Americans about the dangers of unchecked military power. Was it a message they wanted to hear?

Stephen Sackur is in Manchester to talk to the city’s mayor, Andy Burnham. Six years after he quit the UK parliament with the hope of seeing power decentralised and the north of England revitalised, how is his radical agenda going, and is he a threat to his own Labour Party’s leader, Sir Keir Starmer?

Philosopher Peter Singer has spent decades arguing for animal rights; his arguments have persuaded millions to give up meat. Has the movement he inspired become unstoppable?

Stephen Sackur is in Cape Town to speak to political cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro (Zapiro). Can satire work in a country still recovering from the prolonged trauma of apartheid?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Abdullah Mohtadi, the leader of the Iranian Kurdish political movement Komala. From his exile in Iraq, he’s one of many voices calling for freedom and democracy in Iran. But what do Iran’s Kurds really want - more rights or independence?

The acclaimed Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo has died aged 81. A former education minister for a brief period in Ghana, she arguably did more than any other writer to depict and celebrate the condition of women in Africa. Zeinab Badawi spoke with her in 2014. How much is there really to celebrate about being female in Africa? Image: Ama Ata Aidoo, pictured in 2017 (Credit: Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via...

The African National Congress has dominated South African politics for the last 29 years, but the party of Nelson Mandela is in trouble. A power crisis is doing new damage to an economy already hit by shocking levels of poverty, inequality and corruption. If the ANC is faltering, who stands best placed to offer an alternative? Stephen Sackur speaks to the leader of the radical populist Economic Fr...