The Interview

‘I believe so profoundly in the separation of church and state, and in the dangers of theocracy creeping into the corners of a democracy’ BBC Music Correspondent Mark Savage speaks to US singer-songwriter, producer and performer Brandi Carlile about the personal and political stories behind her songs. An LGBTQ icon, she sets out her fears about the threat to same-sex marriage in today’s United Sta...

Vitaly Shevchenko speaks to Maria Alyokhina, founding member of the Russian punk activist group Pussy Riot, about the power and the price of protest. Pussy Riot came to the world’s attention with its Punk Prayer, an angry anti-Putin anthem performed in a Moscow church. Maria Alyokhina spent two years incarcerated in a penal colony as a result. It was worth it, she says, to show the world what life...

James Coomarasamy speaks to acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie as he publishes his first work of fiction since surviving a near-fatal attack in 2022, by a man armed with a knife, who is now serving 25 years in prison. The Eleventh Hour, his new collection of novellas and short stories explores mortality, farewells and even the afterlife. They feature a rich cast of characters - a musical prodigy...

‘There's basically a total failure of governance. Nothing is working. There is very serious political instability that has actually manifested itself in violence all across the country.’ James Copnall speaks to senior South Sudanese politician Nhial Deng Nhial, about the political instability that’s threatening the future of the world’s youngest country. Nhial, who has served in numerous important...

''There were periods when I couldn’t see any hope or joy,'' says British cycling champion Sir Bradley Wiggins in a deeply personal interview with Anna Foster The first Briton to win the Tour de France, he collected five Olympic gold medals throughout his career. But his stellar reputation came under attack as he faced allegations of doping. What followed was a descent into drug addiction that was...

‘Fashion has to be more inclusive, it has to speak to people outside the normal demographic’ BBC presenter Amol Rajan speaks to Ghanaian-born Edward Enninful, who rose to the pinnacle of fashion in Britain as the editor-in-chief of British Vogue. Enninful has dedicated his career to making fashion representative and relevant to all, ignoring the accepted conventions on which type of models will ma...

‘A lot of the fantasy that I have read is unsatisfactory for me because it's not interested in psychology, it's not interested how people think or feel’ Katie Razzall speaks to renowned British author Sir Philip Pullman as he publishes his latest, and final book in the series, The Rose Field. He’s best-known for writing the award-winning ‘His Dark Materials’ - a series of novels beloved by childre...

‘We’re living in an era of a massive lowering of trust’ Shaun Ley speaks to Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, one of the most visited websites in the world. He talks about how to trust in a digital age, the pressures facing open‑knowledge platforms and his new book The Seven Rules of Trust: A Blueprint for Building Things That Last, where he shares the lessons that transformed Wikipedia and co...

‘I am not done. I have lived my entire career a life of service and it's in my bones and there are many ways to serve. I have not decided yet what I will do in the future beyond what I'm doing right now.’ Laura Kuenssberg speaks to Kamala Harris about her turbulent 2024 presidential campaign where she ran against Donald Trump. She was thrust into the race just 107 days before the election, after t...

‘To isolate Israel or to punish Israel will be the most irresponsible and unacceptable step to boycott Israel, for example. I think it's a huge mistake, because what we need is a dialogue.’ Tim Franks speaks to Israeli author David Grossman about the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza as concerns grow over the increasingly fragile ceasefire. Grossman is one of Israel’s most prominent writers, and since publ...

‘There are real consequences to our physical and mental health’ Katty Kay speaks to Dr Vivek Murthy, former US Surgeon-General about the challenge posed by loneliness and isolation in the modern world. Dr. Murthy, the first person of Indian descent in the post, was appointed during the second Obama administration. He then returned in 2021, serving until the beginning of this year. The Surgeon-Gene...

I am worried about the global economy Simon Jack, BBC Business Editor speaks to global financial titan Jamie Dimon. He’s the Chief Executive and Chairman of JP Morgan Chase, America’s largest bank, and one of the biggest banks in the world. He oversees more than $4 trillion of assets, and has the ear of world leaders. He believes we are living in a time of uncertainty, and is concerned about the i...

I was 15 years old and I did not know who I was Madina Maishanu speaks to Malala Yousafzai, the global education activist, about the public life that has defined her, and her search for her own identity. In a deeply personal interview, Malala Yousafzai reveals the legacy of her teenage years - as the spirited girl who took on the Taliban and nearly lost her life, then the Nobel Prize-winning advoc...

The world will have to listen to Africa Waihiga Mwaura speaks to Botswana’s President Duma Boko about his plans to reinvigorate the economy, taking greater control of the country’s diamond reserves, but also diversifying its mining and other sectors. Currently facing hefty tariffs from the US, he claims to be close to securing a tariff-free deal for Botswana’s diamonds at least. But President Boko...

Born in 1956 in the Swedish capital, Borg’s lifelong association with tennis began when his father won a full-size racket at a local table tennis tournament, which he gave to the young Borg. By the age of 14, he had joined the professional tennis circuit, and just a few years later, had won the Italian Open at 17 and the French Open at just 18. Having risen to international prominence in 1975 when...

Justin Rowlatt speaks to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright about his belief that the threat from climate change is exaggerated. It is a view shared by the American President, Donald Trump, and one that has seen subsidies to the renewable energy industry, worth billions of dollars, cut by the US administration. Secretary Wright is highly critical of the transition to sustainable power, describing it...

Somalia has a serious security challenge Paul Njie speaks to Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of Somalia, about ongoing efforts to achieve security and stability in his country. While he says much progress has been made in tackling terror, he acknowledges that the insurgent groups al-Qaeda and, in particular, al-Shabab still pose a serious challenge. However, he refutes the American charge that So...

‘Peace seems to be a word, a five-letter word, that is losing its value.’ Waihiga Mwaura speaks to Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General, in a broad-ranging interview about the the UN at 80, and the state of the world today. The UN is currently hosting its annual General Assembly at its headquarters in New York. Leaders, senior politicians and diplomats from all over the world are meeting th...

Ione Wells speaks to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the President of Brazil in an exclusive, wide-ranging interview. He sets out his anger not only at the hefty trade tariffs imposed on his country by President Trump, but also at the lack of communication or negotiation from the US administration. Now, he says, he has no relationship with the American president. President Lula da Silva does not want t...

Jamie Coomarasamy speaks to Moazzam Malik, Chief Executive of Save the Children UK, about operating on the ground in Gaza. They’re one of a number of non-governmental organisations, or NGOs, operating in the Gaza strip amid a backdrop of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. On 22 August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), declared that half a million people – around a qu...

Stevie Wonder was born in 1950 in the industrial city of Saginaw, Michigan, USA. Even from a young age, he displayed a great love of music - first with a church choir, and then teaching himself how to play a range of instruments, including the harmonica, piano and drums, all before the age of 10. He was just 11 years old when he was discovered and signed by the legendary Motown record label - and...

‘I'm very confident that someday soon we're going to have government as good as our people again’ Paddy O’Connell speaks to former US Vice President Mike Pence about President Trump’s second term in office. Pence, whose political career began a quarter of a century ago, first rose to international prominence when he was selected by Donald Trump to be his running mate for the 2016 US Presidential e...

John Wilson speaks to British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason about his obsession with music, adjusting to fame and how he’s faced racist abuse. While still a student, he performed to an audience of more than one billion people at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, instantly becoming one of the most recognisable classical performers in the world. Now, still just 26 years old, he explains th...

Paddy O’Connell speaks to Professor Francis Fukuyama about the threats to liberal democracies around the world. The American political economist and international relations scholar, who is currently a senior fellow at Stanford University, has written widely on issues about development and international politics. He is best-known for his 1992 book ‘The End of History and the Last Man’. He argued th...

Rahul Tandon speaks to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberia’s former president and first woman to be elected to lead an African country. Born in 1938 in what she describes as a prosperous and ‘unusual family’, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was guided by a deep commitment to education, which she pursued despite financial hardship and the demands of motherhood. Her outspoken criticism of the Liberian government l...