The Interview

How exactly does Donald Trump propose to make the American economy great again? By junking the economic orthodoxies of the recent past, it seems. He wants to slash taxes, spend big on public projects and renege on trade deals that he claims rip America off. Stephen Sackur talks to one of America's most respected economic analysts, Mohamed El-Erian, formerly CEO of PIMCO investments. What will Trum...

Victoria Nyanjura endured eight years as a captive of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda. In 1996 she was only 14 years old when she, along with more than 100 other schoolgirls, were taken captive by the LRA. Over the next eight years she was beaten, raped and had two children before eventually escaping in 2004. Now she still lives in Uganda as an advocate for women and children affected by war....

What impact will Donald Trump have on President Barack Obama's policies? At the end of January 2017 Trump will move in to the White House and has promised to undo much of President Obama's legacy. More than that, the new president promises to break the liberal capitalist consensus which has underpinned globalisation. Did Donald Trump win because Barack Obama failed America's working class? Stephen...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Staffan de Mistura, the UN special envoy charged with trying to find a way out of the conflict in Syria. He has spent four decades trying to stem bloodshed by way of diplomacy but is Syria mission impossible? (Photo: UN Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura attends a conference held by Catholic at the Vatican, 2016. Credit: Andrew Medichini/AP)

Stephen Sackur is in Paris for an exclusive interview with the French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. His premiership has been turbulent, defined by economic and political woes, Europe's migration crisis and an unprecedented wave of terror on French soil. Exactly a year ago, so-called Islamic State launched a co-ordinated attack on Paris which killed 130 people. One year on, is France united and stro...

Shaun Ley speaks to India's Commerce and Industry Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman. Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has visited Delhi to pave the way for the UK's first post-Brexit trade deal. India is the world's fastest growing economy and a deal with Delhi could ease the UK’s transition out of the European Union. India, though, has troubles of its own - a 20 month run of declining exports, its...

Stephen Sackur speaks to journalist Mikhail Zygar, who has written a book about the powerful groups of people around Russia’s president Vladimir Putin and their influence on decision making. President Putin has been criticised in the West as a ruthless authoritarian ruler determined to revive imperialist ambitions. But is it a mistake to invest him with such transformative power and strategic visi...

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Roberto Azevêdo, the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, an institution dedicated to banning protectionism and freeing up global trade. But maybe the WTO is out of step with the spirit of the age. From Donald Trump’s protectionist messages to the Brexit vote in Britain. There seems to be a backlash against economic globalisation. So, is the WTO swi...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Kieran Conway, the former director of intelligence for the IRA. He joined the group in 1970 and was part of a unit in England which engaged in armed robbery to help fund the organisation. He spent time in prison in Northern Ireland and soon after his release in 1974 was put in charge of IRA intelligence. Just weeks later bombs planted by the IRA killed 21 people in two pub...

There is a select group of fiction writers whose next book is eagerly anticipated by legions of fans around the world. Presenter Stephen Sackur speaks to a writer who has been in that club for two decades. Patricia Cornwell can lay claim to have invented the whole genre of crime scene, forensic detective fiction. Her investigator Kay Scarpetta has featured in two dozen novels, and inspired a host...

Stephen Sackur talks to Steven Ciobo Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment. Australia is having pre Brexit talks with the UK while negotiating a big free trade deal with the European Union. But with the recent demonstrations against similar deals with the United States and Canada, Stephen Sackur asks if the public tiring of globalisation and big trade deals. Could Australia feel t...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Bulgaria's foreign minister, Daniel Mitov. If a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, then the European Union has reason to worry about Bulgaria. Once a redoubt of the Soviet Empire, Bulgaria is by many measures the poorest, most corrupt member of the European Union. It also happens to be a key player in two of the great challenges facing the EU, the migration crisi...

Stephen Sackur speaks to one of Ireland’s most successful businessmen Michael O’Leary – the chief executive of the low cost, no frills airline, Ryanair. In terms of passenger numbers it is Europe's biggest airline, carrying more than a hundred million passengers per year. But what impact will the UK's looming departure from the European Union have on Ryanair and the Irish economy? (Photo: Michael...

Brexit isn't the only threat to the coherence of the European Union. Think about Hungary for a second. The populist Government of Victor Orban rejected the EU's agreed response to the external migration challenge. The prime minister held a referendum in a bid to assert Hungary's right to ignore EU rules. Other EU member states have accused Hungary of threatening the Union's future. Hardtalk’s Step...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Riek Machar, former South Sudanese Vice President turned rebel leader. For the people of South Sudan five years of independent nationhood have brought little more than impoverishment, violence and suffering. The world's newest nation is again racked by internal conflict. More than a million people have been forced from their homes and the country's president Salva Kiir, an...

With voters from around the world are expressing their disgust with politics, she is going to be a key player in next year’s French presidential elections. Could Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Front party send shockwaves around the world and actually win the French presidency? Picture: Marine Le Pen, Credit: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images

There are writers of world renown whose reputation rests on one great book. There are others who write more prolifically but always in the same territory. And then there's Margaret Atwood whose output fizzes with energy, diversity and experimentation. She is best known for her novels, the Handmaids Tale, the Blind Assassin, Oryx and crake. But she has also written poetry, blog fiction and this yea...

The Influential Conservative tax campaigner Grover Norquist talks to Stephen Sackur. Why does he think Donald Trump's policies will help him win the race for the White House?

Stephen Sackur speaks to South African satirist, Pieter-Dirk Uys. Leaders who routinely abuse their power cannot stand to be laughed at. Satire is a potent political weapon. That is a truth Pieter-Dirk Uys has exploited for 40 years. He styles himself as "the most famous white woman in South Africa." Thanks to his alter ego Auntie Evita - a character he created to poke fun at the white Afrikaner e...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Avi Dichter, Chair of Israel's Foreign Affairs & Defence Committee. Think of Israel's turbulent history since the 1967 war and you might think first of the political leaders, Golda Meir, Menachem Begin, Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon Peres and now Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Other crucial figures in Israel's story spent more time in the shadows, like Avi Dichter, who was...

Shaun Ley speaks to Okechukwu Enelamah, Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment. Nigeria's economy is contracting for the first time in 25 years. The north-east is threatened by famine and President Buhari has promised renewed efforts to tackle the 'cancer' of corruption. Okechukwu Enelamah wants to break his country's dependence on oil. But with foreign investors pulling out and blami...

In an interview recorded in 2016, Stephen Sackur speaks to Meat Loaf, a rock'n'roll legend who broke the rules of the music business. He was never cool, never a pin-up, but his songs and performances have always been much larger than life. Meat Loaf shot to fame four decades ago with Bat out of Hell, an album which became one of the biggest sellers of all time. Since then his career - in music and...

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Turkish author, Ece Temelkuran. Two months ago Turkey's elected Government managed to survive a botched military coup. A triumph for democracy? Not necessarily - not if you regard freedom of expression and an independent judiciary as prerequisites of a genuine democracy. Thousands of judges, journalists and civil servants have been locked up or sacked since the...

Sarah Montague speaks to the President of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, Sam Rainsy. The UN, US and Europe all say they are worried about what is going on in Cambodia. More than a dozen opposition figures are in prison, the party's vice president has not left their headquarters in four months for fear of being arrested, and the opposition leader Sam Rainsy fled the country to avoid jail. They...

Manfred Weber is an MEP for Germany's Christian Social Union and leader of the largest political group in the European Parliament, the EPP. German voters have made it clear they are unhappy with their Chancellor Angela Merkel. In two regional elections this month her conservative party, the Christian Democratic Union, suffered a humiliating defeat. The EPP isn't happy with her either, warning of a...