The Interview

After five years of bloodletting and suffering the Syrian war has a new, potentially game-changing dynamic. The combined forces of the Assad regime and its Iranian and Russian backers are pushing back the rebels in the north and west of the country; a mooted truce appears to have been brokered on Russia's terms and seems unlikely to halt the military push. Stephen Sackur speaks to Bassma Kodmani a...

Stephen Sackur speaks with Fahd al Rasheed, CEO of King Abdullah Economic City in Saudi Arabia. King Abdullah Economic City is a vast construction project on the Red Sea. It is supposed to become one of the world’s biggest ports with a population of 2 million – a new global city for Saudi Arabia. But could the kingdom’s economic problems see this dream turn to dust?

The Danish People's Party is seen by its critics as xenophobic and by its supporters as the home of true Danish values. Hardtalk speaks Søren Espersen, the Party's deputy chairman. (Photo: Søren Espersen)

Stephen Sackur speaks to Rob Wainwright, Director of Europol, the EU's joint policing agency tasked with enhancing Europe's response to major cross border security and criminal threats. So-called Islamic state has the intent and the capacity to mount major terrorist attacks in the heart of Europe - does Europe have the right tools to effectively counter the challenge? With the EU's record on exter...

Zeinab Badawi speaks to Iyad Ameen Madani, Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), from the Saudi Arabian port city of Jeddah. The OIC represents the world's 57 Muslim nations. With large parts of the Muslim world torn apart by sectarian strife and with acts of terror perpetrated by Muslims across continents, what can he do or say to combat the challenges? (Photo: Iyad...

Norway takes its commitment to international diplomacy and humanitarianism very seriously. The oil rich country is one of the world’s wealthiest with a reputation for humanitarianism so it is not surprising that it is co-hosting a donor conference in London to boost aid for Syria's long suffering people. But the government is receiving criticism for its own stance on migration and asylum issues. E...

The oil rich kingdom of Saudi Arabia is facing uncertain times. Its monarchy, wedded to a conservative brand of Sunni Islam, is locked in a struggle for regional power with Shia Iran which is playing out in the conflicts in Yemen and Syria. Its relations with the US are strained and its human rights record has been widely condemned. Major General Mansour al-Turki is a senior Interior Ministry offi...

Sarah Montague talks to Louka Katseli, chair of the National Bank of Greece, about whether Greece's banks are strong enough to help spark a lasting economic recovery. (Photo: Louka Katseli, chair of the National Bank of Greece on Hardtalk)

After the lifting of all sanctions relating to Iran's nuclear programme, President Hassan Rouhani said a 'golden page' in his country's history had begun. Hardtalk speaks to former British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who has been a long-time supporter of closer ties with Iran and has visited the country many times. What is his response to critics who believe the current rapprochement will serve t...

Stephen Sackur speaks to Francis Egan, head of Cuadrilla, the company wanting a "shale gas revolution" in the UK. Can they win enough support to bring Fracking to the UK? (Photo: Francis Egan on Hardtalk)

Stephen Sackur talks to John Kiriakou, the former CIA agent who played a key role in anti-terror operations after 9/11 and later went public with the truth about water-boarding. He was imprisoned for leaking the names of two CIA agents and is currently on federal probation. He says he is a truth teller scapegoated by the US Government - but he betrayed a trust - should that carry a heavy price? (P...

Stephen Sackur talks to Harlem Desir, France's Secretary of State for European Affairs. Has France drawn the right lessons from the recent attacks on Paris?

Henry Rollins got into punk rock as a curious kid in 1970s Washington DC. He first found success as lead singer with the band Black Flag and went on to form his own band. He had a cult following on the alternative music scene, but he soon left the confines of rock and roll. Henry Rollins has embraced writing, broadcasting, acting and journalism. These days he's an activist and storyteller taking o...

The British referendum on whether to stay in, or leave, the European Union may well be held this coming summer. It will be a vote of momentous significance for Britain and for the EU. The polls suggest it could be a close run thing. Stephen Sackur talks to Lord Lawson, president of the Conservatives for Britain group, which is campaigning for a British exit in defiance of Prime Minister David Came...

Stephen Sackur talks to the political analysts Mohammad Marandi in Tehran and Jamal Khashoggi in Jeddah. Is there any way to take the heat out of the Saudi-Iranian confrontation? (Photo: Prof Mohammad Marandi, Univesity of Tehran (L) and Jamal Khashoggi, columnist and author)

Bosnia and Herzegovina is due to officially apply for membership of the European Union. But 20 years after the Dayton Agreement, which ended the bloody civil war of the early 1990s, significant obstacles persist. Youth unemployment is the highest in Europe and ethnic divisions remain in place with the Serb dominated region of Republika Srpska often threatening to declare independence. Stephen Sack...

The Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, has grand plans to turn Jerusalem into a world city but is his vision far removed from the reality on the ground? He talks to Stephen Sackur about his aspirations. (Photo: Backdropped by Jerusalem's Old City Ottoman walls, Jerusalem's mayor Nir Barkat speaks during a joint press conference 2015. Credit: Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images)

Depending on your point of view you can call it female circumcision, cutting, or more graphically female genital mutilation. But whatever the label it's become a hugely contentious practice in countries across Africa and beyond. Stephen Sackur speaks to two guests with first-hand experience - Fuambai Ahmadu is co-founder of the group African Women are Free to Choose, and Nimco Ali is co-creator of...

Stephen Sackur talks to internationally acclaimed novelist and poet Ben Okri. How free are Africa's storytellers to explore the richness and diversity of their continent? (Photo: Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty Images)

Imagine you are a patient, about to undergo brain surgery. If it goes well it will save your life; if it goes wrong you could end up paralysed or dead. Of course you want to believe your surgeon is infallible, a superhero - but he is not; he is all too human just like you. That simple truth emerges from the extraordinarily honest writing of one of Britain's leading brain surgeons, Henry Marsh. He...

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 'Made...

Zeinab Badawi speaks to Nigel Owens, the Welshman who refereed the Rugby World Cup final and is one of the most respected professionals in the game. It has not been an easy journey to the top of the game for him - as a gay man in a macho sport, he has suffered depression and contemplated suicide. How has the world of rugby embraced him and what is making the sport so popular today? (Photo: Referee...

Stephen Sackur talks to Richard Leakey, the Chairman of the Kenya Wildlife Service. Africa's wildlife is one of the wonders of the natural world, but the fate of the continent's elephants, rhinos and big cats is now desperately uncertain - illegal poaching could see these great species disappear from their African heartlands. Will the fight for Africa's endangered wildlife have a happy ending? (Ph...

Colm Tóibín is an Irish writer whose intense, lyrical novels have won him awards, acclaim and most importantly millions of readers around the world. There are recurring themes in his work - loss, mourning, exile which might suggest a dark, brooding presence. Stephen Sackur asks how close that is to the real Colm Tóibín? (Photo: Colm Tóibín in the Hardtalk studio)

Hardtalk’s guest is Hollywood actor Burt Reynolds. He turns 80 next year. Why does he say that although he’s made around 100 films he’s only proud of just a handful of them? (Photo: Actor Burt Reynolds accepts award during Spike TV's Guys Choice. Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)