The Interview

Stephen Sackur speaks to Dmitry Peskov, spokesman to Russia’s President Putin following the decision of EU and US leaders to impose sanctions. With international pressure mounting against the Kremlin, does Russia stand to lose more than win from this crisis? Dmitry Peskov, Credit: Maxim Shemetov/AFP/Getty Images

Hardtalk is in Beijing for a special interview with China’s most famous artist and dissident, Ai Weiwei. Under constant surveillance, prevented from leaving the country, how does this artist push back against the forces of repression?

We live in the internet age but perhaps most of us haven’t realised just how radically it will change our lives. As part of the BBC’s Freedom Season, Hardtalk speaks to Cody Wilson who is at the leading edge of an anarchist movement which wants to use the so called ‘dark web’- anonymous, borderless, and lawless - to empower individuals and undermine big government. His symbolic first move was to m...

It is the biggest crisis confronting Western Europe in 20 years - Ukraine could be just days away from losing a key part of its territory. Russia stands on one side of this conflict, the United States and the European Union on the other. Hardtalk speaks to Poland’s Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski. He helped negotiate a deal to halt the bloodshed in Kiev and now warns President Vladimir Putin i...

How's this for a vision of earthly paradise? Sun, sand, sea and a tax rate of zero. It's that last bit that turned the tiny Cayman Islands into one of the most attractive offshore financial havens in the world. But now the US and EU are leading international efforts to rein in the world's tax dodgers. Hardtalk speaks to Alden McLaughlin, Premier of the Cayman Islands. Is his Caribbean haven about...

Jerry Springer, who hosted one of the most controversial talk shows in TV history, has died aged 79. In 2014, Stephen Sackur interviewed him about his show's reputation. Critics called The Jerry Springer Show cynical and manipulative TV, but it made its host famous and rich. So did he care? Image: Jerry Springer, pictured in 2005 (Credit: Chris Young/PA Wire)

For many American firearms are a symbol of freedom. The right to bear arms is treated with the same reverence as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But guns kill extraordinary numbers of US citizens, 30,000 and more every year. Maybe it’s time to better regulate the firearms business. As part of the BBC’s Freedom Season, Hardtalk speaks to the recently retired president of the National Ri...

Within the lifetimes of our children, the African elephant may be extinct, hunted to death - such is the continued lure of ivory, despite international efforts to ban the ivory trade. In Tanzania, poachers have been killing an average of 30 elephants a day. The government there says it will end the slaughter. Hardtalk speaks to Lazaro Nyalandu, Tanzania’s minister for natural resources and tourism...

After the revolutionary tumult in Ukraine, what comes next? The country is financially crippled, internally divided and a cockpit of tension between Moscow and the West. Who can hold Ukraine together? Hardtalk speaks to Eugenia Tymoshenko – her mother Yulia is the former prime minister, newly released from prison and widely seen as a powerful contender for Ukraine's presidency. Her name has pullin...

Just how stable and sustainable is Israel's coalition government? Prime Minister Netanyahu currently relies on the support of Jewish Home - a right wing religious Zionist party strongly supportive of the settler movement. What happens to that coalition as the Americans try to push Israel towards a land-for-peace deal with the Palestinians? Hardtalk speaks to Naftali Bennett, leader of Jewish Home...

In a host of African countries, homosexuality is a crime. From Nigeria to Uganda, politicians seem to believe persecuting gays is a vote-winning strategy. As part of the BBCs Freedom season, Hardtalk speaks to Kenyan writer Binyavanaga Wainaina. He knew it would be big news when he publically revealed his homosexuality earlier this year. Sure enough he is now at the centre of a debate about freedo...

What must it be like to have been at the centre of the seemingly endless and fruitless quest for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal for more than two decades? And is there any reason for expectations to rise as US Secretary of State John Kerry prepares to publish his own outline for a deal. Hardtalk speaks to veteran Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. Are we approaching a defining moment or a dead...

Hardtalk is in Stuttgart, Germany - a city with a long history of engineering and manufacturing. The auto industry is a major player here, which is good news for Stuttgart as long as the German car industry continues to thrive. Stephen Sackur speaks to Dieter Zetsche, the boss of Daimler, a company with a global reputation and the makers of Mercedes-Benz cars. However, over the past decade they ha...

A host of countries around the world still impose the ultimate punishment on the most serious criminals - death. What is it like to be in command of the machinery of state-sanctioned execution? As part of the BBC’s special Freedom Season, Hardtalk gets a rare insight from Allen Ault, who spent years running the corrections system in the southern US state of Georgia. He organised the killing of cri...

Hardtalk is in Paris at Roland Garros, the headquarters of tennis in France, to speak to the French tennis player and Wimbledon Champion, Marion Bartoli. Last year, just six weeks after achieving the highest accolade in her sport, the Wimbledon title, she announced she was retiring from tennis at the age of only 28. Can she really never imagine competing again? And if so, what does that say about...

It is nearly a year since the new Pope was installed, but still the same problems dog the Catholic Church. A UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has just criticised the Vatican over its failure to deal decisively with child sexual abuse by priests. Gay rights activists still attack the Church on its stand on homosexuality and the Vatican’s finances have been under scrutiny and criminal investi...

From Syria and Afghanistan to relations with the US and Europe, how influential is British foreign policy today? Picture: William Hague, Credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Stephen Sackur talks to the prominent women’s rights campaigner, Kavita Krishnan. Delhi is a proud capital of the nation - a noisy and vibrant place - but a city stained by its record on sexual violence. More rapes are recorded here than any other Indian city. Just over a year ago a 23-year-old medical student died after a brutal gang rape on a bus which shocked the nation and prompted millions of...

Hardtalk speaks to Hussain Al-Shahristani, Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister responsible for energy. He's in London to attend a conference, but also to convince the world that his country isn't sinking back into civil war. A decade on from the fall of Saddam Hussein, is Iraq perilously close to tearing itself apart again? Picture: Hussein al-Shahristani, Credit: Sabah Arar/AFP/Getty Images

Hardtalk speaks to the Archbishop of Canterbury and leader of the Anglican Church, Justin Welby. He has just embarked on a tour of four African countries, all touched by vicious and bloody conflict - South Sudan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi. It’s part of his mission to visit as many communities as possible in the 80-million strong Anglican Church worldwide. Can he help hea...

In a special edition of Hardtalk recorded in front of an audience in India's capital Delhi, Stephen Sackur talks to one of the country's most intriguing politicians. Omar Abdullah is Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, a long disputed territory once described by former US president Bill Clinton as the most dangerous place on Earth. Is there any hope of Kashmir becoming a place of peace not confli...

India has experienced unprecedented growth. Why does poverty persist? Picture: Palaniappan Chidambaram, Credit: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

When Harris Georgiades became Finance Minister of Cyprus a year ago some said he had been handed poisoned chalice. He has had to preside over tough austerity measures that are driving poverty levels in the country. The economy is shrinking, unemployment will perhaps reach 20% this year and wages are being slashed. These were the tough conditions of a 10 billion Euro bailout granted last year with...

It is three years since the uprisings collectively known as the 'Arab Spring' claimed their biggest prize – the ousting of Hosni Mubarak who had ruled Egypt for thirty years. The previously banned Muslim Brotherhood produced the country's first ever democratically elected president. Six months later he too was deposed. The Brotherhood has since been designated as "terrorist" with its leaders throw...

The British government is 'going all out for shale'. Those are the words of the Prime Minister about his plan to allow companies to try to extract shale gas from deep underground. It's a contrast to most European countries - many have banned it until they are convinced it can be done safely without damaging the water supply. Sarah Montague speaks to Britain's Energy and Climate Change secretary -...