The Interview

Hardtalk travels to Dublin, capital of Ireland, to speak to Europe Minister Lucinda Creighton. The country currently holds the Presidency of the European Union; a symbolic leadership role in Europe. At the same time it is struggling to emerge from the economic straitjacket imposed by the EU/IMF bailout of the Irish economy. Can Dublin convince the world that it has bounced back from the brink of d...

The government of Guatemala has promised to tackle the high murder rate of a country living under the threat of gangs, organised crime and drug traffickers. Some have expressed fears that it could become a narco-state, with state institutions that are weak or corrupted by criminal activity. When President Otto Perez Molina took office just over a year ago he said the war on drugs has failed and th...

Can there be a negotiated way out of the high stakes stand-off between Iran and the West over the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions? A new round of talks is planned for later this month but the basic facts haven't changed, Iran's enrichment programme gets ever more sophisticated, international sanctions on Tehran bite deeper and the warnings from the West grow darker. Stephen Sackur’s guest on...

Renowned British plastic surgeon, Dr Mohammad Jawad, helps reconstruct the faces of women disfigured by acid attacks. He featured in an Oscar-winning documentary about his humanitarian work in his native Pakistan. His high public profile has helped raise awareness about the life-destroying nature of acid attacks in Pakistan and elsewhere in Asia, but can it bring about real change and action to he...

Renzo Piano is one of the world's most accomplished and feted architects; and one used to dividing opinion. Back in the 1970s he designed Paris's Pompidou Centre and since then has taken on high profile developments all over the globe. His latest creation – The Shard, which is currently Europe's tallest building - is already loved, but it is also loathed. What does the Shard say about us? And why...

If football is the beautiful game then it risks being disfigured by an ugly scar: racism. Players, fans and administrators have all pledged their determination to kick racism out of the sport, but there's plenty of evidence to suggest the anti-racist rhetoric isn't working. Lord Ouseley, is a veteran equality campaigner who was appointed to a senior advisory role with the English Football Associat...

Paul Bhatti is Pakistan's Minister for National Harmony - job description that seems deeply ironic given his country's current turmoil. He accepted the job after his brother was assassinated whilst serving as Minorities Minister. The Bhatti family is from Pakistan's minority Christian community. What hope is there for national harmony in a country disfigured by extremist violence and endemic corru...

As part of the BBC’s What If? season, Hardtalk talks to pro-GM campaigner and environmental author Mark Lynas asking What if genetically modified food is the solution to world hunger? (Image: Mark Lynas, Credit: Getty Images)

In or out? For the next five years Britain's future in the European Union will be shrouded in uncertainty thanks to David Cameron's commitment to a referendum. He believes his dramatic gamble will pay off not just at home, but in Europe too - allowing him to recalibrate Britain's relationship with Brussels. Will it work? HARDtalk speaks to Sir Nigel Sheinwald who was the UK's top diplomat at the E...

Is it time for the doom-mongers to admit they were wrong about the world economy? The Eurozone is intact, the US hasn't plunged off that fiscal cliff and even the most stagnant economy of them all - Japan's - is showing signs of life. Could it be that central bankers and politicians are finally ready to take bold decisions in their quest for growth? Hardtalk speaks to one of the world's most influ...

Stephen Lawrence was murdered in South London on April 22, 1993. Stephen was black – his attackers were white. The killing and subsequent investigation exposed violent racism on Britain’s streets and institutional racism within the British police force. Thanks to the tireless campaign of Stephen’s mother – Doreen Lawrence – two of her son’s killers were last year brought to justice. Laws have been...

As head of the World Trade Organisation for the past eight years, Pascal Lamy has been leading the crusade for global free trade. The so called Doha round of negotiations designed to spread free trade to the developing world is in limbo. The flagging world economy has prompted a rise in protectionism. Has the march toward trade liberalisation ended in failure? (Image: Pascal Lamy, Credit: Getty Im...

The brutal gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi last month has prompted India to confront a disturbing truth: the country is failing to protect women from sexual violence. Kiran Bedi has seen the problem close up – she was the most senior female police officer in the Indian Police Service when she retired. Is India ready for the deep-seated changes that would make the country’s women les...

EU officials in Brussels insist the worst of the Eurozone crisis is over; but is that relief premature? Europe's debt mountain still casts a long shadow. Rising unemployment is fuelling anger on the streets. And Europe's biggest nations are divided on the basic question – where next for the EU? Amid this uncertainty, big practical challenges remain – not least for the EU's Competition Commissioner...

Rupert Everett achieved success in his early twenties through his acclaimed lead role in Another Country and Dance With A Stranger. But much of this success was lost in a haze of sexual promiscuity and alcohol. Later in the '90s he had a fleeting brush with Holywood stardom. As an openly gay actor in movie business, did sexual descrimation rob him of a chance of becoming an A-list star? Stephen Sa...

Half way through its parliamentary term Britain’s Conservative-led coalition government has a growth problem - the economy is flat; possibly heading for a triple dip recession. But how does a government committed to fiscal austerity juice things up? HARDtalk speaks to Lord Heseltine, a former Conservative Deputy Prime Minister who was last year commissioned by David Cameron’s government to come up...

Arabs have risen up against their repressive authoritarian rulers, but what will their post-revolutionary societies look like? In Egypt and Tunisia, power has shifted in the direction of political Islam. Is that the culmination of the march to freedom? Stephen Sackur speaks to Mona Eltahawy, who thinks not. The controversial Egyptian-American writer and feminist says genuine liberation is impossib...

Not so long ago it seemed the world’s addiction to fossil fuels would soon be ended by dwindling supply. But that was before fracking, tar sands and deep sea exploration transformed calculations about global reserves of oil and gas. HARDtalk speaks to Fatih Birol - one of the world’s most influential analysts of the global energy market and its effect on the world economy and environment. Is the r...

Olympic gold medal-winning Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe on his crippling depression. (Image: Ian Thorpe, Credit: Getty Images)

Alan Moore - man behind the mask worn by computer hackers and Occupy protestors the world over. But he's no typical insurgent, rather a graphic novelist. He has championed the form for its effect on politics and culture. Why is he now becoming disillusioned?

Philip Glass is one of the most influential and polarising composers of the last 50 years. The trademark sound in his prolific output of symphonies, operas and film scores, is repetitive, rhythmic and hypnotic. He has been driven by a simple question - what is music?

As Belle de Jour, she achieved global notoriety for years, writing a blog about her sexual encounters as a high-class escort girl working in London. Now, after revealing herself to be an expert research scientist and no longer engaged in prostitution, Dr Brooke Magnanti is calling for prostitution to be decriminalised.

Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody talks to Stephen Sackur about his battle with bowel disease, and winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup. (Image: Lewis Moody, Credit: Getty Images)

Stephen Sackur talks to the British barrister Sir Geoffrey Nice who led the Hague tribunal prosecution of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosević and asks if the ICC has been a disappointment. (Image: The prosecutors during the second day of trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal. From left: Dirk Ryneveld, Carla del Ponte and Geoffrey Nice. Credit: AFP/Getty Images...

How far is Egypt becoming polarised between Islamist and secularist forces? The current vote for a new constitution in Egypt has exposed divisions which at times have erupted into violence on the streets between supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Hardtalk speaks to a leading member of Egypt's liberal and secular elite: Coptic Christian bil...