The Interview

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Philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah Oct 22, 2018

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What gives each of us our sense of who we are? At the most personal level we all have our own family background. In the most general sense we are, all of us, part of the human species. But it’s the stuff in between that puts us in groups or tribes and often motivates our behaviour. Gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality- these are the persistent fault lines that seem to separate us from them. Stephen Sackur speaks to Kwame Antony Appiah, an academic and public intellectual who says we need to rethink identity to escape the myths of the past. But how?

Image: Kwame Anthony Appiah (Credit: Getty Images)

Malawi's Vice President - Saulos Chilima Oct 19, 2018

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HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to Vice President of the small southern African state of Malawi, Saulos Chilima- a former business executive turned politician. Mr. Chilima was President Mutharika’s running mate in elections in 2014. Now he has left the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), and says he will run against him in presidential elections next year to - as he put it - ‘save the country from destruction and corruption’. Why is he criticising a government of which he still is a member? And if corruption is really as bad as he describes, why didn’t the Vice-President use his influence to stop the rot?

Image: Saulos Chilima (Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Vice President of European Parliament, Mairead McGuinness Oct 17, 2018

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The Brexit endgame is underway. This is the week the UK Government and the European Union earmarked for agreeing a deal on the divorce and outlining a future relations. But on the eve of another EU summit, there is still talk of an impasse- focusing on the Irish border and Northern Ireland’s status after Brexit. HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Mairead McGuinness, an Irish MEP and vice president of the European parliament. Is Brexit about to get very messy and very costly?

Image: Mairead McGuinness (Credit: Getty Images)

Professor at Columbia Law School - Kimberlé Crenshaw Oct 12, 2018

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The United States of America is a republic divided. The Trump presidency has exposed fissures that run along lines of race, gender, education, and culture. In next month’s mid-term elections the fight for political power will be between the two traditional parties, Republican and Democrat, but perhaps a different sort of activism is needed to deliver real change? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Kimberlé Crenshaw - a professor of law, a social activist and influential advocate of the idea of intersectionality. Is it the group, not the individual that matters most in today’s America?

Image: Kimberlé Crenshaw (Credit: Getty Images)

Is Saudi Arabia Heading Down a Dangerous Path? Oct 12, 2018

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The Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul last week. Amid a welter of speculation and lurid allegations, a cloud of suspicion now hangs over the Saudi Government. The record of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, suggests a determination to silence all criticism. Stephen Sackur speaks to Saudi academic Madawi al-Rasheed and former senior US diplomat, Nicholas Burns. Is ‘MBS’ taking his kingdom down a dangerous path?

(Photo: Saudi academic Madawi al-Rasheed)

Imam of Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen - Sherin Khankan Oct 10, 2018

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Almost two billion of the world’s people are Muslim, and yet half of them, the female half, have traditionally played little or no role in the institutions of their faith. That is changing, albeit very slowly. Stephen Sackur speaks to Sherin Khankan who became Scandinavia’s first female Imam when she opened the Mariam mosque in Copenhagen. Her focus on women’s rights in a 21st Century brand of Islamic practice has stirred controversy and debate far beyond Denmark’s borders. Is Islam ready to empower women?

(Photo: Sherin Khankan. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Cuban conceptual artist Tania Bruguera Oct 08, 2018

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Tania Bruguera's pieces and immersive performances have attracted international acclaim but prolonged harassment from the Cuban authorities. Is she artist, activist or both?

Cuban Conceptual Artist - Tania Bruguera Oct 04, 2018

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Tania Bruguera's pieces and immersive performances have attracted international acclaim but prolonged harassment from the Cuban authorities. Is she an artist, activist or both?

(Photo: Cuban artist Tania Bruguera poses in the Turbine Hall of the Tate Modern. Credit: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP)

Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia Oct 03, 2018

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HARDtalk’s Zeinab Badawi speaks to the world’s oldest head of government, Malaysia's Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad. He came back to office in May after election victory against his own former ruling coalition. The country has been mired in allegations of corruption swirling around the previous government, which have dented confidence at home and abroad. First time round, he was Prime Minister for more than 20 consecutive years until 2003. Can Mahathir Mohamad leave his own chequered past behind and lead Malaysia to a brighter future? Some people might find opinions expressed toward the end of the interview offensive.

Image: Mahathir Mohamad (Credit: Reuters)

Former Greek Finance Minister - Yanis Varoufakis Oct 01, 2018

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Is the left losing the political argument in Europe? Stephen Sackur speaks to Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s radical leftist finance minister at the height of the economic crisis, and an advocate of a new global progressive politics. The old certainties in European politics are crumbling. Voters seem fed up with the long established supremacy of the parties of centre right and centre left. The politics of identity and raw emotion have fuelled populist insurgencies from Italy to Sweden to eastern Europe. Mostly it’s the right, not the left in the ascendant.

(Photo: Yanis Varoufakis. Credit: AFP/Getty)