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Tarana Burke: What difference has #MeToo made? Feb 21, 2020

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Tarana Burke first coined the phrase MeToo, long before the Harvey Weinstein case. She continues to reach out to marginalised women and girls. What difference has the MeToo movement made to the bigger picture?

(Photo: Tarana Burke at New York Fashion Week. Credit: Getty Images)

Halima Aden: Challenging supermodel stereotypes Feb 19, 2020

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The designer catwalk and the glossy magazine cover are powerful cultural signifiers. Top models who occupy those spaces are deemed to have a look that attracts and sells. But how diverse is that look? How inclusive? Stephen Sackur interviews Halima Aden, a supermodel who challenged a host of stereotypes. She is a refugee from Somalia’s civil war; she’s Muslim and follows a modest dress code. Hers has been an extraordinary journey to international fame and fortune - how has it changed her?

Agnes Callamard: Investigating the Khashoggi and Soleimani killings Feb 17, 2020

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There are international laws and norms designed to prohibit states from bumping off their enemies, internal or external. But look around the world, and its clear those laws are being violated, often with impunity. Stephen Sackur interviews Agnes Callamard, a renowned human rights investigator who serves as the UN Special Rapporteur on extra judicial killing. Given the scale of the problem, have her investigations become an exercise in futility?

Paul Krugman: Nobel Prize-winning economist warns of threat to America’s economic future Feb 14, 2020

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Remember the time when political discourse was founded on those quaint concepts - facts, evidence, and expertise? Now it seems partisanship infects every corner of the realm of ideas, according to Paul Krugman. Stephen Sackur interviews the Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist, whose latest book suggests America’s political and economic future is threatened by zombie ideas peddled largely by America’s conservative movement. Has he become addicted to the partisan warfare he professes to despise?

Len McCluskey: What's the future of the UK Labour Party? Feb 12, 2020

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Like many of Europe’s long-established parties of the left, the UK Labour Party is in big trouble. In last December’s election, Labour wasn’t just beaten, it was humiliated, losing its grip on working-class heartlands in the midlands and the North. Stephen Sackur interviews Len McCluskey, who will have a big say in the choice of the party’s next leader. He leads the Unite Union, which is Labour’s biggest financial backer. Who can save Labour from a slow death?

John Kani: Art and activism Feb 10, 2020

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For a generation of black South African artists who came of age in the apartheid era, art and activism were intertwined; the liberation struggle was their life force. Now, a quarter of a century after Mandela became president, things are more complicated. Stephen Sackur speaks to John Kani, a giant of South African theatre. His career spans five decades of acting and writing. He’s been in Hollywood blockbusters, and is currently starring in his own West End play. What drives his artistic vision?

Ian Blackford: Does the SNP have a winning strategy? Feb 07, 2020

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Ian Blackford is the Scottish Nationalist MP for a vast tract of north-west Scotland, and the leader of the SNP’s 48-strong band of Westminster MPs. He is a prominent champion of the cause of Scottish independence, a cause which represents one of the biggest challenges facing prime minister Boris Johnson over the next five years. Back in 2014, Scotland voted by 55% to 45% to remain in the UK. At the time, it was billed as a ‘once in a lifetime’ decision. But since then, Britain has left the EU – against the wishes of a clear majority in Scotland – and the SNP now argues that this material change in circumstances gives Scots the right to another vote on independence. The SNP's grip on power in Scotland is currently unassailable, so a protracted political stand off between Edinburgh and London seems inevitable. The nationalists have plenty of passion, but do they have a winning strategy?

(Photo: SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford during Prime Ministers Questions 2019. Credit: PA)

Ai Weiwei: Huawei, Hong Kong and being an artist in exile Feb 05, 2020

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China's rise to economic superpower status has not brought with it an opening up of politics or culture. Far from it. The Communist Party has intensified its efforts to suppress dissent of all kinds. Stephen Sackur speaks to China's most internationally-famous artist, Ai Weiwei, who now lives in the UK and not Beijing. He's a refugee and a migrant of sorts, so how has that affected his creative output?

Lauri Love: The realities of cyber security Feb 03, 2020

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Stephen Sackur speaks to the accused computer hacker Lauri Love. For nations, corporations and all of us as individuals, the age of the internet has heightened vulnerability. Information and data - the most valuable of all commodities - are at risk from hackers, motivated by greed or national or ideological interest. Lauri Love was, from childhood, a gifted computer geek who joined a so-called hacktivist collective. He was charged with hacking secrets from the US military, and narrowly avoided extradition. What does his case tell us about the realities of cyber security?

Jean-Claude Juncker: What's next for the EU and Britain? Jan 31, 2020

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Britain is at an historic fork in the road - taking the UK in a new direction, and maybe Europe too. Many on both sides didn't think it would come to this, even after Britain's Brexit vote in 2016. But here we are.

HARDtalk speaks to Jean Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission through the Brexit drama. What will Brexit mean for Britain and the European project?

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