HARDtalk

Stephen Sackur speaks to Philippe Lazzarini, head of UNRWA, the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians. This week, six UN relief agency staff were killed in an Israeli strike on a central Gaza school that had been turned into an emergency shelter for thousands. UNRWA’s death count in Gaza since the beginning of the war is over 220. Is his agency’s mission now impossible?

Following the death of James Earl Jones at the age of 93, another chance to listen to Stephen Sackur’s 2011 interview with the legendary American actor. Known for his deep, rich voice and as the voice of Star Wars’ villain Darth Vader, his was an extraordinary story from poverty and segregation in the Deep South to Hollywood. How hard was his journey?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Balázs Orbán, a Hungarian MP and advisor to his namesake, Prime Minister Victor Orbán. Hungary’s government is known for its anti-immigrant, anti-Brussels hardline nationalism. Is it a template for other far-right movements to follow?

Stephen Sackur speaks to a close ally and sometime confidant of Donald Trump, Republican Senator from South Carolina Lindsey Graham

Stephen Sackur speaks to the former deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament Fawzia Koofi. She was forced to flee into exile when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Women and girls in Afghanistan have since seen their rights eliminated. How should the world respond to what the UN calls ‘gender apartheid’?

Vladimir Putin talks of restoring greatness to what he calls the Russian world: an expanse of territory which, as Ukrainians know to their cost, stretches far beyond Russia’s current borders. Putin’s expansionist nationalism requires military power, but it’s harnessed the cultural and spiritual authority of the Russian Orthodox Church too. Stephen Sackur speaks to Andrey Kordochkin, who was a Russian Orthodox priest who spoke out against the Ukraine war and the "Putinisation" of the church. Is he swimming against an unstoppable tide?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza. His images of death, destruction and loss in Gaza went viral across the world. He left 108 days after Israel launched its military response to Hamas’s October 7th attack. What impact have his images had, on him, and us?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Latvia’s defence minister Andris Sprūds. He wants to ramp up military support for Ukraine, and he backs Kyiv’s dramatic push into Russian territory. But will divisions inside Nato and the EU leave Ukraine short of the backing it needs?

Stephen Sackur speaks to leading artificial intelligence researcher Neil Lawrence. He’s Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and has a Senior AI Fellowship at the Alan Turing Institute. His new book – The Atomic Human – explores the transformational potential of artificial intelligence, while reflecting on the qualities of the human mind that cannot be replicated by even the most sophisticated machines. As more and more aspects of our lives are impacted by the rollout of machine learning, as control of big data and the development of algorithms to exploit it becomes a source of immense power in the 21st century, tech futurists are divided on whether we should embrace AI or fear it. In the end what will matter most isn’t the technology but the humans who develop and deploy it. Should we have faith in ourselves to get it right?

Stephen Sackur is in Rome to talk to Nicola Procaccini, an MEP and confidant of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. When her nationalist Brothers of Italy party took power, it sent shock waves through Europe. A couple of years on, how has hard-right rule changed Italy?

Stephen Sackur speaks to one of Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Ministers, Olha Stefanishyna. Kyiv’s military offensive inside Russia has shifted the dynamic in what looked like a war of attrition tilting in Moscow’s favour. But does this dramatic gambit make strategic sense, or is it an act of desperation?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the prominent Indian lawyer Karuna Nundy. She has been at the forefront of long battles to better protect women from sexual violence, legalise gay marriage and safeguard freedom of speech. Is she losing this fight for India’s future? This episode contains references to rape and sexual assault.

Stephen Sackur speaks to Shannon Watts, an American political activist who built a powerful women-led gun control movement and is now a fund-raiser for Kamala Harris. Why does she believe the votes of white women will swing the presidential race?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Pavel Latushka, a key figure in the opposition movement struggling for regime change in Belarus. The country’s authoritarian ruler Alexander Lukashenko is a staunch ally of Vladimir Putin - does that mean change in Minsk can only come with change in Moscow?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the renowned economist Ian Goldin, who wants to reframe the debate around migration. He’s been a senior official at the World Bank, an economic adviser to Nelson Mandela and he’s now professor of globalisation and development at Oxford University. His latest book, The Shortest History of Migration, illustrates the centrality of movement to the evolution of humanity – from the earliest human travellers leaving East Africa some 300,000 years ago to all of the people seeking sanctuary and prosperity across today's national borders. Migration is, right now, a hot and contentious topic. Powerful political voices across the world link migration with insecurity, crime and cultural breakdown. Others say migrants bring new ideas and energy and are vital to economic growth. It seems no amount of border security will stop people wanting to move; indeed, global heating and political instability are likely to see the numbers increase. Will migration, and how we deal with it, be the defining issue of this century?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Newsmax Media CEO Chris Ruddy, a key influencer on the American right and a longtime friend of Donald Trump. Polls have Democratic candidate Kamala Harris narrowly ahead of the former president in the race for the White House. Is Team Trump worried?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Haiti’s interim Prime Minister Garry Conille. His mission is to rescue Haiti from an unfolding catastrophe characterised by gang violence, mass hunger, corruption and a broken economy. Given Haiti’s recent history, what chance has he got?

In a special edition of HARDtalk, Stephen Sackur looks back at Interviews with guests who have risked their personal freedom to disclose secret information. What motivates these whistleblowers?

Stephen Sackur speaks to influential far-right Israeli politician Ohad Tal, who wants the military to push for total victory in Gaza, against Hezbollah, and in the de-facto conflict for Iran. Amid the assassinations and vows of retribution, is Israel gearing up for a multi-front war?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Syed Zafar Islam, spokesman for India’s Hindu nationalist BJP party. Recent elections dealt Prime Minister Narendra Modi an unexpected blow; he lost seats, and his majority. Will that prompt him to row back on a policy agenda his critics call divisive and dangerous?