Former British Foreign Secretary - Jack Straw

Stephen Sackur speaks to writer and publisher Jürgen Todenhöfer, who embarked on one of the most hazardous journeys imaginable for a western journalist. Last December, the 74-year-old German spent 10 days inside the territory controlled by the so-called Islamic State movement. He was taken to the group's base in Raqqa, Syria, and then to their most highly prized asset in Iraq - the northern city of Mosul. He emerged unscathed with a remarkable story. What motivates the jihadist fighters?

31 Elo 201523min

Earlier this year Zeinab Badawi went to Malta to meet Suha Arafat - the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Ten years after his death, Mrs Arafat gave a rare broadcast interview about their marriage and tells her why she believes her husband was assassinated and why she has chosen to live in Malta and not amongst the Palestinian people who so revered him.(Photo: Suha Arafat. Credit: Matthew Mirabelli/AFP/Getty)

28 Elo 201523min

Tim Franks speaks to Don McLean - the self-confessed "accidental" pop star whose first unlikely hit became one of the defining songs of the century. In April, the manuscript to American Pie was auctioned for more than a million dollars. McLean has always resisted analysing his famous lyrics too closely but what does he have to say now about the American music industry, and the American dream?

26 Elo 201523min

Draw up a list of the greatest living film-makers and Werner Herzog would surely occupy a prominent place. He is responsible for some of the most wildly beautiful images captured on film. If you have seen Fitzcarraldo you won’t have forgotten the steamship being hauled over a mountain. He is seen as the film industry's obsessive genius, the director who once threatened to shoot his lead actor to prevent him quitting. After five decades making movies, is Werner Herzog's love of film as intense as ever?(Photo: Werner Herzog with an award during the Lola - German Film Awards in 2013. Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)

25 Elo 201523min

Colm Tóibín is an Irish writer whose intense, lyrical novels have won him awards, acclaim and most importantly millions of readers around the world. Colm Tóibín isn't so much a flamboyant storyteller; he's more an acute observer of character and the deepest human feelings. There are recurring themes in his work - loss, mourning, sexual repression and exile which might suggest a dark, brooding presence - but how close is that to the real Colm Tóibín?(Photo: Colm Tóibín. Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

21 Elo 201523min

Zeinab Badawi talks to the South African jazz musician and political activist Hugh Masekela. His life and music have reflected the struggles of the anti-apartheid era and the subsequent years of black majority rule. So why does he now describe South Africa as fast turning into a rubbish dump and becoming removed from its authentic African culture?(Photo: Hugh Masekela. Credit: C Brandon/Redferns/Getty)

17 Elo 201523min

Hardtalk speaks to the man who has been called 'America’s greatest living crime writer'. Through works such as the Black Dalia and LA Confidential, James Ellroy has created a uniquely dark portrait of America. His is a nightmare vision of crazed killers and corrupt cops. He writes of what he knows – his own mother was murdered when he was a child. So is that simple, terrible fact the key to understanding all the words he has ever written?(Photo: James Ellroy. Credit: Ulf Andersen/Getty Images)

17 Elo 201523min

South Africa's Democratic Alliance, the country's main opposition party, has its first ever black leader. Mmusi Maimane took over in May this year from Helen Zille. He says he wants to represent all South Africans regardless of colour, but the vast majority of black South Africans support the ANC, the party of Nelson Mandela. Can Mmusi Maimane win them over and take race out of South African politics?(Picture: Mmusi Maimane campaigns around Protea South on October 23, 2013 in Soweto, South Africa. Credit: Foto24/Getty)

12 Elo 201523min