Michael McCaul: Is Biden up to facing off with Putin?

Thanks to the internet and the mobile phone our ability to communicate, inform and persuade has never been greater. So why is public debate getting ever more polarising and toxic? Stephen Sackur speaks to the american philosopher, neuroscientist and podcaster Sam Harris whose takes on everything from religion to race generate intense heat. Are extremism and intolerance drowning out reasoned debate?

30 Elo 202022min

The global Covid-19 pandemic has put a fierce spotlight on the relationship between scientists and policy makers. Leaders across the world have responded to the science with everything from respect to scepticism. Foremost amongst the sceptics, president Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, one of the countries hit hardest by the virus. Stephen Sackur speaks to the Brazilian microbiologist Natalia Pasternak who has launched a crusade against her President in the name of science. But is she winning the argument?(Photo: Microbiologist Natalia Pasternak)

27 Elo 202022min

His people have turned against him in the streets but Belarus's dictator Alexander Lukashenko is still in power and his security forces are still following his orders. So where do the anti-Lukashenko activists go from here? Stephen Sackur speaks to Natalia Kaliada, one of the founders of the Belarus Free Theatre, an artist dissident in exile. Will Belarus's summer rebellion be blown away with the autumn leaves?

26 Elo 202022min

Zeinab Badawi speaks to the American politician Katie Hill. She was a star of the US mid-term elections in 2018, but barely a year after winning a Congressional seat, she resigned, after reports of an inappropriate relationship with a staff member and after nude photographs of her were published. What does her case tell us about American politics in the MeToo era?

23 Elo 202023min

Increasing tensions between the US and China have plunged relations to the lowest level for decades. This comes at a time when the world is facing its worst recession in living memory due to the coronavirus. Could this lead to a reshaping of the global order? Zeinab Badawi speaks to former Singaporean diplomat Kishore Mahbubani, who believes that Covid-19 has fundamentally weakened the west. Is he right that this is now Asia's century?

21 Elo 202022min

It is exactly a year since a historic power-sharing agreement was signed between the military and civilians in Sudan, after the fall of President Omar al-Bashir. In an exclusive interview, Zeinab Badawi speaks to the civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who heads a transitional government charged with steering Sudan to democratic elections in 2022. Has the euphoria that followed last year's revolution given way to harsh realities and unfulfilled expectations?

19 Elo 202022min

China goes to extraordinary lengths to monitor and mould the lives of its citizens. The most extreme example can be seen in Xinjiang, home to more than 10 million muslim Uighur people; but the principle of stability through authoritarian control applies across the country. Stephen Sackur speaks to Wu'er Kaixi, a Chinese political dissident in exile since the Tiananmen uprising and himself a Uighur. Has China found a way of successfully suppressing dissent?

16 Elo 202022min

One of the worlds most strategically sensitive conflict zones heated up dramatically last month when Armenian and Azerbaijani forces engaged in fighting which cost 17 lives. It is the latest twist in the long struggle over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh and it prompted warnings from Moscow and Washington. Stephen Sackur speaks to Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He swept to power promising reform, so how come Armenia seems preoccupied with fighting old battles?

13 Elo 202022min