
Mohammad Marandi: Is Middle East conflict what Iran really wants?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Mohammad Marandi, an Iranian academic who has advised his government during nuclear negotiations. Iran actively backs Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, but as the flashpoints in the Middle East multiply, is a regional war - with the US inevitably engaged - what Tehran really wants?
17 Jan 202423min

Sir Nicholas Winton: A Holocaust hero
Another chance to listen to Stephen Sackur's 2014 interview with the late Sir Nicholas Winton, the man who saved more than 600 mostly Jewish children from Nazi persecution. Nine years after his death, a major film has been released about his remarkable story. What motivated him?Image: Sir Nicholas Winton, pictured in 2015 (Credit: Jeremy Selwyn/Evening Standard via Getty Images)
12 Jan 202423min

Alicia Kearns: How much will 2024 test the West?
Stephen Sackur talks to Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP and chair of the UK’s House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee. She has long warned of the threat to democracies posed by authoritarian regimes, led by China. With a host of elections looming, is 2024 going to severely test the West?
10 Jan 202423min

Stephen Cave: Should we want to live forever?
Stephen Sackur speaks to philosopher Stephen Cave, director of the University of Cambridge Institute for Technology and Humanity. He is at the centre of a growing debate about the merits of extending human longevity. Is it wise to seek to live forever?
8 Jan 202423min

Aida Touma-Sliman: What does war mean for Israel's Arab population?
What does the Gaza war mean for Israel’s Arab population? Stephen Sackur speaks to Israeli politician Aida Touma-Sliman, a Palestinian Arab member of Israel's parliament.
5 Jan 202423min

Past notes
A special programme remembering past HARDtalk guests who died in 2023. All of them left an indelible mark on public life and all, in their different ways, relished the opportunity we gave them to discuss their decision-making and motivation.
29 Des 202323min

2023 in review
Stephen Sackur looks back at some of HARDtalk’s most impactful and thought-provoking interviews of 2023.
27 Des 202323min

Naftali Bennett: Has Israel responded unwisely?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Israel’s former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. He is a staunch supporter of Israel’s military assault in Gaza. But in responding to Hamas’s murderous October 7th attack, has Israel deployed wisdom as well as military might?
20 Des 202322min