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
Izzeldin Abuelaish: Can Palestinians still believe in forgiveness and peace?
Zeinab Badawi speaks to the Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish, whose three daughters and niece were killed in an Israeli tank strike on his home in the Gaza Strip in 2009. At the time, he said he felt no bitterness, and soon after he published his award-winning autobiography, I Shall not Hate. Now he has lost 22 more family members in the current bombardment. Is he still preaching his message of forgiveness and peace?
15 Des 202323min
Sandra Day O'Connor: The first female US Supreme Court judge
The framers of the American Constitution harboured few illusions about human nature, and that’s why they invested so much significance in the US Supreme Court, the ultimate check on executive and legislative power. Sandra Day O’Connor, who died days ago at the age of 93, was the first woman to be appointed as a justice in this court. For 25 years, she was one of its most influential voices. HARDtalk travelled to Washington DC in 2006 to speak to her.Image: Sandra Day O'Connor, pictured in 2003 (Credit: Tom Mihalek/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
11 Des 202323min
Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza: What Rwandans think of the UK migrant transfer deal
Stephen Sackur speaks to Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza. The UK government, which has signed a controversial migrant transfer deal with Rwanda, paints President Paul Kagame in positive colours. How does that sit with his opponents?(Photo: Rwandan opposition leader Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza appears via videolink on BBC Hardtalk)
8 Des 202323min
Fatih Birol: Is the global energy transition veering off course?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol. As oil and gas-rich UAE hosts the latest climate change summit, is it time to admit the much-vaunted global energy transition is veering off course?
4 Des 202323min
Jasem Albudaiwi: Could the Gulf states be destabilised by the conflict in Gaza?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Albudaiwi. The Israel-Hamas war has sent shockwaves through a region that’s been ‘normalising’ relations with Israel. Could the Gulf states be destabilised by the conflict in Gaza?
1 Des 202325min
