Mathieu Kassovitz: Where is France going?
Stephen Sackur is in Paris to speak to the acclaimed actor and director Mathieu Kassovitz. Three decades ago, his film La Haine (Hate) focused on inequality, racism and police brutality in a Parisian suburb. He has a powerful voice in French culture, so what is his take on where his country is now and where it’s going?
18 Jun 202423min
Akinwumi Adesina: Africa rising?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank. He wants massive international financial backing to turn his continent into a global economic powerhouse. But amid chronic poverty, debt and climate threats, will Africa get the support it needs?
17 Jun 202422min
Jean-Noël Barrot: A snap election in France
Stephen Sackur is in Paris to speak to the French Minister Delegate for Europe, Jean-Noël Barrot. President Emmanuel Macron has just taken the gamble of his political life, calling a snap parliamentary election in an effort to outsmart the extremes of right and left. If it backfires, what will it mean for France and Europe?
14 Jun 202422min
Eyal Weizman: The politics of architecture
Mishal Husain speaks to the architect Eyal Weizman. He works in what he calls ‘forensic architecture’, where details of buildings and physical spaces – and their destruction – are used to highlight abuses and persecution. Is he right to see architecture as political – a way in which human beings can oppress as well as create?
12 Jun 202422min
Mickey Bergman: What difference do hostage negotiators make?
Sarah Montague speaks to hostage negotiator Mickey Bergman, who has spent much of the last two decades working behind the scenes to help negotiate the release of Americans kidnapped or detained abroad – either by criminals, political actors or governments. What difference do such “fringe diplomats” make? Are they a help or a hindrance?
4 Jun 202422min
R. Derek Black: Renouncing white nationalism
Mishal Husain speaks to R. Derek Black, who was brought up in a family steeped in America’s white nationalist ideology, with a father who was a Ku Klux Klan leader. Then came exposure to a different world, and Derek’s journey to anti-racism. How did it come about, and what can we all learn from it?
3 Jun 202423min
Mohammad Shtayyeh: Will the Palestinian Authority work with Hamas?
Mishal Husain speaks to the former Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority Mohammed Shtayyeh. How does he see the Palestinian people’s future? Can he, and should he, work with Hamas?
30 Mai 202422min
Stephen J Shaw: Are falling birth rates a crisis for humanity?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the data scientist Stephen J Shaw, who argues that humanity faces a looming demographic crisis, with falling birth rates having dire economic and social consequences. But in an age of economic turbulence and ecological concern, do we really want to be promoting the idea that humans need to have more babies?
27 Mai 202422min
