Joe Henrich: Is Western society 'weird'?
The debate between nature and nurture is as old as the hills - is genetics or cultural conditioning the key to understanding human evolution? We speak to Joseph Henrich, a Harvard professor whose fascination with human evolution and anthropology has brought him to a radical conclusion. He says Western societies preoccupied with the individual not the collective are weird, and the cultural power of the West has skewed our view of what is normal. How much do we humans really have in common?
6 Okt 202022min
James Rebanks: Sustainable food in a growing world
In a special edition of the programme, HARDtalk is in the area known as the Lake District in north-west England. The landscape is beautiful, but is not wild. The fields have been shaped by generations of shepherds and stockmen. Stephen Sackur speaks to James Rebanks, whose farm has been in his family's hands for at least 600 years. In his book - English Pastoral - he advocates for a better kind of farming that is more sustainable and environmentally responsible. But are his ideas compatible with putting affordable food on all of our tables?
4 Okt 202022min
Leroy Logan: How hard is it to root out discrimination in the police?
The sense of systemic racial injustice in policing that has fuelled the Black Lives Matter movement is shared far beyond the shores of the United States. In Britain, it is two decades since a top level inquiry into London's police force found it to be institutionally racist. How much has really changed? Stephen Sackur speaks to Leroy Logan, who was one of London's top black policemen until his retirement seven years ago. How easy is it to root out discrimination dressed in a police uniform?
2 Okt 202023min
Paolo Gentiloni: Can Europe's economy recover?
The economic fallout of Covid-19 has been tough, and with new waves of the virus appearing, restrictions on economic activity are being reimposed in many countries. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Paolo Gentiloni, the European Commissioner for the Economy. How confident is he that the world's second-largest economy can make a recovery?
30 Sep 202023min
Yusef Salaam: How to reform the US criminal justice system
Yusef Salaam was just 16 when he and four other black and Latino teenagers were wrongly convicted of the rape and assault of a woman jogging in New York’s Central Park. Even before their trial the then property tycoon Donald Trump took out newspaper ads calling for the death penalty. The five served out their sentences before being exonerated when another man admitted to the crime. Yusef Salaam says their case is the story of the criminal system of injustice in America. But as anti-racism protests continue, and fears of worse unrest to come, is the chance of real change even more remote than in the America of his youth?
28 Sep 202023min
Leonid Volkov: What next for Russia's opposition?
As soon as he emerged from his coma Alexey Navalny, the Russian opposition leader apparently poisoned by novichok nerve agent, expressed his determination to return to Moscow. But what future is there for an anti-Putin political movement in a country where dissent is all too often seriously bad for your health? Stephen Sackur speaks to Leonid Volkov, opposition politician and chief of staff to Mr Navalny. Is there any weakening of the Kremlin’s grip on power?
23 Sep 202023min
Thomas Chatterton Williams: Race, identity and power
Not just in the United States, but across the world the Black Lives Matter movement has prompted debate about race, identity and power. It is a campaign predicated on ideas about what it means to be black and white; but what if those very terms are themselves part of the problem? Stephen Sackur speaks to Thomas Chatterton Williams, a mixed-race American writer and self-declared ex-black man, whose ideas present a challenge to so-called 'woke' culture. How much room is there right now for respectful, thoughtful debate?
18 Sep 202024min
Rafael Grossi: Is the world's nuclear watchdog being undermined?
What is the point of the world’s nuclear watchdog the International Atomic Energy Agency? Its task is to ensure that countries intent on developing nuclear power don’t use their programmes as cover for development of weapons of mass destruction. But is the task impossible? HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to the new IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi. From the continued bitter arguments over Iran, to North Korea, and Saudi Arabia, is the IAEA another example of a global agency undermined by geopolitical division?
16 Sep 202024min
