Musician - John Cale
HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur speaks to John Cale, a founding member of the Velvet underground, and a solo artist and producer. In the checkered history of rock and roll, there have been relatively few artists who have managed to create a genuinely new, even revolutionary, sound. The Velvet Underground achieved just that in mid-sixties New York - combining youthful anger, musical creativity, with an avant-garde art sensibility. Today John Cale continues to experiment with new sounds. To many, his music is challenging, even bleak, but is that a reflection of the man himself?
11 Apr 201623min
Composer - Hans Zimmer
From his Oscar winning score for The Lion King, through 12 Years A Slave to a series of superhero blockbusters, including the latest - Batman v Superman - Hans Zimmer is, as one director put it, "quite simply the contemporary composer to work with". German born, British educated, he never received formal musical training and he's a champion of technology. Hardtalk’s Shaun Ley asks Hans Zimmer whether the technology he so loves is killing the music makers?
8 Apr 201623min
Vladimir Chizhov - Russian Ambassador to the EU
The United States is beefing up its military presence in Europe. Hardtalk asks Russia's Ambassador to the EU if the Kremlin can sustain a long-term confrontation with the West?
4 Apr 201623min
Chairman, Intelligence and Security Committee, UK - Dominic Grieve MP
The suicide bomb attacks in Brussels are unlikely to be the final operation mounted by the so-called Islamic State on European soil. France's President Hollande says Europe is now at war, so what are the most effective weapons at Europe's disposal? Dominic Grieve was the Attorney General in David Cameron's first term as British prime minister. He is now Chairman of the UK parliament’s Intelligence and security committee. Can Europe be both secure and free?(Photo: Dominic Grieve, MP)
28 Mar 201623min
Architect - David Adjaye
Can architecture inspire people to think and behave differently? Hardtalk speaks to David Adjaye, one of the most sought after architects in the world today. Among his many buildings are the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo, a business school in Moscow, shopping centres in Beirut and Lagos, a children's hospital in Rwanda, a housing project in New York's Harlem, and about to open - his biggest project yet - the National Museum of African American History and Culture sitting right on the National Mall in Washington. Has he got it right? What is the test of a good building?(Photo: David Adjaye attends Design Dialogues No. 25 in Miami Beach, Florida. Credit: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images)
25 Mar 201623min
The Foreign Minister of Finland, Timo Soini
Nationalist, anti-immigrant parties have made inroads in a host of countries in Europe, for example Hungary, Denmark and Finland. In Finland a right wing populist party, The Finns, is a significant player in a centre right coalition government. Stephen Sackur talks to Timo Soini, their leader and the nation's Foreign Minister. What happens to populists when they are faced with the compromises that come with sharing power?(Photo: Finland's Foreign Minister Timo Soini. Credit: Mark Graham/AFP)
22 Mar 201623min
OSCE Secretary General - Lamberto Zannier
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has its roots in the cold war - it was a unique platform for dialogue between the West and the Soviet Bloc on matters of security and human rights. But that was then, what about now? Hardtalk speaks to Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the OSCE. In a new era of tension between Moscow and the West, how much use is his organisation?(Photo: OSCE Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier delivers a speech during the OSCE-meeting, 2016, Vienna, Austria. Credit: Herbert Neubauer/AFP/Getty Images)
21 Mar 201623min
Sevgi Akarçeşme, Editor in Chief "Today's Zaman", Turkey
Journalism in Turkey is a precarious business. Earlier this month the country's biggest selling newspaper was forcibly taken over by the government, a host of journalists have been locked up for insulting the nation and its institutions, or for aiding terrorists. All this in a nation beset with diplomatic, security and humanitarian challenges. HARDtalk speaks to Sevgi Akarçeşme, who was editor of the English language “Today's Zaman” newspaper until the state booted her out. How close is Turkey to authoritarian rule?
18 Mar 201623min
