The Interview

Stephen Sackur speaks to Irish sports journalist David Walsh, who was convinced that cycling’s untouchable champion Lance Armstrong was a drugs cheat long before the sport revealed the scale of his deceit. Armstrong is history now, but doping continues to devalue elite sport - maybe it is a problem no amount of truth telling journalism can fix. It is the job of the journalist to speak truth to power, but can defying conventional wisdom and the powers that be often mean the profession can be a lonely place?(Photo: David Walsh, chief Sports writer, Sunday Times, UK in the Hardtalk studio)

20 Feb 201723min

Stephen Sackur speaks to John Madden, an Oscar winning director whose latest film is set in the murky world of Washington politics. The Academy Awards are upon us and Hollywood is awash with speculation, spin and self-importance. But this year, with Donald Trump in the White House and in a deeply divided America, real life has thrown up a melodrama which makes the movies look tame. Is Hollywood accurately reflecting the times we are living in?(Photo: Film director John Madden. Credit: Getty Images)

17 Feb 201723min

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Jens Spahn, a rising star in Chancellor Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. With so much focus on America's new president, it's easy to forget Europe is facing its own period of prolonged uncertainty. Brexit negotiations are about to begin, the Greek debt crisis is going through another convulsion. It is also a year of key elections, most particularly in the continent's dominant economy, Germany. Is German politics going to reshape Europe?

15 Feb 201723min

Zeinab Badawi speaks to humanitarian activist and one of Hollywood’s best known and versatile actors, Forest Whitaker. One role for which he won numerous accolades including an Oscar for best actor was his portrayal of the Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. But how far is he concerned that his portrayal of Idi Amin played into racist stereotypes of Africans and their continent?

13 Feb 201723min

HARDtalk’s Stephen Sackur speaks to Myron Ebell, who led President Trump’s transition team on environment policy and has long been an advocate of radical reform of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. The Trump administration seems intent on a radical reset of America's energy and environment policies. The implications will be profound on everything from fossil fuel production to climate change policy. In America's new politics will the interests of big business consistently overshadow environmental concerns?Image: Steam and exhaust rise from a power station, Credit: Lukas Schulze/Getty Images

10 Feb 201722min

In America's new politics will big business consistently trump environmental concerns?

9 Feb 201722min

Stephen Sackur speaks to the former Mexican president Vicente Fox, whose strongly worded Twitter responses to Donald Trump have caused a storm on social media. The new US president has wasted little time delivering on his signature campaign promises. He has already ordered the construction of the contentious wall along the US-Mexican border. The US congress will fund it, but ultimately, Mr Trump says, Mexico must pay. Can Mexico afford to provoke the new US administration?(Photo: Former Mexican President Vicente Fox gestures while speaking during an interview with AFP, 2016. Credit: AFP)

7 Feb 201722min

Stephen Sackur speaks to Petula Clark, a much loved child performer during World War Two. Getting to the top in show business is hard - staying there is much, much harder. Few stars can match the sustained success in music, film and theatre as her. She went on to have a host of hits in the UK, France, the US and pretty much everywhere else. She has worked with legendary names from Fred Astaire to Serge Gainsbourg, and she is still singing and touring. So what makes her tick?(Photo: Petula Clark performs at the Songwriters Hall of Fame 44th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner, New York Marriott Marquis, 2013. Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

2 Feb 201722min