Philip Glass - Composer
Philip Glass is one of the most influential and polarising composers of the last 50 years. The trademark sound in his prolific output of symphonies, operas and film scores, is repetitive, rhythmic and hypnotic. He has been driven by a simple question - what is music?
31 Dec 201223min
Brooke Magnanti - Belle du Jour
As Belle de Jour, she achieved global notoriety for years, writing a blog about her sexual encounters as a high-class escort girl working in London. Now, after revealing herself to be an expert research scientist and no longer engaged in prostitution, Dr Brooke Magnanti is calling for prostitution to be decriminalised.
28 Dec 201223min
Lewis Moody - Former England Rugby Captain
Former England rugby captain Lewis Moody talks to Stephen Sackur about his battle with bowel disease, and winning the 2003 Rugby World Cup.(Image: Lewis Moody, Credit: Getty Images)
26 Dec 201223min
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC - Barrister
Stephen Sackur talks to the British barrister Sir Geoffrey Nice who led the Hague tribunal prosecution of former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosević and asks if the ICC has been a disappointment.(Image: The prosecutors during the second day of trial of Slobodan Milosevic at the International Criminal Tribunal. From left: Dirk Ryneveld, Carla del Ponte and Geoffrey Nice. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
24 Dec 201223min
Naguib Sawiris – Businessman and Founder, Free Egyptians Party
How far is Egypt becoming polarised between Islamist and secularist forces? The current vote for a new constitution in Egypt has exposed divisions which at times have erupted into violence on the streets between supporters and opponents of the Muslim Brotherhood and the Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. Hardtalk speaks to a leading member of Egypt's liberal and secular elite: Coptic Christian billionaire businessman and politician Naguib Sawiris. Who has a better claim to be democratic - the Islamists or their opponents?(Image: Naguib Sawiris, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
20 Dec 201223min
Sima Samar – Chairperson, Afghan Human Rights Commission
Afghanistan is reckoned to be one of the worst places on Earth to be a woman. Forced early marriage, high maternal mortality rates and little secondary education. Hardtalk talks to Dr Sima Samar, a medical doctor, educator and Chairperson of Afghanistan’s Human Rights Commission. Ten years ago she also became her country’s first ever Minister for Women’s Affairs. She has been a pioneer for human rights in Afghanistan but does she have the right strategy to win greater freedoms for Afghan women?(Image: Sima Samar, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
17 Dec 201223min
Leila Shahid – Palestinian Authority Ambassador to the EU
The politics of Palestine are in a state of flux. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and the stalwarts of his Fatah movement face a crisis of credibility; they've been outmanoeuvred in recent weeks by the hardliners in Hamas whose message is defiance, not diplomacy. Hardtalk speaks with the Palestinian Authority envoy to the European Union Leila Shahid. Is the game up for Palestine's old guard moderates?(Image: Leila Shahid, Credit: AFP/Getty Images)
14 Dec 201223min
Jan Cheek - Executive Councillor, Falkland Islands Government
To Britain it's the Falklands, to Argentina the Malvinas. Thirty years ago, the two countries went to war over these islands in the South Atlantic. Now they can smell oil - eight billion barrels worth is being drilled for this year. Is that why Buenos Aires and London are trading insults once again? Jan Cheek is one of the leaders of the 3000 islanders who are about to be asked to vote on whether there should be negotiations with Argentina. She says no but by what right do the Islanders insist they should stay linked to a country on the other side of the world? And for how much longer will the British be prepared to pay the military and diplomatic bill?
12 Dec 201223min
