Fawzia Koofi: Women's rights in Afghanistan
Stephen Sackur speaks to the former deputy speaker of the Afghan parliament Fawzia Koofi. She was forced to flee into exile when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Women and girls in Afghanistan have since seen their rights eliminated. How should the world respond to what the UN calls ‘gender apartheid’?Photo: Fawzia Koofi receiving the Casa Asia Award in Barcelona, 2021 Credit: Getty Images
5 Sep 202422min
Rev Andrey Kordochkin: Putin and the Church
Vladimir Putin talks of restoring greatness to what he calls the Russian world: an expanse of territory which, as Ukrainians know to their cost, stretches far beyond Russia’s current borders. Putin’s expansionist nationalism requires military power, but it’s harnessed the cultural and spiritual authority of the Russian Orthodox Church too. Stephen Sackur speaks to Andrey Kordochkin, who was a Russian Orthodox priest who spoke out against the Ukraine war and the "Putinisation" of the church. Is he swimming against an unstoppable tide?
3 Sep 202422min
Motaz Azaiza: Photographing Gaza
Stephen Sackur speaks to Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza. His images of death, destruction and loss in Gaza went viral across the world. He left 108 days after Israel launched its military response to Hamas’s October 7th attack. What impact have his images had, on him, and us?
2 Sep 202422min
Andris Sprūds: Is Latvia on a war footing?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Latvia’s defence minister Andris Sprūds. He wants to ramp up military support for Ukraine, and he backs Kyiv’s dramatic push into Russian territory. But will divisions inside Nato and the EU leave Ukraine short of the backing it needs?
30 Aug 202422min
Neil Lawrence: Being human in the age of the machine
Stephen Sackur speaks to leading artificial intelligence researcher Neil Lawrence. He’s Professor of Machine Learning at the University of Cambridge and has a Senior AI Fellowship at the Alan Turing Institute. His new book – The Atomic Human – explores the transformational potential of artificial intelligence, while reflecting on the qualities of the human mind that cannot be replicated by even the most sophisticated machines.As more and more aspects of our lives are impacted by the rollout of machine learning, as control of big data and the development of algorithms to exploit it becomes a source of immense power in the 21st century, tech futurists are divided on whether we should embrace AI or fear it. In the end what will matter most isn’t the technology but the humans who develop and deploy it. Should we have faith in ourselves to get it right?
28 Aug 202423min
Nicola Procaccini: How has hard-right rule changed Italy?
Stephen Sackur is in Rome to talk to Nicola Procaccini, an MEP and confidant of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni. When her nationalist Brothers of Italy party took power, it sent shock waves through Europe. A couple of years on, how has hard-right rule changed Italy?
25 Aug 202422min
Olha Stefanishyna: Does Ukraine's Russia offensive make sense?
Stephen Sackur speaks to one of Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Ministers, Olha Stefanishyna. Kyiv’s military offensive inside Russia has shifted the dynamic in what looked like a war of attrition tilting in Moscow’s favour. But does this dramatic gambit make strategic sense, or is it an act of desperation?
21 Aug 202422min
Karuna Nundy: Human rights and justice in India
Stephen Sackur speaks to the prominent Indian lawyer Karuna Nundy. She has been at the forefront of long battles to better protect women from sexual violence, legalise gay marriage and safeguard freedom of speech. Is she losing this fight for India’s future?This episode contains references to rape and sexual assault.
19 Aug 202422min
