Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Obsession is a driver

Cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason: Obsession is a driver

John Wilson speaks to British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason about his obsession with music, adjusting to fame and how he’s faced racist abuse.

While still a student, he performed to an audience of more than one billion people at the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, instantly becoming one of the most recognisable classical performers in the world.

Now, still just 26 years old, he explains the unique joy of performing with his family. Kanneh-Mason is one of seven siblings, all are talented musicians and regularly play together.

Of Antiguan decent, he was the first black person to win BBC Young Musician of the Year. He’s also used his profile to join calls for dropping ‘Rule, Britannia!’ from the Last Night of the Proms, explaining how difficult it is for someone whose ancestors were enslaved to hear imperial songs sung with such determination.

Thank you to the This Cultural Life team for helping to make this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC. You can listen on the BBC World Service, Mondays and Wednesdays at 0700 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out twice a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presenter: John Wilson Producers: Alex Loftus, Ben Cooper and Edwina Pittman Editor: Nick Holland

Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.

(Image: Sheku Kanneh-Mason. Photo by Ian West - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

Avsnitt(1814)

Son of Hans Frank, Governor General of Nazi Occupied Poland - Niklas Frank

Son of Hans Frank, Governor General of Nazi Occupied Poland - Niklas Frank

Stephen Sackur is in Germany to speak to Niklas Frank. His father was Hans Frank, the Governor General of Nazi Occupied Poland during the World War Two. He was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and executed in 1946. Niklas Frank tells Stephen Sackur he 'despises' his father and does not want Germany to forget the crimes of his father and the legacy of the Nazi era.(Photo: Niklas Frank)

10 Mars 22min

Roger Carstens: Do hostage deals risk making problems worse?

Roger Carstens: Do hostage deals risk making problems worse?

Stephen Sackur speaks to Roger Carstens, former US Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. Did the deals he strike from Russia to Iran risk making the problem worse?(Photo: Roger Carstens, former US Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs appears via video on Hardtalk)

7 Mars 22min

Volker Türk: Are we sleepwalking into a dystopian future?

Volker Türk: Are we sleepwalking into a dystopian future?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the UN Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. As conflicts destroy millions of lives around the world, are we sleepwalking into a dystopian future?(Photo: Volker Türk, UN Commissioner for Human Rights appears via video on Hardtalk)

5 Mars 22min

Badiucao: Art, power and China

Badiucao: Art, power and China

Stephen Sackur speaks to the dissident artist Badiucao, whose cartoons and drawings challenge President Xi Jinping and the Chinese state. He lives in exile in Australia, but does that mean he’s beyond Beijing’s reach?

3 Mars 22min

Lord Sumption: Is liberal democracy in big trouble?

Lord Sumption: Is liberal democracy in big trouble?

Stephen Sackur speaks to the former senior judge, barrister and writer Lord Sumption whose latest book assesses the health of democracy and the rule of law

28 Feb 22min

Victoria Spartz: Has Donald Trump switched sides on Ukraine?

Victoria Spartz: Has Donald Trump switched sides on Ukraine?

Stephen Sackur speaks to US Congresswoman Victoria Spartz. Born and raised in Ukraine and now a Donald Trump loyalist, what does she make of the US president’s strategy of pushing for peace in Ukraine by labelling Ukraine’s President Zelensky a dictator and appearing to hand Vladimir Putin a series of diplomatic gifts?

26 Feb 22min

N. Ram: Freedom of expression in India

N. Ram: Freedom of expression in India

Stephen Sackur speaks to one of India’s most influential media voices, N. Ram, director of the Hindu Publishing Group. With independent journalists complaining of intimidation and social media facing new curbs, is freedom of expression under threat in the world’s biggest democracy?

24 Feb 22min

Laila Soueif and Sanaa Seif: Hunger for freedom

Laila Soueif and Sanaa Seif: Hunger for freedom

Stephen Sackur speaks to Laila Soueif, mother of Alaa Abdel Fattah, a political prisoner in Egypt and Alaa’s sister Sanaa Seif. Laila is into the fifth month of a hunger strike in a desperate bid to win her son’s freedom. Alaa is a dual British-Egyptian citizen – should the UK be doing more to help?(Photo: Egyptian activist Laila Soueif gives a statement to the media outside Downing Street about her son, Alaa Abdel Fattah, in London, 10 February 2025. Credit: Tolga Akmen/EPA)

19 Feb 22min

Populärt inom Politik & nyheter

svenska-fall
p3-krim
rss-krimstad
rss-viva-fotboll
fordomspodden
flashback-forever
aftonbladet-daily
rss-sanning-konsekvens
rss-vad-fan-hande
olyckan-inifran
dagens-eko
rss-frandfors-horna
krimmagasinet
rss-krimreportrarna
motiv
svd-dokumentara-berattelser-2
rss-expressen-dok
blenda-2
svd-nyhetsartiklar
spotlight