US Economist Luigi Zingales
American capitalism is in crisis - that's the view of Professor Luigi Zingales. He blames the links between big government and big business. For the man who cites Margaret Thatcher as his hero, his answer is more competition; more free markets; an end to subsidies and lobbying and less privilege for the few. That's the way he says that capitalism can "rediscover and renew its moral foundation". So can it really be the answer to tackling inequality and mending the American dream?(Photo: Wall Street sign near the New York Stock Exchange. Credit: Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images)
23 Jan 201523min
Chinese Dissident - Wu'er Kaixi
Chinese dissident Wu’er Kaixi, a student leader during the pro-democracy protests in 1989, takes part in a live debate on democracy with Stephen Sackur. The year 2015 marks 750 years since the first Westminster parliament and 800 years since the sealing of Magna Carta. These landmark moments underpinned the establishment of Parliamentary democracy and the legal system in the UK and around the world. The BBC's Democracy Day will look at democracy past and present and encourage a debate about the future of democracy. How democratic are we?(Photo: Chinese dissident Wu'er Kaixi speaks during the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen crackdown in Taipei, 2014. Credit: Sam Yeh/AFP/Getty Images)
22 Jan 201523min
Werner Herzog
Draw up a list of the greatest living film makers and Werner Herzog would surely occupy a prominent place. He is responsible for some of the most wildly beautiful images captured on film. If you've seen Fitzcarraldo you won’t have forgotten the steamship being hauled over a mountain. He's seen as the film industry's obsessive genius; the director who once threatened to shoot his lead actor to prevent him quitting. After five decades making movies is Werner Herzog's love of film as intense as ever?(Photo: Werner Herzog with an award during the Lola - German Film Awards in 2013. Credit: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
21 Jan 201523min
Widow of Yasser Arafat - Suha Arafat
Zeinab Badawi is in Malta to speak to Suha Arafat – the widow of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Ten years after his death, Mrs Arafat gives a rare broadcast interview about their marriage, why she believes he was assassinated and why she has chosen to live in Malta and not amongst the Palestinian people who so revered her husband.(Photo: Suha Arafat at the 8th Annual Dubai International Film Festival held in Dubai. Credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
20 Jan 201523min
Richard Barrett
In the wake of the Paris attacks mounted by home grown militants swearing allegiance variously to al Qaeda in Yemen and the self-styled Islamic State, politicians in the west have promised to beef up security measures. Hardtalk speaks to Richard Barrett, a former UK counter-terror chief and until recently head of a UN team monitoring al Qaeda, about to how best confront the jihadist threat.
16 Jan 201523min
Yehuda Glick
Jerusalem boasts one of the most bitterly contested pieces of real estate in the World - known as the Temple Mount to Jews and the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. Jews are not allowed to pray there, many Jewish religious leaders say Jews should not set foot there, but that consensus is breaking down. Hardtalk speaks to Yehuda Glick an activist who has been variously described as a dangerous extremist, and a campaigner for religious freedom. Three months ago he survived an assassination attempt. Why does he persist with his divisive campaign on Jerusalem's holiest ground?(Photo: Yehuda Glick. Credit: AP)
9 Jan 201523min
Economist - Costas Lapavitsas
Greek voters may be about to plunge the European Union into a fully-fledged economic and political crisis. Opinion polls suggest the leftist, anti-austerity party Syriza is likely to emerge as the biggest party in Greece's late January election. If so the next Athens government may reject the terms of the bailout which is keeping the country afloat. And then what? Hardtalk speaks to Costas Lapavitsas, a London-based Greek economist who has been advising Syriza's leaders.(Photo: Greek economist Costas Lapavitsas)
9 Jan 201523min
Chair of UK Defence Select Committee - Rory Stewart
The West's strategic vision appears as clear as mud. After protracted wars in Iraq and Afghanistan the appetite for military intervention has all but disappeared. But given the threat of jihadist extremism and the spread of turmoil across the Middle East, non-intervention is seen as an unacceptable risk. The net result is uncertainty. Hardtalk speaks to Rory Stewart, a British Conservative MP who has worked in both Iraq and Afghanistan.(Photo: Rory Stewart)
7 Jan 201523min
