Amin Salam: Is Lebanon heading for meltdown?
Lebanon is experiencing one of the most disastrous economic collapses of the last 100 years. The national economy is less than half the size it was just three years ago, while people are holding up banks in a desperate attempt to get their money out amid rampant inflation and a currency crisis. Stephen Sackur interviews Amin Salam, Minister of Economy and Trade for Lebanon. Politicians have failed the country for decades - will that change before the meltdown is complete?
12 Okt 202223min
Maggie Haberman: Donald Trump and journalistic responsibility
Zeinab Badawi speaks to the award winning American journalist Maggie Haberman. She has published a book that chronicles the rise and fall of Donald Trump, and her revelations are creating sensational headlines in the US. What is the responsibility of a good journalist?
7 Okt 202223min
Boris Grebenshchikov: Culture and protest in Russia
Zeinab Badawi speaks to Russian rock musician Boris Grebenshchikov, who last played in Russia the day before Putin invaded Ukraine. Now living in exile in London, BG (as he is known to his fans) risks prosecution if he returns to Russia for his anti-war comments. The role cultural icons have to play in the politics of protest is a well-trodden one. But do their voices have any impact inside Russia?
5 Okt 202221min
Masih Alinejad: A revolution for Iranian women?
Stephen Sackur speaks to exiled Iranian women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad. The death in police custody of a young woman arrested for showing strands of her hair sparked protests across Iran, led by women, backed by many men. Could repression of women be the regime’s undoing?
29 Sep 202223min
Evgeny Popov: Russia's mobilisation
Stephen Sackur speaks to Russian MP, Putin loyalist and influential state media commentator Evgeny Popov. Amid military reverses, mass mobilisation, and signs of internal dissent in Russia, is Putin’s Ukraine strategy doomed to fail?
27 Sep 202223min
Reverend Richard Coles: Living with grief
For most of us, death and grief remain a private affair. An irreversible, life-altering shock when we lose someone close, for which there is no guide or preparation. Stephen Sackur interviews Reverend Richard Coles, a broadcaster and Church of England vicar, whose frank account of his own grief has struck a chord with many. Why did the death of his husband nearly break him?
26 Sep 202223min
Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze: Can Putin’s threats undermine support for Ukraine?
Stephen Sackur speaks to the Ukrainian MP, Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze, who currently chairs the Ukrainian parliament’s EU Integration Committee. Kyiv’s battlefield gains have prompted Vladimir Putin to announce a partial mobilisation and ramp up his nuclear threats. What does this mean for Ukraine and for the support it relies on in the west?
23 Sep 202224min
Maria Pevchikh: Where does Russia's anti-Putin movement go from here?
Stephen Sackur speaks to Maria Pevchikh, investigations chief for Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation, which is now outlawed in Russia. With Vladimir Putin putting a tighter squeeze on Russian civil society and criticism of the war risking years in prison, where does Russia’s anti-Putin movement go from here?
12 Sep 202224min
