The Interview

Environment minister Izabella Teixeria's government says it is now protecting Brazil’s unique biodiversity. But agribusiness and urbanisation are still taking their toll. Is the rainforest safe in her hands?

11 Apr 201423min

Hardtalk is in Johannesburg to talk to the only black woman in South Africa to head a mining company. Daphne Mashile-Nkosi has made a fortune out of her business ventures, but with much of the mining industry beset by strikes over pay and conditions, how far has the country’s mineral wealth benefited its poorest people?(Photo: Daphne Mashile Nkosi, CEO, Kalagadi Manganese, SA)

9 Apr 201423min

In a special edition of HARDtalk broadcast live from London, as part of the BBC’s Freedom Season, Zeinab Badawi speaks to the acclaimed South Sudanese singer and political activist, Emmanuel Jal. He was captured and forced to fight as a child soldier during the Sudanese civil war. His country South Sudan - the world's newest nation - may now be independent but it has descended into vicious ethnic fighting. What lies behind this new wave of conflict and how can it be stopped?Picture: Emmanuel Jal, Credit: BBC

4 Apr 201423min

South Africa holds elections in May and complaints from workers are getting louder. Unofficial figures show that nearly half of the working population does not have a proper job. So what happened to the post-apartheid dream of work and education for all? Hardtalk is in Johannesburg to speak to Zwelinzima Vavi, the now suspended head of COSATU, the powerful trade unions alliance – is it holding back South Africa’s progress?(Photo: Zwelinzima Vavi. Credit: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images)

2 Apr 201423min

As part of the BBC’s Freedom season, Zeinab Badawi speaks to Kenneth Kaunda – leader of the struggle for independence, he was sentenced to hard labour in prison by the British before he went on to become Zambia’s first president of the post-colonial era. It is a landmark year for Zambia – this is the 50th anniversary of its independence - and Kenneth Kaunda himself turns 90 in April. What has 50 years of freedom brought the people of Zambia?(Photo: Kenneth Kaunda in 1978, Credit: AFP/GettyImages)

30 Mars 201423min

Tamara Rojo - artistic director and lead principal of the English National Ballet - talks about her new production, a ballet about one of the bloodiest conflicts in the 20th Century, which is part of an attempt to modernise what is often a rather conservative repertoire in ballet. She would like to do the same with training and technique too, but with some of the stars arguing that ballet should be tough and a new generation of dancers who have gone through a demanding training in Japan and China beginning to flourish, can Tamara Rojo triumph over tradition?(Picture: Tamara Rojo. Credit: Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images)

26 Mars 201423min

Since the financial meltdown of 2008, China has been the key driver of growth in the global economy. In Beijing, it is easy to see how the country's brand of command capitalism has transformed infrastructure and generated unprecedented wealth. But suddenly confidence has given way to insecurity - at the heart of it is a debt bubble that would threaten the whole world economy if it turned toxic. Hardtalk is in Beijing to speak to Jin Liqun, supremely well connected investment bank chief and former chairman of China's sovereign wealth fund. How worried should we be about the Chinese economy?

24 Mars 201424min

There has been widespread condemnation of Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin’s decision to absorb Crimea after its referendum to break away from Ukraine. But Moscow says that any further sanctions imposed against it by the EU over Crimea, will affect Europe as much as itself. Hardtalk speaks to the Bulgarian president, Rosen Plevneliev. Bulgaria is the EU’s poorest country and depends on Russia for 85% of its gas needs. Can Bulgaria, and the EU as a whole, afford to get tough with Moscow?Picture: Rosen Plevneliev, Credit: Samuel Kubani/AFP/Getty Images

21 Mars 201423min