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The Interview

The Interview

BBC World Service 1919 Episodes Aug 20, 2026

The Interview is a BBC World Service podcast featuring conversations with influential people from around the world, including leaders in business, politics, finance, sport, and culture. Each episode is approximately 20 minutes long and provides insight and analysis on major global issues. The podcast brings together the best interviews conducted by BBC journalists with the people shaping our world.

Episodes

Mopreme Shakur on Tupac: The sensitive man behind the music
Mopreme Shakur on Tupac: The sensitive man behind the music Aug 20, 2026 1378 “I think Pac was actually traumatised by the poverty. You know, poverty can be very, very traumatic. Having no lights, having no food from time to time, having no clothes while you’re going to school, and bumming clothes. Them stories, it was real. That really happened to Pac. Pac was sensitive, so he felt things deeply.” The BBC’s Shaimaa Khalil speaks to Mopreme Shakur, step-brother of iconic
Hunter Biden: Father’s pardon not good for country
Hunter Biden: Father’s pardon not good for country Aug 18, 2026 1381 “Was it good for our Constitution? Was it good for the American people? Was it good for my dad's legacy? No, on all counts. It was not. All I know is that I'm grateful that he did it for me.” BBC Newsnight presenter Paddy O’Connell speaks to Hunter Biden, son of former president Joe Biden, about his father’s controversial decision to give him a presidential pardon at the end of his one term in o
Celeste Saulo, WMO: Extreme weather is the new normal
Celeste Saulo, WMO: Extreme weather is the new normal Aug 16, 2026 1438 “[This weather] is a new norm, and we need to make sure that we are prepared to deal with that…these extreme wildfires put more responsibility onto improving our forecasting tools to support the brigades, to support communities.”Victoria Gill speaks to Professor Celeste Saulo, head of the World Meteorological Organisation, about the extreme weather events making headlines in recent months. She say
Dmitry Muratov, journalist: Putin can’t claim victory in Ukraine
Dmitry Muratov, journalist: Putin can’t claim victory in Ukraine Aug 13, 2026 1379 "There are repressions, political repressions, against freedom of speech, against elections, against the rights of citizens to hold mass events. To such an extent that we don't know what the real public mood is.”The BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg meets Dmitry Muratov one of Russia’s most prominent independent journalists.For more than 30 years, he has been one of Russia’s staunchest defenders
Yemi Alade, singer: I wanted to be a mega superstar
Yemi Alade, singer: I wanted to be a mega superstar Aug 11, 2026 1379 “I just knew that I wanted to be a mega superstar and I didn't know how…I feel like Africa chose me before I even chose Africa, and I feel music chose me before I chose music.”Nkechi Ogbonna speaks to Nigerian singer and songwriter Yemi Alade about becoming one of Africa's biggest music stars and a trailblazer who has helped take Afrobeats to the world.Alade has collaborated with artists including
Sonam Wangchuk, Indian activist: Hunger strike for education reform
Sonam Wangchuk, Indian activist: Hunger strike for education reform Aug 9, 2026 1380 “This movement was by young people who had hardly anything to lose. We had no fear and that's what spread across the country and today people are raising their voices. This time it stopped at the education ministry, but if this continues, I think the younger generation may not stop at just education.” Rajini Vaidyanathan speaks to Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose 26-day hunger strike made h
Carlos Acosta, dancer: Ballet is for everyone
Carlos Acosta, dancer: Ballet is for everyone Aug 6, 2026 1449 “It's very important that we expose this work early on, so that people from different cultures see ballet as a way of a career. But in the 1990s or 2000s, it was pretty much closed, we didn't have - even in school - a lot of black ballet dancers from which to choose from. But now, obviously, things have moved on. Now, diversity is at the top of every director's agenda… it's great that we’ve seen a
Srinivasan Muralidhar: The trauma of Palestinian children
Srinivasan Muralidhar: The trauma of Palestinian children Aug 4, 2026 1508 ‘When it comes to humanitarian crisis, we should not allow children's future to be subject to geopolitics. We can't say that there are politically compulsions as a result of which we are allowing children to die of starvation. We can't say there are political compulsions because of which we are allowing children to die of want of medical aid. So the request before the Security Council was this. Ca
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s Foreign Minister: Slavery scars our collective conscience
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, Ghana’s Foreign Minister: Slavery scars our collective conscience Aug 2, 2026 1486 “The time has come for the international community to be honest, not to be hypocritical, not be selective, not engage in erasure, but to admit that the gravest crime against humanity took place and it took place on this continent. And that the time to repair what was broken, what undermines our collective humanity, what is a scar on our collective conscience, the time and the only way to repair th
Sumant Sinha: Green tech to triumph over drilling
Sumant Sinha: Green tech to triumph over drilling Jul 30, 2026 1380 Leanna Byrne speaks to Sumant Sinha, the founder of ReNew, one of India's largest renewable energy companies about why he thinks green and clean energy will win out.Sinha began his career in finance, working in New York and London, before walking away from the corporate world to make a bet on renewable energy. He founded his company in India, which is one of the world’s most polluted countries. It
Gayton McKenzie, South African minister: Immigration unrest
Gayton McKenzie, South African minister: Immigration unrest Jul 28, 2026 1380 “This is a legitimate concern of South Africans, where there’s illegal foreigners, people with no paperwork. No country in the world allows that to happen. Why should we? Our message is very simple. We say, South Africa is open for our brothers on the continent, but come here legitimately. Come here like a civilised human being that wants to come and contribute towards our country.”Waihiga Mwaura
Rohan Kanawade, film director:  My parents accepted my sexuality
Rohan Kanawade, film director: My parents accepted my sexuality Jul 26, 2026 1381 ‘Their love was so innocent, so sweet, so organic and we just wanted them to end up together because even they knew that some of the queer films always end in tragedy and they were worried that something like that's going to happen but that didn't happen and so people were really happy with it.’ Nikki Bedi speaks to Rohan Kanawade, the acclaimed director whose debut feature Cactus Pears or Sabar

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