The Interview

Hind Kabawat, Syrian Minister: It's hard to be the only woman, I feel lonely

'It's hard to be the only woman, I feel lonely sometimes because I’d like to have another woman colleague to talk to.’ The BBC’s Chief international correspondent, Lyse Doucet speaks to Hind Kabawat, Syria’s Minister for Social Affairs and Labour. and the only female minister in the transitional government. She was born in India and grew up across the Middle East and Europe. Her life has been shaped by movement, exile and conflict. She studied economics in Damascus, law in Beirut, and later continued her education in the United States. During Syria’s war, she worked abroad on diplomacy and legal reform, advising on negotiations and pushing for greater representation of women in public life. After the fall of the Assad regime and the creation of a transitional authority, she returned home to take up public office. In this conversation, she talks about power, responsibility, and what leadership means in a country still reckoning with more than a decade of conflict. Thank you to the Global Women team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with the Colombian president Gustavo Petro, the Palestinian-American human rights lawyer Noura Erekat and Mexican actor Diego Calva. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Lyse Doucet Producers: Lina Shaikhouni, Farhana Haider Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Hind Kabavat Credit: Beyza Comert/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv: ‘We're fighting to survive’

‘We're fighting to survive in our home town, in our country, and at the same time we're fighting for our future, for our independence’ Nick Robinson speaks to Vitali Klitschko, Mayor of Kyiv, about Ukraine’s war with Russia as it approaches its fourth year. Born behind the Iron Curtain in 1971, he’s arguably best-known as a former heavyweight boxing world champion who made his name in the ring during the 1990s and 2000s. Having hung up his gloves following a series of injuries, when his native Ukraine endured political upheaval through the Orange Revolution, Vitali’s attentions turned to the political arena. Following a short stint in the Ukrainian Parliament, where he aligned with pro-Europeans, Vitali was elected mayor of Ukraine’s capital Kyiv in 2014 after heavily campaigning against corruption. But his greatest challenge in politics, and indeed even greater than becoming a world champion boxer, came when Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Thank you to the Political Thinking with Nick Robinson team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Artificial Intelligence pioneer Mustafa Suleyman, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, and fantasy author Sir Philip Pullman. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Nick Robinson Producers: Daniel Kraemer and Ben Cooper Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Vitali Klitschko Credit: Sergei GAPON / AFP via Getty Images)

Helen Thompson, professor of political economy: A new era of global power politics

“Regardless of whether it's Trump or anybody else in the White House, we should expect something quite significant to be going on in terms of the United States’ relationship with the rest of the world.” Amol Rajan speaks to Helen Thompson, professor of political economy at Cambridge University, about a new era of global power play. In this conversation, she traces the roots of the re-birth of US expansionism back to the 19th century, and America’s early presidents. She also explains how the dynamics of geopolitics are tied to the control of resources, in particular oil. Professor Thompson is an expert on the history of globalisation who has taught at Britain’s Cambridge University for more than 30 years. Her current research looks at the geopolitics of energy, and the long history of this century’s global disruptions. Thank you to the Radical team for its help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with the Colombian president Gustavo Petro, New Zealand’s former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Amol Rajan Producers: Anna Budd, Lucy Sheppard Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Helen Thompson Credit: Anna Budd/BBC)

Nicholas Opiyo, human rights lawyer: Ugandans want change

‘All they have seen is a 40-year rule that has resulted in high unemployment rates, poor services, and an increased violation of human rights. This young population is yearning to see a different president, a different kind of Uganda.’ Catherine Byaruhanga speaks to human rights lawyer and activist Nicholas Opiyo about Ugandan politics, the rule of law, and the impact of 40 years of one leader on the nation. He’s taken on multiple cases of national significance, including successfully overturning the country’s anti-LGBTQ legislation back in 2014 - although this has since been re-instated, and represented a former rebel commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army. Opiyo has also represented Ugandan opposition politician Bobi Wine, who, despite previously being arrested and charged with treason in 2018, challenged the 81-year-old incumbent President Yoweri Museveni in January’s disputed elections. These elections were watched from afar by Opiyo, who was recently forced to flee his home country for his own safety, but still continues his human rights work. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, Botswana’s President Duma Boko, and Dr. Badr Abdelatty, Foreign Minister of Egypt. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Catherine Byaruhanga Producers: Clare Williamson, Ben Cooper and Farhana Haider Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Nicholas Opiyo. Credit: Reuters)

Chloé Zhao, director: I was an outsider

‘It's so far from your reality because I didn't know anybody and I was an immigrant’ Anita Rani speaks to the Beijing-born director Chloé Zhao about her career and her latest film, Hamnet. Zhao made history in 2021 when, at the age of just 39, she became the first woman of colour - and, at the time, only the second woman ever - to win the best director award at the Oscars. Now, just five years after her Oscars triumph for Nomadland, Zhao is making headlines once again as the director of the critically-acclaimed movie Hamnet, a dramatisation about the son of the English playwright William Shakespeare. It won two Golden Globe awards, including one for ‘Best Drama Movie’, and has recently been nominated for 8 Academy Awards too. Thank you to the Woman’s Hour team for their help in making this programme. The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Indian author Twinkle Khanna, former US Vice President Kamala Harris, and Hollywood legend Sir Anthony Hopkins. You can listen on the BBC World Service on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 0800 GMT. Or you can listen to The Interview as a podcast, out three times a week on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. Presenter: Anita Rani Producers: Emma Pearce, Ben Cooper and Lucy Sheppard Editor: Justine Lang Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media. (Image: Chloé Zhao. Credit: Emma McIntyre/WireImage)