now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.neva summit with vladimir putin by reassuring his partners in nato that america is back in the saddle, committed to the defence of european allies and determined to lead the alliance's response to evolving geographical and technological threats. but how convincing is all of this reassurance? well, my guest is nato secretary general jens stoltenberg. is rhetoric being used to paper over nato�*s cracks? jens stoltenberg at nato headquarters in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. jens stoltenberg at nato headquarters in brussels, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me. now, mr secretary general, thejust—finished nato summit had plenty of talk about challenges coming from russia, but also challenge coming from china. it left some people a little bit confused about your strategic vision. so you tell me, as you sit at headquarters right now, what is perceived to be nato�*s number one threat? nato�*s number one task is to do exactly the same today as we have done for more than 70 yea

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.nt biden is in the middle of his first overseas tour, taking in the g7, the eu, nato and a session with vladimir putin. america, he says, is back — another way of telling the world the trump era is well and truly over. but how easy is it proving to be for team biden to set america on a new course? well, my guest is ben rhodes, the key national security —— well, my guest is ben rhodes, a key national security adviser to barack obama through his eight years in the white house. is the us in any position to lead a much—touted global alliance of democracies? ben rhodes in los angeles, welcome to hardtalk. thanks, stephen. i think it's fair to say that since you and your boss left the white house injanuary 2017, you have very publicly grappled with feelings of unease and alienation about what's happening in your own country and across the world. is that feeling of unease and alienation in any way eased right now? well, i think here in america, we dodged an enormous bullet whenjoe biden was e

i'm stephen sackur.me countries, attitudes towards homosexuality have moved from prejudice and persecution to acceptance and legal protections. but very few nations have specifically outlawed so—called gay conversion therapy, usually linked to religious movements which still demonise homosexuality. well, my guest today is mckrae game, who founded an organisation which told thousands of young gay americans their sexual orientation was a sin they must reject. but four years ago, he quit. now he says he's sorry for the harm he did, but is his own conversion too little, too late? mckrae game in south carolina, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. mckrae, i'd like to start with a question about identity. if i were to describe you as a gay man who, for decades, could not accept his own sexual orientation, would that be correct? absolutely, yes. so, today, you're out, you're gay and you live as a gay man in your home state of south carolina? that is correct. why, if we look back, do you think, as a child and a young

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. is a massive global business, and the best athletes in the most popular sports earn mind—boggling sums of money. but even they struggle to compete with the off—field earning power of the promoters and agents, who wield enormous power behind the scenes. my guest is the veteran promoter barry hearn, who made his name in snooker and boxing, and built a business worth hundreds of millions of dollars. has money spoiled sport? barry hearn, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it's a pleasure to be here. well, it's a pleasure to have you on the show. you have spent a life in sport. was it all about business for you? no, i mean, it started off and still remains to this day a question of passion. making money is, you know, not easy sometimes, but you have a chance to do whateverjob you want to do in life. i suppose with me, i started off wanting to be a great sportsman, but then found out i didn't really have the ability. so next best thing, let's get involved with the promotion of sport, and we di

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.nese communist party is pumping out a relentless stream of propaganda to celebrate the centenary of its formation next month. in a sense, it is a triumph of creative thinking. china's modern—day economic miracle was engineered when mao's communist orthodoxy was abandoned. the party exercises authoritarian control in the name of stability, rather than ideological purity. my guest is victor gao, party loyalist and one—time translator for deng xiaoping. how sustainable is the party's grip on china? victor gao in beijing, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much for having me. it is the 100th anniversary of the chinese communist party. would you agree that perhaps that's more a recognition of the party's devotion to raw power than it is to ideological purity? well, i think china is celebrating the centenary of the founding of the communist party of china, the biggest, largest, most important political party ever in human history, with almost 100 million party members. and the party is, ind

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ight decades after the slaughter of millions ofjews began in eastern europe, the truth of what happened is still denied by some. my guest today is a silvia foti, an american writer whose grandfather was lithuanian — a man hailed as an heroic patriot who paid with his life resisting the soviets. but according to his granddaughter, jonas noreika was no hero. he had the blood of thousands ofjews on his hands. now she has chosen to speak out, angering many in lithuania. so, what happens when truth trumps family loyalty? silvia foti in chicago, welcome to hardtalk. hello, thank you. yours is an extraordinary story to tell. let's begin by establishing why you chose to dig so deep into the life of your grandfather who, of course, was a man you had never met because he was executed by the soviets in 19117. so, why did you go so deep into his life? i kind of a sort of stumbled into it, to be honest. i got the story from my mother on her deathbed. and i thought i was going to write about a hero

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.e associate artists with the times in which they emerge and the work which brings them widespread acclaim. so it is with my guest today, michael stipe, lead singer of the american band rem, who were pioneers of an indie rock sound which emerged from a georgia college campus in the �*80s and won worldwide acclaim in the 19905. now, he's a visual artist, who records new music sparingly. he says the best art is about bravery, confronting fear. so what has he been frightened of? michael stipe in berlin, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. how are you, stephen? i am very well, delighted to see you. i think it's fair to say that we all think of you, first and foremost, as a musician, but these days, your primary focus seems to be visual art and i'm just wondering whether that visual sense was with you from the very beginning. yeah, i actually started as an art student, but prior to that, i took up photography at 1a. it was when i was 15 years old that i discovered the cbgb punk rock scene in new

i'm stephen sackur. no industry has been hit harder by the global covid pandemic than aviation.ross—border travel is either banned or constrained by tests and quarantines across much of the world. besides, who wants to travel for either business or pleasure in a world full of insecurity and uncertainty? that is the challenge facing my guest, johan lundgren, ceo of easyjet, europe's second—biggest budget airline. can his business model survive the double whammy of covid and climate change? johan lundgren, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you and easyjet have been grappling with the covid pandemic for more than 15 months now. in your wildest nightmares, did you imagine it would be this bad for this long? no, i didn't, and nobody knew and nobody thought that this would happen to the scale of it. but we did assume, compared to some other airlines, that it was going to last for a period of time that we couldn't determine when it was going to finish. so we didn't say last year, "this will be over by easter," as an example. so the actions we took were actually there to support and manag

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. much has been said and written about covid—19 by politicians, scientists and healthcare professionals across the world. but what about the voices of those hit hard by the disease, the patients for whom it was very nearly a death sentence? my guest today is one of them — the hugely successful writer and educator, michael rosen, whose covid memoir is dark, sad, uplifting and funny, all at once. how did he find the poetic in a pandemic? michael rosen, in your london home, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for having me, stephen. thank you. it's a great pleasure to have you, not least because i am very well aware that not so very long ago you went through a ghastly near—death experience, thanks to covid—19. it clearly hasn't sapped your creative juices but why on earth did you want to revisit that dark period by writing about it? i think it's a matter of compulsion, stephen. i think for anybody who is in the arts, you find that whatever medium you work in, you need to express yourself through i

i'm stephen sackur and this is the restaurant kitchen of my guest today, one of britain's top chefs —dge. now, for much of the past year, this place has been eerily quiet, but now lockdown is over and the noise, the heat and the smells are back. but what will the long—term impact of covid be on the hospitality business? and has it prompted us to rethink the relationship between our food and our health? tom kerridge, welcome to hardtalk and thank you for letting us into your fabulous kitchen. yeah, well, you're very, very welcome. if you stay there too long, i might get you podding some of these peas! how good is it to be back here? it's amazing. personally, it's great to have the energy going but, actually, you know, the team, the staff, across the board of every space, every restaurant have been amazing. they've been... we were all back in at least a week before we could open, and just the idea of getting stocks and sauces on, the energy levels. we've had staff sat at home or have kind of being involved in the industry, but not in the same way. to be able to get back doing what they

i am stephen sackur. much has been said and written about covid—19.and health care professionals across the world. but what about the voices of those hit hard by the disease that patients for whom it was very nearly a death sentence. my very nearly a death sentence. my guest today is one of them. hugely successful writer and educator, michael rosen. his covid—19 memoir is dark, sad, uplifting and funny all at once. how did he find the poetic in a pandemic? michael rosen, welcome to hardtalk. it is a great pleasure to have you, not least because i'm very well aware that not so very long ago, jim went through a ghastly, near death experience thanks to covid—19. it clearly has not sapped your creative juices, but i wonder why you would want to revisit that dark period by writing about it? i to revisit that dark period by writing about it?— writing about it? i think it is a matter— writing about it? i think it is a matter of— writing about it? i think it is a matter of compulsion. - writing about it? i think it is - a matter of compulsion. anyone in the a

i'm stephen sackur. no industry has been hit harder by the global covid pandemic than edie asian.ss—border travel is either banned or constrained by tests and quarantine across most of the world. besides, who wants to travel for either business or pleasure in a world full of insecurity and uncertainty? that is the challenge facing my guest, johan lundgren, ceo of easyjet, europe's second—biggest airline. easyjet, europe's second—biggestairline. can easyjet, europe's second—biggest airline. can his business model survived the double whammy of covid and climate change? tense theme music johan lundgren, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you and eas jet hardtalk. thank you. you and easyjet have — hardtalk. thank you. you and easyjet have been _ hardtalk. thank you. you and easyjet have been grappling i easyjet have been grappling with the covid pandemic for more than 15 months now, but your loudest nightmare, did you ever imagine it would be disbarred for this long? --in our disbarred for this long? --in your wildest _ disbarred for this long? --in your wildest nightmare? - disbarred fo