it has just gone liz30am, now here on bbc news it's time for hardtalk, with stephen sackur.come to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur. today, i'm in rural northern germany, stable, prosperous, 21st century germany. but i'm here to talk about the past and its relationship to the present. my guest is the writer, journalist and son, niklas frank. now, his father was appointed by hitler to be the governor general of nazi occupied poland. he was intimately involved in the murder of millions of people. so how has this german son dealt with the terrible crimes of his father? niklas frank, i'm wondering why you have chosen to make your life in the very far north of germany. is it because you wanted to get as far away as possible from your family background in bavaria? no. i still love bavaria. and every year, we spend many weeks in bavaria in the same village where i grew up. it was my professional journalist, at a magazine which i worked for 23 years based in hamburg. so i had to lure my wife from munich because she was a big gardener to a house with a big garden, and it was a good idea,

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur. 75 years ago the first nuremberg trial of nazi war criminals came to an end. the groundbreaking international tribunal handed down 12 death sentences. in the years that followed, there were hopes that in evolving mechanism of internationaljustice would deter and punish further heinous acts of mass murder and genocide. my guest is international lawyer and author philippe sands. 75 years on from nuremberg, is the world any better at delivering justice for the worst of crimes? philippe sands, welcome to hardtalk. lovely to be with you. this notion of international justice, it seems to have sort of consumed you both professionally and personally for many years. is it possible to say which comes first, which driver is more important to you? which came first was professional. i got involved in these things in �*98, really when the statute of the international criminal court was being negotiated in rome and there after and started getting involved in m

now on bbc news, it's hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur.all cultures, all languages, there are writers whose imaginations prompt them to challenge the status quo. in democracies, they're called critical voices. in authoritarian regimes, they're labelled enemies of the state. my guest today, the novelist and playwright, ariel dorfman, was forced into exile and saw his books burned in chile after the coup of 1973. he made a new life straddling the us and post—dictatorship chile, he's tasted international literary success but his books full of ghosts and foreboding. why? ariel dorfman in north carolina, welcome to hardtalk. i am so glad to be with you. we are delighted to have you. your latest book, the compensation bureau, it is fascinating on many levels but if i had to, i guess i would describe it as a surreal apocalypse fantasy. is that because that's where you believe we human beings are right now? i think we are in danger of apocalypse certainly from climate change, pestilence and especially from nuclear warfare which i think is going to

now on bbc news, hardtalk with stephen sackur. welcome to hardtalk. i'm stephen sackur.g people laugh is a precious gift. we treasure the comics, the comedians, the professionally funny men and women who add and inject laughter into cultures all over the world, but who defines what is funny? how does funny change over time? and what impact has the internet had on the business ofjokes? well, my guest is british writer and stand—up comedian david baddiel. has comedy become a casualty in the culture wars? david baddiel, welcome. hello. how are you? i'm well, and in fact, i'm very well �*cause i've just seen your latest stand—up show, and it prompts a very simple question. are you in an abusive relationship with your smartphone? probably, yes, i think so. well, i'm certainly in an addicted relationship with my smartphone and my laptop and whatever else i access social media with. i am undeniably addicted to social media. but we might all be — we might, as a culture, be addicted to social media. and if you want to be in the conversation now, it's very hard to actually exclude

i'm stephen sackur. from covid to climate change, governments around the world face challenges which demand modifications of human behaviour. when it comes to getting people to do things differently, what works best, the carrot of persuasion or the stick of coercion? well, my guest today is richard thaler the world—renowned economist and scientist, who believes a nudge often works better than a shove when change is needed. does that hold good when the problems we face become urgent and existential? richard thaler in chicago, welcome to hardtalk. happy to be here. well, we're delighted to have you. would it be fair to say, professor thaler that you think we humans make consistently pretty poor choices? um, i would revise that slightly, i would say we often make poor choices. i think it's foolish to sort of give an overall grade. you know, we are the smartest species as far as we can tell but we do some pretty dumb stuff. and who is to judge what is dumb and not dumb? well, we can start with ourselves. so

i'm stephen sackur. economies across the industrialised world are feeling the strain of soaring fossil fuel energy costs. but the bad news for energy consumers represents a potential bonanza for the biggest producers. step forward gas—rich russia, ideally placed to exert growing influence in europe's energy market. well, my guest is sergei ryabkov, russia's deputy minister of foreign affairs. given moscow's increasingly tense relations with the west, will energy deepen the mistrust? minister sergei ryabkov in moscow, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. minister, we must start with the soaring cost of fossil fuel energy, particularly natural gas. russia possesses vast quantities of natural gas. it supplies 40% of the natural gas going into europe. there's deep concern in europe about the leverage that gives moscow. are you prepared right now to alleviate those concerns? very much so. in fact, this is exactly what we have done in recent days and weeks, including with direct and personal involveme

i'm stephen sackur. and today, i'vejourneyed to the beautiful south coast of england to meet one of the past century's most influential environmentalists, james lovelock. now, he introduced us to the gaia hypothesis — the idea that our planet and all of the life on it are part of one dynamic, self—regulating system. lovelock is now 101 years old, still having big thoughts about the future of life on earth. have we humans sown the seeds of our own destruction? james lovelock, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. yes, glad to be back! it is such a pleasure to have you back on the programme. i want to ask you for your reflections on your own famous gaia hypothesis — that idea that all of life on this planet, and the planet itself, are part of one self—regulating system. when you developed the idea five decades ago, you seemed quite optimistic that this system was very durable, very resilient. well, it had lasted three billion years — that's not bad going! but are you now worried about its vulnerability? yes, iam

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. it is tempting to be sceptical about a conference billed by some as humanity's last chance to save the planet. but the truth is the cop26 meeting in glasgow is a very big deal. global heating is real. it threatens to inflict existential harms on all life on earth unless greenhouse gas emissions are effectively eliminated within a generation. can it be done? well, my guest is fatih birol, boss of the international energy agency. he believes the answer is yes, but is he ignoring the political realities that he'll encounter in glasgow? fatih birol in paris, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, mr sackur. well, it's a pleasure to see you in your headquarters in paris. of course, very, very soon, you'll be in glasgow as a delegate at the cop26 conference. how unfortunate do you think the timing of the conference is amid an energy cost crisis, a supply crisis, but also with the covid pandemic still with us? it is very unfortunate, both of them. and we are seeing energy prices, coal, oi

welcome to hardtalk from paris, i'm stephen sackur.rance is recovering from the massive economic shock of the covid pandemic, but now it's exposed to the political uncertainty that comes with a looming presidential election. emmanuel macron hasn't officially declared that he will be a candidate, but there's little doubt he is running again. my guest today is one of his most important backers, economy and finance minister bruno le maire. now, he has big ambitions to make france the greenest, the most dynamic economy in europe. that is a handy election slogan, but is it credible? minister bruno le maire, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. minister, you came to this economy and finance ministry with big plans for structural reform. has the covid crisis destroyed those ambitions? i would say that it has destroyed no ambition. we will stick to the path of reforms. we have started the mandate of emmanuel macron with key reforms for the french economy, especially the reforms on taxation. we have reduced the level of taxation for french smes, for

i'm stephen sackur.llenges which demand modifications of human behaviour.

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

it has just gone az30am, now here on bbc news it�*s time for hardtalk, with stephen sackur.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.is a very big deal.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. doctors take an oath to "do no harm".'t. what should doctors do when confronted with terminal illness that brings with it great suffering?

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. the taliban again rule afghanistan, but they haven't yet persuaded the outside world to give diplomatic recognition. the country remains politically and economically isolated, ill equipped to cope with an urgent humanitarian crisis. meanwhile, afghan diplomats linked to the old regime remain marooned in a twilight zone of powerlessness. one of them is my guest today, adela raz, still officially ambassador to the united states. is recognising the reality of taliban rule now the only option? ambassador adela raz in washington, dc, welcome to hardtalk. how weird is it being the representative in washington of a government which no longer exists? erm, it's quite difficult. it is challenging, but not powerless. i think this is... this is where i wanted to come and somehow correct you, stephen, because i think, in defence of my colleagues, other afghan diplomats and ambassadors who are across the world without authority, i would say yes, for sure, but without power, i think that's a little

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. their economies and avert disastrous climate change. breaking with business as usual requires political will and massive investment in clean technology. my guest is andrew forrest, an australian billionaire

welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur. 75 years ago the first nuremberg trial of nazi war criminals sentences. in the years that followed there were hopes that in evolving mechanism of internationaljustice would deter and punish further heinous acts of mass murder and genocide. my guest is international lawyer and author philippe sands. 75 years on from nuremberg, is the world any better at delivering justice for the worst of crimes?

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. give diplomatic recognition. the country remains politically and economically isolated, ill equipped to cope with an urgent humanitarian crisis. meanwhile, afghan diplomats linked to the old regime remain marooned in a twilight zone of powerlessness. one of them is my guest today, adela raz, still officially

i'm stephen sackur. the bad news for energy consumers represents a potential bonanza for the biggest producers. step forward gas—rich russia, ideally placed to exert growing influence in europe's energy market. well, my guest is sergei ryabkov, russia's deputy

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. doctors take an oath to "do no harm".trust them — we have to — to do all in their power to diagnose and treat us, and, if they possibly can, make us better. but sometimes they can't. what should doctors do when confronted with terminal illness that brings with it great suffering? well, my guest today is a doctor who believes in assisted dying, and it is personal for henry marsh, a leading brain surgeon who has an advanced form of cancer. should death ever be the desired outcome for a doctor? henry marsh, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. you received a cancer diagnosis last year — so i think i have to begin by asking, how are you? well, i'm pretty well, all things considered. and as a doctor, of course, i know how bad things can be. i was diagnosed a year ago now with what's called advanced prostate cancer — not necessarily terminal, but it's spread beyond the prostate. and my psa, which is a marker of the severity of a disease, and the probability of recurrence and ultimate death was very high — 130. only 5% of men have a

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.ery soon, world attention will be focused on glasgow and the latest effort to get countries across the world to intensify efforts to decarbonise their economies and avert disastrous climate change. breaking with business as usual requires political will and massive investment in clean technology. my guest is andrew forrest, an australian billionaire who made his fortune in mining. part of the problem, not the solution, you might think. well, he's out to convince you otherwise, but do his green credentials stack up? andrew forrest, welcome to hardtalk. good to be back, stephen, thank you. it's great to have you here. now, look, people around the world are going to look at you, a man who has made billions out of mining for metals, generating many tens of millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide in the process. they are going to struggle to see you as a green crusader. well, i'd like to reach out to them and say if people like me don't turn green, then we all have a serious problem. it's not

i'm stephen sackur, and today i've come to kew gardens in south—west london. some of the specimens here collected by charles darwin himself. my guest is kew�*s director, richard deverell, who has big ambitions to put this place at the heart of the battle to avert global environmental catastrophe.

welcome to hardtalk i'm stephen sackur.s which demand modifications of human behaviour. when it comes to getting people to do things differently, what works

welcome to hardtalk i am stephen sackur.o. in democracies, they are called critical voices. in authoritarian regimes, they are labelled enemies of the state. the novelist and playwright ariel dorfman was forced into exile and saw his

i'm stephen sackur. today i've come to kew gardens in south—west london.s place is a botanical treasure trove, the largest single collection of living plants in the world, some of the specimens here collected by charles darwin himself. my guest is kew�*s director, richard deverell, who has big ambitions to put this place at the heart of the battle to avert global environmental catastrophe. butjust how realistic is that? richard deverell, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin by asking you about your vision for this remarkable place, kew. do you see it as an institution devoted to science and research? or, fundamentally, is it one of the world's great visitor attractions? kew is a bit of both. i think at the heart of kew has always been science, our scientists and our scientific collections. but we also have this extraordinary living collection in the gardens just here. we have nearly 18,000 different species at kew. and that, of course, is at the heart of the visitor attraction, along with the beautiful buildings. it's a world heritage site. my visi

welcome to hardtalk from paris, i'm stephen sackur.l macron hasn't officially declared that he will be a candidate, but there's little doubt he is running again.

i'm stephen sackur. today, i'm in rural northern germany, stable, prosperous, 21st century germany.o be the governor general of nazi occupied poland. he was intimately involved in the murder of millions of people. so how has this german son dealt with the terrible crimes of his father? niklas frank, i'm wondering why you have chosen to make your life in the very far north of germany. is it because you wanted to get as far away as possible from your family background in bavaria? no. i still love bavaria. and every year, we spend many weeks in bavaria in the same village where i grew up. it was my professional journalist, which i worked for 23 years based in hamburg. so i had to lure my wife from munich because she was a big gardener to a house with a big garden, and it was a good idea, and so we live here for 33 years.

i'm stephen sackur. making people laugh is a precious gift.es all over the world, but who defines what is funny? how does funny change over time? and what impact has the internet had on the business of jokes?