i'm stephen sackur. all of us are heavily influenced by the social, cultural and economic environment in which we are raised. as ideas, trends and technologies change, so too do generational traits. and right now there is intense focus on what is happening to generations of young people closer in age to my kids, than to me. are young adults inclined to be open—minded or closed? are children's minds being rewired by the ubiquitous smartphone? well, my guest is the renowned social psychologistjonathan haidt. are we losing sight of what freedom and curiosity really mean?

i'm stephen sackur.clear muscle in a warning to ukraine's backers in the west. russian troops have been ordered to run drills with tactical nukes. why now? well, the kremlin has clearly been irked by america's belated decision to commit $60 billion worth of assistance to kyiv and by president macron's refusal to rule out sending troops to ukraine. my guest is lithuania's foreign minister, gabrielius landsbergis, one of europe's most ardent supporters of kyiv. he says he's truly worried about 202a. why? gabrielius landsbergis, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure being here. you were very candid, expressing your deep concern about 202a. why are you so worried? well, i think that there is not enough, i'd say, understanding as to what's at stake if ukraine is unable to push russia out of its country. we see russia mobilising, continuously mobilising, even though

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.mbers of nato who have long ignored american demands that they spend more on defence. ordid it? canada, for one, may still be snoozing, still well short of nato's defence bending target. of course, canada is a long way from kyiv. but there are concerns about russian and chinese intentions much closer to home, and in arctic north, for example. my guest is canada's defence minister, bill blair. is canada ready to get serious about defending itself? bill blair in ottawa, welcome to hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.fications, not just for the activist, but for those closest to them. and no—one knows this better than my guest today, the writer gillian slovo, whose parents, joe slovo and ruth first, were hugely important figures in south africa's liberation struggle against apartheid. from teenage, gillian�*s home has been in the uk and her recent writing digs deep into british culture. but how much distance is there from her extraordinary south african backstory?

i'm stephen sackur.ultural and economic environment in which we are raised. as ideas, trends and technologies change, so too do generational traits. and right now there is intense focus on what is happening to generations of young people closer in age to my kids, than to me. are young adults inclined to be open—minded or closed? are children's minds being rewired by the ubiquitous smartphone? well, my guest is the renowned social psychologistjonathan haidt. are we losing sight of what freedom and curiosity really mean? jonathan haidt, welcome to hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. confronting us. records are being consistently broken, be it in the warming seas, the melting ice caps or average global temperatures. at the same time, worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. my guest isjim skea, chair of the un's intergovernmental panel on climate change. a recent poll of international climate scientists pointed to growing despair. are we humans bungling our chance to avert disaster? jim skea, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for the invite.

welcome to hardtalk, from helsinki — i'm stephen sackur.o understand the strategic significance of finland joining nato. much to moscow's dismay, the baltic sea is now very much nato's back yard, and that long russia—finland border is a zone of rising tension. my guest today is the president of finland, alexander stubb. hasjoining nato really boosted finland's security? president alexander stubb, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin with something you said just last month, "europe", you said,

i'm stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture.ertainment, publishing, the media. but what happens in new york when america's political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident, paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to be in your home. your writing study is just below us, the floor below.

i'm stephen sackur.tracting billions of eyeballs and commercial revenues to match. the best—known names are the drivers, the greats like senna, lauda, schumacher, hamilton, and today's number one, verstappen. but the key figures are the racing team bosses. my guest today, sir ron dennis, founded the mclaren group and was one of the most successful bosses in f1 history. what was behind his drive, not just to survive, but to thrive? sir ron dennis, welcome to hardtalk.

i'm stephen sackur and today i'm on the road — and on the water — in guyana, south america, a countryextraordinary ecosystems and of vast resource potential. the question is, which comes first? guyana has always been resource—rich. for decades, the rush was for gold. now it's for oil. guyana is fast becoming a petrostate, the fastest growing economy in the world. but new wealth has stoked old tensions. neighbouring socialist venezuela claims a vast chunk of guyanese territory. the stakes are suddenly very high. we shall never surrender an inch of our territory. heavily forested guyana has always been a carbon sink. now, with the oil and gas flowing, some call it a carbon bomb. fragile ecosystems are vulnerable to possible oil spills and rising sea levels. guyana is making choices which will have global impact. will they be wise ones? it's republic day in georgetown, guyana's capital. party time for the country's 800,000 people. the ministry of natural resources is on the road. i want to hear you make some noise. the stage is set here for transformational change, a resource—driven econ

i'm stephen sackur.ine's backers in the west. russian troops have been ordered to run drills with tactical nukes. why now? well, the kremlin has clearly been irked by america's belated decision to commit $60 billion worth of assistance to kyiv and by president macron�*s refusal to rule out sending troops to ukraine. my guest is lithuania's foreign minister, gabrielius landsbergis, one of europe's most ardent supporters of kyiv. he says he's truly worried about 202a. why? gabrielius landsbergis, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. pleasure being here. you were very candid, expressing your deep concern about 202a. why are you so worried? well, i think that there is not enough, i'd say, understanding as to what's at stake if ukraine is unable

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. us. records are being consistently broken, be it in the warming seas, the melting ice caps or average global temperatures. at the same time, worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. my guest isjim skea, chair of the un's intergovernmental panel on climate change. a recent poll of international climate scientists pointed to growing despair. are we humans bungling our chance to avert disaster? jim skea, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for the invite. it is great to have you in this studio. let's start with a blunt first question. is it time for the international community to junk this idea that there's any possibility of limiting worldwide temperature rise to below the 1.5 degrees

i'm stephen sackur.ar, moldova's president accused moscow of plotting a coup. not one but two moldovan territories seem intent on seeking russia's embrace. all of this while moldova pushes on with its bid tojoin the eu. my guest is moldovan foreign minister and deputy prime minister, mihai popsoi. is the ukraine war a portent of what is to come for moldova? mihai popsoi, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure. would it be fair to say that there are increasing signs of deep political instability inside moldova?

i'm stephen sackur.of nato who have long ignored american demands that they spend more on defence. ordid it? canada, for one, may still be snoozing, still well short of nato's defence bending target. —— spending target. of course, canada is a long way from kyiv. but there are concerns about russian and chinese intentions much closer to home, and in arctic north, for example. my guest is canada's defence minister, bill blair. is canada ready to get serious about defending itself?

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. russia's full—scale invasion of ukraine two years ago didn't just send shock waves through neighbouring moldova, it opened up a host of dangerous cracks. earlier this year, moldova's president accused moscow of plotting a coup. not one but two moldovan territories seem intent on seeking russia's embrace. all of this while moldova pushes on with its bid tojoin the eu. my guest is moldovan foreign minister and deputy prime minister mihai popsoi. is the ukraine war a portent of what is to come for moldova? mihai popsoi, welcome to hardtalk. my pleasure. would it be fair to say that there are increasing signs of deep political instability inside moldova? unfortunately, that is the case, and a certain number of russian proxies are trying to destabilise the republic of moldova. and even though they're trying hard, moldovan society is resilient. we, as the government, are doing our utmost to make sure that moldova remains stable and firmly anchored into the free world. and we're carrying on

i'm stephen sackur. love it or loathe it, there is no denying formula 1 is one of the world's biggest sporting brands, attracting billions of eyeballs and commercial revenues to match. the best—known names are the drivers, the greats like senna, lauda, schumacher, hamilton, and today's number one, verstappen. but the key figures are the racing team bosses. my guest today, sir ron dennis, founded the mclaren group and was one of the most successful bosses in f1 history. what was behind his drive, not just to survive, but to thrive? sir ron dennis, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. oh, it's a great pleasure to have you here. i have read how you fell in love with motorsport as a teenager. i think you went to brands hatch when you were a teenager and just loved the smells, the sights of it. do you still have that love of motorsport today? i still enjoy watching a grand prix, but save for that, it's really a thing of the past for me. the main reason for me changing direction, i don't even know how

i'm stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture. the buzz in this nation comes from right here in terms of the arts, entertainment, publishing, the media, but what happens in new york when america's political culture is riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to be in your home, your writing study is just below us, the floor below. just tell me, does it matter to you when you are writing what is going on in the world outside yourfront door? does it affect your writing? well, it depends on what you mean. if there's a fire engine screeching in front of my door, it will interrupt my concentration, and i might go out and see what's going on. but if there's a distant war going on in another place and i know about it, i'm not going to read about it while i'm doing my work for the day. but i certainly will inform myself about it later. you talk of dist

i'm stephen sackur.ou may not have considered — a catastrophic collapse in the human birth rate. there's been a long—standing fear that a growing global population would outstrip our planet's ability to sustain it, but now, data scientists and demographers, like my guest today, stephen shaw, say we're actually facing

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur.h neighbouring moldova, it opened up a host of dangerous cracks. earlier this year, moldova's president accused moscow of plotting a coup. not one but two moldovan territories seem intent on seeking russia's embrace. all of this while moldova pushes on with its bid tojoin the eu. my guest is moldovan foreign minister and deputy prime minister mihai popsoi. is the ukraine war a portent of what is to come for moldova?

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. barely a month goes by without new data illustrating the scale of the climate emergency confronting us. records are being consistently broken, be it in the warming seas, the melting ice caps or average global temperatures. at the same time, worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are still rising. my guest isjim skea, chair of the un's intergovernmental panel on climate change. a recent poll of international climate scientists pointed to growing despair. are we humans bungling our chance to avert disaster? jim skea, welcome to hardtalk. thanks for the invite. it is great to have you in this studio. let's start with a blunt first question. is it time for the international community to junk this idea that there's any possibility of limiting worldwide temperature rise to below the 1.5 degrees celsius? when we produced our landmark report five years ago, we said it was possible within the laws of physics and chemistry, and the biggest obstacle to keeping within the limit was actually on the so

i'm stephen sackur. from this vantage point, looking out at the gulf of finland, and with the russian border just two hours�* drive away, it's easy to understand the strategic significance of finland joining nato. much to moscow's dismay, the baltic sea is now very much nato�*s back yard, and that long russia—finland border is a zone of rising tension. my guest today is the president of finland, alexander stubb. hasjoining nato really boosted finland's security? president alexander stubb, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin with something you said just last month. europe, you said, hasjust a few years to change its thinking from the la—la land of post—cold war complacency. what is this la—la land you're talking about? well, it's probably... i think, in international relations, there is always a time when a big change happens. 1918, 1945, 1989. and 1989 was, for me and many of my kin, the end of history — the thought that all 200 nation states in the world would revert to the best form of governa

i'm stephen sackur.ends and technologies change, so too do generational traits. and right now there is intense focus on what is happening to generations of young people closer in age to my kids, than to me. are young adults inclined to be open—minded or closed? are children's minds being rewired by the ubiquitous smartphone? well, my guest is the renowned social psychologistjonathan haidt. are we losing sight of what freedom and curiosity really mean? jonathan haidt, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much, steve. it is a pleasure to have you here. now, of course, your home base is new york university, across the pond in the united states. right now, that university — along with many others in the us — is in ferment, with students occupying certain

i'm stephen sackur. to fully commit to a cause is to put the political above the personal. guest today, the writer gillian slovo, whose parents, joe slovo and ruth first, were hugely important figures in south africa's liberation struggle against apartheid. from teenage, gillian's home has been in the uk and her recent writing digs deep into british culture. but how much distance is there from her extraordinary south african backstory?

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. russia's invasion of ukraine served as a wake—up call to those members of nato who have long ignored american demands that they spend more on defence. ordid it? canada, for one, may still be snoozing, still well short of nato�*s defence bending target. of course, canada is a long way from kyiv. but there are concerns about russian and chinese intentions much closer to home, and in arctic north, for example. my guest is canada's defence minister, bill blair. is canada ready to get serious about defending itself? bill blair in ottawa, welcome to hardtalk. thank you very much, stephen. it's a pleasure to have you on the show. as minister of defence in canada, how embarrassed are you that your country is still significantly failing to meet the collective commitment of nato member states to spend at least 2% of your gdp on defence? stephen, i'm not embarrassed at all because canada, under our government, has been investing very significantly in defence and there's been a very strong upper

i'm stephen sackur.with the russian border just two hours' drive away, it's easy to understand the strategic significance of finland joining nato. much to moscow's dismay, the baltic sea is now very much nato's back yard, and that long russia—finland border is a zone of rising tension. my guest today is the president of finland, alexander stubb. hasjoining nato really boosted finland's security? president alexander stubb, welcome to hardtalk. thank you.

i'm stephen sackur. where does israel's military assault on gaza go from here?eparations for a big push into rafah where more than a million displaced palestinians are sheltering. no matter what happens next, there is still no sign of a plan for what happens when the fighting, the death, and the destruction do finally end. my guest is ami ayalon, former chief of israel's shin bet security agency, now a fierce critic of the netanyahu government. is israel fighting an unwinnable war? ami ayalon, in northern israel, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for inviting me. it's great to have you on the show, mr ayalon. you have a long, distinguished career at the top of the israeli security forces. 0bviously that ended some time ago.

i'm stephen sackur. of all the potentially existential threats to life as we know it, from climate change to nuclear armageddon, here's one you may not have considered — a catastrophic collapse in the human birth rate. there's been a long—standing fear that a growing global population would outstrip our planet's ability to sustain it, but now, data scientists and demographers, like my guest today, stephen shaw, say we're actually facing a disastrous spiral of de—population. why have birth rates declined dramatically and how much does it matter? stephen shaw, welcome to hardtalk. thank you for having me. let's start with a basic fact. the world's population is still rising. at some point later this century, it's going to get to about 9.7 billion. and we can see the immense strain that our planet is already under in terms of resources, in terms of fragile ecosystems. and yet you seem to be saying that we as a species need to focus on having more babies. why? well, just to be clear, the reason the world's p

i'm stephen sackur and today i'm on the road — and on the water — in guyana, south america, a countryirst? guyana has always been resource—rich. for decades, the rush was for gold.

i'm stephen sackur. all of us are heavily influenced by the social, cultural and economic environment in which we are raised. as ideas, trends and technologies change, so too do generational traits. and right now there is intense focus on what is happening to generations of young people closer in age to my kids, than to me. are young adults inclined to be open—minded or closed? are children's minds being rewired by the ubiquitous smartphone? well, my guest is the renowned social psychologistjonathan haidt. are we losing sight of what freedom and curiosity really mean? jonathan haidt, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much, steve. it is a pleasure to have you here. now, of course, your home base is new york university, across the pond in the united states. right now, that university — along with many others in the us — is in ferment, with students occupying certain grounds within the university. mm—hm. you've written a lot over many years about the intellectual atmosphere on campus in america, so i want t

i'm stephen sackur. this city has always had an outsize influence on american culture.riven with division? well, my guest today is the great american novelist, new york resident paul auster. if america is experiencing a culture war, is he ready to fight? paul auster, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. it is a pleasure to be in your home, your writing

i'm stephen sackur.ommercial revenues to match. the best—known names are the drivers, the greats like senna, lauda, schumacher, hamilton, and today's number one, verstappen. but the key figures are the racing team bosses. my guest today, sir ron dennis, founded the mclaren group and was one of the most successful bosses in f1 history. what was behind his drive, not just to survive, but to thrive?

i am stephen sackur. from this vantage point, looking out of the gulf of finland and with the russian borderjust two hours drive away, it is easy to understand the strategic significance of finland joining nato, the strategic significance of finlandjoining nato, much the strategic significance of finland joining nato, much to moscow's dismay, the baltic sea is now very much nato�*s back yard, and that long russia finland border is a zone of rising tension. my guest today is the president of finland, alexander stubb. hasjoining alexander stubb. has joining nato really alexander stubb. hasjoining nato really boosted finland's security? president alexander stubb, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin _ welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin with _ welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin with something - welcome to hardtalk. thank you. let me begin with something you| let me begin with something you said just last month, europe, you said, hasjust said just last month, europe, you said, has j