Serious conversations, held to account.
The Interview is a BBC World Service showcase for questioning across politics, culture, science, justice, and global health. Its strongest episodes pair careful scene-setting with direct scrutiny of people close to power, trauma, conflict, or public argument.
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The Interview treats the interview itself as the main event. Each episode places one substantial voice at the centre and asks what that person has seen, done, defended, or survived. The format is simple. Its range is wide. Recent conversations move from the Epstein case to Russian hybrid activity, from global health funding to reparations, from artificial intelligence to comedy, a moon mission, HIV/AIDS policy, and the future of global governance. The show’s best episodes are patient without becoming passive. A presenter may begin with biography or scene-setting, but the conversation soon turns toward pressure points: what happened, who is responsible, what evidence supports the claim, and what follows now. In the Epstein survivors episode, the tone is grave and careful, allowing traumatic testimony to stand while still clarifying the facts. In policy interviews, guests are asked to explain trade-offs rather than simply state positions. With figures from culture or science, the same method gives room for craft, memory, and technical detail. The result is a show that feels broad but disciplined. It does not rely on a single host persona. Instead, its identity comes from a BBC interview style: direct questions, controlled pacing, and a willingness to let complex answers run before testing them. That makes it especially useful for listeners who want global current affairs through people rather than headlines alone. It is not a debate show. It is not a quick news briefing. It is a steady record of public conversation with people near the centre of difficult stories.
Made for: For listeners who want measured, international interviews with public figures, survivors, scientists, and cultural voices. It suits people who prefer context and follow-up over quick takes.
What sets it apart: The show’s strength is its disciplined BBC interview frame: broad global access and questions that stay courteous while testing evasions. It covers many subjects, but keeps returning to responsibility, evidence, and consequence.
Conversations with people shaping our world, from all around the globe. Listen to The Interview for the best conversations from the BBC, the world's most trusted international news provider. We hear from titans of business, politics, finance, sport and culture. Global leaders, decision-makers and cultural icons. Politicians, activists and CEOs. Each interview is around 20-minutes, packed full of insight and analysis, covering some of the biggest issues of our time. How does it work? Well, at the BBC, our journalists interview amazing people every single day. And on The Interview, we bring them to you. It’s your one-stop-shop to the best conversations coming out of the BBC, with the people sh…
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Direct questioning turns international policy, security and historical disputes into clear tests of what powerful guests can defend.
The Interview makes consequential public figures explain themselves through focused, subject-led questioning. BBC presenters change with the assignment, moving from global trade and British defence to militant violence in Nigeria, colonial legacies and a lunar mission without…
A moon mission includes toilet duty; you get the practical question behind the heroic headline.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Survivors describe Epstein's abuse with painful specificity as the episode weighs what justice can mean after his death.
The Interview keeps survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking at the center, with Victoria Derbyshire leading a sober Washington DC conversation about how abuse began, what came back later, and what justice can still mean after Epstein's death.
A steady look at how the UK reads Russian pressure at sea and in broader NATO planning.
John Healey's conversation with Adam Fleming keeps its attention on the practical shape of the threat: Russian vessels encroaching on wider waters, an operation that ran for over a month, and the strain of doing that work while the conflict in the Middle East was active.
A calm look at how Artemis II turns a Moon flight into a shared job.
Jeremy Hansen speaks from quarantine in Houston with Rebecca Murrell and Tim Peake, and the interview finds its footing when it turns to how Artemis II will actually be run.
Nigeria's security crisis is paired with an industrial jobs argument and a challenge to the religious framing of militant violence.
Nigeria's struggle with militant violence is set beside a slower but just as consequential question: whether young professionals see enough opportunity to build their lives at home.
A careful look at the pressure on global trade rules.
The piece opens with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at WTO headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva, while Ben Thompson presses on why countries keep adding restrictions even as the global trade system is meant to set and enforce rules for goods and services exchange.
A measured look at colonial memory and who gets to shape the history taught in Britain.
Simukai Chigudu traces colonial inheritance through what institutions choose to display, teach, and leave undisturbed, moving from Cecil Rhodes's statue at Oxford to the gaps a student could pass through without seriously confronting South Asia, Africa, or Latin America.
A brisk special edition that keeps three political conversations focused and readable.
The special edition brings Chris Wright, Hassan Sheikh Mohammed and Shabana Mahmood into one compact programme. Wright is cast as the US Energy Secretary who believes the threat from climate change is overstated.
Criminalistics, law, and public life explained patiently.
Australian headlines with pace and bite.
True crime from the people who lived nearby.
True crime where closure gets questioned.
Simukai Chigudu starts with inheritance.
A year-end selection brings together three public voices.
This interview with Professor Helen Thompson explores whether the world is entering a new era of global power politics, focusing on shifting dynamics between nations like the US and China, the geopolitics of energy resources, and the unraveling conditions of America's original rise.
Victoria Derbyshire speaks in Washington DC with Jeffrey Epstein survivors two weeks before Melania Trump called for congressional hearings at the White House.
Adam Fleming speaks with UK Defence Secretary John Healey about Russia's pressure on British waters and wider waters.
An interview with Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman discussing why cuts to foreign aid budgets by countries like the US, UK, Germany, France, and Japan are having devastating impacts on global health and poverty reduction efforts.
This interview with Simukai Chigudu, an African politics professor, explores his support for reparations for slavery, decolonising education, and his personal experiences growing up in post-colonial Zimbabwe.
This episode features an interview with AI expert Parmy Olson discussing who controls the future of artificial intelligence and its societal implications.
Rebecca Murrell speaks with Jeremy Hansen while he is in quarantine in Houston ahead of Artemis II.
Mohamed Idris, Nigeria's information minister, tells BBC's The Interview that Boko Haram attacks, oil theft, brain drain, and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu's reform agenda are the core tests facing his government.
Ben Thompson speaks with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala from WTO headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva.
This interview with Dame Sarah Mullally explores her historic appointment as the first female Archbishop of Canterbury, her nursing background, challenges facing the Church of England including abuse scandals and traditionalist opposition, and her collaborative approach to leadership.
This episode features a compilation of compelling interviews from 2025 with diverse global figures discussing topics ranging from war and peace to renewable energy subsidies and personal stories.
This episode features a compilation of interviews from 2025 with diverse global figures discussing topics like war spending, renewable energy subsidies, and personal resilience.
This episode features a retrospective compilation of compelling 2025 interviews with notable figures including President Trump, Prince Harry, and Malala Yousafzai, highlighting frank conversations about global politics, human rights, and personal experiences.