The Interview

“It was three submarines. We tracked them 24/7 for over a month to make sure that we are able to say to Putin, we see what you’re doing, we’re watching you. It means that if there is ever any damage to our cables or our pipelines, we know we can hold Putin to account. We know he can’t deny it.”

Adam Fleming speaks to John Healey, the UK Defence Secretary, after he revealed Russian submarines have been carrying out covert operations over the UK’s deep-sea cables and pipelines, critical to energy and internet traffic.

He says the activity could form part of a wider strategy to map infrastructure in peacetime, and target it during conflict.

While global attention is focused on the Middle East, he argues Britain cannot be distracted from what he calls its “primary threat”, and that the UK and its Nato allies must remain on constant alert to Russian activity.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, and Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN. 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: Adam Fleming
Producers: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Justine Lang and Damon Rose

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: John Healey Credit: Thomas Traasdahl / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP via Getty Images)

“The fact that we are now the world's largest funder of the World Health Organisation should be a major embarrassment to every country on this planet.”
Sam Fenwick speaks to Mark Suzman, CEO of Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropic organisation, about why he thinks cuts to global aid spending is costing lives.
He says the Foundation has overtaken world governments to become the largest financial backer of the WHO. Last year, the United States scaled back parts of its overseas aid budget. It wasn’t the only county to do so, with many governments including the UK, Germany, France and Japan all spending less.
For an institution with little democratic accountability, Mark Suzman is asked whether there is too much reliance on the Gates Foundation globally and whether its priorities are the right ones.
Thank you to the Business Daily 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 Joy Phumaphi, Executive Secretary of the African Leaders Malaria Alliance, and Samantha Power, former US Ambassador to UN. 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: Sam Fenwick
Producer: Cordelia Hemming
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Mark Suzman Credit: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Amol Rajan speaks to Simukai Chigudu, associate professor of African Politics at Oxford University about the legacy of empire and how to reckon with the past.
A member of the first generation born after the end of colonial rule in Zimbabwe, Simukai Chigudu came to the UK as a teenager and later became one of the founding members of a campaign to try to get the statue of imperialist Cecil Rhodes moved from Oriel College in Oxford.
Now an associate professor of African politics at the University of Oxford, he has written a memoir called Chasing Freedom: Coming of Age at the End of Empire.
He discusses the legacy of the Rhodes Must Fall campaign, why he thinks we should be decolonising the curriculum and whether countries like Britain should pay reparations for slavery.
Thank you to the Radical with Amol Rajan 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 Helen Thompson, professor of political economy at Cambridge University, and acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie. 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
Producer: Cordelia Hemming
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Simukai Chigudu)

“These companies don't really care what governments do. Their priority is their shareholders, their own existence and the next quarter of growth. There is the possibility that governments can regulate them, but they just don't. They don't regulate them properly. The most they get are multi-billion dollar fines, which sounds like a lot, but actually in the grand scheme of things it's pocket change. It is a parking ticket for these companies.”

Misha Glenny speaks to technology writer Parmy Olson about artifical intelligence, power and politics.
As AI rapidly reshapes economies and societies, Parmy has been tracking the growing power of the companies driving this technological revolution.
With tech giants now valued in the trillions, she also questions whether governments are equipped to regulate them effectively, or if their influence has already outpaced political control.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Google boss Sundar Pichai and Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI. 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: Misha Glenny
Producers: Lucy Shepperd and Osman Iqbal
Editor: Damon Rose and Justine Lang

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Parmy Olson Credit: Kim Farinha)

“I think there's nothing off limits [with comedy] because it's subconscious, it's examining things. I find it quite interesting. And Monty Python was particularly good at not allowing ourselves to be censored, although people tried with ‘The Life Of Brian’... But that’s what made it a hit.”
John Wilson speaks to English comedian, writer, musician and actor Eric Idle about his life and career.
He’s best-known for being a founding member of the comedy troupe Monty Python, writing and performing across their four television series and their films, including ‘The Life Of Brian’ and ‘The Meaning Of Life’.
Idle is also behind the Tony Award-winning musical ‘Spamalot’, based on the film ‘Monty Python and The Holy Grail’. It ran twice in London’s West End and on Broadway, and has also been staged in 14 countries around the world.
Thank you to the This Cultural Life 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 Mexican actor Diego Calva, tennis champion Martina Navratilova, and global music icon Stevie Wonder. 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: John Wilson
Producers: Ben Cooper and Edwina Pitman
Editors: Justine Lang and Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Eric Idle Credit: Sarah Jeynes/BBC)