The Interview

“It’s outrageous because these nuclear plant facilities were certified by the International Atomic Energy Agency as purely peaceful facilities. The inspectors, they spent, there, a lot of time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Iran is the most verifiable country, thousands of inspections. The agency knows everything about what is going on.”

BBC journalist Farnaz Ghazizadeh speaks to Mikhail Ivanovich Ulyanov, Russia’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, about the collapse of diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear programme and whether negotiations can still be rescued.

With decades of experience in disarmament and nuclear negotiations, Ulyanov insists Iran’s nuclear programme is already among the most heavily monitored in the world, and argues concerns over the programme have been exaggerated.

Now, as conflict in the region intensifies, Russia is offering to act as a mediator.

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: Farnaz Ghazizadeh
Producers: 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: Mikhail Ulyanov. Credit: Reuters)

“During the recent conflict [in Iran], there was a pause, not a full stop or halt of the functions. Once the airspace opened up again, we reprioritized the delivery of those life-saving kits to the member states, and we came back on track… We still find hope in the communication between the different member states, between the different partners to secure some of these supplies, or keep supply chains alive.”

Daniel Dadzie speaks to Hanan Balkhy, the World Health Organisation’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, about navigating the challenges posed by recent conflicts in Sudan and Iran.

It’s one of six regional WHO offices around the world, covering a total population of nearly 745 million people from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east, and as far south as Sudan.

The WHO works with governments and local authorities to improve access to basic healthcare and provide support during humanitarian emergencies.

Global supply chains were severely disrupted when the conflict in Iran began just over two months ago. Although much of the focus of this disruption has been on oil and trade, crucial medical supplies have also been delayed in reaching where they’re needed most.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with entrepreneur Isaac Larian, African politics professor Simukai Chikudu, and campaigner Baroness Arminka Helic. 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: Daniel Dadzie
Producers: Ben Cooper and Simon Mbai
Editor: Damon Rose

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Hanan Balkhy. Credit: Getty)

“There's this idea that you [can] sail your way to success or have some overnight success or kind of come upon success relatively easily. And that has just never, ever been.”
Amol Rajan speaks to entrepreneur and businesswoman Emma Grede about the trade-offs we have to make to get to where we want to be in life.
Emma Grede is co-founder of the clothing brand Skims, which she created with her husband Jens and Kim Kardashian. From ordinary beginnings in East London to the forefront of global consumer brands and social influence in LA, Emma Grede argues that focus, trade-offs and relentless effort matter more than comfort if you are to succeed. She says that opportunity still exists, if you’re willing to chase it.
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 Arlo Parks, Parmy Olson and Chloé Zhao. 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 and Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Emma Grede. Credit: Reuters)

‘The power of AI is that it's able to capture everything, it’s able to try to interpret everyone objectively. Human beings are imperfect in terms of their capability to listen and understand. Everyone unconsciously, when they listen, they don't hear everything.’

Zoe Kleinman speaks to Sam Liang chief executive and co-founder of artificial intelligence transcription start-up Otter.ai

Sam Liang was born in China and moved to the US in 1991. He received a PhD from Stanford University before joining Google, where he led the search engines location services.

He co-founded California based Otter.ai in 2016. The start-up has evolved from a voice-to-text transcription service to offer AI-powered recordings of live events, meeting summaries and content searches.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Karim Beguir, boss of Africa’s biggest AI firm, the former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and musical icon Ringo Starr. 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: Zoe Kleinman
Producer: Farhana Haider

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Sam Liang. Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty)

“When we only had reconnaissance drones, we learned fast. We began attaching warheads to the drones. Grenades, then homemade munitions that we produced ourselves. We would locate the enemy with the drone and drop them on him. Then FPV drones entered our lives. An FPV drone is a one-way, disposable drone. That was when the way of war began to change”

In a rare interview, Sarah Rainsford speaks to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, about the rapid evolution of drone warfare and how it is reshaping Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Drones are now being used to strike oil facilities and military targets deep inside Russian territory but initially were used just to spot Russian forces.

Commander Brovdi was among the first to see their true potential and, as technology advanced, drones began to change everything on the battlefield.

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: Sarah Rainsford
Producers: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Farhana Haider

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Robert Brovdi Credit: Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)