Talks

Friday 23rd March, 2007

Insight with Patrick Symmes: Castro, his friends and the Revolution Generation

Journalist and author Patrick Symmes, who wrote Chasing Che, the book that was later made into the film The Motorcycle Diaries, talks to Rosalind Bain about Fidel and Raul Castro and the lives of the people who gave birth to the Cuban Revolution


Thursday 22nd March, 2007

Insight with Anthony Loyd: Life of a War Journalist, as it is

Award-winning war correspondent and writer Anthony Loyd talks to Allan Little about the thrilling and brutal reality of life as a war journalist, covering conflicts in Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and Iraq.


Tuesday 20th March, 2007

Insight with Sarah Chayes: Afghanistan after the War on Terror

Former US National Public Radio reporter Sarah Chayes talks to Christina Lamb about Afghanistan during the US-led invasion and what happened to the country after most of the troops and journalists left.


Friday 16th March, 2007

Media Talk: French elections; a change in store?

The result of the upcoming French Presidential elections may not only give France its first woman president, but also affect the future of Europe and the EU.


Tuesday 6th March, 2007

Media Talk: Is nationalism on the rise in Turkey?

Join us as we discuss nationalism and freedom of expression in Turkey in the wake of the assassination of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink


Monday 5th March, 2007

In The Picture: Gary Knight

In the Picture with Gary Knight and Newsweek’s Chief Foreign Correspondent Rod Nordland – Darfur, War without End

Gary Knight, co-founder of the VII photo agency, and Newsweek‘s Chief Foreign Correspondent Rod Nordland have just returned from Darfur and speak about a country in meltdown and the incredible human suffering in the region.


Thursday 1st March, 2007

Insight with Zahid Hussain: Pakistan’s struggle with militant Islam

The Pakistan correspondent for The Times, Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, Zahid Hussain, talks to Kirsty Lang about America’s key ally in the global "war on terror". But whose side is Pakistan really on?


Tuesday 27th February, 2007

Media Talk: Northern Ireland, what next?

With Sinn Fein agreeing to support a united police force in Northern Ireland despite evidence of past complicity between Special Branch and loyalists paramilitaries, the Northern Ireland elections are due to go ahead in early March. Will they work this time?


Friday 23rd February, 2007

Media Talk: Diplomacy vs the military approach in Iran

Join us as we discuss whether diplomacy still has a role to play in trying to break the Iranian nuclear deadlock or if a preventive military action is now the only effective option.


Thursday 22nd February, 2007

Media Talk: Oil and Chinese Foreign Policy

Join us as we discuss how, with China’s ever growing need for raw materials, the country’s foreign policy is changing.


Wednesday 21st February, 2007

Frontline Confidential with John Willis: Cover-ups and Double Standards in the Asbestos Industry

One of Britain’s best-known documentary-makers, John Willis, talks about his investigation into asbestos–related cancer and how the programme he made changed attitudes towards this dangerous chemical.


Tuesday 20th February, 2007

Insight with Nick Cohen: Are the left turning right?

Nick Cohen, columnist for The Observer and New Statesman, argues that the liberal-left of the 20th century has ended up supporting the far right of the 21st.


Thursday 15th February, 2007

In the picture with Gary Knight: Darfur’s war without end

Gary Knight, co-founder of the VII photo agency, and Rod Nordland, Newsweek’s Chief Foreign Correspondent, have just returned from Darfur. They speak about a country in meltdown and the incredible human suffering in the region.


Wednesday 14th February, 2007

Insight with Clare Short

Clare Short, the former cabinet minister who resigned over the war in Iraq, talks to Richard Beeston about Iraq, her time as Secretary for International Development and the role of Britain in the international arena.


Thursday 1st February, 2007

Insight with Mark Hollingsworth and Sandy Mitchell: Tortured in Saudi Arabia

Sandy Mitchell tells David Leigh how the British government virtually abandoned him in a Saudi jail, where he was tortured and forced to confess to alleged involvement in two bombings in Saudi Arabia. With co-author Mark Hollingsworth.


Wednesday 31st January, 2007

Media Talk: Stability for Somalia?

As government forces supported by the Ethiopian military and US battleships take charge of Somalia, join us as we discuss the future of the Horn of Africa.


Friday 19th January, 2007

Insight with Jon Lee Anderson

One of America’s most respected reporters, Jon Lee Anderson of the New Yorker talks to Allan Little about the new left-wing movement in Latin America, the friendship between Fidel Castro and his protégé Hugo Chavez and reaction in the US to the perceived threat from the south.


Thursday 18th January, 2007

Media Talk: Palestine’s internal battle

A discussion on the implications of the bitter Palestinian power struggle between Hamas and Fatah for peace in the Middle East.


Wednesday 17th January, 2007

Insight with Paul French: North Korea, the Last Stalinist State

Paul French, Director of Access Asia, talks to The Economist’s Simon Long about life in North Korea, the most isolated country in the world, plagued by famine, industrial decline and repression.


Thursday 11th January, 2007

Media Talk: The Baker Commission Report – the Wrong Medication for the Wrong Diagnosis?

With HE Dr Sami Khiyami (Syrian Ambassador), HE Dr Salah Al-Shaikhly (Iraqi Ambassador), Richard Beeston (The Times) and Patrick Cockburn (The Independent).  Moderated by Jon Snow (Channel 4 News).

A discussion on US policy and the deteriorating situation in Iraq. With the publication of the Baker Commission’s recommendations, will Washington now enter into a dialogue with Syria and Iran or seriosuly attempt an Arab-Israeli settlement?


January 9, 2007

In the picture with Alexandra Boulat: Women in the Middle East

Alexandra Boulat, co-founder of VII photo agency, speaks about working in war zones and her project on women in the Middle East.


Thursday 4th January, 2007

Insight with Adam Roberts: the Wonga Coup

The Economist’s Adam Roberts talks to Richard Dowden about the Wonga Coup – an attempt by 64 alleged mercenaries, headed by former SAS officer Simon Mann, to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea.


Saturday 23rd December, 2006

Insight with Martin Woollacott

Martin Wollacott, foreign affairs correspondent of the Guardian, talks to Charles Glass about the striking similarities between the war in Iraq and the Suez crisis which brought down a government.


December 20, 2006

Media Talk: US Elections

Will the war on terror cost George W. Bush his majority in congress? What would that mean for the world?

Join us as we discuss the likely effects of the November 7 mid-term elections in the US on the Bush administration’s foreign policy.


Friday 8th December, 2006

Insight with Jeremy Bowen: War Stories

The veteran BBC correspondent talks to Allan Little about the changes that have taken place in the ways in which wars are reported from the Gulf War to Bosnia, Afghanistan to Rwanda, as well as the changes in Jeremy himself.


Monday 27th November, 2006

Debate: Behind Enemy Lines but on Whose Side?

With Francesca Unsworth (Head of BBC Newsgathering), David Loyn via phone link (BBC Developing World correspondent), Bill Neely (International editor, ITV News) and Simon MacDowall (Director General Media and Communications MoD). Moderated by Stewart Purvis, former Chief Executive and Editor-in-Chief of ITN.

With David Loyn recently accused of being a traitor for talking to theTaliban and ITN banned by the MoD, we look at the governmental pressure and difficulties faced by journalists in gaining access and balancing the national interest with the public’s right to know.


November 27, 2006

Insight with Daniel Howden: Zimbabwe in meltdown

The Independent’s deputy foreign editor, Daniel Howden, who has just returned from Zimbabwe, describes a country in meltdown. Moderated by George Alagiah.