The Interview

“[This weather] is a new norm, and we need to make sure that we are prepared to deal with that…these extreme wildfires put more responsibility onto improving our forecasting tools to support the brigades, to support communities.”
Victoria Gill speaks to Professor Celeste Saulo, head of the World Meteorological Organisation, about the extreme weather events making headlines in recent months. She says the wildfires, heatwaves, droughts and flooding are the new normal and the ability to forecast these events are more important than ever.
The WMO helps countries build resilience to weather, climate and water related hazards by monitoring conditions, improving forecasts and the global sharing of data and information.
Saulo took office in 2024, becoming the first woman and South American to lead the UN agency. She explains how climate change is one of the biggest threats facing the world today.
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Sumant Sinha the founder of India’s renewable energy company ReNew, executive director of Unicef Catherine Russell, and film director Rohan Kanawada. 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: Victoria Gill
Producer: Cordelia Hemming
Editor: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Celeste Saulo. Credit: Photo by World Meteorological Organization)

"There are repressions, political repressions, against freedom of speech, against elections, against the rights of citizens to hold mass events. To such an extent that we don't know what the real public mood is.”
The BBC’s Russia editor Steve Rosenberg meets Dmitry Muratov one of Russia’s most prominent independent journalists.
For more than 30 years, he has been one of Russia’s staunchest defenders of independent journalism, and one of the Kremlin’s most outspoken critics. Dmitry Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta, the newspaper known for exposing corruption and human rights abuses - work that has come at a cost, with several of its journalists murdered.
In 2021, Muratov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts “to safeguard freedom of expression.” Since then, Russia’s war in Ukraine has brought an even greater crackdown on dissent and independent media.
In this exclusive interview, he talks about journalism under Putin, the war in Ukraine and the fight to keep telling the truth.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Russia’s nuclear envoy Mikhail Ulyanov, UNICEF chief Catherine Russell and music legend 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: Steve Rosenberg
Producers: Ben Tavener and Farhana Haider
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Dmitry Muratov. Credit: Europa Press News via Getty Images)

“I just knew that I wanted to be a mega superstar and I didn't know how…I feel like Africa chose me before I even chose Africa, and I feel music chose me before I chose music.”
Nkechi Ogbonna speaks to Nigerian singer and songwriter Yemi Alade about becoming one of Africa's biggest music stars and a trailblazer who has helped take Afrobeats to the world.
Alade has collaborated with artists including Beyoncé and became the first female African Afrobeats artist to surpass 100 million views on a single music video.
She's now touring the continent to promote her latest album. Alade reflects on the challenges women face in Africa’s music industry, myths around success and some of the difficulties she’s faced touring on a Nigerian passport.
Thank you to the Focus on Africa 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 Gugu Zuma-Ncube and Thuli Zuma, executive producers of South Africa Netflix hit ‘The Polygamist’, legendary musician Paul McCartney, and ballet star Carlos Acosta. 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: Nkechi Ogbonna
Producer: Cordelia Hemming
Editor: Damon Rose
(Image: Yemi Alade. Credit: Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images)

“This movement was by young people who had hardly anything to lose. We had no fear and that's what spread across the country and today people are raising their voices. This time it stopped at the education ministry, but if this continues, I think the younger generation may not stop at just education.”

Rajini Vaidyanathan speaks to Indian activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose 26-day hunger strike made him a central figure in youth-led protests over leaked exam papers.

The anger about leaks broadened into frustration over limited opportunities for young people, and the demonstrations became one of the biggest public displays of dissent against Narendra Modi’s BJP government.

Sonam ended his fast after receiving assurances on education reform. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan later resigned, one of the key demands from the protestors.

He explains his belief that non-violent protest can influence those in power, the physical risk you take if you stage a hunger strike, and why the movement may not stop at education.

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 CEO Sundar Pichai and author Maggie O’Farrell.

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: Rajini Vaidyanathan
Producer: Osman Iqbal
Editors: Farhana Haider and Damon Rose
(Image: Sonam Wangchuk. Credit: Getty)

“It's very important that we expose this work early on, so that people from different cultures see ballet as a way of a career. But in the 1990s or 2000s, it was pretty much closed, we didn't have - even in school - a lot of black ballet dancers from which to choose from. But now, obviously, things have moved on. Now, diversity is at the top of every director's agenda… it's great that we’ve seen a big shift and we see the right kind of representation of the world as we have it today, on stage.”
Michael Berkeley speaks to ballet star Carlos Acosta about his life and career.
Born in 1973, Acosta grew up in a poor part of Havana, where he was the 11th child in a very large family.
He began training at the National Ballet School of Cuba at 9 years old, and quickly rose to prominence. At 18, he became the youngest principal dancer at the English National Ballet.
After gaining further international experience, Acosta joined the Royal Ballet in 1998 - making it his home for nearly two decades, and performing every major classical role. Such was his impact, in 2014 he received a CBE in Queen Elizabeth’s honours list for services to ballet.
Now the Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet, he’s fostered some unexpected collaborations, including a show based on the music of the city’s heavy rock legends Black Sabbath, as well as classics like Swan Lake and the Nutcracker.
Thank you to the Private Passions 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 Oscar-winning filmmaker Sir Christopher Nolan, music icon Chaka Khan, and artist Tracey Emin. 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: Michael Berkeley
Producers: Ben Cooper and Clare Walker
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email TheInterview@bbc.co.uk and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Carlos Acosta. Credit: Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)