Hardtalk

South Sudan became independent in July 2011 after waging a five-decade war against the north in what was Africa's longest running civil war. But secession has brought neither peace, stability nor prosperity, despite the country's vast oil wealth. Hostilities with its northern neighbour leave the two countries teetering on the brink of war, and ethnic clashes and rivalries between southern tribes have left many thousands dead.Zeinab Badawi speaks to the UN head of mission for South Sudan, Hilde Johnson. Is the country effectively already a failed state?(Image: Victims of ethnic violence in Jonglei, South Sudan. Credit: Associated Press)

In-depth, hard-hitting interviews with newsworthy personalities.

Mary King is a sportswoman like few others. She's 50-years-old and still at the pinnacle of her sport. That sport is three-day eventing. Next year, she's hoping to collect her first Olympic gold medal - at what will be her sixth games. But is equestrianism - as its enthusiasts insist - the toughest sport in the world?Or is it less a test of the person - more of the horse - and a preserve of the rich?(Image: Mary King. Credit: Press Association)

Gene Sharp is a political thinker whose influence is now spoken of in same breath as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. But he is no platform speaker or figurehead at a demonstration. Rather, a quietly spoken political philosopher who's been writing about non-violent struggle for 50 years. What's changed is that his most celebrated pamphlet - From Dictatorship to Democracy - is now grabbing attention around the world. He's been hailed as having helped mould protest movements from Burma to Serbia to Egypt. What is it that Gene Sharp has been able to unlock?(Image: People flash the V (peace) sign during a demonstration. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)

Living as an openly gay man in socially conservative Africa is hard enough, but Edwin Cameron went even further.He was the first public official in South Africa to reveal his HIV positive status. Nelson Mandela appointed him a judge and he now serves on South Africa's Constitutional Court. There remains high levels of homophobia on the continent - why are gay activists like Cameron losing the argument?

Gus O'Donnell has been at the heart of government in Britain for 30 years, working closely with the last four British prime ministers. He was John Major's press secretary; under Tony Blair he took on the top job in the civil service, a position he held when Gordon Brown took over. And that meant that at the last election he was the one overseeing the negotiations for Britain's first full coalition government since the Second World War. After nearly two years with David Cameron as prime minister he has now retired. And with his former role being split into three jobs - does even the man who signed his letters by his initials G.O.D - recognise he was just too powerful?

Sir Patrick Stewart has an acting career spanning more than 50 years. He was an accomplished Shakepearean actor when he took on the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation which brought him international acclaim.He talks to Sarah Montague about his decision to join the Star Trek cast and why it wasn't supposed to be successful. He also recalls his childhood where family rows often resulted in his mother becoming a victim of domestic violence.Sir Patrick is now a patron of the charity Refuge which helps victims of domestic violence.(Picture: Sir Patrick Stewart. Credit: AFP)

The satellite TV station Al Jazeera, is credited with giving ordinary Arabs a platform from which to challenge their governments. And day by day it's been covering the dramatic events of the Arab Spring using the latest slick technology on both its Arabic and English channels.But is it selective in who it criticises?Zeinab Badawi speaks to Wadah Khanfar. He was the boss of Al Jazeera for nearly ten years. Was the station's coverage biased on his watch? And why did he leave Al Jazeera in the midst of the biggest news events in the Arab World for decades?(Image: Wadah Khanfar. Credit: Getty Images)

The British artist and film-maker Steve McQueen - whose new film Shame is about sex addiction - says the condition is very real and is destroying people's lives.He tells HARDtalk's Zeinab Badawi that both men and women can have an unhealthy relationship with sex in the same way they can with food where the craving for it becomes a compulsion making everything else in life become secondary.

Ten months after the wave of Arab unrest reached Syria, President Assad is still in power.Bloody protests continue and there are fears that the country could be sliding into civil war.But there is little appetite from foreign powers for military intervention.Sarah Montague speaks to Bassma Kodmani, a leading figure in the exiled Syrian opposition and asks her why foreign intervention in Syria should be an option.(Picture shows Bassma Kodmani. Credit: BBC)

Hungary's centre-right government has galvanized critics at home and abroad with its new controversial constitution. There have been mass protests in the country, opposition politicians have chained themselves to gates outside public buildings, and the prime minister, Viktor Orban, has been dubbed Viktator.The EU, IMF and the US have rebuked the Hungarian government over its changes to election rules, the central bank and the judiciary, warning they will erode democracy and entrench one-party rule.Zeinab Badawi speaks to Hungary's Government Communication Minister, Zoltán Kovács. His government says the reforms are necessary to modernise the Hungarian state. But with the country badly in need of a $20bn international bailout - is it about to perform a U-turn and back down?

This year - 2012 - is the Chinese Year of the Dragon and Chinese workers certainly seem to have fire in their belly.There's growing discontent amongst the workforce whose labour fuelled the country's economic miracle. They're angry that export-led growth has largely passed them by - whilst filling state coffers and enriching some beyond their wildest dreams. Zeinab Badawi speaks to Cheng Siwei - one of China's most influential economists. How much of a threat is economic uncertainty and social unrest to China's prosperity and stability?

Sarah Montague is in Brussels to talk to the man with the unenviable job of finding a way out of Europe's financial crisis. He is Olli Rehn, Europe's Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs. It's nearly two years since the Greek crisis first blew up; and in that time seven heads of Eurozone governments have been replaced; there have been at least 15 European summits; and any number of plans; and yet, Greece is still on the verge of defaulting and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned this coming year will "undoubtedly" be harder than the last. What has been achieved and are we any closer to resolving the crisis?(Image: European Union Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn. Credit: Reuters)

Stephen Sackur speaks to a brilliant heart surgeon - veteran of more than 30,000 operations - but his growing international reputation rests less on his medical skill, more on his business brain. He wants to do for major surgery what Henry Ford did for the motor car - make it affordable for the masses, by means of mass production. He's building what he calls medical cities across India and beyond - but can this vision of delivering a public good for private profit really change healthcare around the world?