Columns / The Interview

What is the price of speaking out against China’s oppression of the Uyghur people? Sayragul Sauytbay, an ethnic Kazakh and Chinese national, talks to Alessio Perrone about being forced to teach propaganda in a concentration camp and fleeing to Kazakhstan.

Indefatigable Iranian gender activist Sanam Naraghi-Anderlini on why she will not give up on her life-long mission to get women peace-makers included at the negotiating table.

Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, has a bold vision for a trade system that reflects how people actually eat.

The intrepid Betty Bigombe talks about her immersive way of negotiating peace with the ultra-violent Lord’s Resistance Army. 

Palestinian activist Iyad el-Baghdadi, a leading intellectual of the Arab Spring, talks fighting disinformation with Jan-Peter Westad.

Flavia Mutamutega, Rwanda’s sole agony aunt for adolescent girls, tells Veronique Mistiaen about the problems that preoccupy them.

Indian public-health researcher and scientist Sarojini Nadimpally speaks to Amy Hall about the inequalities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Lazinho and Lucas di Fiori of Brazil’s famous Banda Olodum talk to Alessio Perrone about 40 years of drumming up change.

Taking a stand against mining corporations can cost you your freedom – and even your life – in Peru. But that does not deter indigenous human rights defender Virginia Pinares. She tells Vanessa Baird why.

As ecological collapse looms, our growth-at-all costs economic system urgently requires a different vision. Renegade economist Kate Raworth is preaching a new mindset fit for the challenges ahead. She spoke to Hazel Healy.

Bashar al-Assad’s regime has laid out a blueprint for the reconstruction of Syria. But this rebuilding works towards a social-cleansing agenda, say Syrian architects and urban planners Hani Fakhani and Abou Zainedin. They spoke with Alessio Perrone.

Subi Shah speaks to the internationally renowned Bangladeshi photojournalist about his notorious arrest last year and why he’s still not holding back his criticism of the government.

Self-exiled Saudi street artist Ms Saffaa uses murals to portray her home country’s brave women activists. She speaks to Alessio Perrone about creating a different narrative for Saudi women and the important role art plays in her life and in helping to overcome fear.

The Kurdish-Iranian writer has been imprisoned on Manus Island – part of Australia’s notorious asylum detention network – since 2013. But that hasn’t stopped him from writing an award-winning book. Using WhatsApp, Husna Rizvi interviews Behrouz Boochani.

The Slovenian philosopher, sociologist and cultural critic speaks to Graeme Green about losing control, Twitter, Trump and a new approach.

For her work to get justice for survivors of rape by security forces and the police, Soni Sori received the 2018 Front Line Defenders Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk. She talks to Dilnaz Boga about why the state wants to erase Adivasi identity.

The British director’s latest film, Peterloo, recounts the 1819 massacre of protesters demanding parliamentary reform in Manchester, UK. He speaks to Sam Thompson about the relationship between cinema, history and politics.