1/ Ahead of HARDtalk’s closure later this month, we’ve been through 27 yrs of archive to bring you some of the highlights…. “We exchanged some hard blows, him and I” – Hugo Chavez. Venezuela’s late president gave a press conference on his 2010 Caracas tussle with Stephen Sackur

28/28 At the end of an interview with Stephen Sackur in 2023, the acclaimed musician Baaba Maal played us out. Thank you all for watching and listening. It has been an honour and a privilege to make this show for you. Best wishes from the HARDtalk team

27/28 “We all have our interests but let us build a structure and institution that would discuss this” – Mikhail Gorbachev. Speaking to Stephen in 2014 after the invasion of Crimea, the late Soviet leader said peace and security could only be achieved through multilateralism

26/28 “The Democratic party has failed us” – Jane Fonda. In front of a live audience in 2017, the Hollywood star and activist explained why Donald Trump was winning over working class voters in the US

25/28 “Don’t make me laugh” – Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. In 2018, in his first BBC interview in a decade, Turkey’s president rejected suggestions political dissent was being repressed and his country was sliding towards authoritarianism. “In Turkey we have the ballot box,” he said

24/28 “You may be hard talking but you’re not listening” – Sergei Lavrov. In 2018, Russia’s foreign minister denied Moscow was involved in the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury. He claimed UK intelligence services may have been behind it

23/28 “I’m the accidental actor” - Shah Rukh Khan. The Bollywood star revealed to Zeinab Badawi in 2018 that journalism’s loss was acting’s gain

22/28 “Would you honestly say you hear much art on the radio?” – George Michael. The late singer-songwriter, who rose to fame with the pop duo Wham, lamented the state of the music industry in an interview with Tim Sebastian in 2003

21/28 “I can assure you that I am real” – Alexei Navalny. In 2017, Stephen spoke to the Russian opposition leader in Moscow about his decision to run against Vladimir Putin for the country’s presidency. Navalny died in prison in Russia last year

20/28 “When I understood, in my business at 18 years old, what I was up against, I opened my mouth” – Naomi Campbell. The supermodel spoke to Zeinab Badawi in 2021 about confronting racism in the fashion industry early on in her career

19/28 “To think about your past, the present and the future… is very rewarding” – Nelson Mandela. Reflecting on the 27 years he spent in prison, South Africa��s president told George Alagiah in 1997 he had considered everything: his mistakes, weaknesses and hopes

18/28 “Under occupation… No one will have safety and no one will have peace” - Motaz Azaiza. In 2024, the photojournalist told Stephen Sackur he feared there was no hope for Gaza and the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians “will never end”

17/28 “All I can do is be my authentic self” – Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2016, the actor, businesswoman and lifestyle guru hit back at her critics during an interview with Stephen Sackur in front of a live audience

16/28 “It’s a fragile little thing isn’t it” – Michael Collins. In an interview at his home in Florida in 2019, the late Apollo 11 astronaut described the moment he looked back at the Earth during the historic mission to the Moon

15/28 “The norm in show business is failure” – William Shatner. The actor, who found global fame as Captain Kirk of the USS Enterprise in Star Trek, reflected on the unexpected success of the show in a 2012 interview with “Stevie” Sackur

14/28 “Life is a gift” – Jerry Springer. The late talk show host spoke to Stephen Sackur in 2014 about his “lucky life” and said he’d do it all again

13/28 “We have not learned that you cannot kill an ideology with a gun” – Ben Ferencz. The chief prosecutor in the Einsatzgruppen trial of Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg speaking to Zeinab Badawi in 2017

12/28 “The problem is toxic masculinity” – Ashley Judd. In the wake of the Me Too movement, the actor sat down with Stephen Sackur in 2018 to discuss how "the patriarchy" was limiting for everyone

11/28 “I was on my death bed” – Duff McKagan. The Guns N’ Roses bassist spoke to Sarah Montague in 2011 about how the years of heavy boozing almost killed him and how his mother inspired him to give it up. 📺

10/28 “A novel… is the only place. where two strangers can meet on terms of absolute intimacy” – Paul Auster. The great American writer, who died last year, spoke to Stephen Sackur in 2021 about the enduring power of literature

9/28 “You are a very unpleasant man” – Mira Marković. The late wife of Slobodan Milošević didn’t like being questioned by Tim Sebastian in 1999 about atrocities committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia