The Interview

“If you play piano, bass guitar, saxophone, I don’t care - I'll play with you all night. That's how I did it. And I tell all my grandkids - get an event, get a few of your schoolmates together. They're practising and playing by themselves. Get with people!”
Regan Morris speaks to musician Ringo Starr about his career.

Born in Liverpool, England, during the Second World War in 1940, Ringo, real-name Richard Starkey, found fame as the drummer of the legendary British band The Beatles - widely regarded as one of the most influential acts in music history.
After joining John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison in 1962, the four-piece became a global pop music sensation through hits such as ‘She Loves You’, ‘Yesterday’, ‘Penny Lane’, and ‘Hey Jude’. They also released multiple studio albums and starred in five major motion pictures.
Although the band split up in 1970, their legacy continues to live on. They remain one of the best-selling musical acts of all time over half a century later. And such was his and the band’s cultural impact, that Ringo, one of two surviving members of The Beatles, received a knighthood at Buckingham Palace for his services to music in 2018.
But despite achieving seemingly all that can be achieved in a music career, the 85-year-old seems to be showing no interest in retirement — he’s just released his third country album, which is his 22nd album as a solo artist.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Stevie Wonder, Patti Smith and Pete Townshend. 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: Regan Morris
Producer: Ben Cooper
Editor: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Ringo Starr Credit: Jason Kempin/Getty Images)

“One thing I have learned from my childhood til now is that when you fall, you get up, dust yourself off, and do it over and over again. I’ve had a lot of up and downs in my business life in America. I’ve had many failures and people only talk about successes, but failures in my mind are the foundation of success.”
Rahul Tandon speaks to Iranian-American entrepreneur Isaac Larian.
The 72-year-old billionaire is the founder and chief executive of US-based MGA Entertainment, one of the world’s largest toy companies. Over the years, he’s been involved in several high-profile toy launches, including the ‘Bratz’ range of dolls back in 2001.
But his success today, regularly appearing on rich lists compiled by the likes of Forbes, is a far cry from his early years growing up Tehran, where his family often struggled to put food on the table in a home without electricity or running water.
His father ran a small textile shop that a young Larian would work in, buying and selling stock. And at the age of just 17, Larian took this business experience with him when he bought a one-way ticket to America to seek his fortune.
Thank you to the Business Daily 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 AI expert Parmy Olson, Syrian politician Hind Kabawat, and Finland’s president Alexander Stubb. 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: Rahul Tandon
Producers: Victoriya Holland and Ben Cooper
Editor: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Isaac Larian Credit: Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The Toy Foundation)

“We were able to improve the health of the gorillas and people together. What we do is we improve the health and the livelihoods of the local communities. Because as long as people are poor, they're going to keep entering the forest to poach and collect firewood and they're going to end up making the gorillas sick, or picking up diseases from wildlife in the forest.”

Myra Anubi speaks to Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, a Ugandan wildlife vet and founder of Conservation Through Public Health, about the approach she developed to help save mountain gorillas from extinction.
When she began her work in 1994, their numbers had fallen to just a few hundred. Not just because of habitat loss and poaching, but because of human diseases.
Rather than focusing only on treating the animals, she realised the solution lay with the people living alongside them. Better health and livelihood opportunities meant less poaching and less need to rely on the forest, reducing the risk of disease and protecting the gorillas.
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, and Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the UN. 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: Myra Anubi
Producers: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Justine Lang and Damon Rose

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka Credit Kibuuka Mukisa)

“I don't necessarily want it to be the most giant album of all time and be selling out stadiums. I want something that lasts and that feels timeless and thoughtful.”
Mark Savage speaks to Mercury Prize-winning singer-songwriter Arlo Parks about her life and music career.
Born in London, the half Nigerian, quarter Chadian and quarter French artist, real name Anaïs Marinho, has enjoyed great success in her music career since her debut album was released in 2021.
Having broken onto the music scene two years prior, Parks has performed twice at the Glastonbury music festival in England, supported the likes of Harry Styles and Billie Eilish on tour, and even written for Beyoncé.
It’s been something of a whirlwind journey for the 25-year-old, who has returned with a new album after taking some time out of the spotlight in order to reclaim some normality in her life.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with director Guillermo del Toro, author Azar Nafisi and actor Arden Cho. 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: Mark Savage
Producer: Ben Cooper
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Arlo Parks Credit: Todd Owyoung/NBC via Getty Images)

Victoria Derbyshire speaks to survivors of paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting a trial for sex trafficking.
The interview took place in Washington DC, two weeks before Melania Trump, US First Lady, gave an unexpected press conference at the White House where she called for congressional hearings for the Epstein survivors.
Millions of documents, emails and photographs are now in the public domain and show Epstein’s connections to high profile figures from politics, business and royalty.
In this interview, which some listeners may find upsetting, Chauntae Davies, Joanna Harrison, Jena-Lisa Jones, Wendy Pesante and Lisa Phillips share their experiences, and discuss the impact that the abuse has had on their lives.
Thank you to the Newsnight team for their help in making this programme.
If you’ve been affected by this programme, you can reach out to Befrienders Worldwide for help by visiting befrienders.org
The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. 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 Derbyshire
Producers: Katherine Hodgson, Charlotte Sexton, Carys Nally and Ben Cooper
Editor: Damon Rose
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.