The Interview

‘The power of AI is that it's able to capture everything, it’s able to try to interpret everyone objectively. Human beings are imperfect in terms of their capability to listen and understand. Everyone unconsciously, when they listen, they don't hear everything.’

Zoe Kleinman speaks to Sam Liang chief executive and co-founder of artificial intelligence transcription start-up Otter.ai

Sam Liang was born in China and moved to the US in 1991. He received a PhD from Stanford University before joining Google, where he led the search engines location services.

He co-founded California based Otter.ai in 2016. The start-up has evolved from a voice-to-text transcription service to offer AI-powered recordings of live events, meeting summaries and content searches.

The Interview brings you conversations with people shaping our world, from all over the world. The best interviews from the BBC, including episodes with Karim Beguir, boss of Africa’s biggest AI firm, the former Prime Minister of Australia Julia Gillard and musical icon 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: Zoe Kleinman
Producer: Farhana Haider

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Sam Liang. Credit: Bloomberg / Contributor via Getty)

“When we only had reconnaissance drones, we learned fast. We began attaching warheads to the drones. Grenades, then homemade munitions that we produced ourselves. We would locate the enemy with the drone and drop them on him. Then FPV drones entered our lives. An FPV drone is a one-way, disposable drone. That was when the way of war began to change”

In a rare interview, Sarah Rainsford speaks to Robert Brovdi, commander of Ukraine’s drone forces, about the rapid evolution of drone warfare and how it is reshaping Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Drones are now being used to strike oil facilities and military targets deep inside Russian territory but initially were used just to spot Russian forces.

Commander Brovdi was among the first to see their true potential and, as technology advanced, drones began to change everything on the battlefield.

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: Sarah Rainsford
Producers: Osman Iqbal
Editor: Farhana Haider

Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: Robert Brovdi Credit: Oleksii Samsonov/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

“I saw the damage, the loss. The buildings being destroyed, the infrastructure being completely damaged in that area. And it was sad and heartbreaking.”
Waihiga Mwaura speaks to SungAh Lee, from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) about the war in Sudan which has entered its fourth year and has led to one of the worst humanitarian crisis and biggest displacements of people.
SungAh Lee recently travelled to Sudan to assess the situation on the ground. She tells us how it felt to return to parts of the country she had spent time in as a child. She explains how current conflicts are changing migration patterns and what impact cuts to government aid budgets are having on people effected by war.
Thank you to the Focus on Africa team in 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 the head of UNAids Winnie Byanyima, Nigeria’s Information Minister Mohammed Idris, and UN chief Antonio Guterres. 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: Waihiga Mwaura
Producer: Cordelia Hemming
Editor: Farhana Haider
Get in touch with us on email [email protected] and use the hashtag #TheInterviewBBC on social media.
(Image: SungAh Lee Credit: IOM/ Muse Mohammed)

“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)