John Sipher spent 28 years with the US National Clandestine Service. Mr Sipher spoke to Eddie Mair about his life undercover, why he's kept a brick from Osama Bin Laden's house, torture, and the Sergei Skripal poisoning.

Artificial intelligence is already a big part of our lives, whether or not we are aware of it, and it will only become more significant. But could it ever help us with our most tender human emotions, like when we are grieving? Eugenia Kuyda is a tech entrepreneur and when her friend Roman Mazurenko died suddenly, Eugenia used machine conversation to bring him back to life. She told Eddie Mair about the app she created to do this called Replika, which describes itself as an...

On New Year's Eve four young men were stabbed to death in separate incidents around London. It brought the total number of fatal knife attacks in the Capital to 80 in 2017. Many of these incidents are due to gang rivalries. Jermaine Lawlor was a member of a gang in East London. He was first arrested at the age of 11, but tells Eddie Mair that seeing "friends being murdered, made me think about my life". Now 26, he's a youth worker and has set up a service to help those that remind...

What would you like to happen if you become very ill or severely incapacitated? What can you do now to make sure your wishes, whatever they are will be respected should that time come? Professor Jenny Kitzinger is from the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre, Cardiff University which researches how best to ensure that incapacitated patients have their last wishes respected. Jenny's sister Polly had a car crash in 2009 which has left her with devastating brain injuries....

Sebastian Balfour, a historian and Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies at the London School of Economics, was PM’s trusted guide to events in Catalonia before, during and after the disputed independence referendum. In an extended interview, Professor Balfour talks to Eddie Mair not about his day job, but about his fascinating life including being rescued as a little boy from a Japanese internment camp and living in America in the1960's where he bought and sold antique...

Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is an increasingly popular destination for international sun-worshippers and shoppers. Recently when Dubai has been in the news, it has not been for bargains or top tanning tips. This week a young British expat, Asa Hutchinson, was said to be facing jail in Dubai after witnessing a fight. There were more headlines about Jamie Harron, a 27-year-old Scot who was sentenced to three months in jail in Dubai for touching a man's hip. After spending three...

The treatment of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar has led to worldwide condemnation, with the US threatening sanctions. Bangladesh, which has taken in hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas who’ve fled their homeland, has now signed a deal to return them to Myanmar. Nijam Uddin Mohammed is a Rohingya Muslim. He spent 18 years in a refugee camp in Bangladesh, but now lives in Bradford. He tells Eddie Mair about fleeing Myanmar when he was a boy; and about his return to visit the camps he...

The magazine Gay Times has sacked its new editor over comments he made on social media in the past. Josh Rivers was appointed last month. The first non white editor in Gay Times history. But an investigation by Buzzfeed News found several tweets posted by Josh Rivers between 2010 and 2015 which it said would shock many people. Although he tweeted a statement which described his messages as "horrible", "hateful" and "abhorrent" and expressed sorrow at causing any offence, the Gay...

As we approach Armistice Day, followed by Remembrance Sunday, we talk to an American army veteran who is the host of a new podcast "Battle Scars", in which he interviews people who have been in war zones. Born in Vietnam, Thom Tran moved to the US as an infant. He enlisted in the United States Army at 18 years old, before he had finished high school. He spent eight years in the army including 12 months in Iraq. These days he is a musician, and a stand-up comic, but in his new podcast...

Since 2008 Alan Power, head gardener at Stourhead in Wiltshire, has joined Radio 4's PM programme to tell us about the autumnal view. This year, there was something extra to talk about. (Photo: Stourhead. Credit: PA)

Steve Hewlett chronicled his experience with oesophageal cancer weekly on PM in 2016. Steve believed that by using his journalistic skills to investigate and understand his own cancer, he would be doing some good for himself and perhaps for people listening to PM. He was right on both counts. Lisa Griffith wrote to the programme about her husband Paul. After hearing about the symptoms on PM, Paul went to the doctor and was diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. (Photo: Paul Griffith....

The film producer Harvey Weinstein has been accused of a string of sexual assaults after the New York Times reported previously undisclosed allegations against him stretching over nearly three decades. He has "unequivocally denied" any allegations of non-consensual sex. Alison Owen is a film producer who has worked on a number of films with Mr Weinstein. Her credits as a producer include Elizabeth, Shaun of the Dead and Tulip Fever. She told Eddie Mair about her experiences of Harvey...

Most people would probably not want to see what the firefighters who attended Grenfell Tower fire saw, or do what they did. All of the firefighters who were there received counselling after their shift had finished. Some are still having treatment, including the woman who is the London Fire Brigade Commissioner, Dany Cotton. Clifford Thompson is a journalist at the BBC but his boyhood dream was to be a firefighter: a dream he realised when he was stationed in East London at the age of...

Eddie Mair hears one man's story of his asexuality - discovering he was asexual, telling friends and family, and negotiating relationships. This podcast contains sexually explicit material. (Photo: Ace of Hearts on top of playing cards Credit: Getty Images)

For a handful of people in the world, remembering things is not a problem. They have a condition called HSAM or Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory, which means they can remember everything that has happened to them, often in great detail. Very little is known about why some people have it, but Rebecca Sharrock from Australia is one of those helping researchers learn more about her condition. (Photo: An illustration of the brain. Credit: Getty Images)

Abortion in the United States continues to spark fierce debate and cause division, ever since the Supreme Court made it legal in 1973 following the Roe v Wade case. Individual states still have a lot of power to influence the availability of abortions and in almost every state there are campaigns and protests for and against. In our two-part podcast we hear from people on either side of the debate. For part one we heard from Dr Willie Parker, who provides abortion services in Georgia...

Abortion in the United States continues to spark fierce debate and cause division, ever since the Supreme Court made it legal in 1973 following the Roe v Wade case. Individual states still have a lot of power to influence the availability of abortions and in almost every state there are campaigns and protests for and against. In our two-part podcast we hear from people on either side of the debate. For part one we speak to Dr Willie Parker, who was raised in a fundamentalist...

For 16 years, David Drew and Neil Carmichael have campaigned against each other to be MP for Stroud. The constituency in Gloucestershire is known as a bell-weather because it often goes the same way as the national result. In 1997 David won for Labour, and Tony Blair moved into No.10. The next general election in 2001 saw Neil enter the race but David held on, as did the Labour government. The same happened in 2005. Then in 2010 Neil beat David and the Conservatives formed a coalition...

For six months on PM, we heard from Steve Hewlett every Monday as he chronicled his experience of oesophageal cancer. In his very first conversation, last September, he introduced us to the "cold cap". Many listeners told us they also experienced the "cold cap", but they're not available in every part of the UK. "Cold caps" or "scalp cooling" can prevent or lessen hair loss which occurs during chemotherapy. Claire McQuillan is having chemotherapy for a second time. She tells Eddie...

This week in our podcast, Eddie Mair speaks to Henry Hendron. He was very much a rising star, a barrister in London with some high profile clients and media coverage to go with it. He represented the Conservative MP Nigel Evans when he was cleared of rape in 2014. Some people thought Henry Hendron himself had a bright political future. But things changed for him in 2015 when his 18-year-old boyfriend Miguel Jimenez died after taking chemsex drugs. Mr Hendron was arrested and admitted...

In 2011 it was revealed that a number of police officers who were working undercover among environmental activists in the 1990s had sexual relationships with some of the people they were investigating. "Jessica", had a relationship with an undercover police officer in the 90s. She only found out this year the full details of what really happened. (Photo: The shadow of a man. Credit: Getty Images)

For six months on PM, Steve Hewlett chronicled his experience of living with oesophageal cancer. Sadly in February 2017 Steve died. His sons Freddie, Billy and Bertie join Eddie Mair to talk about a scholarship created in their father's name, the impact Steve's conversations with PM had, and moving forward. (Photo: Freddie and Billy. Credit: BBC)

The hours and days after the Manchester Arena attack were especially long for some families. They were wondering whether their loved ones were dead or alive. Some appealed on radio and TV for any information. A mother who understands what they were going through is Sarah Jenkins. She has been campaigning to improve the way such information is handled, after her own experience of waiting to find out about her daughter Emily. The 24 year old was among those killed in London on July 7,...

A man has revealed how he slept in the same room as his wife's body for six days after she died. Wendy Davison, 50, died at home in Derby last month after a 10-year battle with cervical cancer. Russell Davison, who has been left "heartbroken", said he did not want her body to go to a mortuary and he wanted to challenge attitudes towards dying. Mr Davison explains to Eddie Mair his family's unusual perspective on death. (Image:Wendy and Russell Davison. Credit: Paul Clark)