
It's a year since the protests in Ukraine's Maidan Square - protests that led to the fall of the pro-Russian government. Russian-born Andrey Kurkov has published his diary of the time. He's one of the country's most famous authors and supported the uprising. But, although he lives in Ukraine, he writes in Russian and because of that he's been rejected by some as a Ukrainian writer and accused of being a traitor by Russians.
Sarah Montague asks him what role do language and culture play in war? And was the uprising worth it?
(Photo: Andrey Kurkov. Credit: Volodymyr Shuvayev/AFP/Getty Images)
Sean Farrington speaks to Jackie Jantos, CEO of popular mobile dating app Hinge, about finding romance in today’s rapidly-changing digital world.
Launched back in 2013, US-based Hinge has steadily grown to become one of the world’s biggest mobile dating apps. As of 2025, there were 30 million users on the platform looking for romance all over the world - up from half a million just 10 years before.
Hinge encouragingly bills itself as the ‘app to be deleted’, and unlike many competitor apps, its focus is on creating real interactions - for example, encouraging users to like photos or prompts - rather than quickly swiping left or right.
In a crowded industry worth billions of dollars, the app, owned by the American dating giant Match Group, has a difficult balancing act to maintain. It has to innovate to attract new users and make a profit, while also ensuring their users find romance and so do not have to keep using the app.
Thank you to the Big Boss Interview 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 music icon Chaka Khan, Anthropic co-founder Jack Clark, and entrepreneur Emma Grede. 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: Sean Farrington Producer: Jeevan Nerwan and Ben Cooper Editor: Damon Rose
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(Image: Jackie Jantos smiles as she looks to the side. She has brown hair and glasses and wears a black jumper. Credit: Stuart C. Wilson/Getty Images)
