Hamid Mir is one of Pakistan’s most prominent journalists, political commentators, and national security analysts. He began his career in print journalism, becoming the youngest editor of a national Urdu newspaper when he led Daily Pakistan in the 1990s, and later launching Daily Ausaf as its founding editor. Mir is widely recognized as the first Pakistani journalist to interview Osama bin Laden, conducting three interviews between 1997 and 2001, and has since reported extensively from conflict zones including Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Bosnia, and Sri Lanka. Since 2002, he has hosted Capital Talk on Geo News, Pakistan’s longest-running political talk show, where he has interviewed nearly every major Pakistani leader as well as global figures such as Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry, Ban Ki-moon, Yasser Arafat, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Shimon Peres, and Hamid Karzai.

Known for his criticism of politics and his defense of press freedom, Mir has survived two assassination attempts, faced repeated television bans, and lost positions due to his uncompromising stance on human rights. Despite these challenges, he has remained a central voice in South Asian journalism and contributes to leading international publications, including The Washington Post. His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including Pakistan’s Hilal-i-Imtiaz, the SAARC Lifetime Achievement Award, the Most Resilient Journalist Award from Free Press Unlimited, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Government College University Lahore. Mir is also a frequent speaker at leading global institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Oxford, the London School of Economics, and UC Berkeley, where he engages on issues of security, democracy, and press freedom.