I was one of those annoying kids who always asked their parents:"Why?"

Now, as the presenter of The Cafe, I get to pose a range of challenging questions to a variety of different people in positions of influence and authority across the globe.

Mehdi Hasan is the presenter of The Cafe, leading lively conversations that cut through the spin and get right to the heart of the subject [Al Jazeera]

For me, journalism has always been about holding power to account and giving a voice to the voiceless.

But The Cafe is about much more than that. It is about bringing people together around a table, from all backgrounds, all walks of life, in different corners of the world.

Crucially, the show is always set, as the name suggests, in a cafe – whether in Amman, Jordan, Bradford England, or Mexico City, Mexico. There are no television studios, no invited audiences. Just a relaxed yet robust discussion on the key issues of the day in an intimate, everyday setting.

In the new season of The Cafe, I travel across the globe, to talk with people on the ground about economic inequality, democratic reform, sectarian conflict and national identity.

The show is a democratic forum for ideas; the perfect platform for discussing global themes. And my guests range from ministers to bloggers, Islamists to secularists, Democrats to Republicans.

You will see passionate people arguing over controversial issues.

Whether it is the war on terror or the war on drugs, the death of multiculturalism or the rise of Islamophobia, The Cafe cuts through the spin and gets right to the heart of the subject.

Because The Cafe is not just a debate. It is a conversation. A global conversation.

Mehdi Hasan is the presenter of The Cafe and political director of the Huffington Post UK. Join him in The Cafe from July 13.