PODCAST

Profile

BBC Radio 4

An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

13:26

Cressida Dick

Profile ·

2017/03/04

Cressida Dick - the newly-appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police - is the first woman to lead the force in its 188-year history. Dick's career has been exceptional, but not without controversy. She was gold commander in the control room in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings and was at the helm when the innocent Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police at Stockwell tube station. Her appointment as Commissioner is a comeback of sorts; in 2014 she quit the police to

13:51

Naomie Harris

Profile ·

2017/02/25

Brought up by a single mum in Finsbury Park, North London, Naomie Harris now finds herself nominated for an Oscar for her role in Moonlight and this week received an OBE from the Queen. She's had a career playing strong, tough women; killing zombies in Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and playing a modern, kick-ass Moneypenny in the latest James Bond films. She's not new to fame, she started acting at a young age and first appeared on TV at the age of nine but, as you'll hear, that lead to her being

13:59

John Bercow

Profile ·

2017/02/11

The Speaker of the House of Commons - John Bercow - stunned MPs this week when he announced he was "strongly opposed" to US President Donald Trump addressing Parliament when he visits Britain.It's already led one Conservative backbencher to table a motion of no confidence in him.John Bercow is no stranger to controversy. His brutal put downs of MPs and ministers in the Commons have often grabbed the headlines.Bullied at school because he was short, he began his political career on the far right - a

13:19

Simon Stevens

Profile ·

2017/01/28

Mark Coles profiles the man who runs NHS England. He oversees a workforce of one and a half million people, a budget of over £100 billion. According to some he's the fourth most powerful person in England. Producers: Beth Sagar-Fenton and Joe Kent.

13:36

Mike Pence

Profile ·

2017/01/22

Becky Milligan profiles the man who could be the next President of America. Mild mannered, disciplined and a seasoned politician, Mike Pence was largely unknown until he was selected by Donald Trump to serve as his Vice-President. PRODUCERS: Beth Sagar Fenton and Joe Kent EDITOR Penny Murphy.

13:45

Arlene Foster

Profile ·

2017/01/14

Arlene Foster had been hoping to celebrate her first twelve months in charge of Northern Ireland this week. Instead, she's found herself forced out of office.It's got little to do with religion, constitution or the almost four THOUSAND people who've lost their lives during political conflict over the decades.The DUP leader and Northern Ireland First Minister has had to step down in a bitter row over renewable energy subsidies. On Profile, Mark Coles looks back at Arlene Foster's life and career and

14:00

Dippy the Diplodocus

Profile ·

2017/01/07

It's the end of an era. Dippy the dinosaur has left the building. Gifted to King Edward VII in 1905, a 70 foot long cast of a fossilised dinosaur skeleton discovered in America has been on display at London's Natural History Museum for more than a century. It's become the country's most recognisable museum exhibit - seen by an estimated 90 million people. Now it's being replaced by the real skeleton of a giant blue whale...Dippy's 292 plaster cast bones setting off instead on a nationwide tour. On

13:57

David Davis

Profile ·

2016/12/31

David Davis will be a major figure in the coming year as minister in charge of Brexit. In this week's Profile, Chris Bowlby hears how he was was shaped by a council house upbringing, SAS training, a turbulent political career and a significant love of sugar. Producer: Smita Patel Researchers: Sarah Shebbeare & Serena Tarling Editor: Penny Murphy.

13:57

Raymond Briggs

Profile ·

2016/12/24

On Profile this week we explore the life and career of one of the world's best loved children's illustrators. Over the last half century - much to his horror - Raymond Briggs has become a part of Christmas. Two books about a grumpy Father Christmas have become bestsellers. The film adaptation of his 1978 picture book 'The Snowman' has been shown on TV every Christmas for the past three decades. And now, this Christmas, the BBC is screening 'Ethel And Ernest' - a new film of Briggs' 1998 book about

13:48

Arron Banks

Profile ·

2016/12/10

Skinny dipping with Nigel Farage, punching a business partner, and bankrolling Brexit - Edward Stourton tells the story of Arron Banks. What next for the man who spent more than £7 million campaigning for Britain to leave the EU? Producers: Ed Davey and Joe Kent.

13:50

Sharon White

Profile ·

2016/12/03

On Profile this week Mark Coles looks at the life and career of Sharon White.The daughter of immigrant parents who came to Britain from Jamaica in the 1950s, she rose rapidly through the ranks of the civil service to become one of the most powerful women in Whitehall. In March 2015, she became chief executive of the communications regulator, Ofcom.The watchdog is in the news this week for trying to force BT to legally separate from Open Reach which runs the country's broadband network.

13:48

Michel Barnier

Profile ·

2016/11/26

Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK are months away. And - as we keep hearing - there will be no discussion before notification (of the now infamous Article 50).But we do know who will represent the EU in those negotiations: the French politician Michel Barnier, who met his counterpart David Davis this week.Born in the Savoie region in south-east France, Barnier has been a committed Gaullist since he was a teenager. At 27 he made history in France by becoming the youngest MP ever elected

13:56

Stephen Bannon

Profile ·

2016/11/19

On Profile this week, Mark Coles, examines the life and career of Stephen Bannon - dubbed by some as the 'most powerful, most dangerous political operative in America today'. A former US Navy engineer, investment banker and Hollywood producer, for the past four years he's been the driving force behind Breitbart News - a populist, at times deliberately provocative right wing news website. In August, he was drafted in to oversee Donald Trump's then faltering presidential campaign.Now, with Trump

13:55

Gina Miller

Profile ·

2016/11/12

To some, she is a saboteur of democracy, a woman using her massive wealth and friends in high places to subvert the judgement of 17.4 million voters in the European Union referendum. To others, this is a woman of unimpeachable principle, fighting to protect a cornerstone of the unwritten British constitution. With the Supreme Court now set to decide on whether Article 50 can be invoked without a vote in Parliament - thus setting Brexit into motion - we ask, who is Gina Miller, the woman behind the

13:41

Tom Ilube

Profile ·

2016/11/05

An entrepreneur who helped found Britain's first online bank. A philanthropist who fled Idi Amin's Ugana and is now on a mission to track down the undiscovered Albert Einsteins of Africa. He embarked on a search to find a long-lost sister in Uganda after thirty years; he once rocked an 'impressive' Afro; his backers number a former head of MI6, and during his honeymoon in Mexico he sneaked away from his wife to attend a maths conference. Oh, and he's hell-bent on making it into space. You've

13:58

Glenda Jackson

Profile ·

2016/10/29

As Glenda Jackson returns to the West End stage, Mark Coles profiles the Oscar-winning actor and former Labour MP, with contributions from her son Dan Hodges, Hollywood actor George Segal and legendary theatre director Peter Brook. Producer Smita Patel Researcher Sarah Shebbeare.

13:49

Professor Alexis Jay

Profile ·

2016/10/22

As jobs go, it's a daunting one. Three predecessors have already resigned. On Profile this week Mark Coles profiles Professor Alexis Jay, the fourth and latest person appointed to chair the independent inquiry into institutional child sex abuse in England and Wales.Researcher Kirsteen Knight Producer Smita Patel.

13:58

Lee Kun-Hee (Chairman, Samsung)

Profile ·

2016/10/15

Samsung started out as a tiny exporter of dried fish. Today it's one of the world's biggest tech giants; the family-run business accounts for about a quarter of South Korea's entire GDP.This week Samsung was forced to stop production of its new Galaxy Note 7 smartphone after a number of them apparently exploded or caught fire. Samsung's chairman Lee Kun-Hee - son of the firm's founder - saw the value of his company plummet. You'd think he'd be fuming. But he hasn't been seen since he suffered a

13:56

Professor David J Thouless

Profile ·

2016/10/08

British Professor David Thouless won this year's Nobel Prize for contributions to the field of topology. Two other British physicists, Professor J. Michael Kosterlitz and Professor Duncan Haldane shared the award. Of course the physics is rather complicated, you don't win a Nobel prize for discovering something obvious, but put simply, David Thouless worked out a way of predicting how a material will behave using maths.In this programme, though, we'll focus on the man himself. Who is David Thouless

13:23

Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy

Profile ·

2016/10/01

When Theresa May became Prime Minister she appointed Fiona Hill and Nick Timothy as her joint Chiefs of Staff. It's a role first imported from the US by Tony Blair, when he brought in Jonathan Powell to help oversee the day-to-day running of government. The position puts Timothy and Hill at the heart of decision-making inside Number 10. So who are they? And how much influence do they really have? Mark Coles reports.Producer: Ben Crighton.

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