PODCAST

Profile

BBC Radio 4

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

society & culture documentary

All Episodes

14:02

Lord Ashcroft

Profile ·

2015/09/26

Series of profiles of people who are currently making headlines.

14:00

The Eagle Twins

Profile ·

2015/09/19

Perching on Labour's new front bench are high-flying twin sisters: Angela and Maria Eagle. Angela is the new shadow business secretary. Maria has been given the defence brief. Mark Coles profiles the pair who - over 25 years in politics - have soared from Merseyside to the heart of Westminster.Producers: Hannah Barnes and Chloe Hadjimatheou.

14:16

Michel Houellebecq

Profile ·

2015/09/05

He’s the bad boy of French literature. Loved and hated in equal measure. But who is Michel Houellebecq? Ed Stourton profiles the controversial novelist who loves to provoke.

13:41

Sir John Chilcot

Profile ·

2015/08/29

Sir John Chilcot has been at the heart of some of the most important political events in recent decades - often in the background, unnoticed by most.It's only in recent years, since he was asked in 2009 to lead the inquiry into the Iraq War, that his name has come to the attention of the wider public.Now - nearly six years after he started - the Chilcot Report has yet to be published, and Sir John has come under increasing pressure from politicians, media and the families of soldiers who lost their

13:40

Dr Dre

Profile ·

2015/08/22

Dr Dre's first album for 16 years is top of the charts and a film charting the rise of NWA - his breakout 90s gangsta rap group - is playing to packed cinemas.Over the past 25 years Dr Dre has made an indelible mark on popular culture. After NWA he founded a record label and turned producer - making global stars of artists like Snoop Dogg and Eminem.And he's a hugely successful businessman. His Beats brand - whose headphones have become a ubiquitous fashion accessory - was sold last year to Apple

13:55

Michelle Mone

Profile ·

2015/08/15

Founder of the Ultimo lingerie brand Michelle Mone's rags to riches tale. Clever use of PR has helped make Michelle Mone one of Britain's most recognisable businesswomen. Now she has been made the government's new entrepreneurship tsar and is tipped for a place in the House of Lords.Presenter Mark Coles charts her journey from childhood poverty in Glasgow to a City penthouse overlooking the Thames.Producers: Keith Moore and Katie Inman.

14:00

Jeremy Corbyn

Profile ·

2015/08/08

Suddenly everyone's taking Jeremy Corbyn seriously. Dismissed by many as a fringe 'unelectable' figure in the Labour leadership campaign, a bearded vegetarian lover of Latin American revolutionaries, Commons rebellions and allotments, he's now making the running. Chris Bowlby explores what's shaped him, what sort of leader he'd be, and whether he really wants the top Labour job.

13:44

Donald Trump

Profile ·

2015/08/01

Billionaire Donald Trump, leading Republican candidate in the US Presidential race was in Scotland this week. Mark Coles asks if he has what it takes to get him to the White House.

14:11

Mhairi Black

Profile ·

2015/07/25

Mhairi Black was yet to graduate when she was elected to the House of Commons in May - the youngest Member of Parliament for over a century. She overturned a 16,000 majority and ousted the veteran Labour MP Douglas Alexander to win Paisley and Renfrewshire South for the SNP.She's packed a lot in to the past few weeks: taking her seat in Parliament; sitting the final exam of her politics degree (dissertation subject: the rise of the SNP); attending her graduation ceremony; and making her maiden

14:16

Seymour Hersh

Profile ·

2015/05/16

Mark Coles profiles the muckraker's muckraker, American journalist Seymour Hersh, who has challenged the official story of how Osama Bin Laden was killed.The Pulitzer Prize-winning writer is one of the world's most famous investigative reporters. He exposed both the My Lai massacre, when US soldiers killed hundreds of civilians during the Vietnam war, and the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at the Abu Ghraib prison.To some he is a hero - a tenacious investigator of uncomfortable truths. To

13:46

Sir Christopher Geidt

Profile ·

2015/05/14

The last couple of weeks of the election campaign - and the erroneously narrow polls which highlighted the role of The Queen in the event of a hung parliament - brought to the attention of the public a man who has held arguably one of the most important jobs in Britain since 2007, but who remains largely unknown. He's Sir Christopher Geidt, Private Secretary to The Queen. He is her adviser on political and constitutional matters, and her line of communication to the Government. But who is

14:01

Loretta Lynch

Profile ·

2015/05/02

Earlier this week, Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the new US Attorney General. Brought up in North Carolina the daughter of a Baptist minister father and a mother who picked cotton as a young girl, Lynch is the first black woman to hold the position of the nation's top law enforcement official. Harvard-educated Lynch worked at several private law firms and has been a federal prosecutor, winning high-profile cases against corrupt New York lawmakers, sex traffickers and mafiosi. But there has been

13:51

Aidan Turner

Profile ·

2015/04/25

Mark Coles profiles Aidan Turner, the Irish actor who stars in Poldark, the BBC's most successful drama for a decade. Turner has won legions of fans as the brooding, scythe-wielding Cornish hero in the classic costume drama remake.Producers: Ben Crighton and Chloe Hadjimatheou.

13:42

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Profile ·

2015/04/18

With five World Championship titles already under his belt, Ronnie 'The Rocket' O'Sullivan will compete in Sheffield this weekend hoping to secure a sixth. He is seen by many as the greatest snooker player in history. O'Sullivan arrived on the professional snooker scene when he was just a teenager, and immediately caused a storm. His talent was never in doubt. When on form, he is unbeatable. But his public battles with alcoholism, drugs and depression have plagued him throughout his career. Which

14:09

The Teletubbies

Profile ·

2015/04/11

We learned this week that Jane Horrocks, Jim Broadbent and Fearne Cotton are to voice a new run of the hit children's TV series Teletubbies. It's estimated that around a billion children in over 120 countries have watched Teletubbies but there have been no new episodes since 2001, and the imminent return of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po has made news around the world. But who, or what, are the Teletubbies? And why have they proved such an enduring cultural phenomenon?Presenter: Becky

14:12

Trevor Noah

Profile ·

2015/04/04

This week Comedy Central announced that South African comedian Trevor Noah is to take over from Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show.It was a surprise to many that a relative unknown was set to take on one of America's leading talk shows, but Noah's star has been rising fast in recent years.Already a well-known face on British TV and radio, thanks to his award-winning Edinburgh Fringe show back in 2012, the 31-year-old has certainly shown the confidence to take on one of TV's biggest jobs - critics

13:57

Leanne Wood

Profile ·

2015/03/28

On Thursday evening seven party leaders will meet in an ITV studio for the much-anticipated general election debate. Some of them are - it's fair to say - rather less well known than others. Many viewers - in England, at least - will not know all that much about Leanne Wood, the Plaid Cymru leader. So, on Profile this week, Mark Coles has been finding out what makes her tick.Producer: Gemma Newby.

13:43

Dolce & Gabbana

Profile ·

2015/03/21

Italy's famous couture couple Dolce & Gabbana have fallen out with Elton John over off-colour comments they made about IVF babies and gay families. But they have no shortage of fans. Becky Milligan profiles the characters behind one of the world's greatest - and most valuable - fashion empires.Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou.

14:03

Nigel Dodds

Profile ·

2015/03/14

Mark Coles profiles the DUP's leader at Westminster, Nigel Dodds, one of a number of possible post-election kingmakers. Dodds, furious to find his party excluded from the leaders' debates, is now being watched carefully to see which - if any - other parties he might support in coalition. Nigel Dodds is conservative and religious. He is opposed to gay marriage and abortion and believes Britain would be better off outside of the EU. But does that really tell us where he might put his support?Producer:

13:54

Qassem Suleimani

Profile ·

2015/03/07

Iraqi army and militia forces are fighting to take back Tikrit from the so-called Islamic State. Pulling the strings on the Iraqi side is an Iranian: Major-General Qassem Suleimani, the 'shadow commander' who has been described as the single most powerful operative in the Middle East. As the leader of the foreign branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards - the Quds Force - Suleimani has emerged as Iran's leading foreign strategist. He has been arming and training Bashar al-Assad's military in Syria and

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