

Profile
BBC Radio 4
An insight into the character of an influential figure making news headlines
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jun 29, 2019 • 14min
Mark Sedwill
It's Britain's top civil servant this week: Sir Mark Sedwill, Cabinet Secretary and the UK’s National Security Adviser. He's the first person to juggle both roles at the same time. And - what with Brexit, a new PM, perhaps even a looming constitutional crisis - he's doing it at a time of serious uncertainty. So: who is he?Presenter: Mark Coles
Producer: Ben Crighton

Jun 22, 2019 • 14min
Joshua Wong
Joshua Wong has gone from schoolboy protester to the face of the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong - a passionate defender of the territory’s right to self determination. He’s been repeatedly arrested and jailed. Now this week - fresh out of prison - the 22-year-old Wong is back in the limelight, putting himself on a collision course with the authorities in mainland China.

Jun 15, 2019 • 14min
Jo Swinson
Jo Swinson is the bookies favourite to win the Liberal Democrat leadership race and take over from Vince Cable. But can this 'millennial' politician from a suburb of Glasgow, be the woman who takes the Liberal Democrats to election victory?

Jun 8, 2019 • 14min
Sadiq Khan
This week Sadiq Khan was called a "stone cold loser" and mocked for his compact stature by the President of the United States. But London's mayor hit back. He described the President's behaviour as that of an 11 year old. Becky Milligan profiles the first Muslim to become mayor of a European capital.Producer: Ben Carter

Jun 1, 2019 • 14min
Sonita Alleyne
Sonita Alleyne is the jazz-loving businesswoman who's just been appointed Master of a Cambridge College - the first black woman to take on such a role. Presenter: Mark Coles
Producer: Ben Carter

May 25, 2019 • 14min
John Bolton
John Bolton is the hawkish and famously moustachioed US national security adviser using the ear of the President to push a hard line on Iran.Producer: Ben Carter

May 18, 2019 • 14min
Simon Armitage
He's the post-punk storyteller with a taste for panto and The Smiths. Becky Milligan profiles the new poet laureate, Simon Armitage.Producer: Ben Carter

May 11, 2019 • 14min
Penny Mordaunt
Penny Mordaunt has just been handed her dream job. This daughter of a former paratrooper has been appointed Britain’s new Defence Secretary following Gavin Williamson’s sacking. She’s the first woman ever to hold the role. A Brexiter, Royal Navy reservist, reality TV contestant and one-time magician’s assistant, some Conservatives apparently see Penny Mordaunt as a potential future leader.Presenter: Mark Coles
Producer: Ben Carter

May 4, 2019 • 14min
Andy Evans
Andy Evans has been at the forefront of the campaign to secure justice for himself and thousands of others - many who have not survived - affected by what’s been called the worst scandal in NHS history. Next week he’ll give evidence at the Infected Blood Inquiry. He's waited a long time. The group he co-founded, Tainted Blood, takes as its motto words from the philosopher Voltaire: “to the living we owe respect, to the dead we owe only the truth”. Producer: Smita Patel
Researcher: Tural Ahmedzade
Editor: Richard Knight

Apr 27, 2019 • 14min
Loyle Carner
Loyle Carner might not be a household name yet. But in the music world this week he’s the one everyone's talking about; a young British hip hop artist rapping about things the macho world of hip hop usually ignores - like family. His 2017 debut album was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Now the follow up - ‘Not Waving But Drowning’ - is poised in the charts to bring him mainstream success.Producer: Smita Patel
Researcher: Tural Ahmedzade
Editor: Richard Knight