

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

Aug 5, 2017 • 14min
General John Kelly
General John Kelly is the man they hope can bring order to Trump's office. We follow his journey from a working class Boston neighbourhood to the White House.A decorated Marine General, an Iraq war veteran, who is adored by his troops and known for making tough decisions, General John Francis Kelly has come a long way from his beginnings born to an Irish Catholic family in the working class Brighton neighbourhood of Boston.From his first mission delivering 10'000 tonnes of beer to troops in Vietnam to overseeing President Trump's controversial immigration policies as head of Homeland Security, he's described as being a straight talker who isn't afraid to 'speak truth to power'.Mark Coles talks to friends and colleagues about about his distinguished career - and how he might fare in Trump's White House.

Jul 29, 2017 • 14min
Lady Brenda Hale
Lady Brenda Hale has been announced as the new president of the UK Supreme Court - the first woman to hold the post. Lady Hale has a long track record as a female pioneer in the legal profession and has been critical of the lack of diversity within the judicial system.Born in Yorkshire, she was an outstanding student, passing the 11 plus exam a year early. She took a different route into the judiciary, having pursued a career as a legal academic first, rather than spend years working as a barrister. After becoming a part time judge while working for the Law Commission - the body which promotes law reform - she then went quickly through the ranks sitting in the Court of Appeal and then the House of Lords. She became the first female justice at the Supreme Court and then its first female deputy president - and will take on role of President in October. Mark Coles talks to friends, family and colleagues about about her distinguished career - and early love for Cliff Richard.Producer: Jordan Dunbar.

Jul 22, 2017 • 14min
Chris Evans
Mark Coles profiles the broadcaster Chris Evans, who this week made headlines after his 2.2 million pound salary was revealed in the BBC's Annual Report.

Jul 15, 2017 • 14min
Rob Goldstone
Mark Coles profiles Rob Goldstone, the man at the centre of the Donald Trump junior/Russia saga. This week it emerged that Rob Goldstone fixed a meeting between Donald Trump junior and a Russian lawyer. Goldstone had reportedly sent an email to Trump junior before the meeting saying that the Russian lawyer could offer damaging information about Hillary Clinton - and that the material was part of a Russian government attempt to boost his father's presidential campaign. So how did this tabloid journalist turned music PR from Manchester gain access to the inner circle of the Trump family and the Russians? Producers: Smita Patel and Kate Lamble.

Jul 8, 2017 • 14min
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
The Gulf region is in crisis this weekend after Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt condemned Qatar's response to a series of demands they've made. Qatar's four Arab neighbours broke links with the Gulf emirate a month ago accusing it of supporting terrorism. On this week's Profile, Mark Coles looks at one of the key players in the dispute....Saudi Arabia's new Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Producer Smita Patel
Researcher Kate Lamble
Editor Richard Vadon.

Jul 1, 2017 • 14min
Sir Martin Moore-Bick
Mark Coles profiles Sir Martin Moore-Bick, the retired judge leading the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire Sir Martin was born in Wales and educated at Cambridge. His career has spanned nearly five decades after being called to the Bar in 1969.
As a lawyer, he specialised in commercial law which involved dealing with disputes relating to maritime and land transport of goods.
He was a judge for more than twenty years in the Commercial Court and Court of Appeal until his retirement in 2016.Producers: Smita Patel and Jordan Dunbar.

Jun 24, 2017 • 14min
Emmanuel Macron
Emmanuel Macron has become France's youngest-ever President at the age of 39. He created a new political movement out of nothing and defeated the populist Marine Le Pen of the Front National. But who is the former banker and civil servant and how did he rise so far so fast? The BBC's Paris Correspondent Lucy Williamson speaks to his old friends, his biographer, his voice coach and his political colleagues to find out how this son of two provincial doctors - who once dreamed of being a novelist or actor - has made it to the top of French politics.

Jun 19, 2017 • 14min
Leo Varadkar
Mark Coles looks at the life of Leo Varadkar, head of Fine Gail, the country's governing centre right party and the newly appointed Taoiseach (Prime Minister) of Ireland.Varadkar has made history in Irish politics. The country's first openly gay leader and at 38, its youngest ever. He's the son of an Indian GP and Irish nurse, who followed in family footsteps to become a doctor. Aged just eight, he expressed his desire to become health minister, a position he would come to hold in his early political career.Interviews include: his oldest friend Andy Garvey, close friend Nollaig Crowley, former teacher John Rafter, Noel Whelan, a political columnist with the Irish Times & the Irish politician Paschal Donohoe.Producer Smita Patel
Researcher Sarah Shebbeare
Editor Penny Murphy.

Jun 10, 2017 • 14min
Arlene Foster
Arlene Foster's Democratic Unionist Party now holds the balance of power, after elections this week. Some people have suggested that all the parties lost - but across the Irish Sea one party definitely won. Only with their votes can the Conservatives get things through the House of Commons. Which makes Arlene Foster possibly the most powerful woman in Britain. Mark Coles takes an updated look at the former first minister of Northern Ireland.Producer Smita Patel
Editor Richard Vadon
Researcher Jordan Dunbar.

Jun 3, 2017 • 13min
Cornelia Parker
Mark Coles profiles sculptor and installation artist Cornelia Parker, this year's official election artist. Parker's work has involved spectacular acts of destruction, from flattening brass band instruments, to dismantling old barns and blowing up sheds. As Parker roams the country observing the election campaign, Coles speaks to her friends and peers about how she went from a childhood spent in rural Cheshire where she struggled to fit in, to Turner Prize-nominated artist.


