Profile

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

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

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

As Libya edges towards civil war, Becky Milligan looks at the life of the man behind the most recent conflict, which began with his military assault on the city of Tripoli.

Known as "The Strongman", Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar comes from a family of soldiers and as a young man admired his fellow army student Muammar Gaddafi, who would later denounce him after their disastrous defeat in a war in Chad.

He was given refuge by the Americans and ended up living for twenty years in Langley, Virginia, home of the CIA, before returning to Libya, with the self-proclaimed aim of saving the country from extremists.

Producers Smita Patel & Tural Ahmedzade

The England and Tottenham Hotspur defender Danny Rose says he’s had enough of being on the end of racist abuse at matches and “can’t wait to leave football behind”.

On Profile this week, Mark Coles tries to find out why.

Friends and colleagues talk about the footballer’s formative years, his remarkable premiership debut against arch-rivals Arsenal and how a knee injury sparked depression and introspection.

But it’s racism that dominates his story.

A black player representing England in international matches, he’s been subjected to racist chanting and abuse.

After last month’s Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro, he said , enough is enough… it’s time for football’s governing bodies to stamp it out.

Producer Smita Patel

The primary school teacher at the centre of a row over LGBT rights has said he's received threats. Pupils have been pulled out of Parkfield School in Birmingham and parents have protested outside the school gates, chanting 'Say no to No Outsiders'. No Outsiders is the programme Andrew Moffat designed to teach pupils to be accepting of different types of people - despite their race, religion or sexuality. Some story books he uses feature families with two mothers or two fathers. He says he designed the programme so that no child has to hide who they are as he did when he was young.

Thanks to the Varkey Foundation for footage of the Global Teacher Prize.

Producers: Viv Jones, Phoebe Keane

The Conservative MP Sir Oliver Letwin made headlines this week when he persuaded the Commons to try to agree an alternative plan for Brexit. Mark Coles profiles the member for West Dorset, who has previously been in the news for - among other things - accidentally letting burglars into his home.

The New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has received international attention for her response to the Christchurch attacks. Her call for unity was followed by swift action to tighten the country’s gun laws. Edward Stourton looks at the rise of this young leader.

Producer: Phoebe Keane

(Jacinda Ardern DJing audio courtesy of Marty Duda and The 13th Floor)

The inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, is celebrating 30 years of his creation. He's also issued a warning that the Web could plunge towards a "dysfunctional future". Mark Coles looks at the life of the pioneering computer scientist.

Producer: Phoebe Keane

Nan Goldin is a cultural icon and pioneer of art photography celebrated for her provocative and intimate photos of drag queens, drug addicts and sex. But recently she has been generating headlines not for her art but for her activism. The photographer has been fighting the US opioid epidemic after battling her own addiction to prescription painkillers.

CORRECTION: In this edition of Profile we said Nan Goldin has protested on the steps of the Museum of Modern Art. In fact she has protested on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Producers: Viv Jones and Tural Ahmedzade

Protest audio courtesy of Mike Quinn