This week, with Republicans celebrating mid term election victories, Rand Paul - a Tea Party supporting ophthalmologist from Kentucky with only three years' experience in the Senate is fast emerging as one of the frontrunners to try to wrest the US Presidency back from the Democrats in 2016.
Rand is part of a political dynasty although hardly from the Republican Party establishment.
His father Ron - also a physician turned politician - ran as a Libertarian for the US Presidency twice on a platform championing free markets, small government and a ferocious determination to keep the state out of individuals lives. Rand shares many of his father's ideas but his challenge now is making them palatable to a majority of the Republican party and a majority of people in the country. Many ask if he could pose a serious threat to Hilary Clinton by greatly expanding the Republicans' appeal and reaching out to African Americans and young voters. Some praise Rand Paul for his unconventional yet pragmatic approach - TIME magazine recently called him "the most interesting man in US politics." But some see him as a wolf in sheep's clothing and a dangerous isolationist.
In this edition of Mark Coles asks who exactly is Rand Paul - the man who eschews small talk but embraces loud shirts and turtle neck sweaters?
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Folge vom 08.11.2014Rand Paul
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Folge vom 01.11.2014Christopher NolanFilm director Christopher Nolan's latest $160m blockbuster Interstellar opens next week. Mark Coles examines the more humble beginnings of his film making career at University College London and asks how he has achieved the enviable knack of delivering huge box office takings and keeping the critics happy.Producer: Ben Carter.
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Folge vom 25.10.2014Sir Andrew GreenMigration Watch UK's founder Sir Andrew Green is to become a member of the House of Lords. Presenter Jo Fidgen talks to Sir Andrew's old friends and colleagues in an attempt to find out what motivated this former ambassador to Syria and Saudi Arabia become one of the UK's most influential voices on immigration.Producer: Laura Gray.
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Folge vom 18.10.2014Richard FlanaganWriter Richard Flanagan is the 2014 winner of the Man Booker Prize. His novel "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" is a story set among prisoners of war, forced by the Japanese to work on the Thai-Burma "death" railway. Presenter Becky Milligan looks into Flanagan's life in his native Tasmania where he is a prominent environmental campaigner and a regular at the local pub. She talks to Flanagan's close friends and relatives including his brother Martin Flanagan, leading film actress Kerry Fox and publisher Nikki Christer.Producer: Smita Patel.