Profile Folgen

Evan Gershkovich is the Wall Street Journal's Moscow reporter. He's been imprisoned in Russia since March last year, and has just gone on trial there - the first American journalist to be jailed in Russia since the Cold War. He's accused of espionage, something he, his employer and his government all strenuously deny. To his friends, like Jeremy Berke, he is "the most extroverted person that I've ever met in my whole life". He loves football and is a dedicated Arsenal fan - so much so that he'd get his flatmates in Brooklyn up at 7am on Sunday mornings - despite them having been out on the town together till the early hours - to watch Arsenal matches with him on TV. The son of Soviet-born, Jewish parents who'd fled to the USA in the late 70s, he grew up speaking Russian at home. Once in Moscow as a reporter, his fellow correspondents - many of whom quickly became friends too - were impressed by his drive, his knowledge of Russia's language and culture, his ease at making contacts, and his willingness to go the extra mile - often literally, to places like the remote Russian republics of Udmurtia and Yakutia. He's now been detained for fifteen months and counting. Gershkovich's friends and family say his release can't come too soon; they're waiting to welcome him home with hugs, and the desire "to never let him leave again". CONTRIBUTORS Joshua Yaffa, Moscow Correspondent of the New Yorker magazine, friend of Evan Gershkovich Jeremy Burke, MBA student at Columbia university, and Editor-in-chief of “Cultivated” media, friend of Evan Gershkovich Deborah Ball, Deputy World Editor of Wall Street Journal Nora Biette-Timmons, friend of Evan Gershkovich Pjotr Sauer, Russia Correspondent of The Guardian, friend and colleague Danielle Gershkovich, sister of EvanPRODUCTION TEAM Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Arlene Gregorius, Julie Ball Editor: Penny Murphy Sound: Neil Churchill Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Before she became one of the best-selling musicians of all time, Shania Twain worked for the family tree-planting business, singing for tips in lumberjack bars to help make ends meet. Stephen Smith charts the rise of a hard-up Canadian country girl, from a violent family home, to a country-pop crossover superstar. This year's Glastonbury 'Legends' slot will be the first time some will have seen or heard from Shania in decades - we hear about the disease that robbed her of her voice at the peak of her powers in the early 2000s and, along with a devastating divorce, led to a 15-year gap between albums. CONTRIBUTORS John Kim Bell, former producer and boyfriend Lindsay Ell, guitarist Jake Gosling, music producer Marc Bouwer, fashion designerPRODUCTION TEAM Presenter: Stephen Smith Producers: Simon Tulett, Natasha Fernandes Editor: Penny Murphy Sound: Neil Churchill Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele

Sometimes known as the “sultan of swing,” Professor Sir John Curtice has become an institution of election coverage in the UK. But is there more to the man than stats and figures? There might be some broad beans and jam, as Mark Coles finds out.CONTRIBUTORS Rev Dr Lisa Curtice, John’s wife Phil Tremewan, childhood friend John Leston, friend from university David Dimbleby, broadcaster Paddy O’Connell, BBC broadcasterPRODUCTION TEAM Presenter: Mark Coles Producers: Ivana Davidovic, Diane Richardson and Julie Ball Editor: Tom Bigwood Sound: James Beard Production Coordinator: Maria Ogundele