J.D. Vance has gone from a working-class memoirist to the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Here, the Opinion writer Michelle Cottle introduces listeners to the man whom Donald Trump has picked to be his running mate. Plus, hear what Republican National Convention attendees think of the winner of the Republican veepstakes so far.

Below is a lightly edited transcript of the audio piece. To listen to this piece, click the play button below.

Michelle Cottle: I’m Michelle Cottle, and I cover national politics for Opinion.

It’s Wednesday, which means, in convention terms, that’s traditionally when the V.P. candidate speaks. Tonight we’re going to get to hear from Senator J.D. Vance, who is Donald Trump’s pick for his running mate.

Following the horrific shooting at the Pennsylvania rally, Trump and his campaign team have been talking about calling for unity and saying they’re going to focus more on that. Vance is not a unity pick. He is not who you would reach for if you were really trying to bring together lots of different pieces of the electorate. He tends to be a partisan, feisty figure, so I will be interested to see how they balance these things in his speech.

I am not on site in Milwaukee this week. I’m watching it on TV, like God intended. But my colleague, Isaac Jones, has been trolling the floor ——