Fi Glover | |
|---|---|
 Fi Glover in 2019 | |
| Born | (1969-02-27)27 February 1969 (age 56) Slough,Buckinghamshire, England |
| Education | St Swithun's School, Winchester |
| Alma mater | University of Kent |
| Occupations |
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| Notable credit(s) | Off Air[1] Fortunately[2] The Listening Project[3] My Perfect Country[4] Saturday Live[5] |
| Title |
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| Spouses | |
| Children | 2 |
Fiona Susannah Grace "Fi" Glover (born 27 February 1969)[10] is a Britishjournalist and presenter who currently hosts a two hour show forTimes Radio and the Off Air podcast, forThe Times.[11] Before joiningThe Times in October 2022,[12] Glover worked for theBBC for almost thirty years, most recently presenting theFortunately podcast, withJane Garvey,[2]The Listening Project forBBC Radio 4[3] andMy Perfect Country for theBBC World Service.[4]
Fortunately, which by the end of 2019 had been downloaded 23 million times,[13] was the 2018 winner of the ARIAS (Audio and Radio Industry Awards) Funniest Show[14] and won Silver at the 2019British Podcast Awards.[15] It is currently No. 5 in the BBC's most popular podcasts and has been No. 1 in the Apple podcast charts. From January 2021, it was broadcast on a regular slot on BBC Radio 4.[16] The show ended in November 2022 when Glover moved to Times Radio.[17]
Glover worked atBBC Radio 5 Live for seven years, presentingSunday Service, withCharlie Whelan andAndrew Pierce,Late Night Live, theAfternoon Show and the mid-morning phone-in programme.[18] In 2004 she moved to BBC Radio 4 as the host ofBroadcasting House, before launching Radio 4'sSaturday Live, in March 2006.[5] Her television presenting roles include hostingBBC One's reality history show;24 Hours in the Past, in 2014.[19] She has made films forNewsnight, and was the presenter of theBBC TwoTravel Show from 1997 to 2000.[20][21]
In 2010,Radio Times readers voted Glover the 9th Most Powerful Voice on Radio[22] and in 2014 she was awarded a fellowship of theRadio Academy, "to recognise individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the industry and/or the Academy."[6]
In 1993, Glover began herBBC career as a filing clerk on variouslocal radio stations including BBCSomerset Sound,Humberside andNorthampton. She joinedGLR in London, as a junior reporter and went on to present the Breakfast Show withGideon Coe three years later, winning a silverSony Award in 1995.[23] In 1996, she moved toBBC Radio 5 Live, where she spent seven years as a key broadcaster in news and political coverage, presenting shows such asSunday Service, withCharlie Whelan andAndrew Pierce,Late Night Live, theAfternoon Show and the mid-morning phone in programme.[18]
In 2004, Glover took over fromEddie Mair as host of Sunday morning news analysis programmeBroadcasting House, winning a SilverSony Award in the same year.[18] She became the host ofBBC Radio 4'sSaturday Live from its inception in 2006 until 2011.[23] In May 2008,Saturday Live won Best UK Speech Programme at theSony Awards.[24] In 2010Radio Times readers voted Glover 9th Most Powerful Voice on Radio.[22]
Glover returned to BBC Radio 4 withThe Listening Project, a joint initiative by theBritish Library and theBBC, which started on 29 March 2012, aiming "to capture the nation in conversation".[3] In 2013The Listening Project won a BronzeSony Award in the Best Speech Programme category.[25]In 2014 she was made a Fellow of theRadio Academy.[26]
In 2015 and Glover presented two series ofShared Experience on Radio Four, a programme which interviews people who have had similar, and frequently traumatic, experiences, such as being bullied at school, coping with addiction or being held hostage.[27] In Autumn 2015, she launchedMy Perfect Country on theBBC World Service, a current affairs show made in partnership with theUCL Institute for Global Prosperity. Co-presented withMartha Lane Fox andHenrietta Moore, it became the first ever radio show to be recorded during a sitting session of theUN. It opened theUNECOSOC session of 2016 in New York City at the invitation of theUN Secretary General.[28]My Perfect Country ran for 3 series and was followed by two series ofMy Perfect City, presented with Ellie Cosgrave andGreg Clark.[4]
During 2015 and 2016 Glover also hostedTwo Rooms forBBC Radio 4, a discussion programme using the notion of the focus group. It puts two different groups of people in separate rooms to discuss the same topic e.g.Brexit or immigration and then brings them together to see if they have changed their positions.[29]
On 29 March 2017, Glover, together with broadcasterJane Garvey started a weekly podcast series on BBC Radio 4,Fortunately: A frank look behind the scenes with broadcasters Jane Garvey and Fi Glover as guests from Radio, TV and podcasting share stories they probably shouldn't.[30] Fortunately, which has been downloaded 4.5 million times,[13] is currently No.5 in theBBC’s most popular podcasts and has been No.1 in the Apple podcast charts. From Jan 2021, it will be broadcast in a regular slot onBBC Radio 4.[16]In addition to winning silver at the 2017British Podcast awards,Fortunately also won Funniest Show at the 2018ARIAS, and Bronze in the Spotlight Award at the British Podcast Awards 2019.[14] Guests on the show includeIan Wright,Anne Tyler,Monty Don,Ruth Jones,Will Young,Sara Cox,Claudia Winkleman,Miriam Margolyes,Will Self,Jeremy Vine,Ken Bruce,Tracey Thorn,Emily Maitlis, andKirsty Wark.[31]
In April 2017, Glover launched a new BBC Radio Four series,Glass Half Full, chairing debates between optimists and pessimists on key issues such as health care, population growth and gender equality.[32]Glover has also made a series of occasional documentaries on different aspects of parenting, for BBC Radio 4 with producer Sarah Cuddon:Listen Without Mother in July 2014,[33]The Great Egg Freeze July 2014,[34]The Expressing Room March 2018[35] andDads and The Delivery Room in December 2019.[36]
In September 2022, it was announced that Glover would join Times Radio to host a daily, two-hour show with Jane Garvey.[12] The pair also host a daily podcast for the Times: Off Air.[1]
Between 1997 and 2000 Glover presentedThe Travel Show onBBC Two.[21] In 2012 she was a participant in theBBC’sSport Relief DoesBake Off[37] and in 2015 she hostedBBC One's six part reality history show,24 Hours in the Past where celebrities travel back in time to try living like Victorians.[38]
Glover has also presented several editions ofNewsnight and two films for the programme in 2013;The Rise of Digital Feminism,[20] andLegal Highs.[39]
In 2000, Glover travelled the world visiting notable radio stations, which resulted in the bookTravels with my Radio: I am an Oil Tanker (ISBN 0-09-188274-5).[40] The title reflected the hazards of live broadcasting withDickie Arbiter's opening statement "I am an oil tanker, Dickie Arbiter is on fire in the Gulf." The radio stations documented in the book include a temporaryBBC station for theEuro 2000 football tournament, run from a café inBelgium, an English-language station inGeneva, a station run by Irish UN peacekeeping forces inLebanon, andMontserrat Radio which broadcast throughout the 1996Soufrière Hills volcano eruption.
Glover has written a weekly column forWaitrose Weekend since 2012. It went online in 2020.[41]
In September 2021, Glover published a book written with Fortunately co-hostJane Garvey, titledDid I Say That Out Loud?: Notes on the Chuff of Life.[42]
Glover was the Chair of theOrange Prize for Fiction in 2009[43] and is a Founder ofSound Women, a lobby group set up to campaign for parity in the broadcasting industry.[9][44]
Glover is also the patron of Adfam, a national charity working to improve life for families affected by drugs or alcohol.[8]In 2016 theUniversity of Kent awarded Glover an Honorary Doctorate in recognition of her success in broadcasting.[7]
Glover was born inSlough,Berkshire,[46] but grew up inHampshire, with her mother Priscilla (Cilla) and sister Isabella (Izi), while her father was inHong Kong establishing a business. Her parents eventually separated. Her mother's father wasChassar Moir, an obstetrics professor credited with saving the lives of countless women worldwide.[47] She attendedSt Swithun's School, an independent girls' school inWinchester.[48] She studiedclassical civilisation and philosophy at theUniversity of Kent from 1987 to 1990.[49]
Glover was briefly married to Mark Sandell, then a producer atBBC Five Live.[3] Glover married Rick Jones, aGoogle executive, in April 2014. They have two children.[50] The couple separated in 2017.
