Fi Glover

Born on February 27, 1969, in Slough, Berkshire, England, UK, Fiona Susannah Grace Glover embarked on her broadcasting career in 1993 at the BBC as a filing clerk for local radio stations including BBC Somerset, Humberside, and Northampton. She quickly advanced, joining GLR in London as a junior reporter and subsequently presenting the Breakfast Show with Gideon Coe. This early achievement earned her a Silver Sony Award in 1995. Her career progression continued with a move to BBC Radio 5 Live in 1996, where she spent seven years as a prominent broadcaster covering news and political events, hosting programs such as ‘Sunday Service,’ ‘Late Night Live,’ and the ‘Afternoon Show.’ In 2004, Glover transitioned to BBC Radio 4, taking over from Eddie Mair as the host of the Sunday morning news analysis program ‘Broadcasting House,’ securing another Silver Sony Award in the same year. From 2006 to 2011, she launched and hosted BBC Radio 4’s ‘Saturday Live,’ which won a Gold Sony Award for Best UK Speech Programme in 2008. These roles established her as a significant voice in British radio.

Glover further solidified her presence in broadcasting through impactful projects and a move into television. In 2012, she returned to BBC Radio 4 with ‘The Listening Project,’ a collaboration with the British Library aimed at documenting national conversations, which earned a Bronze Sony Award in 2013. Her television work includes presenting ‘The Travel Show’ on BBC Two from 1997 to 2000 and hosting BBC One’s reality history series ’24 Hours in the Past’ in 2014. She also contributed to ‘Newsnight’ as a presenter and made documentary films, such as ‘The Rise of Digital Feminism’ and ‘Legal Highs’ in 2013. In 2017, Glover, alongside Jane Garvey, launched the highly successful podcast ‘Fortunately… with Fi and Jane,’ which garnered over 30 million downloads and numerous awards, including the ARIAS Funniest Show in 2018. This partnership marked a significant turning point, showcasing her versatility and appeal in the burgeoning podcast landscape.

A notable career shift occurred in September 2022 when Glover and Garvey departed the BBC after nearly three decades to join Times Radio. There, they co-host a live afternoon show, which is recognized as the UK’s first daily national radio show presented by two women. They also launched a new podcast, ‘Off Air with Jane and Fi,’ for The Times, which has accumulated over ten million downloads. Beyond broadcasting, Glover authored ‘Travels with my Radio: I am an Oil Tanker’ in 2000, detailing her global journey to visit diverse radio stations, and co-wrote ‘Did I Say That Out Loud?: Notes on the Chuff of Life’ with Jane Garvey in 2021. She is also a Fellow of the Radio Academy, a co-founder of Sound Women, advocating for gender parity in broadcasting, and a patron of Adfam, a charity supporting families affected by addiction. In 2016, she received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Kent, recognizing her contributions to the industry.