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Award-winning broadcasters Fi Glover and Jane Garvey don't claim to have any of the answers (what was the question?), but in these hilarious and perceptive essays they take modern life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush.
They riff together on the chuff of life, from pet deaths to broadcasting hierarchies, via the importance of hair dye, the perils and pleasures of judging other women, and the perplexing overconfidence of chino-wearing middle-aged white men named Roger.
Did I Say That Out Loud? covers essential life skills (never buy an acrylic jumper, always decline the offer of a limoncello), ponders the prudence of orgasm merchandise and suggests the disconcerting possibility that Christmas is a hereditary disease, passed down the maternal line.
At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom of two women who haven't got a clue what's going on either.
About the author
Jane Garvey has worked in broadcasting since 1987. She was the first voice on BBC Radio 5 Live when it opened and presented the station's award-winning Breakfast and Drive programmes with Peter Allen. In 2007 she moved not just to Radio 4, but to Woman's Hour - and discovered she'd have to prove herself all over again. Just as listeners began to adjust to her, she decided she better leave before it was too late. She credits Fortunately - the hit podcast she does with Fi Glover - with saving her sanity.
Fi Glover currently is the voice behind The Listening Project on BBC Radio 4, and My Perfect Country for the BBC World Service. She's worked at BBC Radio 5 Live for seven years, helming shows like Sunday Service, with Charlie Whelan and Andrew Pierce, Late Night Live, and the Afternoon Show, before moving to BBC Radio 4 as the host of Broadcasting House. Fi and is the founder of Sound Women, a lobby group that campaigns for parity in the broadcasting industry. She now 'chunters waspishly along' with fellow host Jane Garvey about fellow BBC talent and their own lives on Fortunately
Their shared BBC Sounds podcast, Fortunately, which won the Comedy Show of the Year at the Arias in 2018, a silver Spotlight Award, has been downloaded nearly 4.5 million times in 2020 alone, and was one of BBC Sounds Top 5 most listened to podcasts during lockdown, when we all needed a vital dose of sensible small talk to help us stay sane.
Summary
In Did I Say That Out Loud? Jane Garvey and Fi Glover offer a series of essays interspersed with the waspish asides for which they are beloved, with witty musings on their lives, from pet deaths and garden hose repairs to the gender pay gap and the trouble with HRT patches. Their book promises to take mid-life by its elasticated waist and give it a brisk going over with a stiff brush. At a time of constant uncertainty, what we all need is the wisdom and experience of two women who haven't got a clue what's happening either.
Foreword
Sharp, candid and very funny essays from the broadcasting legends.
Additional text
If their radio incarnations are sensible and restrained, and their podcast selves freewheeling and prone to corpsing, the tone here lands somewhere in between. There is fluency and professionalism, but also intimacy and silliness that makes their podcast such a delight. To spend time with these two is to eavesdrop on a slightly sozzled, bracingly candid conversation between pals.
