Anita Anand | |
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![]() Anand in 2011 | |
Born | London, England | 28 April 1972
Alma mater | King's College, London |
Occupation(s) | Radio and television presenter, journalist, and author |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Anita Anand (/ˈɑːnənd/ AH-nand;[1] born 28 April 1972) is a British radio and television presenter, journalist, and author.
Anand was born in 1972[2] in London, England, to Punjabi parents who migrated to India shortly after the partition of India and then, later, to the UK. Her family, prior to the partition, originated from a village near the Northwest Frontier Province and Afghanistan.[3]
Anand was privately educated at Bancroft's School in Woodford Green in Redbridge, east London.[4] Anand then entered King's College, London, in 1990, graduating with a BA in English in 1993.
After training as a journalist, Anand became European Head of News and Current Affairs for Zee TV, and one of the youngest TV news editors in Britain at the age of 25.[5] She presented the talk show The Big Debate and was political correspondent for Zee TV presenting the Raj Britannia series – 31 documentaries chronicling the political aspirations of the Asian community in the most marginal constituencies in 1997.
Until October 2007, Anand presented in the 10:00 pm till 1:00 am slot on Monday to Thursdays on BBC Radio 5 Live. She went on to co-present the station's weekday Drive (4:00–7:00 pm) slot with Peter Allen, having succeeded Jane Garvey in 2007. Aasmah Mir replaced her when she left for maternity leave.[6]
Anand has presented the BBC Radio 4 show Midweek, and on television she has been a presenter on the Heaven and Earth Show. She has co-presented the Daily Politics on BBC Two with Andrew Neil from September 2008, with a break for maternity leave from January to September 2010.
In July 2011 Anand left the Daily Politics to present a new show called Double Take on Radio 5 Live on Sunday mornings.[7] In June 2012, Anand took over from Jonathan Dimbleby as the presenter of Radio 4's Any Answers? Saturday current affairs phone-in programme between 2:00 and 2:45 pm.[8]
In 2022, Anand collaborated with historian William Dalrymple to create the podcast Empire, which initially described and discussed the British East India Company and British involvement and influence on India.[9] The pair had previously worked together on the book Koh-i-Noor: The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond.
Anand has also written articles for India Today and The Asian Age newspaper, and used to write a regular column in The Guardian ("Anita Anand's Diary", 2004–2005[10][11]).
On 18 November 2005, Anand won the Nazia Hassan Award for 2005 in the category of Upcoming Television Broadcasters.[14][15] Her book The Patient Assassin won the 2020 Hessell-Tiltman Prize.[16]
Anand married science writer Simon Singh in 2007. The couple have two sons and live in Richmond, London.[17][18]
Anand is a patron of the Richmond Society[17] and of the Museum of Richmond.[19]