Nichi Hodgson

Nichi Hodgson
Born Wakefield, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Residence London
Education University of York
Occupation Journalist, Contributor, Author and Presenter
Years active 2006–present
Website nichihodgson.com

Nichi Hodgson (born September 9) is a British journalist, broadcaster, and author. She was one of the first British journalists to court-report via Twitter, covering the 2012 obscenity trial, R v Peacock.[1][2]

Career

Born and raised in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, Hodgson attended Wakefield Girls' High School, studied English at York University gaining First Class Honours, and undertook NCTJ training at Harlow College, Essex. Following internships at the BBC, New Statesman, and the Erotic Review, Hodgson worked in legal journalism at The Law Society, before moving to Standpoint magazine, editing the likes of Nick Cohen, Anne Mcelvoy, Simon Heffer and Dominic Lawson. During this time she began to freelance for the Guardian, BBC Radio 5 Live, BBC Radio 2 and Sky News, commenting on gender, civil liberties and technology issues. In 2012, she reported on rival Tokyo Pride celebrations in Japan for the New Statesman, Guardian and BBC Radio. She left Standpoint to go freelance soon after.

In 2012 she was approached by Hodder & Stoughton to write her first book, 'Bound To You', which she completed in just six weeks. The book was translated into Polish, Italian and Spanish. She was then approached by Men's Health to write the 'Sexual Adventurer' column which ran until 2016.

Hodgson has written about sexuality and society from a psychological and investigative perspective, covering everything from the science of BDSM,[3] to dating apps that run criminal record checks.[4] She once openly criticised a Tory MP who once euphemistically invited her to "tea"[5], before telling her he couldn’t take her to the Buckingham Palace Garden Party because of her sex-positive journalism. In 2017, a video of Hodgson debating Men's Rights Activist Mike Buchanan on Kay Burley's Sky News show went viral when Buchanan failed to respond to her statistical evidence of discrimination against women. Buchanan conceded that one path to equality would be for men to do women's housework.[6]

In January 2017, Hodgson wrote her second book, 'The Curious History of Dating: from Jane Austen to Tinder' which was published by Little, Brown. A 300-year feminist history which also covers the advent of mixed race relationships and LGBT courting, the book was released by Audible in July 2018 with Hodgson narrating.[7]

Hodgson is a regular commentator on Sky News and frequently dissects the papers on the Sky Sunrise Paper Review, where she is paired with the Telegraph's Brexit editor Asa Bennett (Hodgson is a vocal Remainer). She is also a regular guest on BBC3, BBC World News, BBC Radio 2 and 4, and Eamonn Holmes' TalkRadio show. Her documentary, 'Can Porn Be Ethical?' was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2015, and she was a guest in an episode of Late Night Woman's Hour alongside Caitlin Moran in 2016. Her most recent radio documentary, 'Being Bisexual', was broadcast in July 2017 on the BBC World Service, for which she was short-listed for the DIVA Journalist of the Year 2018 award. In May 2018 she appeared on The Big Questions debating for a reinvention of sex robots, the use of tech to heal PTSD and trauma, and the potential care of elderly people with AI and robotic assistance.

Controversy

In 2012, her home town paper, the Wakefield Express, responded to an article she had written for the Guardian, criticising Wakefield’s rhubarb festival. Hodgson compared the town's decline since its coalmines were closed in the 1980s, by suggesting that beyond the rhubarb, ‘you’ll struggle to find something else redeeming about this wilted Yorkshire town’.[8]

Books

Her first book, Bound To You, a BDSM memoir, was published by Hodder in 2012. Translated into Italian, Spanish and Polish, The Literary Review described it as ‘a welt-mark above the majority of books that have been marketed to the 50 Shades audience’. Her second book, The Curious History of Dating, was published by Little, Brown in January 2017, and described by the Law Gazette as a 'Pacey, intelligent and authoritative account with bags of wit'. The Lady Magazine awarded it 5 stars upon review.

References

  1. ↑ "It's time to abolish the obscenity law". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  2. ↑ "Michael Peacock's acquittal is a victory for sexual freedom". The Guardian. 2012-01-06. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  3. ↑ "The science of what excites kinky people doesn't end with armchair psychology". The Guardian. 2015-02-14. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  4. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/26/app-checks-criminal-records-dating-gatsby
  5. ↑ "By shaming his ex, John Whittingdale has behaved dishonourably". The Guardian. 2016-04-14. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
  6. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzHDBX4P1uE
  7. ↑ "Audiobooks & Original Audio Shows | Free 30 day Trial | Audible.com". mobile.audible.co.uk. Retrieved 2018-08-08.
  8. ↑ "Rhubarb fools – force yourself to Wakefield this weekend". The Guardian. 2012-02-23. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-04.
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