Forged in the North: Fiona Hill on roots, resilience and success
From Sting to Sara Davies, the former White House aide launches a new podcast exploring how the North East continues to shape talent and ambition across generations
For decades Dr Fiona Hill has advised US Presidents, the UK government, and the US National Security Council. Widely regarded as one of the world’s top experts on Russia and Vladimir Putin, she is also Chancellor of Durham University and a defence adviser to the UK’s Labour government.
Yet when asked about the real secret to success, the 59-year-old points not to Washington or Westminster, but to her own roots in the North East.
Born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, the daughter of a coal miner and a midwife, Fiona credits her upbringing for shaping her values and ambitions. This autumn she turns that insight into a podcast series, Forged in the North, which launches at Durham Book Festival in October.
Across the series, she speaks with some of the region’s most well known figures - among them Sting, Paralympian Tanni Grey-Thompson, historian Paul Kennedy, author Lee Hall (Billy Elliot), screenwriter Peter Straughan (Wolf Hall, Conclave), North East Mayor Kim McGuinness, entrepreneur Sara Davies, and Great North Run founder Brendan Foster. Together, they explore what it means to be “forged in the North.”
Fiona says the inspiration came from her memoir There Is Nothing for You Here, which reflected on how County Durham’s social fabric in the 1980s supported her own ambitions.
“What Forged in the North is trying to do is put the spotlight on a region that is normally only in the headlines for something going wrong: child poverty, the lowest life expectancy, worst nutrition,” she says.
“But the North East is home of the Industrial Revolution - literally the engines of prosperity. 200 years ago, it was the forefront of innovation, and we’re saying, there’s still a lot of potential for innovation. This podcast is learning from all these amazing, successful people who were forged in the North.”
A recurring theme across her conversations is the importance of roots. Sara Davies points to her mother and grandmother as her greatest inspirations, while Fiona herself describes her family and community as an anchor. “There’s a very strong sense of who I am and where I’m from and what I’m about,” she adds.
That sense of belonging, she argues, is a form of “soft power” - a strength forged in adversity. Research backs her up: a recent YouGov survey found the North East has the strongest regional identity in the UK outside Scotland.
For Fiona’s generation, local investment in arts and education was vital. She recalls grants from the Durham Miners’ Association and her local education authority which enabled her to study Russian. Writers Lee Hall and Peter Straughan both benefited from enterprise grants and locally funded theatres. “As a result of that investment,” she notes, “they went on to be massively successful.”
By contrast, younger guests like Kim McGuinness and Sara Davies had to “make their own luck.”
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Fiona says: “Kim is now looking at the idea of local government being a patron: Can we get investment funds? How can the local combined authority give seed money? How can government catapult talent?”
The North East Mayor added: “It’s my vision the North East becomes a cultural powerhouse, and this important podcast shines a light on how with the right support, talent can truly thrive.
“Funding in our region’s art sector has been outpaced by the south for some time. I’m determined to fix that cultural chasm and the cycle of regional inequality, positioning the North East as a strong contender in the UK economy.”
Sting too speaks about the North’s neglect, recently lending his support to Gateshead’s Baltic. For Fiona, this is exactly what social capital looks like: those who succeed investing back into the region.
Meanwhile as she reflects on her own career, Fiona returns to her home region for perspective. “Being from the North East grounds you. It’s an anchor.
“The fact the region changed dramatically, from being the forefront of pretty much everything, has shaped my enquiry into the world: what does that imply for the rest of the world? What pitfalls lie ahead? How do you overcome that? How do you dig deep? That’s what I’m trying to think about. How you make societies more resilient? I keep coming back to these lessons from Noth East England.”
Forged in the North launches on all podcast platforms on October 10. Fiona will discuss the project at Durham Book Festival on Sunday, October 12, alongside bestselling author LJ Ross and Romani storyteller Richard O’Neill.