Anushka Asthana


Anushka Asthana is a British journalist and former newsreader. Since 2018 she has presented The Guardian's daily podcast Today in Focus. She was previously that newspaper's joint political editor from 2016 to 2018.

Early life

Asthana was born in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, and raised in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. Her parents, both doctors, moved to the United Kingdom from New Delhi, India in the 1970s.
Asthana attended the private school Manchester High School for Girls and read economics at St John's College, Cambridge.

Career

Asthana joined The Observer as a general reporter in 2003 and spent several months at The Washington Post in 2006. Later she was a political correspondent for The Times before beginning to work for Sky News in 2013 as a political correspondent.
In succession to Patrick Wintour, Asthana was appointed in December 2015 as the joint political editor of The Guardian, in a job share arrangement with Heather Stewart which began in early 2016.
From 23 April 2017, Anushka covered the maternity leave of Allegra Stratton as the co-presenter of Peston on Sunday.