Sandi Toksvig

“Too often, there are complaints in the British papers about the BBC. It's too left wing, too right wing, too pro-Brexit, too anti, and so on. It's only when you go abroad and try to find out...”

“The truth is I don't really like the world of plastic money: the great chip-and-pin double act of modern payment. I prefer cash. I don't like the idea of some distant clerk nodding each time...”

“I'm political in the sense that there's much to be done, but I'm apolitical in the sense that I don't think there's a party that represents anything I believe in.”

“I've always liked being able to go around incognito in Copenhagen.”

“The problem with money issued by any government is that its only value is what those in charge decree.”

“You can go anywhere in the world, and people's faces light up when they put delicious food in their mouths.”

“I've downloaded the BBC's 'Cranford' with Judi Dench because I like a bit of bonnet acting, and I can turn it on and off without worrying about whether I can follow what's happening.”

“I'm slightly obsessed with women's history, so I'd love to talk to Emily Dickinson or Louisa May Alcott.”

“I wish I was fitter.”

“With my daughters, it didn't matter how much it was not my thing, we went through two truly horrible pink phases. I bought an awful lot of Barbie rubbish, and it was a great day when I was a...”

“Food is an international language, an expression of love.”

“I haven't got the patience for small talk, although I once saw a woman standing on her own in the corner, and I realised it was Monica Lewinsky, and I had the nicest evening with her - she w...”

“I can't live without Radio 4. It's worth the entire licence fee. I'm an obsessive listener; I get up, and Radio 4 goes on, but it goes off when 'Thought for the Day' starts, as that's a step...”

“I love 'Teach Yourself' books. I bought an old weaving loom and had no time for classes, but one 'Teach Yourself' later, and my bobbin is flying.”

“When my three children were little, I took them to Rome. On our way to our destination, we went to see the Colosseum and returned to the car to find everything had been stolen. Trying to buy...”

“There are panel shows that struggle to get women on, and that's because the women feel marginalised and stupid and in the edit are often seen just laughing at the boys and not saying anythin...”

“I don't know a lot about mountaineering. I once went walking in the Lake District with the legendary climber Chris Bonington and had to have emergency physio afterwards to regain sensation i...”

“I've had a surprising number of near-death experiences: I was nearly blown up by a landmine in Sudan; I was stranded on the Zambezi river at night; I was bucked off a rodeo horse in Arizona...”

“'The News Quiz' is one of the things I am proudest of in my professional life.”

“I'm 57 years old, and I host a quiz show every single day. I got asked in a recent interview, did I feel that hosting a quiz show helps keep my brain sharp? And I asked - would you ask Steph...”