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 and had to be airlifted to hospital; and, worst of all, I once ate a Pot Noodle.

Sandi Toksvig

Categorized in : Hospital River Night Horse

When I was a student at Cambridge I remember an anthropology professor holding up a picture of a bone with 28 incisions carved in it. "This is often considered to be man's first attempt at a calendar" she explained. She paused as we dutifully wrote this down. 'My question to you is this - what man needs to mark 28 days? I would suggest to you that this is woman's first attempt at a calendar. It was a moment that changed my life. In that second I stopped to question almost everything I had been taught about the past. How often had I overlooked women's contributions?

Sandi Toksvig

women feminist past

I always wanted to open a delicatessen in Jerusalem and call it 'Cheeses of Nazareth'.

Sandi Toksvig

nazareth jerusalem food

I like frogs. I am not crazy about their legs in a buffet, but I like their casual approach to life.

Sandi Toksvig

buffets legs crazy

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

Sandi Toksvig

you light food people

Sitting on a plastic chair at night listening to the sea lapping below while sipping a cold beer is about as good as life gets.

Sandi Toksvig

good sea night 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 Stephen Fry that question, who is exactly the same age as me? Somehow, I'm managing to stand up and stay cogent despite my incredible age.

Sandi Toksvig

day me you age

My earliest memory is my parents forgetting my fourth birthday. My dad looked up from reading the paper and went, 'Oh my God!' So we went out, and I chose a red scooter.

Sandi Toksvig

memory red god birthday

The other day, I was taking part in an audience Q&A when I was roundly scolded by a woman for 'allowing the BBC to ruin the English language.' Naturally I felt terrible, as I had no idea either that it was happening or that I was responsible.

Sandi Toksvig

woman day english-language language

You have to stand for the things that you believe in. You have to stay strong inside.

Sandi Toksvig

stand you strong believe

I cannot lie on the beach or by a swimming pool. I think I'm too Nordic to like a lot of relentless sun.

Sandi Toksvig

lie swimming sun beach

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

Sandi Toksvig

professional i-am news life

Social media, to me, has got out of hand. Why can't we all be nice to each other?

Sandi Toksvig

me social-media media nice

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 allowed to send Barbie's house to the skip. That was one of the best days of my life.

Sandi Toksvig

my-life best day life

One of my life's watchwords is 'hyggelig.' It's an untranslatable Danish term for getting together with friends and family and sitting around in a cosy atmosphere with nice food and wine and candles.

Sandi Toksvig

family together food life

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.

Sandi Toksvig

think political party believe

My wife and I drove across America following the Oregon Trail, which the pioneers once passed along.

Sandi Toksvig

trail once wife america

Do you know there were two pilots made for 'Have I Got News For You' before the series started two decades ago: one hosted by Angus Deayton and one hosted by me. But I was told that they couldn't have a woman in charge of the news.

Sandi Toksvig

woman me you news

I wish I was fitter.

Sandi Toksvig

fitter i-wish wish

I'm absolutely obsessed with boxing.

Sandi Toksvig

absolutely obsessed boxing

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 what is going on in the world that everyone falls with gratitude before the BBC News.

Sandi Toksvig

you gratitude news world