Sandi Toksvig's bright side
4/23/202646 min
The Danish-British author, broadcaster and comedian recalls her unusual early life with glee, including how she came to be holding the hand of Neil Armstrong’s assistant at NASA’s headquarters on July 20, 1969. (R)
Sandi’s interest in the world was stoked from a young age by her father, Claus, who was Denmark’s first Foreign Correspondent, and who was incredibly famous in his homeland.
It was her dad who believed experiences were more important than day-to-day schooling, which is how Sandi came to be holding the hand of Neil Armstrong’s assistant at NASA’s mission control on the day of the Apollo moon landing.
Sandi's irrepressible curiosity in the world and its people has been a source of renewal for her, from moments of crippling loneliness and homophobia to joyful occasions and performances.
Further information
Originally broadcast November 2022.
This episode was produced by Alice Moldovan. The Executive Producer was Carmel Rooney.
This episode references LGBTQIA+, Cambridge, Footlights, QI, The Great British Bake Off, Danish news, NASA, astronaut, moon, space, ovarian cyst, two mums,
To binge even more great episodes of the Conversations podcast with Richard Fidler and Sarah Kanowski go the ABC listen app (Australia) or wherever you get your podcasts. There you’ll find hundreds of the best thought-provoking interviews with authors, writers, artists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and celebrities.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsSpeaker 00:00
[upbeat music] Do you ever look at your kids and think, "They've got it easy. Life was so much harder back in my day"? Well, have I got the podcast for you. It's called Wait, They Did What? We take a trip back in time to when kids could buy fireworks, cars didn't have seat belts, and we all had to sing God Save the Queen.
Sandi Toksvig· Guest0:17
They did what? They did what? They did what? I can't believe that.
Speaker 00:20
Check it out with your kids. Wait, They Did What? is on ABC Listen and ABC iview.
Speaker 20:27
[gentle music] ABC Listen. Podcasts, radio, news, music and more.
Richard Fidler· Host0:35
Today it's my conversation with author, broadcaster and comedian Sandi Toksvig. Sandi's best known in Australia as a host of the BBC series QI, but that is just the merest, teeniest, tiniest portion of a fabulous life spent in the relentless pursuit of everything that interests her. Sandi's curiosity was stoked from a young age by her dad, who was Denmark's first TV foreign correspondent, and that meant that Sandi grew up all over the world, in Europe and Africa and New York City. Despite being a frequent absentee student, Sandi went on to Cambridge University, and while she was there, she joined Footlights, and then she appeared on the very first night of London's legendary Comedy Store. Sandi Toksvig has appeared regularly on shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway?