Scan Magazine | Cover Feature | Sandi Toksvig
Sandi Toksvig has lived in London since she was a teenager but enjoys spending her holidays in Scandinavia. Photo: Debbie Toksvig.
government to make fun of to make good political theatre. Think about it: it’s really hard to make fun of Barack Obama because everyone thinks he’s a nice guy. If everyone in Scandinavia is happy and healthy, it could potentially be more difficult to produce great art. Actually, this is a really strange thing for a socialist to worry about...” she laughs. “I do hope it is not the case, though.”
come along to our summer house in Jutland for long breaks. We go there, we don’t have a phone, no TV, no internet. I’m still not really sure what we do all day: we swim, we read, we talk, stuff like that. They can run free and just be. I love going there – as soon as I step off the plane, my shoulders sink six inches and I can really breathe... It’s home.”
What keeps Sandi feeling Danish? “My father was so Danish, Danish to the core,” she smiles, “things like Danish Christmas, candles on the tree, the roast pork – all the tribal things that tie you to a country. The food is very important and I also suspect that what ties you to a country is something to do with attitude – things like work not being the core things in their lives: it’s about family, being together. That time you have with your family is more important than anything you might achieve in your career.” And what of her own family here? Do her children feel Danish? “They refer to themselves as half-Danish and
Sandi Toksvig is back on the News Quiz on BBC Radio 4 later this year.
12 | Issue 9 | June 2009
*’Janteloven’ is a concept written about by Norwegian/Danish writer Axel Sandemose about a fictional Danish small town. The ‘Laws of Jante’ describe the mentality of “don’t think you are better than us” and “don’t think you can teach us anything”, often referred to as being commonly used to preserve social stability and uniformity.