Anna Rosemary Ptaszynski (born 16 May 1986) is a British podcaster, television host and television writer. She is one of the four regular hosts of the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish alongside Dan Schreiber, Andrew Hunter Murray, and James Harkin. She was also a presenter of the BBC Two television show No Such Thing as the News and is a researcher and writer for the television show QI.
Early life
Ptaszynski was born on 16 May 1986,[1][2] the daughter of Judith Terry and theatre producer André Ptaszynski (1953–2020).[3] Her paternal grandfather, Władysław Ptaszynski, was a Polish officer who spent time in a prisoner of war camp in Russia.[3] She has three younger siblings and attended Oxford High School.[2] Before working at QI and No Such Thing as a Fish, she worked in Scottish politics and in advertising.[4]
Career
Ptaszynski is a researcher, writer, and script-editor for the BBC quiz show QI.[5][6]
Ptaszynski has been one of the four regular hosts of the podcast No Such Thing as a Fish since it was launched as a spinoff of the BBC quiz show QI in March 2014.[7][8] Five years later, at the end of 2019, episodes of No Such Thing as a Fish had been downloaded over 250 million times, with 1.5 million listeners every week.[4][9] Ptaszynski has gone on several national and international tours to record live episodes of No Such Thing as a Fish.[10][11]
Ptaszynski was a co-author of three books published by the podcast's co-hosts: The Book of the Year 2019, The Book of the Year 2018, and The Book of the Year 2017.[4][12] She also co-authored the book: Everything to play for, with co-host James Harkin. Along with the other main hosts of No Such Thing as a Fish, Ptaszynski hosted No Such Thing as the News, a BBC Two television program based on the podcast.[13]
Facts shared by Ptaszynski on No Such Thing as a Fish have been cited in media outlets Daily Express, and she has published facts in The Telegraph.[14][15][16] Ptaszynski has been noted for her dry humour on the podcast.[17]
Ptaszynski was the curator for the 17th series of the Radio 4 show Museum of Curiosity, which she co-hosted with its creator John Lloyd.[18]
Episode 467 of No Such Thing as a Fish, released in February 2023, was Ptaszynski's last episode of the podcast before her temporary departure for maternity leave.[19] She returned for the 500th episode in October 2023. She permanently returned in episode 504.
In July 2024, Ptaszynski and fellow No Such Thing As a Fish host James Harkin released the first episode of their podcast Quite a Good Sport.[20] The podcast is produced by QI.[21]
References
- ^ 265: No Such Thing As A Hole In The Bowl, 19 April 2019, retrieved 21 July 2023
- ^ a b MacAlister, Katherine (5 November 2015). "The QI Elves are coming to Oxford to tackle general ignorance". Oxford Mail.
- ^ a b Coveney, Michael (4 August 2020). "André Ptaszynski obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "No Such Thing As A Fish's 'THE BOOK OF THE YEAR 2019' Out Now". Broadway World. 25 November 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Johnston-Flint, Rosa (18 January 2019). "There's No Such Thing as a Fish Interview". Culture Calling. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Graham Lawton; Tiffany O'Callaghan (December 2014). "QI's little helpers". New Scientist. 224 (3000–3001): 40–41. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(14)62445-3.
- ^ Sawyer, Miranda (22 March 2014). "No Such Thing As a Fish; Freakonomics – podcast reviews". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Abit, April Joy (11 March 2019). "No Such Thing as a Fish". The Medium, University of Toronto Mississauga. Archived from the original on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Henley, Rowena (1 November 2019). "'QI' Elf Anna Ptaszynski Reveals Her Favourite Ever Fact & What It's Like Working With Stephen & Sandi". Bustle. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Westbrook, Caroline (1 July 2017). "EXCLUSIVE The No Such Thing As A Fish Team talk QI, podcasts and men with two penises". Metro UK. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Gibsone, Harriet (8 March 2019). "Anna Ptaszynski: 'I dreamed I served a baby for lunch'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Fane Saunders, Tristram (2 November 2017). "The QI Elves, aka No Such Thing as a Fish, talk their new book and share 10 of their weirdest facts". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ "No Such Thing as the News". BBC. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Saunders, Josh (24 February 2020). "Climate change shock: How worms could be answer to planet's future". Daily Express. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Wilson, Olivia (27 February 2020). "Michael Jackson myth: Why Japanese police don't wear white gloves because of Thriller star". Checker Express. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Ptaszynski, Anna (23 December 2015). "How to have interesting dinner party chat this Christmas - from a real-life QI elf". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Betts, Marc (23 March 2019). "Review: No Such Thing As A Fish at Norwich Theatre Royal". Eastern Daily Press. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
- ^ Bennett, Steve. "Anna Ptaszynski joins Museum of Curiosity : News 2023 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ "@nosuchthing". Twitter. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
- ^ PodcastingToday (23 July 2024). "New podcast Quite A Good Sport launches to coincide with the Olympics - PodcastingToday". Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Bennett, Steve. "QI team launch sports podcast : Other news 2024 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2024.