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.
^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.