David Spiegelhalter Q&A: “I can’t think of anything worse than eternity”

The statistician on Samuel Pepys's London and his love of wild swimming.

David Spiegelhalter was born in Barnstaple, Devon, in 1953. He is a statistician, emeritus professor of statistics and fellow of Churchill College, Cambridge. He hosts the podcast Risky Talk.

What’s your earliest memory?

When I was about three or four, sitting in a small orange chair outside our kitchen door on a very busy main road. I could watch cars (and presumably breathe in their exhaust fumes) for hours.

What book last changed your thinking?

This is tricky, as I tend to read for pleasure rather than improvement. Perhaps A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole which, apart from making me laugh more than any other book, brought home to me how everyone struggles with their existence, but some still shine with grace and humour.

In which time and place, other than your own, would you like to live?

As long as I was of good social and economic status, I think Samuel Pepys’s London would have been fascinating. So much happened after the Restoration, with the start of the Royal Society, extraordinary work by Newton, Halley and their colleagues, some plague and fire, the Glorious Revolution and so on. And a general relaxation of moral strictures.

What’s your theme tune?

“He Who Would Valiant Be”. I like walking on my own and, if nobody is around, I often march along singing loudly. I also do pilgrimages – I have done 500 miles of the Santiago de Compostela – so this hymn is perfect.

Who are your heroes?

In childhood: Virgil Tracy from Thunderbirds. In adulthood: Virgil Tracy.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

It’s not been given to me personally, but I feel Winston Churchill’s advice to “KBO” (Keep Buggering On) is the finest and most pithy advice I have heard. I hugely admire those who have simply endured, whether it’s being in the trenches or having challenging caring responsibilities. I try to follow this advice, and do tend to stick to things, possibly through having insufficient imagination to think of an alternative.

Who would paint your portrait?

It’s already been done – I have a wonderful portrait by Hephzibah Rendle-Short hanging in my home.

What’s currently bugging you?

I love wild river and sea swimming and so I always get furious when I read of waters being illegally polluted by water companies, who have loaded themselves with debt and enriched their shareholders without properly investing in infrastructure. Thank you, Margaret Thatcher.

What single thing would make your life better?

For my prostate cancer to be cured. Which isn’t going to happen.

When were you happiest?

I have followed the classic U-shaped happiness curve. I enjoyed being young – I remember my joy when I was 19 and my father changed his Ford Cortina for a Hillman Hunter which had a fold-flat front seat. Middle-age was challenging, but now I am over 70 I feel happier than ever. As a single image, perhaps the first cold drink after a long summer walk with my partner.