You ask the questions: Sue MacGregor

The Today presenter Sue MacGregor was born in Oxford in August 1941. Her father, Jim MacGregor, a neurologist, moved the family to Cape Town, South Africa, in 1949.

At 16, she passed her university matriculation exams. However, her mother, believing she was too young for higher education, sent her to Europe. She attended l'Ecole de Commerce in Switzerland for six months, spent six months at a secretarial school in Oxford and got her first job at the BBC as junior secretary to Peter Duncan, then editor and producer of In Town Today, before returning to South Africa in 1961.

After two months working for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, she became presenter of the programme Woman's World – aged only 20. Seven years later, she returned to Europe and the BBC, joining The World at One as a current-affairs producer, and later becoming a reporter. After 15 years of presenting Woman's Hour, she made the switch to Today in 1984. Her autobiography, Woman of Today, was published last week, and she will present her last Today on 28 February. She lives in north London.

Do you worry that after the revelations about your personal life in Woman of Today, you will be less respected?
Samantha Hennessy, by e-mail

I think it's inevitable. Though what exactly I've been respected for in my so-called private life, I'm not sure I know. If you mean that I will probably have shocked or disappointed people who think I should have behaved more impeccably, then I'm afraid I knew that would be the case. I hope, though, that people who read the book will realise that I have also had other kinds of relationships with men – warm and fulfilling – that have not ended in permanent partnerships. I also value very much my women friends and the chance to discuss absolutely anything and everything with those to whom I'm closest.

I read you smoked cannabis in your youth. When was the last time you broke the law? What was your crime?
Kas Michael, Guildford

I did smoke pot – two or three times. In South Africa and then in London in the late Sixties. It had little effect except when I inhaled deeply. I don't smoke anything now. My last "crime" was deemed to be driving without due care and attention. Feeling rather sleepy after a long session on Today, I unwisely drove into the back of a small white van in Russell Square, in London. Unfortunately, it turned out to belong to a police-dog handler, and his dog was in the back. Although it was only a gentle collision and the dog was quite unhurt, I ended up with a massive fine and six points on my driving licence, which I thought a bit unfair. It was a long time ago.

What is your thought for the day that you leave Today?
Peter Curtis, London

That I can wake up at 3am and turn over and go back to sleep. Though I will seriously miss the buzz and the feeling of connection with people doing all sorts of early-morning things, including being deeply irritated by us all at the programme. They write letters, and I'll even miss writing back to them.

Has the BBC dumbed down while you've been there?
Sean McGowan, by e-mail

That's a difficult one. Every time I'm convinced television doesn't put on any decent programmes at peak time any more, there's a brilliant series on BBC1, such as The Blue Planet, or a super political documentary, or a great concert. Any of them would knock spots off similar programmes made 20 years ago by any of the channels. But there's no doubt there's been a ridiculous proliferation of copycat reality programmes, inane quizzes and low-level agony and chat shows that simply function as moving wallpaper and deeply underestimate the intelligence of 90 per cent of the audience.

Ever been drunk in charge of a microphone?
Harriet Kirby, Monmouth

No, but I once had the distinct impression, as I walked across the road towards the front doors of Broadcasting House (this was some time ago), that I had drunk a couple of glasses of wine too many the night before. I don't think it showed on air, but I had to enunciate rather carefully.

Is there anyone you would still love to interview? Why?
Beth Gates, Sheffield

I can think of three, and they are all women, and perhaps they tell you something about my generation. All of them have had the trappings of power in enormous quantities, and yet real power actively to change people's lives has eluded them. They are the Queen, the Queen Mother, and Hillary Clinton. The first two haven't given an interview to anyone and I doubt that they will, but the list of questions to the Queen and her mother is pretty long. Just in case someone surprises us all and manages to pull off the feat, I won't say what I'd ask except that there would be many variations on the "How does/did it feel...?" line of inquiry over important episodes in their lives. Hillary Clinton has given many interviews, but none of the ones that I have heard or seen gives any indication of the woman her friends and foes hint at. She is massively intelligent, very cool and extraordinarily careful about what she says. I'd like to find out if she thinks she could really be President, and how she'd go about gaining her goal.

What is the best way to deal with a large male ego?
Holly Poole, Brighton

Large male egos are almost impossible to deflate. Clever women flatter to deceive – and get their way, which is a technique that is normally beyond my powers of patience. But there are charming male egos and dreadful ones. Most of those near me are of the former kind, stimulating to be with and not worth losing much sleep over.

What do James Naughtie and John Humphrys look like first thing in the morning?
Keith Munroe, Holyhead

Much more alert than I do. John wears casual clothes, smart but not exactly Armani, and has lately taken to a rather fetching line in dark-blue shirts. Jim can look impeccably turned out, but, I think he would be the first to admit, not that often.

Is the "ferret on raw meat" style of interviewing past its sell-by date? Have the top politicians rumbled it?
Max Nottingham, Lincoln

Who can you be thinking of? If by any chance you refer to some of my immediate colleagues and studio companions, then I think it's still immensely effective. But if every interview were conducted at the same high pitch, it would make exhausting listening. The politicians have certainly rumbled it.

What is the worst example of sexism you have encountered at the BBC? How sexist is the BBC now?
Richard Gibson, London

The worst example was being told that I couldn't get a job as a continuity announcer because women's voices carried no authority. Now the BBC is not very sexist. Sometimes not at all. Women really are being actively promoted all over the place.

How does it feel to be on the receiving end of questions for a change?
Maxine Fox, by e-mail

It depends on who's doing the questioning. Some journalists can seem friendly when they talk to you and then write deeply unflattering pieces; with others, it's quite the opposite. Right now, I'm quite enjoying this.

Aren't you ever tempted to tell John Humphrys to lay off a bit?
Philip Young, Taunton

I wouldn't dare.

I hear you once fell asleep during an interview. Who can have been so boring?
Barbara Hague, by e-mail

It was the then chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, Lord McGregor (no relation), and I think it was probably not his fault, though the subject matter, which eludes me now, was obviously less than riveting. I ended up spouting nonsense, and he looked rightly worried.

Which interview do you most wish you could do again? What would you do differently?
John Ostler, Southampton

I can't think of a single interview that I have ever done that I haven't felt I could have improved by being given a second go. Of course, that's impossible during a live broadcast. But part of the attraction of working on Today is the sense of living dangerously, of working on the edge, and the feeling that things could go wrong at any time. That does concentrate the mind.

You certainly don't have a face for radio. Why did you never go into TV?
Benjamin Vincent, Hull

Is this a compliment? On the chance that it may be, let me try and give a rational answer. I have done a little TV, by the way, and still do – mainly on BBC News 24. In the past, in my late twenties and well into my thirties, I was offered the chance more than once to join a television current-affairs team. Friends thought I was mad to turn them down. One reason was caution: shelf lives on TV are shorter than those on radio, and for much of that time I was very happy fronting a long-running and well-respected daily radio programme [Woman's Hour]. Another reason was a reluctance to lose my anonymity and gain the high recognition factor of a TV face. I imagined that I would end up dodging all kinds of unwelcome attention. Probably I exaggerated the difference it would have made to my life. But (despite some of the questions and answers I've given) I have on the whole felt happier as an essentially private person.

What's next? More partying? More writing? More men?
David Johnson, Edinburgh

More sleep.

'Woman of Today' is published by Headline, price £20