Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Philip Larkin, To The Sea . "Everything crowds under the low horizon: Steep beach, blue water, towels, red bathing caps ... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 4th June, 1940, Britain completes the miracle of Dunkirk , rescuing 338,226 stranded tro...
Jun 04, 2021•7 min•Season 3Ep. 100
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Mark Jarman, Reminder . "You're here and God's in heaven ... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 28th May, 1936, Alan Turing submits his paper On Computable Numbers, setting out the theoretical basis for modern computers On this day: 28th May, 1908...
May 28, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 99
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Thom Gunn, The Hug . " I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 14th May, 1796, Edward Jenner inaugurates the science of vaccination by infecting his gardener's son with cowpox, protecting him from smallpox. ...
May 14, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 98
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Laurence Binyon, For The Fallen . "At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them ... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 7th May 1945, General Jodl signs Germany's unconditional surrender , ending the Second World War in Eur...
May 07, 2021•7 min•Season 3Ep. 97
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Billy Collins, Today . "If ever there were a spring day so perfect, so uplifted by a warm intermittent breeze that it made you want to throw open all the windows in the house ... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 30th April 1506, the signing of t...
Apr 30, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 96
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Lord Macaulay, an extract from Horatius . " And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his Gods... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 16th April, 1953, the Queen launches the Royal Yacht, ...
Apr 16, 2021•7 min•Season 3Ep. 95
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Ezra Pound, The Ballad of the Goodly Fere . " No capon priest was the Goodly Fere But a man o' men was he... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 2nd April, 2020, the world's recorded cases of Covid-19 passed one million. As of yesterday, thanks to ...
Apr 02, 2021•8 min•Season 3Ep. 94
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by AE Housman. "Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough ... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 26th March, 1953, Jonas Salk announces he has successfully tested an experimental polio vaccine on himself and his family. In...
Mar 26, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 93
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a sonnet by William Shakespeare. " From you have I been absent in the spring, When proud-pied April, dressed in all his trim, Hath put a spirit of youth in everything... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 19th March, 1982 , Argentines, claiming to be scrap ...
Mar 19, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 92
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Jorge Luis Borges, in a translation by Alastair Reid , The Just . " A man who cultivates his garden, as Voltaire wished. He who is grateful for the existence of music... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 12th March, 1710, Thomas Augustine Arne is...
Mar 12, 2021•7 min•Season 3Ep. 91
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by John Clare, The Skylark . " Up from their hurry, see, the skylark flies, And o'er her half-formed nest, with happy wings Winnows the air... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 5th March 1756, Thomas Linley the Younger , the "English Mozart", was bo...
Mar 05, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 90
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Christopher Marlowe, The Passionate Shepherd to his Love . " Come live with me and be my love, And we will all the pleasures prove... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 26th February 1564, Christopher Marlowe , poet and dramatist, was born in Cant...
Feb 26, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 89
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Mary Oliver, The Summer Day . " Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear?... " From the show: Opening/closing music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 19th February, 1717, David Garrick is born in Hereford, in the Angel Inn. On this day: 19th February, 1910, Mary Mallo...
Feb 19, 2021•6 min•Season 3Ep. 88
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Thomas Campion, Now Winter Nights Enlarge . " Now winter nights enlarge The number of their hours... " From the show: On this day: 12th February, 1554 , Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen, is executed for treason. On this day: 12th February, 1567 , Thomas Campion, poet, physician and composer, is born in London Music to wake you up – Where Did Ou...
Feb 12, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 87
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke, Evening , in a translation by Stephen Mitchell . " The sky puts on the darkening blue coat held for it by a row of ancient trees... " From the show: Opening music courtesy of Chillhop: Philanthrope, Leavv - What Was Before https://chll.to/d6b0ec27 On this day: 5th February, 1723, the great exponent of common sense John Withersp...
Feb 05, 2021•5 min•Season 3Ep. 86
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day . "And so the Shortest Day came and the year died And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world Came people singing, dancing, To drive the dark away..." From the show: Luke , 2:1;4-5 The winter solstice William's Truthful Christmas by Richmal Crompton On this day: 21st December, 1117, the birth of Thomas ...
Dec 21, 2020•8 min•Season 2Ep. 85
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Thomas Hardy, The Darkling Thrush . " I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey..." From the show: Ecclesiastes 9:7 Ice in the Bedroom by PG Wodehouse On this day: 14th December, 1901, the first major ping pong tournament , for men and women, takes place in London's Royal Aquarium On this day: 14th December, 1911, Norwegian explorer ...
Dec 14, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 84
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Sara Teesdale, A Winter Blue Jay . " Crisply the bright snow whispered, Crunching beneath our feet... " From the show: 1 Thessalonians 5:4-5 On this day: 7th December, 521, St Columba is born in Gartan, Ireland On this day: 7th December, 1732, the Theatre Royal holds its first performance. Today we know the venue as the Royal Opera House. Get a ti...
Dec 07, 2020•5 min•Season 2Ep. 83
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Rowan Williams, Advent Calendar . " He will come like last leaf’s fall. One night when the November wind... " From the show: Psalm 100: 4-5 Jeeves and the Yuletide Spirit by PG Wodehouse On this day: 30th November, 1016, Canute the Great claims the English throne On this day: 30th November, 1667, the great satirist Jonathan Swift is born in Dublin...
Nov 30, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 82
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Wislawa Symborska , Children of Our Age . " All day long, all through the night, all affairs – yours, ours, theirs – are political affairs... " From the show: Ecclesiastes 11:4 On this day: 23rd November, 1644, Areopagitica , John Milton's great defence of the liberty of the press, is published On this day: 23rd November, 1963, the first episode o...
Nov 23, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 81
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Mary Oliver, Wild Geese . " You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.... " From the show: Isaiah 45:8 The letters of Emily Eden On this day: 16th November, 2002 , the first recorded case of SARS, in Guangdong, China. On this day: 16th November, 1961, Frank "Know what I mean,...
Nov 16, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 80
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by John McCrae, In Flanders Fields . " In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row... " Donate to this year’s Poppy Appeal here . From the show: John 15:13 Operation Torch sees Allied forces successfully invade Vichy French territories in North Africa, 8th November, 1942 On this day: 9th November, 1985 , Gary Kasparov becomes ...
Nov 09, 2020•5 min•Season 2Ep. 79
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by WB Yeats, The Wild Swans at Coole . " The trees are in their autumn beauty, The woodland paths are dry... " From the show: Psalm 69:33 Hot Water by PG Wodehouse On this day: 2nd November, 1996, the blues singer Eva Cassidy dies aged 33 2nd November was established as All Soul's Day a thousand years ago by Odilo of Cluny . A day to remember all tho...
Nov 02, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 78
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by John Donne, one of his Holy Sonnets. " Batter my heart, three-person'd God, for you As yet but knock... " From the show: Song of Solomon 2:14 The charge of the Light Brigade – here's a rare wax cylinder recording from 1890 of Tennyson reading his poem On this day: 26th October, 899, King Alfred the Great, educator, reformer and warrior, goes to gl...
Oct 26, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 77
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, The Way Through The Woods . " They shut the road through the woods Seventy years ago... " From the show: Proverbs 17:17 Boswell's Life of Johnson On this day: 19th October, 1781, Lord Cornwallis surrenders to George Washington at Yorktown , ending the American Revolutionary War On this day: 19th October, 1889, Arthur Satherley, co...
Oct 19, 2020•5 min•Season 2Ep. 76
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Christian Wiman, All My Friends Are Finding New Beliefs . " All my friends are finding new beliefs. This one converts to Catholicism and this one to trees..." From the show: Psalm 59:16 On this day: 12th October, 1492, Christopher Columbus lands in the New World On this day: 12th October, 1915 , the nurse and Anglican martyr Edith Cavell is execut...
Oct 12, 2020•6 min•Season 2Ep. 75
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by RS Thomas, A Day in Autumn . " Having looked up From the day’s chores, pause a minute... " From the show: Proverbs 2:8 Samuel Pepys sneaks a look backstage at Drury Lane in 1667 On this day: 5th October, 1919, the character actor Donald Pleasence is born in Worksop, the son of a stationmaster On this day: 5th October, 1930, the airship R101 crashe...
Oct 05, 2020•5 min•Season 2Ep. 74
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Thomas Hardy, The Ruined Maid . " O 'Melia, my dear, this does everything crown! Who could have supposed I should meet you in Town?... " From the show: Colossians 3:23 Just William's Luck by Richmal Crompton On this day: 28th September, 1066 , the invasion force of William the Conqueror lands at Pevensey Bay On this day: 28th September, 1836 , Tho...
Sep 28, 2020•7 min•Season 2Ep. 73
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Seamus Heaney, At The Wellhead . " Your songs, when you sing them with your two eyes closed As you always do, are like a local road We’ve known every turn of in the past... " From the show: Joel 2:23 On this day: 21st September, 1819, John Keats writes a letter from Winchester, mentioning that he has composed a new poem on the beauties of Autumn O...
Sep 21, 2020•7 min•Season 2Ep. 72
Five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in East London, as the capital starts to wake up. Sign up at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com With a poem by Ted Hughes, September . " We sit late, watching the dark slowly unfold: No clock counts this... " From the show: Psalm 27:9 The Code of the Woosters , by PG Wodehouse – first serialised in Britain in the Daily Mail in 1938, beginning on this day On this day: 14th September, 1752 , Britain adopts the Gregorian calendar, leaping to September 14th fr...
Sep 14, 2020•7 min•Season 2Ep. 71
