Hello from Suffolk, England. Sit back and enjoy five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Pied Beauty . " Glory be to God for dappled things – For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow... " From the show: The Middle Years , Henry James Gonio castle, resting place of St Matthias the apostle On this day: May 14, 1796, Edward Jenner tests the world's first vaccine (Bonus: the always-excellent In Our Time on Jenner and i...
May 14, 2020•5 min•Ep. 40
Hello from Suffolk, England. Sit back and enjoy five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, If . " If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you... " From the show: Winston Churchill takes over as Prime Minister in 1940 On this day in 1842, Arthur Sullivan, composer of The Pirates of Penzance and Onward Christian Soldiers is born On this day in 1914, RE "Tip" Foster, the only man to capta...
May 13, 2020•6 min•Ep. 39
Hello from Suffolk, England. Sit back and enjoy five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by George Meredith, Invitation to the Country . " Cast off the yoke of toil and smoke As Spring is casting winter's grey... " From the show: William Wilberforce begins his 18-year campaign to end the slave trade in Parliament King John takes a fateful step down the road to Magna Carta Music to wake you up – One Mint Julep by Louis Prima ( Listen to the ful...
May 12, 2020•6 min•Ep. 38
Hello from Suffolk, England. Sit back and enjoy five minutes of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by Lord Byron, The Waltz . "Waltz—Waltz alone—both legs and arms demands, Liberal of feet, and lavish of her hands. .. " From the show: The Great Exhibition, 1851 The arrival of the waltz in England The assassination of the Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval Byron on the public scandal of the waltz Music to wake you up – I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair by Ge...
May 11, 2020•6 min•Ep. 37
Hello from Suffolk, England. Take five minutes for a dose of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by Charles Larcom Graves, Railway Rhymes . "When books are pow'rless to beguile And papers only stir my bile, For solace and relief I flee To Bradshaw or the A. B. C. , And find the best of recreations In studying the names of stations. .. " From the show: Weekend Wodehouse: The Code of the Woosters Mother Julian of Norwich, author of The Revelation of Divine...
May 08, 2020•5 min•Ep. 36
Hello from Suffolk, England. Take five minutes for a dose of civilised calm, recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With the opening of Robert Browning's poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin . " Rats! They fought the dogs, and killed the cats... " From the show: Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household HMS Victory, launched today in 1765 Robert Browning The Pied Piper of Hamelin Music to wake you up – Bluebird by Miranda Lambert ( Listen to the full playlist on YouTube ) Sign up to receive email al...
May 07, 2020•5 min•Ep. 35
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm recorded in the peace of the English countryside. With a poem by RS Thomas, Ninetieth Birthday . " You go up the long track That will take a car, but is best walked... " From the show: Anne Boleyn's last days The battle of Edington, 878 The world's first postage stamp, the penny black Collected poems of RS Thomas Music to wake you up – I Still Believe by Frank Turner ( Listen to the full playlist on YouTube ) Sign up to receive e...
May 06, 2020•6 min•Ep. 34
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm. With a poem by William Wordsworth, Nuns Fret Not . "Nuns fret not at their convent’s narrow room; And hermits are contented with their cells..." From the show: The Peregrine by JA Baker Robert "Black Bob" Crauford Relive Amy Johnson's record-making solo flight to Australia with a daily podcast Music to wake you up – Lovely Day by Bill Withers ( Listen to the full playlist on YouTube ) Sign up to receive email alerts and show not...
May 05, 2020•6 min•Ep. 33
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm. With a poem, The Quiet Life by Alexander Pope. "Happy the man whose wish and care A few paternal acres bound..." From the show: All Among The Barley by Melissa Harrison Melissa's podcast, The Stubborn Light of Things The Carthusian martyrs of London Rhode Island is the first American colony to declare independence Music to wake you up – In The Jailhouse Now by The Soggy Bottom Boys ( Listen to the full playlist on YouTube ) Sign...
May 04, 2020•5 min•Ep. 32
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With an extract from Aurora Leigh by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. "The tangled hedgerows, where the cows push out Impatient horns and tolerant churning mouths..." From the show: Weekend Wodehouse – Uncle Fred in the Springtime The tomb of Saints Philip and James the Less The Act of Union, 1707 Friday film: Seabiscuit Music to wake you up – Over The Rainbow sung by Eva Cassidy ( Listen to the full playlist ...
May 01, 2020•5 min•Ep. 31
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Theo Dorgan, The Promised Garden . "There is a garden where our hearts converse, At ease beside clear water, dreaming..." From the show: Akenfield: Portrait of an English Village by Ronald Blythe – also a wonderful film John Wilkes and Liberty Jerry Lordan, who wrote Wonderful Land for The Shadows, was born today in 1934 Celebrate Walpurgisnight with Cunning Folk Music to wake up to – Summe...
Apr 30, 2020•5 min•Ep. 30
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Siegfried Sassoon, Everyone Sang . "Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight..." From the show: Sweet Danger by Margery Allingham Catherine of Siena The 2011 Royal Wedding Music to wake up to – One Love by Bob Marley ( Listen to the full playlist on YouTube ) Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at marcsalmanac...
Apr 29, 2020•5 min•Ep. 29
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Percy Shelley, Ozymandias . "I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert..." From the show: The Mutiny on the Bounty Captain Cook's landing place at Botany Bay The Sanctuary of Peter Chanel, Futuna Island Wild Earth virtual safaris Music to wake up to – Living in a Ghost Town by The Rolling Stones ( Listen to the full playlist o...
Apr 28, 2020•5 min•Ep. 28
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem translated by Edward Fitzgerald, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam . "Come, fill the Cup, and in the Fire of Spring The Winter Garment of Repentance fling..." From the show: Fitzgerald's translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam Why Paradise Lost matters, and In Our Time on John Milton A Vindication of the Rights of Women The Alde Valley Spring Festival Music to wake up to – Just a Closer Walk Wi...
Apr 27, 2020•5 min•Ep. 27
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by T.S. Eliot, Portrait of a Lady . "Now that lilacs are in bloom She has a bowl of lilacs in her room..." From the show: Weekend Wodehouse: Joy in the Morning Halley's comet , which menaced the skies in 1066, taken as a portent of the Norman Yoke . John Graunt, father of epidemiology Pro Corda's Piano Sanctuary , live from Leiston Abbey, every Friday at 7pm, on Soundcloud Music to wake up to ...
Apr 24, 2020•5 min•Ep. 26
Hello from Suffolk, England. Happy St George's Day. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, The Glory of the Garden . "Our England is a garden that is full of stately views, Of borders, beds and shrubberies and lawns and avenues..." From the show: The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett The tomb of St George, in Lod and Winston Churchill's wartime aeroplane, Ascalon Why is Shakespeare so great? Music to wake up to – Making of a Man by Steele...
Apr 23, 2020•6 min•Ep. 25
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Norman MacCaig, Summer Farm . "Straws like tame lightnings lie about the grass And hang zigzag on hedges..." From the show: Figurehead of the Sirius in Hull Maritime Museum, and Around the World in 80 Days Phil May's groundbreaking cartoons Heaven in Ordinary , Malcolm Doney's Something Understood Music to wake up to – Spring, from the Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite, by Paul Reade ( Listen ...
Apr 22, 2020•6 min•Ep. 24
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by William Shakespeare, John of Gaunt's speech from Richard II . "This royal throne of kings, this sceptr'd isle, This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars..." From the show: Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre , just one of the remarkable novels from her richly-talented family The Single Petal of a Rose , from Duke Ellington's Queen's Suite Nub.news – hyperlocal news sites around the UK, sharing Marc...
Apr 21, 2020•5 min•Ep. 23
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by a 9th-century Irish monk, Pangur Ban . " I and Pangur Ban my cat, ' Tis a like task we are at... " From the show: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett John Halifax, Gentleman by Dinah Craik Leslie Phillips: "Ding Dong!" The White Cat and the Monk Art History at Bedtime , read by Dr Bendor Grosvenor A song to wake up to – The Bones , by Maren Morris ( Listen to the full playlist on Y...
Apr 20, 2020•5 min•Ep. 22
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Geoffrey Chaucer, the opening of his prologue to The Canterbury Tales . "When April's gentle rains have pierced the drought Of March right to the root..." From the show: Weekend Wodehouse: The Aunt and the Sluggard The Canterbury Tales Henry Vaughan and Philip K Dick A Canterbury Tale , Powell and Pressburger's meditation on what it means to be English in wartime The Private Life of Sherloc...
Apr 17, 2020•5 min•Ep. 22
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Rudyard Kipling, Norman and Saxon . "My son," said the Norman Baron, "I am dying, and you will be heir To all the broad acres in England that William gave me for share... From the show: The Pilgrim's Progress An interview with Sir Isaac Newton Sir Hans Sloane, founder of the British Museum and hot chocolate salesman The history of Rudyard Kipling's history poem, Norman and Saxon Roots , by ...
Apr 16, 2020•6 min•Ep. 21
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by William Wordsworth, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud . "I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er vales and hills.." From the show: Dorothy Wordsworth and her Journal Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language Amelia Edwards and the Egypt Exploration Society Carry You Home , by Ward Thomas Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at ma...
Apr 15, 2020•5 min•Ep. 20
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Robert Frost, The Tuft of Flowers . "I went to turn the grass once after one Who mowed it in the dew before the sun..." From the show: Recreations of a Country Parson Virtual tour of the Pitt Rivers museum, Oxford University Dan Dare and The Eagle – here's the first-ever cover Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour on the Bedpost Overnight? , sung by Lonnie Donegan Sign up to receive email ...
Apr 14, 2020•6 min•Ep. 19
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Alfred Joyce Kilmer, Trees . "I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree..." From the show: The Magician's Nephew by CS Lewis , which contains the sequence where Aslan sings Narnia to life Beowulf , in a new translation by Seamus Heaney Tim Brooke-Taylor, singing one song to the tune of another Sir Stirling Moss The Book of Numbers , by John Conway The Best Is Yet To Come , by B...
Apr 13, 2020•5 min•Ep. 18
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by George Herbert, Love, iii . "Love bade me welcome. Yet my soul drew back Guilty of dust and sin..." From the show: Weekend Wodehouse: Pig-hoo-o-o-o-ey Save the Whitechapel Bell Foundry The half-forgotten genius of William Hazlitt Friday night films: The Secret of Roan Inish and I Know Where I'm Going July Skies, See Britain by the Train (Pevsner version) Music to wake up to: If You're Going...
Apr 10, 2020•5 min•Ep. 17
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Edward Thomas, Adlestrop . "Yes. I remember Adlestrop..." From the show: The Cottage Garden The Cost of Discipleship , by Dietrich Bonhoeffer George Peacock, mathematical reformer Easter services at St Bartholomew the Great: available from Thursday at 7pm, Good Friday 2.30pm, Saturday 7pm and Easter Sunday at 11am. Lord, I hope this day is good , Lee Ann Womack Sign up to receive email aler...
Apr 09, 2020•5 min•Ep. 16
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by William Blake, The Tyger . "Tyger Tyger, burning bright, In the forests of the night..." From the show: Blake's illustrated poem, The Tyger The Natural History of Selborne by Gilbert White 12th-century sword from the Battle of Fornham Winchester cathedral When I Get to Heaven , by John Prine Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at marcsalman...
Apr 08, 2020•5 min•Ep. 15
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Christina Rossetti, The Lambs of Grasmere . "Day after day, night after night, From lamb to lamb the shepherds went..." From the show: Sutton Hoo on Twitter, @NT_SuttonHoo The Best Seat in the House , from the Not Forgotten Association Tori Amos, A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square , from the Good Omens TV series Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode...
Apr 07, 2020•5 min•Ep. 14
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Emily Dickinson, 'Hope' is the thing with feathers . "Hope is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul..." From the show: Three Men in a Boat Lost in the Middle by Catherine McGrath Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm. If you like Marc's Almana...
Apr 06, 2020•5 min•Ep. 13
Hello from Suffolk, England. Here's five minutes of civilised calm to start your day right. With a poem by Robert Browning, Home Thoughts, From Abroad . "Oh, to be in England Now that April's there..." From the show: Uncle Dynamite Discipline , by George Herbert Return of the Pink Panther A Canterbury Tale It's A Lovely Day Tomorrow Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a to...
Apr 03, 2020•5 min•Ep. 12
