Marc’s Almanac

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 troops from France with an improvised flotilla of 800 boats. On this day: 4th June, 1910, Christopher Cockerell, the inventor of the hovercraft, is born in Cambridge. Music to wake you up – I Still Believe by Frank Turner Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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, Ian Lancaster Fleming, the creator of James Bond, is born in London Music to wake you up – Good Day Sunshine by The Beatles Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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. And while the Covid-19 vaccines have understandably dominated this year's news, the successful trials of the first highly effective malaria vaccine by researchers from the University of Oxford has been another piece of enormously good news. Malaria currently kills 400,000 people every year. On this day: 14th May, 1771, Robert Owen is born in Newport, an important early voice for workers rights but also the father of English socialism, who refused to accept the failure of his more radical experiments Music to wake you up – It's All Coming Back To Me Now by Celine Dion Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Europe On this day: 7th May 1952, Geoffrey Dummer gives the first public talk laying out the idea of the integrated circuit, better known today as the microchip, and the basis for all modern computers Music to wake you up – We'll Meet Again by Vera Lynn Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 the so-called Intercursus Malus, a notoriously uneven trade treaty between England and the Duchy of Burgundy On this day: 30th April 1602, the English Merlin, William Lilly, is born in Diseworth, Leicestershire Music to wake you up – Iko Iko by Justin Wellington Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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, Britannia On this day: 16th April, 1889, Charles Chaplin is born in Walworth, London Music to wake you up – No I in Beer by Brad Paisley Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 an unprecedented effort, more than 31 million people in the UK have received at least one dose of a vaccine. On this day: 2nd April, 1827, William Holman Hunt was born in Cheapside. A major pre-Raphaelite painter, his religious canvases such as The Scapegoat still resonate today Music to wake you up – Wade in the Water by Eva Cassidy Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 less than a decade, thanks to mass vaccination, polio cases in the US alone fell from more than 57,000 a year to fewer than 200. Also on this day: 26th March, 1859, AE Housman was born in Bromsgrove. He became a superb classical scholar, but is best-known today for his poetry, especially the volume A Shropshire Lad Music to wake you up – Rock Island Line by Lonnie Donegan Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 metal dealers, land on South Georgia Island, the first manoeuvre in the Falklands War On this day: 19th March, 1813, David Livingstone is born in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire. After a childhood working 12 hour days in a mill, he became a medic, explorer, missionary and anti-slavery campaigner Music to wake you up – You're The One That I Want from the musical Grease Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 born in Covent Garden. Arne made his name as a theatrical composer, and is chiefly remembered today for Rule, Britannia! and A-Hunting We Will Go. On this day: 12th March, 1881, Andrew Watson makes his international debut as the captain of Scotland. The first black person to play association football at the international level, Watson led his team to a seismic, 6-1 victory over England. Music to wake you up – The Best Day by Taylor Swift Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 born in Abbey Green, Bath. Most of his music is lost, thanks to fires and his early death at 22. But not all: here's his Oh Guardian of that Sacred Land. On this day: 5th March, 1946, Winston Churchill gives his "Iron Curtain" speech in Missouri, also known as "The Sinews of Peace". Music to wake you up – You've Got a Friend in Me, performed by Randy Newman Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Canterbury On this day: 26th February, 1797, the Bank of England introduced the first pound notes in lieu of gold sovereigns Music to wake you up – Jericho Blues by The Hillbilly Thomists Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Mallon, known as "Typhoid Mary", is released from her first quarantine Music to wake you up – Do It by Maggie Rose Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Our Love Go? by The Supremes Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Witherspoon is born in Gifford, Scotland. Emigrating to America, he became President of the nascent Princeton University, and also a founding father of the United States. On this day: 5th February, 1811, George Prince of Wales becomes regent, due to the mental decline of his father King George III Music to wake you up – Be Yourself by Morcheeba Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Becket, in Cheapside, London Music to wake you up – This Year by The Mountain Goats Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Roald Amundsen and his team become the first to reach the South Pole, beating the doomed expedition of Captain Scott Music to wake you up – Santa Baby by Kylie Minogue Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 ticket for its online Christmas concert on 18th December by clicking here. Music to wake you up – Cuddle Up, Cozy Down Christmas by Dolly Parton Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 Music to wake you up – Be A Light by Thomas Rhett Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.

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 of Doctor Who – An Unearthly Child – is broadcast, starring William Hartnell as The Doctor On this day: 23rd November, 1887, William Henry Pratt is born in Camberwell, better known as the actor Boris Karloff,  in his iconic role as Imhotep in The Mummy and as Frankenstein's monster for the English director James Whale Music to wake you up – Styrofoam by Ashley McBryde Sign up to receive email alerts and show notes with links when a new episode goes live at https://marcsalmanac.substack.com Please share this with anyone who might need a touch of calm, and please keep sending in your messages and requests. You can leave a voice message at https://anchor.fm/marc-sidwell/message. If you like Marc's Almanac please do leave a review on Apple podcasts. It really helps new listeners to find me. Have a lovely day.