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

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Have a lovely day.