Max Eastley

A shorter show today, as Jarvis didn't realise the clocks went back. For Palm Sunday, we hear Adrian Henri's Christ's Entry into Jerusalem. On This Day, the Paris Commune was established but the decimal republican calendar didn't catch on. Sound artist Max Eastley talks about the Cape Farewell voyages - this organisation takes creatives and scientists to the Arctic Circle to learn about climate change. From an ice floe called the Devil's Dancefloor, Max recorded the boat's creaking and the sounds under the sea. We hear the calls of bearded seals mixed with the scything of a weird instrument he invented. In a jamma session, Max plays this instrument as Jarvis reads Ian McEwan's story A Boot Locker in the Frozen North. And Pavement: Are They Any Good? Birthdays: Alexander the Warlike, Maxim Gorky, Dame Flora Robson, Nelson Algren and Michael Parkinson. Valete: Alex Chilton.

John Hurt

Today is the Spring Equinox, when light and darkness are perfectly balanced. On This Day, Einstein published the Theory of Relativity, the Moondog Ball was held, Alcatraz closed, JR was shot and a hot air balloon first went round the world; it's also Harmony Day in Australia. Vivian Stanshall performs a shaggy Bonzo Dog story. And for World Poetry Day, Jarvis reads Portrait of the Artist as a Prematurely Old Man by Ogden Nash. Then he is joined by actor John Hurt. John discusses how attitudes to drinking have changed since the 1960s. Jarvis asks about his youth at art school, and John reveals how to avoid becoming 'an old fogey'. He also discusses how attitudes to sexuality have revolutionised since The Naked Civil Servant, and there's a clip of Quentin Crisp himself speaking. Birthdays: JS Bach, Son House, Brian Clough, Gary Oldman, Russ Meyer, Guy Chadwick and Vivian Stanshall.

Mother's Day

Does modern Mother's Day go right back to ancient Greek festivals honouring Cybele? It's also Summer Day in Albania, White Day in Japan and Pi Day for mathematicians. Jarvis accidentally watched Lambing Live this week, so he plays a track about how they count sheep in Yorkshire. We hear 'soothing sounds for baby' by Raymond Scott, an American one-man Radiophonic Workshop, and a track he made with Jim Henson called Limbo: The Organised Mind. Childhood memories are stirred by the Trumpton Clock and Baby Mine from Dumbo. Peter Sagal reads ...Lamentations of the Father by Ian Frazier, a short story sermon from a dad's point of view. And Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention: Are They Any Good? Birthdays: Rita Tushingham, Casey Jones (a heroic train driver), Albert Einstein (William Simpson reads his theories on society and personality), Pam Ayres (contemplating her son), Michael Caine and Quincy Jones.

Sonic Boom on Delia Derbyshire

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This Day in history was a day of patents, exploration and relaxation. Jarvis reads On Making Someone a Good Man by Calling Him a Good Man by Dave Eggers. A listener sends in the noisy sound of a wake in Singapore: perhaps the ruckus will see off some malevolent forces at work at 6 Music! As a new film about shy electro genius Delia Derbyshire is released, Jarvis talks about her with Pete Kember (Sonic Boom). They discuss her work at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, why she struck out on her own and her legacy. Pete explains how he came to collaborate with her in the late 1990s and we hear a piece they made based on a vintage Flake advert. Birthdays: Maurice Ravel, Rik Mayall, Ivan Lendl, Brett Easton Ellis and Townes Van Zandt (Is He Any Good?). Valete: Michael Foot (with some of his stirring socialist speeches).