It's American Independence Day, so the show features audio tributes to Paul Revere, Yankee Doodle Dandy and other American icons. On This Day, Leo Szilard patented the atom bomb; Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was published (we hear a poem from it); and so was Thoreau's book Walden. There's a Miranda July soundpiece about night-time driving and Jarvis wonders about ice cream vans. Poet John Cooper Clarke joins Jarvis. He explains how he got into poetry by writing lyrics, and cites Baloo-voicing Phil Harris as a major influence. They also consider mobile phones, poetic forms and whether a poem should rhyme. John inspires two listeners to write an ode to their dirty kitchen. Birthdays: Giuseppe Garibaldi, Thomas Barnardo, Irving Caesar, Mitch Miller, Eva Marie Saint, Louis B Mayer (the MGM lion roars), Gina Lollobrigida, Colin Welland, Stephen Foster, Ron Kovic, Bill Withers, David 'Kid' Jensen and Alan 'Blind Owl' Wilson.
The Comsat Angels — Independence Day
James Taylor — Oh, Susannah
Silver Jews — Tennessee
M Craft — The Last Leaf of Summer
Bruce Springsteen — Shut Out the Light
Bill Withers — Grandma's Hands
Canned Heat — On the Road Again
Elvis Presley — American Trilogy (Live)
Love Unlimited Orchestra — Sweet Moments
The Pickwick Society of Performing Arts — The Story of Yankee Doodle
Al Stewart — My Contemporaries
Tony Bennett — I Left My Heart in San Francisco
The Beau Brummels — My Old Kentucky Home
Ween — Freedom of '76
