Grayson Perry

It's the Notting Hill Carnival today. On This Day, The Beatles gave their last ticketed live concert; Gustav Daimler patented the first motorbike; Native American Ishi was found in California (we hear some of his sad life story); and the remote island of St Kilda was evacuated. Noel Fielding reads Mirrors by Dave Eagleman. Artist Grayson Perry tells Jarvis that he thought he'd get thrown out of his first solo show. He considers how working class people regard the arts, and how he thinks everyone should have the confidence to judge artworks. He explains why he works with ceramics and how much he enjoys the messy process of making pots. "Creativity is optimising your mistakes." Birthdays: Preston Sturges, John McCain, Elliot Gould, James Hunt, Diamanda Galas (Is She Any Good?), Thom Gunn (who reads some poetry), John Locke (a wise philosopher), Dinah Washington, Elizabeth Fraser, Kumi Tanioka and Ingrid Bergman.

Tim Smit

Jarvis recalls the imagery he used to memorise Inversnaid and later recites it by heart. Events On This Day: the Battle of Bosworth Field, the English Civil War, the first Geneva Convention, the formation of the Red Cross, a notorious theft of the Mona Lisa, St Columba sighting the Loch Ness Monster, and the BBC's experiment with TV broadcasting. Tim Smit talks about the Eden Project, which he emphasises is a joint effort. He thinks we'll remember this time as a renaissance, an awakening of environmentalism. He quotes some enlightening questions his daughter asked him. He also shares some leftfield views on globalisation and multiculturalism. Birthdays: Dorothy Parker (reading Lady's Reward and Résumé), Annie Proulx, Dale Hawkins, Honor Blackman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Ron Dante, Steve Davis, John Lee Hooker, Ray Bradbury (Jarvis reads from Fahrenheit 451). Valete: Al Dvorin ('Elvis has left the building') and Jacob Bronowski (on Joyce and Lawrence).

John Cooper Clarke Sits In (2)

John Cooper Clarke sits in again, playing more toe-tapping tracks and reading out messages from listeners. With spoken word by Eminem and The Courtesy Group, plus a tribute to the late Frank Sidebottom. John says no to a questionnaire and tells an anecdote about a miniatures shop. He also tells the story of the Million Dollar Quartet, points out the irony of tracksuits and recalls a joke about Frank Sinatra. He finishes with Pulp's My Legendary Girlfriend, featuring a great deal of moody spoken word by Mr Cocker.

John Cooper Clarke Sits In (1)

Bard of Salford John Cooper Clarke sits in, playing stacks of his treasured vinyl. He talks about how many of Britain's run down holiday resorts have been revived by the pink pound, and shares a valuable Northern soul track which he bought in Poundland. He muses on how some accessories make you behave in certain ways: walking sticks and pipes magically make you act like an old duffer. He enthuses about the snarling guitar sound of Link Wray, who stabbed his amp with a bowie knife to get the right effect. He recites a jingle he wrote for a Martini commercial, Home Honey, I'm High. Lou Rawls tells a story about a not-so-sharp hustler. And John thinks about the appeal of pirates and his love of nautically themed parties.

Ted Hughes on Memorising Poetry

On This Day, oxygen was re-discovered, Regent's Canal in London opened, the first Brownsea Scout Camp was held (Arthur Smith investigates) and the Belgian Congo got a new name. Jarvis reads some TS Eliot. In the first of several recordings from Port Eliot, Jarvis chats to Gavin Pretor-Pinney from The Cloud Appreciation Society. Although clouds aren't popular, Gavin thinks we can all benefit from their beauty and drama. As it's Yorkshire Day, we're set a quiz about Yorkshire dialect. Jarvis reads from Ted Hughes's book By Heart and asks us to memorise a poem while he's away. Then Ted Hughes recites a poem. And Jarvis meets Robin & Partridge at The House of Fairytales, who improvise stories from children's suggestions. Birthdays: Joe Elliot, Lionel Bart, Yves Saint Laurent, David James, Jim Carroll (reading his poem Praying Mantis), Herman Melville, Sam Mendes and Michael Penn. Valete: Johnny Burnett and Calamity Jane.