I mostly listen to Radio 4 – music doesn’t seem to feature much in my life currently. But I do listen to Stuart Maconie’s Freak Zone on Six Music on Sundays when it’s my turn to make dinner. Tuning in a little earlier I discovered Stephen Merchant’s show. I think the BBC should have offered him the afternoon slot on Radio 2 – Steve Wright is surely well past his best before date! But it seems Stephen has been tempted by Hollywood and sadly is no longer on Six Music. But…

…Jarvis Cocker is now on before the Freak Zone and this Sunday he played a song by Carl Sagan!

I was mesmerised by Carl Sagan’s Cosmos TV programme – its influence on me was powerful. Sagan himself was powerfully influential.

A tireless advocate for science. And for me, as someone who grew up in the cold war, he was one of a number who gave credibility to my own developing world view in his own advocacy against nuclear weapons.

And the music from Cosmos! which I have on vinyl. That too was influential – it moulded my musical tastes.

The song is by Symphony of Science which aims deliver scientific knowledge and philosophy in musical form. There are more video songs at their web page some of which include David Attenborough and Richard Dawkins!

Image: NASA