Radio highlights

Cloud in Pants — Vladimir Mayakovsky, futurist poet, painter and Bolshevik, was the first People's Artist of the Soviet Union. He decided to become an artist for the revolution while serving a prison sentence in tsarist Russia for his political activities. Cloud in Pants was written in 1914, when Mayakovsky was 14. Mayakovsky summed up the four parts of the poem as: Down with your love! Down with your art! Down with your system! and Down with your religion! When he is jilted by his bourgeois lover, Mayakovsky's hero goes on the offensive against the whole bourgeois order, draws strength from the dispossessed masses and sets out to purge the world of falsehood and exploitation. ABC Radio National, Thursday, May 23, 9.30pm.

The Worm Turns: Urbanising Permaculture — While the permaculture of sustainable agriculture has long been supported by rural alternative lifestylers, its application in city areas is gathering pace. This feature looks at a range of projects testing the system's relevance in heavily populated cities in Australia. ABC Radio National, Sunday, May 26, 8.30pm.

Global Soundscapes — The popular music of the indigenous peoples of Africa, Australia, Scandinavia, Canada and Oceania makes fascinating listening. Add to that the insight of Dr Karl Neuenfeldt, lecturer in sociology and anthropology at the University of Newcastle, and you'll really hear the music. 2NUR 103.7 FM, Newcastle, every Sunday, 5pm.

From GLW issue 232