How do you survive the tedium of painting stair rails and door architraves? In between listening to music, I’ve been catching up with recent episodes of The Verb, Radio 3’s excellent programme on language and literature –“poetry, prose, discussion and ideas that would otherwise fall between the cracks”, as Ian McMillan, the genial presenter,  puts it. In one, McMillan and his guests followed the example of Paul Simon and walked off to look for “America” —  taking a deep dive into the word and what it means. In another, they explored how rivers have inspired prose, poetry and song.