John Berger and another way of seeing

Can looking differently at the world help us imagine a better future? On Radio 4's weekly discussion programme, Tom Sutcliffe is joined by three guests exploring ideas of art, community and social change.

The writer and archivist Tom Overton discusses John Berger: From Life, his biography of the influential critic, novelist and broadcaster. Berger was born on November 5th 1926 and died aged 90. Drawing on Berger's archive and their years of friendship and collaboration, Overton examines a figure whose work transformed the way we think about art, culture, politics and the lives of ordinary people. (BBC Radio 4 is broadcasting Seeing John Berger on Tuesday 27th October at 4pm).

Berger wrote extensively about the peasantry. The academic Maryam Aslany carries on that tradition in her new book, Peasants: Makers of the Modern World. Combining history, reportage and fieldwork across Asia, Africa and Latin America, Aslany argues that peasants still remain central to the global economy, food systems and environmental sustainability.

And the curator of the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow Rowan Bain talks about Morris and his circle and their belief that art and beauty could be agents of social change, offering a radical vision of a fairer and more sustainable society. Their current show Earthly Paradise: Radical Living in the UK looks at a range of artists' houses including Cedric Morris’s Benton End; Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage and William Morris’s Red House.

Following its presentation at William Morris Gallery it will tour to Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham (April – September 2027), Blackwell – The Arts & Crafts house, Bowness-on-Windermere (October 2027 – February 2028) and Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh (March – September 2028).

Producer: Natalia Fernandez