OU on the BBC: Thinking Allowed - Gardens everywhere and the Teesside poor

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Gardening is the epitome of a peaceful pasttime, associated as it is with semi-somnolent suburban weekends, the sound of hedges being carefully clipped and the reassuring aroma of freshly mown grass.

The notion of 'radical' gardening implies little more than a concerted attack on the mass of weeds accumulated in an herbaceous border or a garden makeover culminating in a fully decked patio. However, there is a radical history to gardening and it has been the site of protest and counterculture in Britain from the Levellers and the Diggers in the 17th century to today's so-called Guerrilla Gardeners.

In this edition of Thinking Allowed, co-produced by The Open University, Laurie is joined by George McKay and Tim Jordan to discuss the protest, politics and plots of the garden.

• Read a transcript of the garden politics discussion

Also on the programme, Tracy Shildrick on her illuminating study of the underprivileged of Teesside and why nobody describes themselves as poor.

• Read a transcript of the poor's self-perception interview

This edition of Thinking Allowed is a co-production between the BBC and The Open University. You can hear it on BBC Radio 4 at 4pm on Wednesday 4th May, 2011 and again at a quarter past midnight on Monday morning, 9th May. Further broadcast details, podcast and listen again links are at bbc.co.uk.

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