大象传媒

As 'Mysterious Wisdom', a new biography of the visionary painter Samuel Palmer is published Matthew Sweet talks to its author Rachel Campbell-Johnston. The book tells the story of the man who, inspired by William Blake, set up the first British art movement, the brotherhood of Ancients. Much neglected during his lifetime Palmer's reputation has grown since his death in 1881 - he has been a major influence on twentieth century artists.

And Susan Hitch gives a first night review of Verdi's 'Simon Boccanegra', a tale of public feuds and private griefs, set against a backdrop of civil war, in a production at the ENO conducted by Edward Gardner and with leading Verdi baritone Bruno Caproni in the title role .

Philosopher Stephen Law has written a book about how people come to believe in ridiculous ideas. He discusses his guide to avoiding getting sucked into intellectual black holes with Matthew and journalist Nick Cohen.

And Kevin Macdonald talks to Matthew Sweet about his new film, Life in a Day, in which he invited people across the world to submit footage of their lives on one day: 24th July 2010. He discusses how he made the four and a half thousand hours worth of footage he received into a film and examines why involving the general public in art is so popular today.