Seasons & episodes

S1 · E1Seneca on Anger 2000-03-26 · 24 min＋

Seneca believed anger flowed from our surprise when things don't turn out how we expect. Can Seneca's advice help angry van driver Wayne and stressed executive Venetia?

S1 · E2Schopenhauer on Love 2000-04-02 · 24 min＋

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer believed that love was the most important thing in life. His philosophy explains the mystery of why we fall in love with the people we do.

S1 · E3Epicurus on Happiness 2000-04-09 · 24 min＋

Alain De Botton considers how the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus believed there were just three simple things we needed in order to be happy, and money wasn't one of them

S1 · E4Montaigne on Self-Esteem 2000-04-16 · 24 min＋

Why do so many people suffer from feelings of low self-esteem? Alain De Botton looks at the problem through the eyes of the French 16th-century philosopher Michel de Montaigne.

S1 · E5Socrates on Self-Confidence 2000-04-30 · 24 min＋

Alain demonstrates that ancient Athenian philosopher Socrates can help give us all the intellectual self-confidence we need to work out what we really think and believe

S1 · E6Nietzsche on Hardship 2000-05-07 · 24 min＋

Friedrich Nietzsche believed that any worthwhile achievements in life come from the experience of overcoming hardship, and that a comfortable, painless existence wouldn't be worth living