The Ideas That Make Us

Bettany Hughes reveals the surprising and invigorating history of civilisation's most influential ideas 
 
'Eloquent and engaging... don't miss' Radio Times 
 
In this compelling 'archaeology of philosophy', award-winning historian Bettany Hughes takes 25 single-word ideas from Ancient Greek culture and traces their development. Travelling backwards and forwards through time, she investigates how they first emerged and have evolved throughout history - and how those changes have shaped us. 
 
In each programme, she discusses her chosenconcept with special guests from the humanities and sciences, discovers where these big philosophical ideas were born, and visits the street markets, churches, offices and homes where they continue to morph and influence our daily lives. We consider changing ideas of comedy by listening to a rat laughing and by giggling at schoolboy jokes from Ancient Mesopotamia; explores peace through images of war-torn Syria; investigates agony from conflict on the sports field to the battles of the heart; contemplate fame and how our attitude to celebrity has changed from Achilles to YouTube; and visits a Buddhist temple, the Palace of Westminster and the UK's largest food bank to find out why humans are hard-wired to hope. 
 
Along the way, Bettany is joined by a star-studded cast including John Lloyd, Kate Mosse, John Prescott, Nick Clegg, Eniola Aluko, Carlo Rovelli, Angie Hobbs, Stanley Johnson, John Humphrys and Bob Geldof. 
 
Series 1 finds her looking at Ideas, Fame and Love, asking who came up with the idea of an idea? How has our attitude to celebrity changed over time? And what does love look like on a brain scan? She also delves into the perception of Agony, from sporting conflict to broken hearts, and investigates Justice, from Babylon to the Old Bailey. 
 
In Series 2, she examines changing ideas of Liberty and analyses Comedy with the help of a laughing rat and some Ancient Mesopotamian jokes. Plus, she shows poet Ben Okri some Hospitality, goes to a women's football game and a synagogue in a quest to understand Wisdom and explores Peace through images of war-torn Syria and a talk with a dying man. 
 
Series 3 sees Bettany probing her Psyche on Sigmund Freud's couch, finding Charisma at the Acropolis and in a bestselling novel, and inquiring into Irony in a club where it's banned. Pursuing Nemesis, she talks to experts on counter-terrorism and climate change, and she's aided on her hunt for Virtue by a former Greek Finance Minister and an aid worker back from Sierra Leone. 
 
In Series 4, she takes her street philosophy to an ancient palace, a political think-tank and a prison kitchen as she considers Character. She ponders the changing idea of Harmony in mythology and on the battlefield, researches Narcissism in Victorian society - and at a hairdresser's, gets to grips with Technology at an electrical shop and in the future, and studies Hubris on a building site and aboard an Elizabethan sailing ship. 
 
Finally, in Series 5, Bettany asks some big questions about Hope, Memory, Gaia, Chaos and Time. Are we hard-wired to believe things can get better - and why does our past hold the key to our future? Do we still believe in Mother Earth, and what role does disruption play in our lives? And who owns time, what does it mean, and how can we best make use of it? 
 
Credits 
Published by Penguin Random House Ltd 
Licensed by BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
? 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd 
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Bettany Hughes reveals the surprising and invigorating history of civilisation's most influential ideas 
 
'Eloquent and engaging... don't miss' Radio Times 
 
In this compelling 'archaeology of philosophy', award-winning historian Bettany Hughes takes 25 single-word ideas from Ancient Greek culture and traces their development. Travelling backwards and forwards through time, she investigates how they first emerged and have evolved throughout history - and how those changes have shaped us. 
 
In each programme, she discusses her chosenconcept with special guests from the humanities and sciences, discovers where these big philosophical ideas were born, and visits the street markets, churches, offices and homes where they continue to morph and influence our daily lives. We consider changing ideas of comedy by listening to a rat laughing and by giggling at schoolboy jokes from Ancient Mesopotamia; explores peace through images of war-torn Syria; investigates agony from conflict on the sports field to the battles of the heart; contemplate fame and how our attitude to celebrity has changed from Achilles to YouTube; and visits a Buddhist temple, the Palace of Westminster and the UK's largest food bank to find out why humans are hard-wired to hope. 
 
Along the way, Bettany is joined by a star-studded cast including John Lloyd, Kate Mosse, John Prescott, Nick Clegg, Eniola Aluko, Carlo Rovelli, Angie Hobbs, Stanley Johnson, John Humphrys and Bob Geldof. 
 
Series 1 finds her looking at Ideas, Fame and Love, asking who came up with the idea of an idea? How has our attitude to celebrity changed over time? And what does love look like on a brain scan? She also delves into the perception of Agony, from sporting conflict to broken hearts, and investigates Justice, from Babylon to the Old Bailey. 
 
In Series 2, she examines changing ideas of Liberty and analyses Comedy with the help of a laughing rat and some Ancient Mesopotamian jokes. Plus, she shows poet Ben Okri some Hospitality, goes to a women's football game and a synagogue in a quest to understand Wisdom and explores Peace through images of war-torn Syria and a talk with a dying man. 
 
Series 3 sees Bettany probing her Psyche on Sigmund Freud's couch, finding Charisma at the Acropolis and in a bestselling novel, and inquiring into Irony in a club where it's banned. Pursuing Nemesis, she talks to experts on counter-terrorism and climate change, and she's aided on her hunt for Virtue by a former Greek Finance Minister and an aid worker back from Sierra Leone. 
 
In Series 4, she takes her street philosophy to an ancient palace, a political think-tank and a prison kitchen as she considers Character. She ponders the changing idea of Harmony in mythology and on the battlefield, researches Narcissism in Victorian society - and at a hairdresser's, gets to grips with Technology at an electrical shop and in the future, and studies Hubris on a building site and aboard an Elizabethan sailing ship. 
 
Finally, in Series 5, Bettany asks some big questions about Hope, Memory, Gaia, Chaos and Time. Are we hard-wired to believe things can get better - and why does our past hold the key to our future? Do we still believe in Mother Earth, and what role does disruption play in our lives? And who owns time, what does it mean, and how can we best make use of it? 
 
©2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

There Was an Egyptian in Your School

Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster, who has devoted the last 25 years to the vibrant communication of the past. Her speciality is ancient and mediaeval history and culture. A Scholar at Oxford University, she has taught at Oxford and Cambridge Universities and lectured at Cornell, Bristol, UCL, Maastricht, Utrecht, Manchester and Swansea. She is a Tutor for Cambridge University’s Institute of Continuing Education, a Research Fellow of King's College London and recently joined the New College of the Humanities as Professor of History. She has written and presented over 50 TV and radio documentaries for the BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Discovery, PBS, The History Channel, National Geographic, BBC World and ITV and is Co-Founder and Creative Director at Sandstone Global Productions. Her programmes have now been seen by over 250 million worldwide and include the hit Channel 4 TV series Treasures of the World. She has been honoured with numerous awards including Europe’s Cultural Heritage Prize and an OBE for services to history. Bettany is also an honorary, founding patron of Classics For All - a national campaign to get classical languages and the study of classical civilisations back into state schools. She was named as one of the BBC’s 100 Global Woman, was asked to launch the UK’s Inspiring Women mentoring scheme and in 2017 she was chosen as one of London’s 20 most influential cultural people by the Evening Standard in their 1000 awards. She sat on the Innovation Committee of NESTA and has been an advisor to the Foundation for Science Technology and Civilisation. Bettany has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, The Times, The Sunday Times and chaired the Man Booker panel. She judges for BAFTA, Queen’s Anniversary Prize and the Royal Television Society, amongst others.

It's your LUCKY day! You’ve stumbled across an ancient treasure chest in your school that was buried THOUSANDS of years ago by achild living in ancient Egypt. And the chest is packed with 20 strange and curious items that tell us so much about their life, such as:• The OLDEST cheese in the world• A special lunch box shaped like a DUCK• Slippers worn by the YOUNGEST ever Pharaoh• MAGICAL spells written on ancient tombs!Unpack the treasure chest and discover the objects that a child just like YOU was using thousands of years ago. You’ll uncover fascinating facts and true tales about their school, family life, clothes, games, favourite snacks and so much more.The true, real-life experiences of children in ancient times is a part of history that has been neglected for far too long – award-winning historian, broadcaster and bestselling author Bettany Hughes is here to dig up this newly discovered information for young budding historians everywhere

Bettany Hughes

Nathan Reed

The reader will come away feeling they have learnt far more about the life of a Roman child than they would have done from any textboox

Bettany Hughes

Praise for There Was a Roman in Your Garden

The reader will come away feeling they have learnt far more about the life of a Roman child than they would have done from any textboox

Fact-filled, fascinating and fun

Books by Bettany Hughes

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