As human beings, we often struggle to cope emotionally with the 21st Century environment we’ve created, which has severe consequences for our well-being. Derren diagnoses the problem and, with a little help from psychology and philosophy, helps us marry our ape brains and the modern world.

How do you deal with difficult people?

Who we are as people is largely dictated by our relationships, so Derren and his expert guests reveal how psychological insights and philosophical wisdom can oil the wheels of social interaction.

We have developed a huge capacity to worry about things over which we have no control. Derren examines the causes of our common worries and how we can overcome them to take control of our anxieties.

The protestant work ethic is credited with giving birth to capitalism, generating our frenetic, high-paced modern world, and making it increasingly hard to relax. Derren and his expert guests discuss the importance of being idle, and how to achieve it.

Our lives are full of choices and decisions. They can be stressful to make and even more stressful to live with. But we can remove some of the strain if we just learn to change the way we think about making our mind up.

We all get older, but it’s up to us to decide how we feel about it. Derren reveals ways to refocus our attitude to the ageing process. He challenges the simplistic idea of ‘living in the moment’ and looks at how we should view the past and the future more productively.

Archive licensed by AFP.

Trying to do the right thing can be difficult and stressful. Whether that’s buying trainers, or a phone, assembled using forced labour or giving money to the ‘right’ charity - is it possible to be truly moral in an immoral world?

Is it possible, or in our best interests, to try and achieve happiness? Do humans have the capacity to change their emotions? Do we place far too much emphasis on the idea of ‘happiness’? Derren explores the path to happiness.