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The extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions

The Why Factor: Why do we have tattoos?

Why do we have tattoos?

14/09/2012

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Why do we have tattoos?

Mike Williams on where tattoos come from and what they say about us.

Why do we do the things we do? In a new series, Mike Williams searches for the hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions. In this first programme, Mike asks why people have tattoos.

Why do we do the things we do? 

Mike Williams searches for the extraordinary and hidden histories behind everyday objects and actions. So much of what we do is assumed, it seems almost second nature. But where do those ideas, decisions and behaviours actually come from?    

The series sets its own agenda and draws upon many but interconnected approaches: psychological, cultural, historical  social anthropological, philosophical. It informs us about  about the way we live now, about the human condition in the 21st Century. 

In this first programme, Mike asks why people have tattoos.

Where do they come from and what do they say about us? 

From the Maori of New Zealand to the Mexican Mafia, Mike explores the universal motivation behind why people decorate their bodies with ink.  

Broadcast and podcast every Friday from September 2012.

(Image: David Beckham's tattooed bare back. Credit:ORLANDO SIERRA/AFP/Getty Images)

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