Podcasts · History · Society & Culture

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Pushkin Industries

237 episodes

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.

Episodes page 2 of 5

  1. Your Chance to Attend a Cautionary Tales Table Read

    · 1:41 · Bonus

    Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall while Cautionary Tales is being made? Now you can. We just launched the Cautionary Club - our new Patreon community for Cautionary Tales fans who want to go deeper. If you…

  2. Homo deceptus: Science's Dirty Little Secret

    · 39 min · S6 E47

    In 1912, a fossil discovery shakes the scientific world. Piltdown Man is the elusive missing link between humans and their ape-like ancestors. Forty years later, a researcher at the Natural History Museum gets a chance…

  3. Kyoto: The Battle that Defined Climate Politics - with Joe Robertson

    · 39 min · S6 E46

    Misinformation, double-dealing, character assassination - lobbyist Don Pearlman will stop at nothing to prevent the world from agreeing to cut carbon emissions. This arch disrupter, who works for fossil fuel companies…

  4. The Treasure Hunt that Broke America (Part 2)

    · 41 min · S6 E45

    Forrest Fenn’s legendary treasure hunt ignites a nationwide obsession. The thrill of adventure, the promise of gold, and the call of the wild entice many seekers into the quest. Over time, excitement gives way to…

  5. The Treasure Hunt that Broke America (Part 1)

    · 38 min · S6 E44

    Forrest Fenn never does things the regular way. Despite no formal training and little knowledge of art, he becomes a millionaire gallery owner. An outsider by nature, Fenn’s charm, audacity, and disregard for…

  6. The Truth About Hansel and Gretel (Classic)

    · 37 min · S6 E43

    Was the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel - the story of a woodcutter’s children abandoned in the woods and left at the mercy of a witch - in fact, early true crime? A hit book - The Truth About Hansel and Gretel - said…

  7. On Fire from the Inside - Lethal Injection Up Close with Malcolm Gladwell

    · 27 min · Bonus

    Last week, Cautionary Tales told the tragic story of Derek Bentley, exploring Britain's troubled relationship with capital punishment. Across the Atlantic, Revisionist History has also been scrutinizing what it means…

  8. Derek Bentley Must Hang

    · 39 min · S6 E42

    An amateurish burglary in 1950s London ends in murder. One of the men involved is a 19-year-old named Derek Bentley. Bentley has the understanding of a child - and he wasn't the killer. But the British justice system…

  9. The Canal, the Crash and the Ketamine - Pushkin's Reign of Error

    · 44 min · S6 E41

    In 1983, a plane takes off from Ottawa with less than half the required fuel on board. As the engines cut out one by one, the pilot is left with a ticking clock and an impossible task. But what does a tale of an…

  10. Schrödinger's Spy: Businessman, Fraud, or Russian Agent? - with Sam Jones

    · 1 h 02 min · S6 E40

    When the Financial Times uncovered the billion-dollar Wirecard fraud, it seemed like the story was over. But then the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Jan Marsalek, vanished - leaving behind clues that pointed to a…

  11. Missing Fish and Fatal Feasts: Ritual and Ruin at the Sun King’s Table

    · 43 min · S6 E39

    In the gilded court of Louis XIV, 17th Century France, manners are everything. Where to sit, how to eat, what to wear - any misstep is costly. No one knows this better than François Vatel, the greatest party planner in…

  12. Don't Panic! Douglas Adams' Guide to Tomorrow - with Arvind Ethan David

    · 38 min · S6 E38

    Writer Douglas Adams, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, used science fiction and satire to warn us about potential dangers in our future, from artificial intelligence to social media and animal…

  13. A Deadly Day at the Races: What Radical Protest Can and Cannot Do

    · 41 min · S6 E37 · Explicit

    After years of campaigning for votes for women, the Suffragettes emerge at the turn of the 20th Century. Their motto, 'Deeds Not Words', heralds the start of more radical actions, including fire bombing, civil…

  14. True Lies and Genuine Fakes

    · 41 min · S6 E36 · Explicit

    In 1998, an art gallery gets a mysterious phone call. The caller claims they have been fooled by a master forger and that many of their prized paintings are fakes. Or are they? This is the story of the life and lies…

  15. Stalling for Survival - A Lonely Fight Against a Deadly Medicine

    · 39 min · S6 E35

    In 1960, FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey is tasked with approving an application for a mild sedative to be sold in America. The drug is popular across Europe and is touted to be free of side effects, so this should…

  16. Announcing: The Cautionary Club

    · 2:16 · Bonus

    Do you want more Cautionary Tales episodes in your life? Do you want access to behind the scenes stories and bonus conversations with Tim? Do you want to support us in making the show? We're excited to announce the…

  17. Disaster Favours the Daring: Shipwreck at Honda Point

    · 40 min · S6 E34

    In 1923, legendary navigator Captain Dolly Hunter led a squadron of warships into America’s worst peacetime naval catastrophe. The mission was supposed to be a speed trial, a display of the squadron’s skill. But it…

  18. Paradise Poisoned: How Utopias Fall Apart

    · 41 min · S6 E33

    Dore Strauch and Friedrich Ritter make an unconventional couple, united by their contempt for shoes, root vegetables and, above all, society. In 1929 they leave Germany and begin anew on the deserted Galapagos island…

  19. "Genius Still Unrecognised" - The Worst Poet in the World

    · 40 min · S6 E32

    William McGonagall's poems are something else. The jarring meter, the banal imagery, the awkward rhymes: they made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day. How does someone get…

  20. Office Hell: The Demise of the Playful Workspace (Classic)

    · 39 min · S6 E31

    In the early 90s, cutting-edge advertising agency Chiat/Day announced a radical plan, aimed at giving the company a jolt of creative renewal. They would sweep away corner offices and cubicles and replace them with zany…

  21. Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop (Classic)

    · 36 min · S6 E30

    Pepsi twice ended up in court after promotions went disastrously wrong. Other big companies have fallen into the same trap - promising customers rewards so generous that to fulfil the promise might mean corporate…

  22. Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club (Update)

    · 32 min · S6 E29

    It's been five years since Cautionary Tales ran a mini-series about the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring the lessons we were learning in real time as the crisis unfolded. 'Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club' tells the…

  23. "Captain Kirk Forgot to put the Machine on Stun"

    · 40 min · S6 E28

    Lying on the cold metal table, Voyne Ray Cox knew the drill. This was his ninth round of cancer treatment - which is why he was certain that what happened next couldn't be right. He heard a sizzling sound and saw a…

  24. "I get in trouble when I say things like this" - Michael Lewis on Sam Bankman-Fried

    · 46 min · S6 E27

    Acclaimed author Michael Lewis discusses his time with Sam Bankman-Fried and why he thinks both high finance and Effective Altruism shaped the 'Crypto King's' worldview, ultimately landing him in jail. Plus, we hear…

  25. Grand Theft Automated: How to Save a Trillion Lives

    · 39 min · S6 E26

    A radical thought experiment transforms the lives of a new breed of philanthropists, as they follow the logic of altruism to extraordinary lengths. The most famous convert to the Effective Altruism movement, Sam…

  26. The Man who Solved Kindness

    · 38 min · S6 E25

    George Price is on a mission to prove that human kindness is real. He's seen the latest research suggesting any altruism is ultimately selfish and finds it deeply depressing. George decides to learn the mathematics he…

  27. The Shark That Ate Hollywood: Jaws at 50

    · 39 min · S6 E24 · Explicit

    Steven Spielberg thought his career was finished. He was behind schedule, his actors were fighting, the crew were mutinous and worst of all, his shark was broken. It looked like Jaws was destined for failure, but the…

  28. Le Mans 55: The Deadliest Race

    · 40 min · S6 E23

    The annual Le Mans 24 Hour race brings in hundreds of thousands of spectators to watch the giants of motor racing put their endurance to the ultimate test. Every year, technology improves and the cars get a little…

  29. The Nazis, the Bomb, and the Woman that Science Forgot

    · 41 min · S6 E22

    Lise Meitner has fought for her entire life to be seen as a scientist, slowly building a career as a nuclear physicist in Berlin. When Adolf Hitler rises to power, the small gains she's made are snatched away. As a…

  30. Give Politicians a Raise, Smuggle Smartphones into School, and go Full Donk! Cautionary Questions with Risky Business

    · 44 min · S6 E21

    Can game theory be used to win a world cup? Can you pay the way out of political corruption? And are there winning strategies in life we don't use because we're too embarrassed? Tim teams up with Nate Silver and Maria…

  31. Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)

    · 41 min · S6 E20

    Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single…

  32. The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)

    · 39 min · S6 E19

    Ferdinand De Lesseps, "the Great Frenchman", is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal. No, he isn't an engineer and, no, he's never actually been to Panama before. But he managed to dig the Suez Canal,…

  33. Lab Leak: Could Smallpox Come Back?

    · 38 min · S6 E18

    In 1978 the world is on the brink of declaring victory over smallpox. No cases have been seen for months, and it looks like the end for a deadly, painful disease. When a photographer in Birmingham begins to feel ill,…

  34. "Dangerously Near to Absolute Perfection"

    · 39 min · S6 E17

    In 1900, two friends in the flourishing Arts and Crafts Movement in London share a vision: to print the ultimate edition of the Bible. Together they create The Doves Press, and its unique font, Doves. But in their…

  35. Buried by the Wall Street Crash (Classic)

    · 36 min · S6 E16

    Cautionary Tales returns with a new episode on May 2nd. Both of the world’s greatest economists, Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes, thought they could see into the future and make a killing on the stock market -…

  36. “I love being the person who doesn’t know anything” - Why Steven Levitt has swapped academia for podcasting

    · 40 min · S6 E15

    20 years ago, a book called Freakonomics became an instant bestseller and worldwide sensation. Tim Harford got his hands on the first copy that Steve Levitt ever signed... and promptly sold it on eBay. In this…

  37. The Old Man and the Wrecking Crew

    · 38 min · S6 E14

    When Britain entered its first Covid-19 lockdown in March 2020, many found comfort in evoking the British wartime spirit. A timely hero emerged - Captain Tom Moore, a WWII veteran who walked up and down his garden to…

  38. Houdini: The Phone Call from the Coffin (Part 3)

    · 41 min · S6 E13

    Fearing for his life, Harry Houdini leaves secret codes with his loved ones, promising to use them in any post-mortem messaging. In 1926, Houdini's death shocks the world, but the news that follows is even more…

  39. Houdini's Detective and her 1500 Dead Husbands (Part 2)

    · 42 min · S6 E12

    Harry Houdini finds an ally in his fight against spiritualism, a brilliant detective called Rose Mackenberg, who'll do whatever it takes to expose a fake. Together, the two head to Washington to try and get lawmakers…

  40. Houdini: A Message from the Spirits (Part 1)

    · 43 min · S6 E11

    Harry Houdini is remembered today for his legendary escapes and illusions, but he also had a lifelong obsession with the paranormal. After dabbling in fake seances himself, Houdini made it his mission to uncover frauds…

  41. Would You Trust a Gangster Nanny? - Cautionary Questions with Rachel Botsman

    · 41 min · S6 E10

    Do we trust our fitness trackers too much? How do fraudsters gain our faith? Why do people trust podcasters? And would you trust a drug dealing nanny with a tambourine? Tim Harford is joined by trust expert Rachel…

  42. Lights, Camera, Tax Break

    · 39 min · S6 E9

    When Ernest Borgnine gets his big break in Hollywood, he can hardly believe his luck. But soon he discovers his supposed star vehicle, Marty, is not the dream gig he thought it was. In this episode of Cautionary Tales,…

  43. The Nursery Rhyme That Ruined a Rock Band

    · 38 min · S6 E8

    "Down Under" was huge. This jokey ode to legendary Australian wanderlust helped Men at Work win a Grammy and was a key part of the band's creative legacy. By 2007, it had been earning Men At Work a steady stream of…

  44. The Widow Who Disrupted Champagne (with Ben Walter)

    · 21 min · Bonus

    Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and the host of "The Unshakeables" podcast, to explore the story of the trailblazing Widow Clicquot. Her namesake brand Veuve Clicquot revolutionized the…

  45. The Thrill and the Drop: A First Date Rollercoaster

    · 39 min · S6 E7

    Leah Washington and her new boyfriend Joe Pugh are on their first day out together. They're at Alton Towers theme park, where they've chosen to ride the "Smiler" rollercoaster: a terrifying tangle of track that loops…

  46. Dr. Brinkley's Miracle Cure For Impotence (with Betwixt The Sheets)

    · 38 min · S6 E6

    Cautionary Conversation: In the 1920s, a conman convinced America that goat testicles were the secret to male virility. Tim Harford and Dr Kate Lister (Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society) dive…

  47. The Night of the Mugger

    · 42 min · S6 E5

    Winston Trew has just been arrested for mugging. It's 1972 and the crime has recently made its way to Britain from the United States. Dangerous thugs, replicating their American counterparts, have made the city of…

  48. Missing on "Dead Mountain": A Cold War Cold Case

    · 46 min · S6 E4

    In the bleak Russian winter of 1959, nine experienced hikers led by Igor Dyatlov set out on an expedition. None of them made it back alive. When their campsite was finally discovered, it told a chilling story: their…

  49. Frozen in a Burning 747 (Tenerife Air Disaster 2)

    · 37 min · S6 E3

    Two airplanes have just collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. While no one on the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane survives the resulting fireball, 71 Pan-Am passengers and crew make it off their plane. But could it…

  50. Cleared For Take-Off? (Tenerife Air Disaster 1)

    · 33 min · S6 E2

    “Evacuate the airport, we’ve planted bombs,” a terrorist tells the telephone operator at the airport in Gran Canaria, in 1977. By the end of that day, 583 people will have lost their lives – but not to a bomb…

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