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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 3 of 5

  1. Do NOT Pass GO! (Classic)

    · 36 min · S6 E1

    Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th. Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of what would become Monopoly. But, even though she had a patent, her…

  2. Demonizing Dungeons & Dragons (Classic)

    · 38 min · S5 E27

    When James Dallas Egbert III was reported missing from his college dorm in 1979, one of America's most flamboyant private detectives was summoned to solve the case. "Dallas" faced the same problems as many teenagers,…

  3. Captain Coward and the Blame Game

    · 37 min · S5 E26

    Off the coast of an Italian island, an enormous cruise ship - seventeen floors high, three soccer pitches long - is tilting noticeably to one side. The local mayor is horrified: there are thousands of people on board…

  4. Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving

    · 52 min · Bonus

    It's the season of giving: colorful paper and shiny bows, sure, and charitable giving, too. In this special episode, Jacob Goldstein, the host of What's Your Problem, gets smart about donating. Did you know that…

  5. RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine - Cautionary Questions 2

    · 43 min · S5 E25

    What really drove the 2008 financial crash? What’s a shadow bank? And what’s the connection between NIMBYs and BANANAs? Tim Harford and Jacob Goldstein answer more of your questions. Do you have a question for Tim?…

  6. Darwin's Grandpa and the Art of Sex Appeal

    · 41 min · S5 E24

    Charles Darwin was stumped by peacocks. According to his theory of evolution, some creatures were better equipped to survive in their particular environment than others. It explained a lot - but it didn't explain the…

  7. The Edinburgh Body Snatchers: Murder at Halloween

    · 42 min · S5 E23

    In 1827, Edinburgh, Scotland was a world centre for anatomical study, but there was a shortage of cadavers for medical students to dissect. Two men, William Burke and William Hare, spotted a grim business opportunity.…

  8. Cautionary Tales Presents: Death Fraud and Other Risky Business

    · 48 min · Bonus

    Tim Harford joined Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova on their podcast Risky Business to discuss two of history’s most compelling swindlers: Sam Israel III and John Law. We hope you enjoy this episode of Risky Business.…

  9. The Poet Who Toppled The British Empire

    · 44 min · S5 E22

    India, 1930. Sarojini Naidu is marching towards a British-controlled saltwork; behind her is a long column of protestors all dressed in white. The great campaigner for India's Independence, Gandhi, is now in jail. In…

  10. Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas

    · 41 min · S5 E21

    Early morning, April 1789. Captain Bligh is abruptly dragged from his cabin. Wrists bound, bayonet pressed to his chest, he and a few loyal sailors are forced into a tiny launch and set adrift on the vast Pacific…

  11. Steel and Kindness: Clash of the Skyscrapers

    · 40 min · S5 E20

    Paul Starrett has just won a major building contract. If everything goes according to plan, this will be the tallest building in the world. But will everything go according to plan? This prestigious new project will…

  12. The Nice Guy, the Bully and the Kiss

    · 39 min · S5 E19

    Leo Durocher would stop at nothing to win. The baseball player-turned-manager was a skilled tactician and famously tough. But he also cheated, intimidated umpires and was violent; he was even known to beat up fans.…

  13. Tim's Tolkien Obsession & Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power

    · 45 min · S5 E18

    Tim Harford's life has been building up to this moment. In this Cautionary Conversation, he discusses the works of his favorite author J.R.R. Tolkien and the social science at play in Amazon Prime's series The Rings of…

  14. The Human Guinea Pigs of Camp Lazear

    · 40 min · S5 E17

    Young doctor Jesse Lazear has deadly Yellow Fever. He thrashes around and convulses in his sick bed, and his vomit is black. He is just 34 when he dies. Curiously, mosquito expert Lazear was researching the disease…

  15. Embracing the Escape Fire (with Adam Grant)

    · 37 min · S5 E16

    Cautionary Conversation: Steve Jobs hated his phone so much that he smashed it against a wall. He also referred to mobile carriers as "orifices". Yet he went on to invent the world's most popular smartphone. Why did he…

  16. Cautionary Tales Presents Vultures from Lost Hills: Dark Canyon

    · 37 min · Bonus

    The disappearance and death of Mitrice Richardson remains Malibu, CA’s most baffling unsolved case. It’s been nearly 14 years since her remains were discovered in a remote canyon, and still, no one has been held…

  17. Flying Too High: AI and Air France Flight 447

    · 41 min · S5 E15

    Panic has erupted in the cockpit of Air France Flight 447. The pilots are convinced they’ve lost control of the plane. It’s lurching violently. Then, it begins plummeting from the sky at breakneck speed, careening…

  18. Run, Switzer, Run: The Women Who Broke the Marathon Taboo

    · 36 min · S5 E14

    Until the 1960s, it was deemed too "dangerous" for women athletes to run distances longer than 200m - and a marathon would kill them, or leave them unable to have children. Rubbish, of course. But when Kathrine Switzer…

  19. Adidas v Puma: A Battle of Boots and Brothers

    · 40 min · S5 E13

    Adi and Rudi Dassler made sports shoes together - until a feud erupted between them. They set up competing companies, Adidas and Puma, and their bitter rivalry divided the sporting world, their family and even the…

  20. The Revenge of the Whales

    · 38 min · S5 E12

    In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, in 1819, Owen Chase is standing on a slowly sinking ship. It's just been headbutted by an 85 foot whale. It's taking in water. And now the creature is coming back for another go.…

  21. When the Robots Take Over... - Cautionary Questions

    · 40 min · S5 E11

    Tim Harford is joined by Jacob Goldstein to answer your questions. Does winning the lottery make you unhappy? Is Bitcoin bad for the economy? When does correlation imply causation? And what will Tim and Jacob do when…

  22. WW2: How Britain Ignored the Mother of All Secrets

    · 43 min · S5 E10

    Neatly dressed in his suit, Hans Ferdinand Mayer was every inch the unassuming corporate executive. So, when he asked to borrow a typewriter from his hotel in Oslo, nobody could have guessed he would use it for one of…

  23. The Fraudster's Guide to Magic Money

    · 1 h 00 min · S5 E9

    Sam Israel had a problem. The investors in his hedge fund, Bayou Capital, were expecting spectacular returns. Sam himself had spent years proclaiming the fund's brilliant results. But in reality, Sam had been marking…

  24. Blood and Gold (with Dan Snow)

    · 40 min · Bonus

    Bonus: When Spanish conquistadors arrived in Peru in 1526, it was the beginning of the end for the Inca. Their bloody pursuit of gold, fame and fortune was rife with treachery and deceit. Within a few short years, the…

  25. The Rise and Fall of a Megalomaniac

    · 58 min · S5 E8

    Nicolae Ceaușescu was not beloved. His regime was vicious and he treated Romania as his personal wallet: while Ceaușescu emptied the coffers to construct a vast, ornate palace, his people starved. He imposed disastrous…

  26. Inside the Bizarre World of Dictators

    · 42 min · S5 E7

    Why are so many autocrats germaphobes? Why was the truth so dangerous for Soviet engineers? And what can salami reveal to us about the mind of Vladimir Putin? This is the first of two special episodes in partnership…

  27. Do Nothing, Then Do Less

    · 36 min · S5 E6

    Chuck Yeager's plane pitched and rolled as it plummeted from the sky. He grappled with the controls inside the cockpit, but to no avail: he couldn't steady the aircraft. The test pilot was known for his nerves of steel…

  28. Buried Evil: V2 Rocket (Part 3)

    · 39 min · S5 E5

    As US troops approached a Nazi prison camp, they could hear agonized wailing. The stench of rotting flesh filled their nostrils. Moments later they discovered a pile of smoldering corpses, alongside emaciated…

  29. Into the Black Lair: V2 Rocket (Part 2)

    · 38 min · S5 E4

    In the 1920s, Germany’s Society for Spaceship Travel boasted some of the sharpest scientific minds – like the incandescently brilliant young Wernher von Braun. But it had very little money, and progress was slow.…

  30. Supersonic Nazi Vengeance: V2 Rocket (Part 1)

    · 36 min · S5 E3

    At the height of World War Two, British intelligence began receiving reports that the enemy was developing a rocket weapon. The idea seemed fantastical — resources in Nazi Germany were scarce and a rocket-building…

  31. Tenerife: The Most Deadly Air Disaster

    · 4:02 · Bonus · Explicit

    Teaser: In 1977, two planes collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. Why did the crash happen? And, given that it took place on the ground, why didn't more people escape? In this new two-parter, Tim Harford…

  32. Martin Luther King, the Jewelry Genius, and the Art of Public Speaking (Classic)

    · 37 min · S5 E2

    One speechmaker inspired millions with his words, the other utterly destroyed his own multi-million-dollar business with just a few phrases. Civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr (played by Jeffrey Wright of…

  33. DANGER: Rocks Ahead! (Classic)

    · 34 min · S5 E1

    Torrey Canyon was one of the biggest and best ships in the world - but its captain and crew still needlessly steered it towards a deadly reef known as the Seven Stones. This course seemed like madness, but the type of…

  34. When Stalin Killed the Weekend (with The Happiness Lab)

    · 36 min · S4 E35

    What if you could never have the same day off as your family and friends? Would you quit your job? What if it was the murderous dictator Joseph Stalin giving you the order? The Soviet Union wanted its factories to run…

  35. How the Radium Girls Fought Back

    · 41 min · S4 E34

    Cautionary Book Club: Mollie Maggia's dentist planned to remove a painful abscess from her mouth. But to his horror, her jawbone disintegrated at his touch, crumbling and splintering until it resembled ash. Like…

  36. Glowing Peril: The Magical Glitter That Poisoned a City

    · 36 min · S4 E33

    In Goiânia, Brazil, a junk dealer acquires an old medical device from two scrap-metal scavengers. The device itself isn't useful, but it comes with precious lead which will fetch him good money. There's something else…

  37. George Washington's Beard of Beetles (with The Dollop)

    · 28 min · S4 E32

    Cautionary Conversation: Just before Christmas 1799, President George Washington was riding around his country estate, Mount Vernon, when it began to snow. When he arrived home, guests were waiting for him. Known for…

  38. Laser Versus Parchment: Doomsday for the Disc

    · 39 min · S4 E31

    William the Conqueror undertook a remarkably modern project. In 1086, he began compiling and storing a detailed record of his realm: of where everyone lived, what they did and where they came from. 900 years later,…

  39. Cautionary Tales Presents The Dream

    · 46 min · Bonus · Explicit

    On The Dream, host Jane Marie gets to know the life coaches and gurus who claim they know the secret to living our best lives. Is it all in our mindset? Or our privilege? Or are we all under a spell? Tim Harford is…

  40. Killers of the Flower Moon: Osage Chief Jim Gray In Conversation

    · 39 min · S4 E30

    Henry Roan has been shot through the back of his head. The local authorities have found his body slumped over the steering wheel of his car. There's no gun at the scene: this is no suicide - it's brutal murder. And the…

  41. Oil and Blood: The Osage Murders

    · 41 min · S4 E29

    Minnie Smith grew sick quite suddenly. She had been young, fit and healthy - and the doctors were baffled when she died. "A peculiar wasting illness," they called it. Then, her sister Anna went missing. Her rotting…

  42. DOUBLE BILL: A Monkey For Mayor / A Screw Loose At 17,000 Feet

    · 34 min · S4 E28

    This week, we've twice the storytelling fun for you: two Cautionary Tales shorts, previously only available to Pushkin+ subscribers. A Monkey for Mayor: It was supposed to be a publicity stunt, but when the man who…

  43. "7000 horses are being flown across space..." - Cautionary Questions #2

    · 36 min · S4 E27

    Why are board games so popular in Germany? What’s Tim Harford’s top tip for productivity? And where do all those sound effects come from? Tim is joined by Cautionary Tales’ very own wizard of sound Pascal Wyse, to read…

  44. Cautionary Tales Presents: Getting out of Dodge from Revisionist History

    · 45 min · Bonus

    The longest running television series of the 20th century was Gunsmoke, a western set in the notorious Dodge City, Kansas. Malcolm sweeps away mountains of legal scholarship to make a bold claim: The simplest…

  45. A Chorus of Contempt at The Sydney Opera House

    · 40 min · S4 E26

    1957. Jørn Utzon receives a phone call: he's just won an international competition to design a brand new opera house for the Australian city of Sydney. Utzon is unknown in the field, so this is a triumph. The young…

  46. The City That Sold Itself To Wall Street

    · 38 min · S4 E25

    Cautionary Book Club: When Morgan Stanley offered to lease Chicago's parking meters for the princely sum of $1 billion, the City Council were convinced that they had struck gold. They hastily signed the deal. But they…

  47. General Ludd's Rage Against the Machines

    · 36 min · S4 E24

    1812. A band of "Luddites" is laying siege to a textile mill in the North of England, under cover of night. They plan to destroy the machines that are replacing their jobs. But mill owner William Cartwright is…

  48. Andy Warhol's Factory of Truth

    · 37 min · S4 E23

    Cautionary Conversation: Andy Warhol’s assistant, Gerard Malanga, is facing a long prison sentence in Italy. He’s forged several Che Guevara portraits and tried to pass them off as genuine Warhols. What happens next is…

  49. Poles Apart: How A Journalist Divided A City

    · 37 min · S4 E22

    Heroic explorer Frederick Cook has just returned from the very roof of the world, the first man to reach the North Pole. Or so he says. Journalist Philip Gibbs has been watching him, and he’s convinced he’s lying.…

  50. The Father of Space Travel

    · 27 min · S4 E21

    Cautionary Conversation: Did a Nazi put America on the moon? To celebrate the launch of his mini-series on the V-2 rocket, Tim Harford sits down with Pushkin’s resident V-2 expert, Ryan Dilley. They discuss the…

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