Podcast
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Hosted by Pushkin Industries · EN
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.
108episodes
Episodes
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Can You Make a Sherman Tank Float?
5d ago00:39:32Summary readyIt’s D-Day and the Allies are about to invade Nazi-occupied France. For the landings to succeed, American soldiers on Omaha Beach will have to break through some formidable coastal defences - Hitler’s Atlantic Wall. Sherman tanks will come in very handy - and the Allies have come up with a novel solution for getting them to the beach. These tanks will swim. Everyone from Winston Churchill down thought swimming tanks were a great idea… but were they? For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryThe Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic)
2w ago00:36:38Summary readyThomas Midgley's inventions caused his own death, hastened the deaths of millions of people around the world, and very nearly extinguished all life on land. Midgley and his employers didn't set out to poison the air with leaded gasoline or wreck the ozone layer with CFCs - but while these dire consequences were unintended... could they have been anticipated? For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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From Drilled: The Carbon Gold Rush
2w ago00:28:06Summary readyWe usually bring you failures of the past, but today we're sharing an episode from someone who uncovers failures as they happen. Amy Westervelt is an award-winning investigative climate journalist and the host of Drilled, a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach. Drilled's latest season, Carbon Cowboys, examines a group of people who've turned climate policy into a profit engine. In September 2025, a group of Brazilian government ministers flew to North Dakota to watch a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into “the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels.” It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. Here's episode 1 of Drilled: Carbon Cowboys. Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts and hear episodes early and ad-free with a Pushkin+ subscription. Sign up on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryAngels, Gold and Lust: John Dee and the Philosopher's Stone (Part 2)
3w ago00:46:52Summary readyPart Two: When Tudor polymath John Dee meets a man who claims he can speak with angels, his path to understanding the universe suddenly becomes clear. At their instruction, the pair begin searching for the fabled philosopher's stone. But the angels grow increasingly demanding, and soon Dee must confront a terrible ultimatum. Centuries later, a strange incident in a French town suggests that angels may still be with us. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryThe Queen's Astrologer: The Price of Prophecy (Part 1)
4w ago00:43:14Summary readyIn Tudor England, the line between mathematics and the mystic arts is vanishingly thin. Straddling both worlds is John Dee, a brilliant scholar and astrologer whose intellect grants him access to the highest circles of power. Dee navigates the politics of the court by making bold prophecies, which win him royal favour. But even correct predictions may come with a price - and laying claim to the future is a dangerous game. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryBeware Tech Tycoons with Piranha Tanks - with Katie Prescott
May 100:40:42Summary readyMike Lynch was often lauded as Britain's answer to Bill Gates. Born into a working-class family, Lynch's incredible intellect and passion for computers led him to become a billionaire tech entrepreneur. But behind the scenes, Lynch was a bully who couldn't bear criticism and was prone to creative accounting. When computer giant Hewlett Packard bought his company, Autonomy, it triggered one of the biggest fraud scandals in Silicon Valley history. Tim talks to Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor at The Times and author of the book The Curious Case of Mike Lynch, about the lessons we can take from a story no one could have predicted. For a list of sources see timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryFinding Grace in a Burger Bun: An Incrediburgible Quest
Apr 2400:40:30Summary readyDick and Mac are content with their lives: they enjoy making burgers by day and stargazing by night. Ray Kroc is a workaholic chasing success at any cost. When the brothers' relaxed approach to business collides with Kroc's ruthless ambition it will birth one of the world's best-known brands. This is the story of two very different approaches to making hamburgers - and two very different approaches to making money. For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryRun, Switzer, Run: The Women who Broke the Marathon Taboo (Classic)
Apr 1700:36:48Summary readyTim is running the London Marathon on the 26th of April. To give him a week off to finish training, we're playing this running-themed classic from the archives. If you would like to donate to Teenage Cancer Trust, Tim's fundraising page is at tinyurl.com/HarfordMarathon - any support is very much appreciated. 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 signed up for the 1967 Boston Marathon, it wasn't the distance that bothered her - it was the enraged race director trying to assault her. Thanks to pioneers like Kathrine, women have made huge strides in long distance running - and are now challenging the times of men in the very races they were banned from for so very long. See the show notes at timharford.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryThe Lovestruck Explorer's Deadly Guessing Game
Apr 1000:39:11Summary readyIn 1860, police officer Robert O'Hara Burke plans an expedition to map the mysterious blank in the centre of Australia. Joining him is scientist William Wills, and a ragtag team of hires. Burke falls out with virtually everyone around him, and demonstrates an uncanny ability to make terrible choices - from the equipment he brings to the route he takes. But even as the mission unravels, one final, simple decision could still save him. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
SummaryThe Refugee Who Led a Software Revolution - with Ben Walter
Apr 700:27:45Summary readyMillionaire-making tech start-ups are most often associated with Silicon Valley. But this software revolution begins on a woman’s kitchen table in rural Britain in the 1960s. Steve Shirley faced extraordinary odds. After escaping Nazi Germany as a child, she later encountered workplace discrimination and endured deep personal tragedy. But she persevered to build a business decades ahead of its time, creating opportunities for hundreds of women. Tim Harford is joined by Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and host of The Unshakeables podcast, to explore the life, legacy and lessons of an overlooked titan of tech.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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