Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

If you tuned in to late-night WOR radio in 1950s New York, you'd enter the secret world of Jean Shepherd. Shepherd's nonconformist style, off-beat humor and love of pranks gathered a small but loyal following. These "Night People" loved being in on the joke, while the oblivious "Day People" were often the butt of it. Shepherd's show is long gone, but his spirit lives on in corners of the internet....

When the Luddites smashed factory frames in a bid to defend their craft and livelihoods, the machines came out on top. Today, AI and automation threaten to wipe out skilled jobs and flood us with inferior products at a fraction of the price: is history going to repeat itself? FT journalist and author of We Are Not Machines Sarah O'Connor joins Tim to discuss her findings from the front lines about...

The children of North End, Boston, play in the shadow of an enormous steel tank of molasses. The thick, sticky sugar syrup is being used to make munitions for the First World War. When a worker notices dark molasses seeping from the tank he warns the company that there could be a leak. But the man in charge, Arthur Jell, has more important things to worry about: schedules to meet and profits to ma...

In the early 1900s, Sir Arthur Vickers keeps the magnificent Irish Crown Jewels safe under lock and key at Dublin Castle. When the jewels disappear, the King rages, the police investigate, and even Sir Arthur Conan Doyle gets involved. No one is ever charged and no jewels are ever recovered. Except, we have a very good idea of who took them, and why the truth has stayed buried.  For a list of...

When John Darwin walks into a shop in London, it causes an instant stir. After all, John Darwin has been dead for five years. He claims to have amnesia, but everyone - from the police and the media to his insurance company - suspects he is lying. No one can prove a thing, until a young woman at home with her baby thinks of something everyone else has missed.   For the show notes, see tim...

This episode comes to you from the new series of This is History, the podcast which tells the story of the Plantagenet Dynasty. Historian Dan Jones takes you through 300 years of calamities, wars and rebellions that marked the end of the Middle Ages and the rise of the Tudor Dynasty. This is the first episode of the tenth series, where you'll meet 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort and her newborn, Hen...

As Governor of Britannia, Magnus Maximus has a huge army at his disposal, which is just what he needs to secure the Roman imperial throne. But perhaps the impressive general should have looked into the past before focusing on his future. Tim is joined by Paul Cooper, host of  Fall of Civilizations Podcast , to explore why powerful civilizations such as the Assyrians, the Han dynasty and...

It’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 Church...

Thomas 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 sh...

We 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 dec...

Part 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...

In 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 t...

Mike 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...

Dick 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 approache...

Tim 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...

In 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, o...

Millionaire-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 i...

As the Victorian era dawns, modernisation erodes the old ways of life and poverty rises. In the unrest, an unlikely hero emerges, capturing the imagination of the countryside's working class. He claims to be the new Messiah, and promises a better future. Despite his unconventional appearance and strange claims, his message resonates with the people of Kent, many of whom are willing to follow him i...

In November 1979, Flight 901 departs New Zealand on a sightseeing journey over Antarctica, heading directly towards a volcano. When the plane vanishes, investigators are left with a mystery: how could a seasoned pilot miss a 12,000-foot peak? As they try to piece together the incident, conflicting stories emerge, key evidence disappears, and a troubling picture takes shape - one defined by human e...

This episode comes to you from the new podcast Drug Story, which investigates the origins, workings and cautionary tales behind today's medical interventions. In this episode, host Thomas Goetz investigates the rise of Xanax, a drug used to treat anxiety that has become one of the world's most counterfeited and abused drugs. What happens when a drug works too well, and how do we manage anxiety in...

Robert Propst is more than an inventor: he is a visionary, an innovator dreaming up how to make the perfect office workstation. When he reveals his bold design for a creative, flexible 'cockpit of tomorrow', he comes into conflict with the unyielding push for workplace efficiency. This clash of ideals will go on to shape our working lives forever. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com...

In 1999, a series of bombs explode in Russian apartments, killing hundreds and spreading panic. No one knows who is behind it. But when one device is spotted before it detonates, troubling questions emerge. Was it really a bomb? Why is the country's security service changing its story? And why are the people who probe too closely turning up dead? Tim Harford is joined by Helena Merriman, host of n...

Donald Crowhurst is a brilliant inventor with a failing business. When he hears about the Golden Globe Race offering publicity and cash to the fastest to sail around the world, it feels like the perfect solution. Betting his business and his home on success, Crowhurst sets off in a high-tech trimaran.  Soon, the brutal Southern Ocean starts to look too much for his boat. Alone at sea, under m...

Who will be the first to sail non-stop around the world? In 1968, The Sunday Times announces a trophy and a cash prize for the winner, and the Golden Globe Race is on. Leading the charge are Robin Knox-Johnston, an old-fashioned British patriot, and Bernard Moitessier, an enigmatic French philosopher. As monstrous seas and deadly gales close in, the difference between victory and disaste...

This episode comes to you from American Criminal, the true-crime history podcast that takes you inside the minds of some of America's most notorious outlaws, exploring the dark side of the American dream. In this series, host Jeremy Schwartz explores the scandal at the heart of the McDonald's Monopoly promotion. The chance to win a prize when you bought a burger was a massive marketing succes...