Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

4.9（30）
歴史
アップデート：毎週

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.

6日前

Dumm und Dümmer: Hitler Invades Florida

In 1942, eight men are sent from Nazi Germany to infiltrate America. Their mission: to sabotage critical infrastructure. Their problem: they're idiots. Operation Pastorius soon devolves into one of the most baffling failures of World War II. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8月21日

The DeLorean Saga: Fraud, Drugs and Marty McFly's Car - with Business History

This is a special crossover episode with Business History. John DeLorean was a visionary who wanted to create a futuristic new sports car - a stainless steel marvel with distinctive gull-wing doors. The British Government agreed to finance the project, provided he built his factory in a troubled part of Northern Ireland. Production stumbled, sales fizzled and DeLorean liked to fiddle with the numbers. As the company approached ruin, a neighbour offered DeLorean a lifeline, if he'd only come in on a cocaine deal. See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8月14日

Proceed with Caution - Pascal's Guide to Podcasts

How does a story on Cautionary Tales come to life? In this episode of our subscriber-exclusive series, Proceed with Caution, sound designer Pascal Wyse shows Tim how the audio magic happens. He explains how he picks the music in an episode, why it's best to avoid 'Mickey Mousing', and how to sound design some of the stranger moments of Cautionary Tales. To subscribe to the Cautionary Club and hear more like this, go to patreon.com/cautionaryclub. Dumm und Dümmer : Hitler Invades Florida is available now on Patreon, or will be released on this feed on August 28th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
8月11日 · ボーナス • Pushkin+のみ

Subscriber Exclusive: The She-Wolf of Wall Street Runs for President

This episode is available exclusively to Cautionary Club members and Pushkin+ subscribers. To join the Club and get access to ad-free listening, behind the scenes content and bonus episodes, head to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.patreon.com/cautionaryclub⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. To join Pushkin+ visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠pushkin.fm⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or the ⁠show page⁠ on ⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠. Born into a poor, abusive household in 1838, Victoria Woodhull doesn't have much hope of a comfortable life. But she's smart, charismatic and has an uncanny ability to read people, managing to forge a path to Wall Street and the publishing world. When Woodhull decides to run for president, she understands that capturing people's attention will be key to success. But capturing attention and controlling it turn out to be two very different things. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com
8月7日

The Weight of Fame: A Hollywood Tragedy

Talented and beautiful, Molly O'Day is a rising star in 1920s Hollywood. But when Molly's teenage body starts to change and she can no longer fit into the dress she wore when she was 16, the studio wants nothing to do with her. As the scripts dry up and the money runs out, Molly faces a difficult but painfully familiar choice. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7月31日

Arsenic and Lace: The Trial of the Yorkshire Witch - with Maddy Pelling

Mary Bateman lived in Yorkshire in the late 18th Century, an age that prized rational thought. Many people still longed to believe in the old ways and Bateman used this to her advantage, selling spells and enchantments to the desperate. Dr Maddy Pelling, co-host of the After Dark podcast and author of Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment, joins Tim to tell the tale of the villainous Yorkshire Witch, and just how far she was willing to go. For the sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7月24日

The Doors of Death: The Herald of Free Enterprise

The Herald of Free Enterprise is a new class of ferry that allows cars to drive directly into the ship. The doors must be closed before every departure, or the ship sails with a gaping hole at one end. One black night in 1987, on the freezing waters off Zebrugge, Belgium, a single crew member falls asleep at the worst possible time. For the sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7月17日

"What a Bloody Mess we're in" - Britain's [REDACTED] Accident

Windscale is supposed to be Britain's big leap into the nuclear age, bringing science fiction to life in 1950s Northern England. But in the race to catch up with America's nuclear program, scientists are tinkering with forces they don't fully understand. When the reactor catches fire, no-one knows how bad it could be, or how to put it out. As the reactor workers scramble to save lives, other eyes on Windscale are much more concerned with containing the political fallout and burying the truth. See the show notes at timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

すべて見る（265）

The Happiness Lab is serving up scientifically-backed takes this summer that are so hot, even your SPF 50 won’t protect you. With the help of behavioral scientists, historians, and cultural critics, Yale psychologist Dr. Laurie Santos challenges some of our biggest assumptions about what it takes to live a good life. Dr. Laurie explores topics like why we should forget about TMI and lean into oversharing, how dumping small talk makes for better conversations, why the kids these days are actually doing just fine, and how men can establish strong bromances. Each episode unpacks a bold, counterintuitive claim — using research, data, and expert insight to question the conventional wisdom around happiness and wellbeing.

5.0（30）

社会／文化
On the 250th anniversary of the United States, Revisionist History investigates the overlooked story of what was, at the time, the biggest secession movement in the U.S. since the Civil War. A movement that took place on a small island miles out to sea from New York City. An early example of the politics of resentment that dominates America today. What do you do when a democracy looks like it’s falling apart? Over the course of five episodes, The Staten Island Problem reconstructs the battle for New York City amidst the turbulent early 1990s — the rise of Rudy Giuliani, the peak of the homicide rate, the Wu-Tang Clan, young Donald Trump, and the first Black mayor of New York — all through the prism of the city’s Forgotten Borough. Through colorful characters and never-before-heard archival audio, The Staten Island Problem reveals what can happen when a disgruntled minority manages to take over — and fracture — a democracy. To get early access to ad-free episodes and extra content, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

4.7（103）

社会／文化
Music and storytelling meet on Broken Record, where artists across genres and generations sit down to explore the joy, chaos, and vulnerability of creating—and what it means to devote a life to music. From legendary icons to groundbreaking new voices, each episode captures artists in conversation sharing the inspirations and experiences that shape their craft.

3.7（13）

音楽
Maybe you’ve laid awake and imagined how it could have been, how it might yet be, but the moment to act was never right. Well, the moment is here and the podcast making it happen is Heavyweight. Join Jonathan Goldstein for road trips, thorny reunions, and difficult conversations as he backpedals his way into the past like a therapist with a time machine.

5.0（41）

個人ジャーナル
The story of Elon Musk, the way it's often told, makes him sound like a fictional character, a comic-book superhero – or, especially lately, a supervillain. As the world's richest man, the US President’s right-hand man, and the owner of X, he’s possibly the world’s most powerful man. Musk wants to build robots and colonise Mars and appears to be dismantling sizable parts of the US government. His vision of the future seems to stem from the science fiction that has fueled his imagination since he was a boy. But what's the real story, the true history, behind Musk’s sense of destiny? Back in 2021 Harvard history professor and New Yorker writer Jill Lepore became fascinated by this question. So she made a podcast that tried to explain Musk through the science fiction he grew up with. A lot has happened in the four years since. So she’s gone back in to bring the story up to date. “X Man: The Elon Musk Origin Story” is a production of the BBC and distributed by Pushkin Industries.

0.0（0）

ビジネス
What happens when life doesn’t go according to plan? In this award-winning podcast, cognitive scientist Dr. Maya Shankar explores how we experience change and strategies we can use to better navigate moments of upheaval. Maya’s life took a dramatic turn when an injury ended her career as a violinist and inspired her to study the science of change. Named Apple Podcasts’ Best Show of the Year, A Slight Change of Plans features deeply personal stories and scientific insights about who we are and who we become in the face of a big change. Past guests include Kacey Musgraves, Brené Brown, Ruby Bridges, Amanda Knox, Adam Grant, Angela Duckworth and more. Whether it’s a sudden pivot or a slow transformation, each episode reveals how change can give us an opportunity to reimagine who we are and unlock greater possibility. You can follow Maya on instagram @DrMayaShankar and read her free newsletter at changewithmaya.com. Get early, ad-free access to episodes of A Slight Change of Plans by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows. Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkinSubscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

5.0（7）

社会／文化

サブスクリプションに関するFAQを表示

Tim Harford

司会

4.9

5段階評価中

30件の評価

One of the best casts out there

2021/04/17

JBinJPN

Truly fascinating, excellent production
Smug and sloppy

2025/10/18

powernattoh

Excellent topics full of intriguing twists and turns, but rather undone by the narrator's self-righteous sanctimony and sloppy revisionism. For example, many of the episodes rightly celebrating women's unsung accomplishments mistakenly blame female disenfranchisement of the past on "misogyny" rather than on the more likely reason of general and crushing inequality, where the vast majority of women AND men were overlooked, denied, exploited, etc, for want of property, education, and social status. In other words, fewer than 10% of the privileged were riding roughshod over the masses, as opposed to the purported 50% of the population determined to thwart the other half. As for the quality of the narrative: A recent episode, "The Canal, the Crash, and the Ketamine", scored a century on the overused and tired term "like", most of which could be cut.
Highly recommend.

2021/04/09

internationalkid2012

Cautionary tales everyone needs to hear, well-told and well-edited. Every time a new episode drops, I know I’m in for a treat.
Fantastic story telling

2020/07/19

Pattaya Calling

Wonderful podcast. I enjoyed every episode.

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.