Latest Episodes
Cautionary Tales Presents: Brave New Planet
October 12, 2020
- 1:13:17
Introducing Brave New Planet, a seven-part series that delves deep into powerful technologies changing our world. They have amazing...
Cautionary Tales Presents: Brave New Planet
October 12, 2020
- 1:13:17
Introducing Brave New Planet, a seven-part series that delves deep into powerful technologies changing our world. They have amazing...
BONUS: Storks, Smoking and the Power of Doubt
September 16, 2020
- 10:05
It's easy to mock statistics or cast doubt on them... but we do so at our peril. Undermining our trust in facts and figures can cause...
About The Show
We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life 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 “Messy” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser.
More Episodes
Cautionary Tales Presents: Brave New Planet
October 12, 2020
- 1:13:17
Introducing Brave New Planet, a seven-part series that delves deep into powerful technologies changing our world. They have amazing...
Cautionary Tales Presents: Brave New Planet
October 12, 2020
- 1:13:17
Introducing Brave New Planet, a seven-part series that delves deep into powerful technologies changing our world. They have amazing...
BONUS: Storks, Smoking and the Power of Doubt
September 16, 2020
- 10:05
It's easy to mock statistics or cast doubt on them... but we do so at our peril. Undermining our trust in facts and figures can cause...
How To End A Pandemic
July 17, 2020
- 24:56
The eradication of smallpox is one of humanity's great achievements - but the battle against the virus was fought by the most unlikely...
How To End A Pandemic
July 17, 2020
- 24:56
The eradication of smallpox is one of humanity's great achievements - but the battle against the virus was fought by the most unlikely...
That Turn To Pascagoula
July 10, 2020
- 24:07
For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable - but when a hurricane came close to destroying the city, the reaction was...
That Turn To Pascagoula
July 10, 2020
- 24:07
For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable - but when a hurricane came close to destroying the city, the reaction was...
The Village of Heroes
July 3, 2020
- 21:49
It looked like any ordinary roll of cloth, but it brought the dreaded plague to the village of Eyam. First it killed the tailor, then...
The Village of Heroes
July 3, 2020
- 21:49
It looked like any ordinary roll of cloth, but it brought the dreaded plague to the village of Eyam. First it killed the tailor, then...
The Spreadsheet of Life and Death
June 26, 2020
- 23:55
Clive had a deadly form of cancer, but fortunately there was a new drug to treat it. Imagine his anger when he was told the treatment...
The Spreadsheet of Life and Death
June 26, 2020
- 23:55
Clive had a deadly form of cancer, but fortunately there was a new drug to treat it. Imagine his anger when he was told the treatment...
A Tsunami of Misery
June 19, 2020
- 20:58
A monstrous wave and then a nuclear disaster forced Mikio and Hamako Watanabe from their home. But being saved from the potential...
A Tsunami of Misery
June 19, 2020
- 20:58
A monstrous wave and then a nuclear disaster forced Mikio and Hamako Watanabe from their home. But being saved from the potential...
Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club
June 12, 2020
- 20:51
Flames are spreading through a Cincinnati hotel. The staff know it, the fire department is coming, and the people in the packed cabaret...
Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club
June 12, 2020
- 20:51
Flames are spreading through a Cincinnati hotel. The staff know it, the fire department is coming, and the people in the packed cabaret...
Cautionary Tales Presents: The Last Archive
May 21, 2020
- 47:32
This week we're featuring the second episode of The Last Archive, a new podcast hosted by Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer...
Cautionary Tales Presents: The Last Archive
May 21, 2020
- 47:32
This week we're featuring the second episode of The Last Archive, a new podcast hosted by Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer...
Cautionary Tales presents: Against the Rules Season 2
May 12, 2020
- 45:21
Tim Harford presents the first episode of the new season of Michael Lewis's Against the Rules. It wasn’t that long ago that coaches were...
Cautionary Tales presents: Against the Rules Season 2
May 12, 2020
- 45:21
Tim Harford presents the first episode of the new season of Michael Lewis's Against the Rules. It wasn’t that long ago that coaches were...
Cautionary Tales Presents: TED Talk Daily
January 31, 2020
- 18:02
In this special episode of Cautionary Tales, we feature Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford's TED Talk Daily from 2018. What can we learn...
Cautionary Tales Presents: TED Talk Daily
January 31, 2020
- 18:02
In this special episode of Cautionary Tales, we feature Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford's TED Talk Daily from 2018. What can we learn...
You Have Reached Your Destination
December 27, 2019
- 32:50
We may mock our ancestors for seeking the advice of oracles, soothsayers and psychics, but today we rely heavily on computer programs...
You Have Reached Your Destination
December 27, 2019
- 32:50
We may mock our ancestors for seeking the advice of oracles, soothsayers and psychics, but today we rely heavily on computer programs...
Bowie, Jazz and the Unplayable Piano
December 20, 2019
- 30:23
It was the biggest concert of Keith Jarrett's career - but the pianist was in for a shock when he entered Koln's opera house. The only...
Bowie, Jazz and the Unplayable Piano
December 20, 2019
- 30:23
It was the biggest concert of Keith Jarrett's career - but the pianist was in for a shock when he entered Koln's opera house. The only...
How Britain Invented, Then Ignored, Blitzkrieg
December 13, 2019
- 36:09
In 1917, a brilliant British officer developed a way to use an emerging military technology: the tank. The British army promptly...
How Britain Invented, Then Ignored, Blitzkrieg
December 13, 2019
- 36:09
In 1917, a brilliant British officer developed a way to use an emerging military technology: the tank. The British army promptly...
Buried by the Wall Street Crash
December 6, 2019
- 35:52
Both of the world’s greatest economists, Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes, thought they could see into the future and make a...
Buried by the Wall Street Crash
December 6, 2019
- 35:52
Both of the world’s greatest economists, Irving Fisher and John Maynard Keynes, thought they could see into the future and make a...
The Deadly Airship Race
November 29, 2019
- 37:36
A British Lord wanted to build the best airship in the world - and so he had two rival design teams battle it out to win the juicy...
The Deadly Airship Race
November 29, 2019
- 37:36
A British Lord wanted to build the best airship in the world - and so he had two rival design teams battle it out to win the juicy...
La La Land: Galileo's Warning
November 22, 2019
- 30:53
Galileo tried to teach us that adding more and more layers to a system intended to avert disaster often makes catastrophe all the more...
La La Land: Galileo's Warning
November 22, 2019
- 30:53
Galileo tried to teach us that adding more and more layers to a system intended to avert disaster often makes catastrophe all the more...
The Rogue Dressed as a Captain
November 15, 2019
- 33:07
One crisp morning in Berlin, in 1906, a small group of soldiers were led on an extraordinary heist by a man they believed to be a...
The Rogue Dressed as a Captain
November 15, 2019
- 33:07
One crisp morning in Berlin, in 1906, a small group of soldiers were led on an extraordinary heist by a man they believed to be a...
DANGER: Rocks Ahead!
November 15, 2019
- 35:03
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...
DANGER: Rocks Ahead!
November 15, 2019
- 35:03
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...
Introducing: Cautionary Tales
October 22, 2019
- 02:48
Coming November 15 from Tim Harford and Pushkin Industries, Cautionary Tales relates a true story of a time when something did not go...
Introducing: Cautionary Tales
October 22, 2019
- 02:48
Coming November 15 from Tim Harford and Pushkin Industries, Cautionary Tales relates a true story of a time when something did not go...