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Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Episodes

  1.

    The Inventor Who Almost Ended the World

    Thomas Midgley鈥檚 inventions harmed millions, but could they have been foreseen?

  2. The Human Guinea Pigs of Camp Lazear

    Is it time to start thinking differently about experimenting on humans?

  3. The Halloween Poisoner

    The poisoned Pixy Stix of Pasadena, TX.

  4. The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)

    Ferdinand De Lesseps, is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal...

  5. The Fraudster's Guide to Magic Money

    How do pyramid and ponzi schemes snowball out of control?

  6. The Fan Who Infected a Movie Star

    Tragedy can be averted if we appeal to the better parts of human nature.

  7. The False Dawn of the Electric Car

    Sir Clive Sinclair was a visionary who could do no wrong...

  8. The Edinburgh Body Snatchers: Murder at Halloween

    What makes some markets acceptable, and others repugnant?

  9. The Dunning Kruger Hijack (and Other Criminally Stupid Acts)

    The height of stupidity is being too stupid to know you are stupid...

  10. The Disappearance of Grace Oakeshott

    After one hundred years, the truth about Grace鈥檚 disappearance has finally come to light.

  11. The Deadly Airship Race

    Competition can bring the best out of people, but can also cause things to fall apart.

  12. The Curse of Knowledge Meets The Valley of Death

    How assuming others understand exactly what we are thinking gets people killed.

  13. The Art Forger, the Nazi, and "The Pope"

    Being clever doesn't protect us from scams...

  14. The Angels, The Stones and The Dead

    Both anti-establishment, they're both counterculture: what could possibly go wrong...

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

    In WW2, British intelligence began to hear that the enemy was developing a rocket weapon.

  16. Steel and Kindness: Clash of the Skyscrapers

    Paul Starrett has just won a major building contract, but will everything go to plan?

  17. Stalling for Survival - A Lonely Fight Against a Deadly Medicine

    Oldham Kelsey is tasked with approving an application for a drug to be sold in America...

  18. Sphygmograph Be Damned: The Science of Love

    Chris McKinlay is a smart student at UCLA, but he can't seem to get a girlfriend.

  19. Shoes, Booze and the Pursuit of Happiness (Pt 1)

    CEO Tony Hsieh is obsessed with the hunt for happiness.

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

    Until the 1960s, it was deemed too "dangerous" for women athletes to run longer distances

  21. Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)

    Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama.

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

    Tim Harford and Jacob Goldstein answer more of your questions.

  23. Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas

    History remembers Captain Bligh as a cruel, petty tyrant. The reality is more complicated

  24. Powered by Orgasm: The Rise and Fall of a Sex Cult - with Ellen Huet

    Ellen Huet joins Tim to discuss why we should beware people promising pleasure.

  25. Poles Apart: How A Journalist Divided A City

    Heroic explorer Frederick Cook has just returned from the North Pole...

  26. Photographing Fairies (Classic)

    How did Elsie and Frances fool so many people with their photography?

  27. Paradise Poisoned: How Utopias Fall Apart

    Dore Strauch and Friedrich Ritter make an unconventional couple.

  28. Office Hell: The Demise of the Playful Workspace

    In the early 90s, cutting-edge advertising agency Chiat/Day announced a radical plan.

  29. Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop

    Why some botched competitions ruin businesses, while others short-change consumers.

  30. Missing on "Dead Mountain": A Cold War Cold Case

    In winter 1959, nine experienced hikers led by Igor Dyatlov set out on an expedition.

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