Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

In 1980s Southern England, intricate crop circles are appearing overnight, and people are desperate for an explanation. Could humans really create something so complex without anyone spotting them? The truth is out there! Actually, the truth is right here. The problem is getting people to believe it. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com Cautionary Tales is celebrating Halloween with a full month of paranormal themed episodes! If you have a spooky story or a skeptical question, get in touch at tales@pushkin.fm. If you want access to an extra Halloween episode - about the strange world of radio telepathy - alongside plenty of other benefits, check out the Cautionary Club on Patreon. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This October, Cautionary Tales is going all out for Halloween. We've got four brand new spooky episodes coming your way throughout the month, plus a fifth over on the Cautionary Club on Patreon. If you have your own Halloween-themed Cautionary Tale or have any questions about belief and the paranormal we'd love to hear from you - contact tales@pushkin.fm To begin the month, we're revisiting one of our favourite episodes, about the grizzly fates of the archaeologists who disturbed the resting place of Tutankhamun. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com To join the Cautionary Club head to Patreon.com/cautionaryclub See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Before he became Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay was known as the "Louisville Loud-mouth", as famous for his sharp taunts and poetic put-downs as he was for his skills in the ring. In 1963, Clay arrived in England to take down beloved British Heavyweight, Henry Cooper. Clay is the clear favourite, but the showdown will be remembered as one of boxing history's most shocking battles, changing both men forever and showing what it really means to win. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, Cautionary Tales described the rise and fall of General Magic, the startup with too much money and too few constraints. Was General Magic really doomed from the start, and what does its fate tell us about AI, drug discovery and our love lives? David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, joins Tim to make the case for loving limitations. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year head start on the iPhone. What could go wrong? This episode was based, with permission, on David Epstein's book Inside the Box: How Constraints Make us Better. For a list of sources, see the show notes. Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide, much bigger than any jump he's done before. To make it work, he'll need a custom-made rocket-powered "Skycycle," TV camera crews and - most importantly - a very positive attitude. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com. Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. Today, though, Night People go by a different name. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 future of work. Which professions are most at risk, and is there anything workers can do about it? See the show notes at TimHarford.com Sarah's book, "We Are Not Machines: The Fight for the Future of Work", is available here (UK) and for pre-order here (US). See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 make. Besides, it's only sugar. How dangerous could it be? For the sources, see the show notes at timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the Roman Empire all ultimately collapsed. Paul Cooper is the author of Fall of Civilizations: Stories of Greatness and Decline. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 Churchill down thought swimming tanks were a great idea… but were they? For a full list of sources, see the show notes at ⁠timharford.com⁠ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 may still be with us. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 the future is a dangerous game. For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 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.

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 approaches to making money. For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 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.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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, 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.

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 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.

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 into bloody battle. For this Cautionary Conversation, Ian Breckon - author of Mad Tom's Rising: The Revolutionary Mystic Sir William Courtenay and the Last Battle Fought on English Soil - joins Tim to discuss a forgotten folk hero and the dangerous power of belief in desperate times. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 error, deceptive illusions, and the hunt for someone to blame. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 new BBC podcast The History Bureau - Putin and the Apartment Bombs, which charts the mysterious events surrounding the rise of Vladimir Putin, and asks why the real story sometimes gets missed. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 mounting pressure, Crowhurst has a bold idea. If he radios in the right coordinates, no one needs to know he’s not where he claims to be. WARNING: This episode discusses death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts, support is available - for example, from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 disaster will come down to just one word. For a full list of show notes, see timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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 success, with McDonald's returning to the promotion for years. But what the company didn't know was that a man on the inside was rigging the competition and choosing the big winners himself. Find American Criminal wherever you get your podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Chris McKinlay is a good-looking, smart student at UCLA, but he can't seem to get a girlfriend. He's a computing expert, so why not use his technology prowess to supercharge his search for a soulmate? He starts building an army of bots and unleashes them into the world of online dating. Chris' search for love leads him to some unexpected places, and it might be teaching us all the wrong lessons about love. See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final days of the Sixties, The Rolling Stones join forces with other rock legends to plan a free concert at Altamont Speedway that will rival Woodstock. The "bad boys of rock" don't have the warmest relationship with the police, so they choose another option for security: The Hells Angels. They're both anti-establishment, they're both counterculture: what could possibly go wrong? See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Run by the charismatic Nicole Deadone, OneTaste billed itself as a sexual wellness startup celebrating the power of female orgasm. But behind the celebrity endorsements and promises of healing, lay a darker reality. When Bloomberg journalist Ellen Huet began to dig into the organisation, she uncovered financial, emotional and sexual exploitation of its members, many of whom would call the company a cult. Huet, author of Empire of Orgasm, joins Tim to discuss why we should beware people promising pleasure, and what we can learn from the rise and fall of OneTaste. This episode contains explicit content from the beginning, and is not suitable for children. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tony Hsieh, the billionaire CEO of Zappos, is passionate about community. He pours his time, energy and fortune into building a network of like-minded people - first in Las Vegas, then Park City, Utah. But Tony's quest to build connection soon spirals into isolation, addiction and mistrust of those closest to him, revealing a contradictory truth about the pursuit of one of our most fundamental human needs. WARNING: This episode discusses death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts, support is available - for example, from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

They say the company Zappos is harder to get into than Harvard. Zappos may sell shoes, but its mission is to deliver WOW through a fun-focused company culture, making it one of the most coveted places to work in America. At the centre is CEO Tony Hsieh, obsessed with the hunt for happiness and driven by increasingly bold - and strange - ideas about how to find it. See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The sewing machine was once thought to be an impossible invention. It was such a complicated contraption that it would take more than one inventor, with more than one good idea, to make it work. Each of these inventors, including the notorious Isaac Singer, wanted the credit (and the fortune that came with it) for themselves. And so began the sewing machine war: a mire of backstabbing, stealing and misogyny. See the show notes at timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Claude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines to play chess, solve Rubik's cubes and beat the house at roulette. If Shannon had worked more diligently - instead of juggling, riding a unicycle and abandoning project after project - would he have made an even greater contribution to human knowledge? Maybe... and maybe not. Are restlessness and "fritterin'" important parts of a rich and creative life? Read more about Tim's work at http://timharford.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sherlock Holmes is known for approaching all mysteries with cool logic - and yet when his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw photographs taken by two young girls purporting to show real life fairies at play... he unwisely declared them genuine. How did Elsie and Frances fool so many people with their photography... and why did they keep the hoax going for decades? For a full list of sources go to timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Playing board games and spending too much money are time-honored Christmas traditions, so to mark the festive season, Tim is joined by the creator of Magic: The Gathering - Richard Garfield - for a special Q&A about economics and game design. How should you go about building the perfect game? Why did the Magic trading card market crash? Why do so many people hate Monopoly? Plus, Richard has a bone to pick with Tim about a previous episode of Cautionary Questions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A megaplant near the small village of Flixborough, England, is busy churning out a key ingredient of nylon 6, a material used in everything from stockings to toothbrushes to electronics. When a reactor vessel fails, the engineers improvise a quick-fix workaround, so the plant can keep up with demand. Before long, the temporary patch - a small, bent pipe - becomes a permanent part of the factory, and the people of Flixborough unknowingly drift towards disaster. For a full list of sources, see www.timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At the start of the 20th century, Britain was slowly becoming a freer place for women. Young Grace Oakeshott seized every opportunity to learn and improve the world around her - though she found those opportunities frustratingly narrow. One day, she vanished suddenly, leaving behind only a pile of clothes on a beach. A hundred years later, the truth about Grace’s disappearance has finally come to light. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall while Cautionary Tales is being made? Now you can. We just launched the Cautionary Club - our new Patreon community for Cautionary Tales fans who want to go deeper. If you sign up before the end of the year, you’ll be a Cautionary Club Founding Member, and you'll be invited to join Tim and the producers in a live table read of an unreleased episode. This will be a rare chance for you to see how the stories we tell are developed in real time, hear the editorial suggestions, and ask your burning questions about Cautionary Tales. Founding Members will receive an invitation to the table read, which will be held early 2026. But that’s just the beginning. You’ll also receive: - two monthly bonus episodes - a members-only newsletter with sneak peeks of what’s coming up - behind-the-scenes chats and videos with Tim - the chance to vote on future episodes - early information on books and live events - ad-free listening to the entire archive and the opportunity to support the…

In 1912, a fossil discovery shakes the scientific world. Piltdown Man is the elusive missing link between humans and their ape-like ancestors. Forty years later, a researcher at the Natural History Museum gets a chance to see the relic for himself and notices something isn't quite right. For a full list of sources see timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Misinformation, double-dealing, character assassination - lobbyist Don Pearlman will stop at nothing to prevent the world from agreeing to cut carbon emissions. This arch disrupter, who works for fossil fuel companies and oil-producing nations, is determined that the climate talks in Kyoto, COP3, will fail. Will Don's tactics succeed, and what will it mean for the future of the planet? Tim is joined by playwright Joe Robertson to discuss Kyoto, the political thriller he and co-writer Joe Murphy based on 1997's international climate negotiations. Kyoto is currently on stage at the Lincoln Center in New York https://www.lct.org/shows/kyoto/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Forrest Fenn’s legendary treasure hunt ignites a nationwide obsession. The thrill of adventure, the promise of gold, and the call of the wild entice many seekers into the quest. Over time, excitement gives way to conspiracy and resentment, as treasure hunters stray into increasingly dangerous or aggressive interpretations of the clues. As the body count climbs, even Forrest begins to fear for his safety. For a full list of show notes see www.timharford.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.