Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Episodes Episode guide
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You Have Reached Your Destination
If your world relies on fortune tellers, GPS or algorithms...you may end up in a bad spot
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WW2: How Britain Ignored the Mother of All Secrets
The story of one of the most extraordinary intelligence leaks in history.
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Whistleblower on the 28th Floor
Why are we suspicious of "tattletales" and what can we do to make whistleblowing easier?
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When the Robots Take Over... - Cautionary Questions
Does winning the lottery make you unhappy? Is Bitcoin bad for the economy?
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When Stalin Killed the Weekend (with The Happiness Lab)
The story of Stalin's curious, calendar-reshaping experiment.
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The Rogue Dressed as a Captain
Humans aren't as obedient as we鈥檙e made out to be鈥ut we still fall easily for fraudsters
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The Revenge of the Whales
How much is what we think we understand about the natural world shaped by human guilt?
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The Poet Who Toppled The British Empire
This is the final episode in a four-part series about how to succeed without being a jerk
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The Nice Guy, the Bully and the Kiss
Leo Durocher would stop at nothing to win.
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The Human Guinea Pigs of Camp Lazear
Is it time to start thinking differently about experimenting on humans?
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The Fraudster's Guide to Magic Money
How do pyramid and ponzi schemes snowball out of control?
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The Fan Who Infected a Movie Star
Tragedy can be averted if we appeal to the better parts of human nature.
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The Edinburgh Body Snatchers: Murder at Halloween
What makes some markets acceptable, and others repugnant?
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The Dunning Kruger Hijack (and Other Criminally Stupid Acts)
The height of stupidity is being too stupid to know you are stupid...
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The Deadly Airship Race
Competition can bring the best out of people, but can also cause things to fall apart.
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The Curse of Knowledge Meets The Valley of Death
How assuming others understand exactly what we are thinking gets people killed.
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The Art Forger, the Nazi, and "The Pope"
Being clever doesn't protect us from scams...
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Supersonic Nazi Vengeance: V2 Rocket (Part 1)
In WW2, British intelligence began to hear that the enemy was developing a rocket weapon.
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Steel and Kindness: Clash of the Skyscrapers
Paul Starrett has just won a major building contract, but will everything go to plan?
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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
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Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas
History remembers Captain Bligh as a cruel, petty tyrant. The reality is more complicated
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Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop
Why some botched competitions ruin businesses, while others short-change consumers.
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Masterly Inactivity Versus Micromanaging
Lady Sale (Helena Bonham Carter) was part of a British retreat from Afghanistan in 1842.
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Martin Luther King Jr, the Jewellery Genius, and the Art of Public Speaking
Some speeches help us dream of a better world鈥hile others become the stuff of nightmares
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La La Land: Galileo's Warning
Giving an Oscar to the wrong film proved that some safety systems can increase mistakes.
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Introducing... The Science of Happiness
The Science of Happiness is available now on 91热爆 Sounds.
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Introducing... Short History Of...
Introducing Short History Of... The Dambusters. Listen other episodes on 91热爆 Sounds now!
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Into the Black Lair: V2 Rocket (Part 2)
How Nazi Germany was convinced that they couldn鈥檛 afford to ignore rocket technology.
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How the Radium Girls Fought Back
Tim Harford and Kate Moore discuss how the "Radium Girls" took on their employers.
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How Britain Invented, Then Ignored, Blitzkrieg
Why organizations can't always see a brilliant idea that's staring them in the face.