Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Evel Knievel Faces the Abyss

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

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 Pastoriu

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 wit

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

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

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 t

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

"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'

Attack of the Night People

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 prank

LIVE: We Are Not Machines - with Sarah O'Connor

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 skill

Treacle Tears: The Boston Molasses Disaster

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 W

The Thief, the Jewels, and the Dublin Castle Conspiracy

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 p

The Dunning Canoe-ger Effect

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 - fr

Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For

This episode comes to you from the new series of This is History, the podcast which tells the story of the Plantagenet Dynasty. Historian Dan Jones takes you through 300

How Civilizations Die - with Paul Cooper

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 gene

Can You Make a Sherman Tank Float?

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 formidab

The Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic)

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 an

From Drilled: The Carbon Gold Rush

We usually bring you failures of the past, but today we're sharing an episode from someone who uncovers failures as they happen. Amy Westervelt is an award-winning invest

Angels, Gold and Lust: John Dee and the Philosopher's Stone (Part 2)

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 instructio

The Queen's Astrologer: The Price of Prophecy (Part 1)

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 intel