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 “The Data Detective” 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. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.
Date | Title & Description | Contributors |
---|---|---|
2025-01-17 | Two airplanes have just collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. While no one on the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane survives the resulting fireball, 71 Pan-Am passengers and crew make it off their plane. But could it have been more? Why did so many Pan-A... |
|
2025-01-10 | “Evacuate the airport, we’ve planted bombs,” a terrorist tells the telephone operator at the airport in Gran Canaria, in 1977. By the end of that day, 583 people will have lost their lives – but not to a bomb explosion.The planes are diverted to the ne... |
|
2025-01-03 | Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th. Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of what would become Monopoly. But, even though she had a patent, her role in creating the smash hit board... |
|
2024-12-20 | When James Dallas Egbert III was reported missing from his college dorm in 1979, one of America's most flamboyant private detectives was summoned to solve the case. "Dallas" faced the same problems as many teenagers, but P.I. William Dear stoked fears ... |
|
2024-12-06 | Off the coast of an Italian island, an enormous cruise ship - seventeen floors high, three soccer pitches long - is tilting noticeably to one side. The local mayor is horrified: there are thousands of people on board the Costa Concordia, and it's only ... |
|
2024-12-02 | It's the season of giving: colorful paper and shiny bows, sure, and charitable giving, too. In this special episode, Jacob Goldstein, the host of What's Your Problem, gets smart about donating. Did you know that spending money on others makes you happ... |
|
2024-11-22 |
RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine - Cautionary Questions 2 Take the Cautionary Tales listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCHGGZ3 What really drove the 2008 financial crash? What’s a shadow bank? And what’s the connection between NIMBYs and BANANAs? Tim Harford and Jacob Goldstein answer more o... |
|
2024-11-08 | Take the Cautionary Tales listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCHGGZ3 Charles Darwin was stumped by peacocks. According to his theory of evolution, some creatures were better equipped to survive in their particular environment than oth... |
|
2024-10-25 | Take the Cautionary Tales listener survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/HCHGGZ3 In 1827, Edinburgh, Scotland was a world centre for anatomical study, but there was a shortage of cadavers for medical students to dissect. Two men, William Burke an... |
|
2024-10-14 |
Cautionary Tales Presents: Death Fraud and Other Risky Business Tim Harford joined Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova on their podcast Risky Business to discuss two of history’s most compelling swindlers: Sam Israel III and John Law. We hope you enjoy this episode of Risky Business. It's available wherever you listen ... |
|