Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Podcast Por Pushkin Industries arte de portada

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

De: Pushkin Industries
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We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable 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”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.

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Episodios
  • Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club (Update)

    Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club (Update)
    Jul 25 2025

    It's been five years since Cautionary Tales ran a mini-series about the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring the lessons we were learning in real time as the crisis unfolded. 'Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club' tells the story of a deadly blaze in a Cincinnati hotel and Tim's own experience reacting to new information about the virus. After the episode, Tim reflects on the anniversary, the cautionary tales the pandemic still had to teach us, and whether we've learned enough to deal with the next one.

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    32 m
  • "Captain Kirk Forgot to put the Machine on Stun"

    "Captain Kirk Forgot to put the Machine on Stun"
    Jul 18 2025

    Lying on the cold metal table, Voyne Ray Cox knew the drill. This was his ninth round of cancer treatment - which is why he was certain that what happened next couldn't be right. He heard a sizzling sound and saw a blue flash. And then - agony. It was like someone had thrust a hot skewer through his shoulder. He cried out in pain, but the operator was down the corridor and she couldn't hear him. She blasted him again and again with the red-hot radiation beam.

    Ray wasn't the first patient to be burned by the Therac-25 therapy machine, and he wouldn't be the last. Its dual-purpose design, controlled by a software programme, was supposed to offer hospitals more bang for their buck. But as patient after patient suffered ulcerated skin and yawning lesions, it should have been clear that something was horribly wrong. Why did it take so long for anyone to put this awful puzzle together?

    For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.

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    40 m
  • "I get in trouble when I say things like this" - Michael Lewis on Sam Bankman-Fried

    "I get in trouble when I say things like this" - Michael Lewis on Sam Bankman-Fried
    Jul 11 2025

    Acclaimed author Michael Lewis discusses his time with Sam Bankman-Fried and why he thinks both high finance and Effective Altruism shaped the 'Crypto King's' worldview, ultimately landing him in jail. Plus, we hear about the people fighting terrorism, cave-ins and brain-eating amoeba from Michael's new book 'Who Is Government?'.

    For a full list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com.

    Get ad-free episodes, plus an exclusive monthly bonus episode, to Cautionary Tales by subscribing to Pushkin+ on Apple Podcasts or Pushkin.fm. Pushkin+ subscribers can access ad-free episodes, full audiobooks exclusive binges, and bonus content for all Pushkin shows.

    Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
    Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

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

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Featured Article The Best History Podcasts of All Time
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A data driven look at lessons learned from both notorious and lesser known disasters. A very different way of looking at systems.

Highly Recommended

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thank you so much for such an interesting podcast. everything is so well done, the topics, the quality of the delivery of the ideas is completely awesome, thank you so much.

Beyond amazing!!

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as always the podcast does not disappoint I also like the theme music for the podcast

very good podcast.

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Thank you for this whole podcast. I listen in the car and when I go to bed. I love this. The way you tell a story is so good. Thank you! Can you do one about a story from Maine maybe? Thank you again!!
-Alexis From Maine

Thank you

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This is one of my favorite podcasts (and I listen to many). Every episode is incredibly well researched and totally fascinating. I highly recommend it!

A fantastic podcast

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Is always interesting, and informative. little to no filler while being pleasant to listen to.

One Of The Great Podcasts

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I liked that it was short stories and topics I wouldn’t normally consider. Quite interesting and educational for me.

Very interesting

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