Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

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 unknow...

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/list...

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...

According to the science, it really is better to give than receive. Donating a dollar; sharing a kind word or lending someone a hand changes lives, but can also hugely boost your happiness. So we're teaming up with other podcasts from Hidden Brain to Revisionist History to ask you to give to a charity helping some of the poorest people around. We're calling it #PodsFightPoverty.     

Go to givedirectly.org/happinessl...

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 Robert...

When Satanic Panic ripped through America, rock music was in the crosshairs. Could songs contain secret backwards messages urging children to take drugs and worship the devil?

This special episode is from Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast all about the rich world of sound.

Follow Twenty Thousand Hertz wherever you get your podcasts. https://www.20k.org/

This episode mentions death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress ...

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 li...

Forrest Fenn never does things the regular way. Despite no formal training and little knowledge of art, he becomes a millionaire gallery owner. An outsider by nature, Fenn’s charm, audacity, and disregard for convention earns him both wealth and respect. When a streak of bad luck threatens to destroy his empire, Fenn dreams up an audacious final act. He'll mastermind the greatest treasure hunt America has ever known. As the l...

Was the fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel - the story of a woodcutter’s children abandoned in the woods and left at the mercy of a witch - in fact, early true crime? A hit book - The Truth About Hansel and Gretel - said that historical records pointed to the story being based on fact. Are we too quick to dismiss the truth behind tall stories? Or are we always falling for tales that are too good to be true?

This episode discusse...

Last week, Cautionary Tales told the tragic story of Derek Bentley, exploring Britain's troubled relationship with capital punishment. Across the Atlantic, Revisionist History has also been scrutinizing what it means for a state to try to execute a person. For this bonus episode, Malcolm Gladwell joins Tim Harford to discuss his new series The Alabama Murders, and to confront the disturbing truth behind the death penalty in America...

An amateurish burglary in 1950s London ends in murder. One of the men involved is a 19-year-old named Derek Bentley. Bentley has the understanding of a child - and he wasn't the killer. But the British justice system seems determined to deliver the death penalty. The fate of capital punishment lies in the balance, and so too does the fate of Derek Bentley.

For a full list of show notes go to timharford.com, and to join our new Patr...

In 1983, a plane takes off from Ottawa with less than half the required fuel on board. As the engines cut out one by one, the pilot is left with a ticking clock and an impossible task. But what does a tale of an unusual plane crash have in common with one about a disappearing canal?

For this special episode, Tim is joined by colleagues from across Pushkin's podcast network. Heavyweight's Jonathan Goldstein stops by to muse on the c...

When the Financial Times uncovered the billion-dollar Wirecard fraud, it seemed like the story was over. But then the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Jan Marsalek, vanished - leaving behind clues that pointed to a double life as a secret agent.

In his new podcast Hot Money: Agent of Chaos, FT journalist Sam Jones follows Marsalek’s trail through a globe-spanning world of spies, secrets, and corruption. Sam joins Tim ...

In the gilded court of Louis XIV, 17th Century France, manners are everything. Where to sit, how to eat, what to wear - any misstep is costly. No one knows this better than François Vatel, the greatest party planner in all of France. Tonight, Vatel must deliver the ultimate banquet, a chance for his master to rise through the ranks and win the king's favor. But where there is opportunity there is danger, and even one mistake...

Writer Douglas Adams, best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, used science fiction and satire to warn us about potential dangers in our future, from artificial intelligence to social media and animal extinction. In this Cautionary Conversation, Tim is joined by Arvind Ethan David, author of the new audiobook Douglas Adams: Ends of the Earth, to discuss why Adams was in the business of telling Cautionary Tales, his worr...

After years of campaigning for votes for women, the Suffragettes emerge at the turn of the 20th Century. Their motto, 'Deeds Not Words', heralds the start of more radical actions, including fire bombing, civil disobedience and hunger strikes. Emily Davison is a passionate rebel, but she pushes at the limits of what her allies find acceptable. History remembers Emily for her final act, but have we got everything about the story righ...

In 1998, an art gallery gets a mysterious phone call. The caller claims they have been fooled by a master forger and that many of their prized paintings are fakes. Or are they?

This is the story of the life and lies of the notorious Eric Hebborn. What did he do, and what does that teach us about how we can root out deepfakes without undermining our trust in reality?

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

Se...

In 1960, FDA scientist Frances Oldham Kelsey is tasked with approving an application for a mild sedative to be sold in America. The drug is popular across Europe and is touted to be free of side effects, so this should be a routine job. But something doesn't sit right with Frances and she starts digging for evidence to support her suspicions. As the pharmaceutical company pushes for speedy approval, Frances discovers the drug's dev...