Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford Podcast By Pushkin Industries cover art

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

By: Pushkin Industries
Listen for free

About this listen

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.

2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia Social Sciences World
Episodes
  • Give Politicians a Raise, Smuggle Smartphones into School, and go Full Donk! Cautionary Questions with Risky Business

    Give Politicians a Raise, Smuggle Smartphones into School, and go Full Donk! Cautionary Questions with Risky Business
    May 30 2025

    Can game theory be used to win a world cup? Can you pay the way out of political corruption? And are there winning strategies in life we don't use because we're too embarrassed? Tim teams up with Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova, poker connoisseurs and the hosts of podcast Risky Business to answer your questions, tackling everything from sports, to tariffs, to the evils of smartphones.

    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.
    Show more Show less
    43 mins
  • Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)

    Roosevelt and the Renegade (Panama Disaster 2)
    May 23 2025

    Sixteen years have passed since Ferdinand De Lesseps' catastrophic failure in Panama and the dramatic collapse of the French Panama Canal company. Now, President Theodore Roosevelt has picked up the task. “No single great material work,” Roosevelt tells Congress, “is of such consequence to the American people.”

    The Americans have their work cut out. Enter chief engineer John Stevens. How does he spot a problem no-one else has noticed? And what does he do to solve it?

    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.
    Show more Show less
    41 mins
  • The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)

    The Great Frenchman's Folly (Panama Disaster 1)
    May 16 2025

    Ferdinand De Lesseps, "the Great Frenchman", is convinced that he is the man to build the Panama Canal. No, he isn't an engineer and, no, he's never actually been to Panama before. But he managed to dig the Suez Canal, and everyone said that would be impossible too. How hard can it be?

    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.
    Show more Show less
    39 mins
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup

Featured Article: The Best History Podcasts of All Time


If you’re a history buff looking for a new podcast to check out, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the array of options available. There are literally thousands of podcasts focusing on every corner of history. To help you know where to start, we’ve waded through nearly everything out there and selected just a few of the best of the best in history podcasts. And we've divided them by categories and interests. You’re sure to find your next favorite listen in our list.

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

Highly Recommended

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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!!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
as always the podcast does not disappoint I also like the theme music for the podcast

very good podcast.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Is always interesting, and informative. little to no filler while being pleasant to listen to.

One Of The Great Podcasts

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I liked that it was short stories and topics I wouldn’t normally consider. Quite interesting and educational for me.

Very interesting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.