Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

A dive into John Dee's life at the Tudor court, where mathematics, astrology and political survival blur. Tales of daring horoscopes, arrests for forecasting, and the high stakes of predicting monarchs' fates. Sea voyages, fool’s gold and ruined reputations show how hopeful forecasts fuel risky ventures. An eerie turn toward angelic languages and secret visions raises the cost of claiming the future.

Katie Prescott, Technology Business Editor at The Times and author, unpacks the rise and fall of Mike Lynch. She traces his Cambridge brilliance, Autonomy’s ruthless workplace culture, and the aggressive accounting that inflated value. The conversation covers HP’s hurried takeover, legal battles, and broader lessons about tech hype and oversight.

A clash between relaxed craftsmanship and ruthless ambition sparks a national fast-food saga. The story tracks a clever kitchen redesign that sped service and captivated copycats. It follows a persistent franchising drive that prioritized uniformity and control. The narrative also explores branding stumbles, franchise tensions, and a cutthroat local rivalry that reshaped an industry.

A romp through the marathon’s strange history and the myths that kept women off the start line. The story of Kathrine Switzer’s flagged entry and the official who tried to stop her. A secret, unnumbered run that quietly proved the point. How women’s times have closed the gap and why longer races now favor different strengths.

A doomed 1860 inland expedition unravels through a string of bad choices and terrible logistics. Overpacking, quarrels about transport, and a fateful split of the party set the stage. Misread depot signals and missed local help turn near-misses into catastrophe. The story ends with heroic mythmaking and a tragic tally of avoidable mistakes.

Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business and podcaster, shares the story of Steve Shirley, a refugee-turned-tech pioneer who built a software company from her kitchen table. They explore her fight against workplace discrimination, clever tactics to win clients, the company’s growth with major contracts, and her philanthropy and autism advocacy. Short, surprising, and full of resilience.

Ian Breckon, historian and author of Mad Tom's Rising, explores John Nicholls Tom, the theatrical impostor Sir William Courtney. He traces Kent’s 1830s unrest, Tom’s messianic performances, the deadly clash in Bosendon Wood, and how belief and desperation fueled a rural revolt. The conversation links Victorian turmoil to modern charismatic populism.

A sightseeing flight over Antarctica disappears into a deadly visual illusion that hides a mountain. Investigators wrestle with missing documents, conflicting briefings, and corporate denial. An inquiry flips initial blame and exposes organizational failures, legal fights, and a long-delayed apology.

Dr. Andrew J. Saxon, psychiatrist and professor emeritus, provides expert commentary on benzodiazepines and anxiety. The conversation covers how Xanax works in the brain and why alprazolam can be especially addictive. They also explore counterfeit pills and fentanyl risk, long term dependence and withdrawal, and alternatives like CBT and mindfulness.

A design visionary imagines a futuristic, flexible workstation meant for creative knowledge workers. That ideal collides with managerial demands for efficiency and surveillance. Modular solutions get repackaged into cramped, dehumanizing cubicles. The story traces how workplace design decisions reshaped office life and led to modern monitoring tools.