Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

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.

Helena Merriman, BBC presenter and investigative podcaster, explores the 1999 Russian apartment bombings and the Ryazan mystery. She traces media investigations, the FSB’s shifting story, and how panic and narrative control propelled Putin’s rise. Short, tense accounts examine suspicious deaths, silenced outlets, and the use of distraction as a political tool.

A doomed solo circumnavigation becomes a study in desperation, high-tech hubris and badly timed improvisation. A leaking trimaran, rushed construction and disappearing supplies set the stage for a dangerous gamble. Faked positions, crafted tapes and a reverse-engineered logbook blur truth and performance. The tale traces mental collapse, near-misses by rivals and the ripple effects on families and reputation.

Bernard Moitessier, French long-distance sailor and philosophical writer who famously sailed solo in the 1968 Golden Globe, appears through narration and quoted passages. The show contrasts his romantic minimalism with a rival’s meticulous maintenance. It follows daring repairs, violent Southern Ocean weather, a choice to abandon the race, and two very different paths to triumph.

A deep dive into the McDonald’s Monopoly promotion and how it became a marketing juggernaut. The story follows the inside operation at the company that printed and distributed winning pieces. It chronicles a security officer’s medical crisis, his rise to a key role, and the moment the contest’s safeguards were exploited. The tale tracks scheme mechanics and the turning points that enabled the fraud.