Heroic explorer Frederick Cook has just returned from the very roof of the world, the first man to reach the North Pole. Or so he says. Journalist Philip Gibbs has been watching him, and he’s convinced he’s lying. When Gibbs publishes that belief, he stands alone....
Articles
The eternal Google search for truth
What colour is the sky? The ocean? You might think the answer is obvious: they’re blue. Maybe not, though. Homer’s seas were “wine-dark”, and he never referred to the colour blue. He wasn’t unusual in this; most ancient texts don’t use the word. Exactly why this might...
Cautionary Tales – The V2 Trilogy
We're releasing an epic three-part series about the V2 rocket - a terrifying and also bafflingly expensive weapon. How did Nazi Germany ever decide to build such a thing, and what does it teach us about grandiose projects today? Also - what does the shameful...
The 2024 elections will come under attack. Why aren’t we getting ready?
Fact-checkers are level-headed people in my experience. They see claims circulating online — or in parliament — and check them, clarifying the confusing ones and refuting the lies. They are not prone to moral panics or conspiracy theories. But some of my favourite...
Cautionary Tales – A Fascination with Failure / Death on the Dance Floor (classic)
This week I present a personal reflection on what the late Henry Petroski meant to me and how he influenced my thinking and writing, followed by our classic episode "Death on the Dance Floor". The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski remains...
Is it even possible to prepare for a pandemic?
Be prepared! It’s the scout’s motto. But prepared for what? In The Lion King, the song “Be Prepared” is a rousing celebration of fratricide, while Tom Lehrer’s song of the same title advised boy scouts: “Don’t solicit for your sister, that’s not nice / unless you get...
Cautionary Conversations – When the Parakeets Plundered New York
This week I speak to Ben Nadaff-Hafrey about his podcast The Last Archive, the time the US started panicking about parakeets, population control, Ursula Le Guin, and more. Enjoy! If you want to read my essay about the wonderful Elinor Ostrom and her intellectual...
What the price of an ancient Roman nail teaches us about value
Fifty miles north of what is now Edinburgh and nearly 2,000 years ago, the Roman empire’s Twentieth Legion began to build a fort near the River Tay. By Roman standards, it was unremarkable, despite its 20-hectare size and earthworks several metres thick. It boasted a...
Cautionary Tales – The Coup, the Poet and the Secret to Winning Wimbledon
“If you can make one heap of all your winnings and risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss..." Those words -- from Rudyard Kipling's poem "If" -- were based on charismatic nineteenth century doctor Leander Starr Jameson. In Britain, Jameson was worshipped as a plucky...