Every Sunday, in 1937, people all across American tune in to a strange broadcast. The Zenith Foundation is attempting an ambitious parapsychology experiment to test whether telepathy is real. The results are extraordinary: listeners score far better than chance can...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/playlists/podcast https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/when-aliens-landed-in-wiltshire-halloween-season In 1980s Southern England, intricate crop circles are appearing overnight, and people are...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/the-mummys-curse-halloween-classic One hundred years ago, on 16th February 1923, the Tomb of the Pharaoh Tutenkhamun was officially opened. Disturbing the remains of the Egyptian pharaohs is known to incur a...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/when-muhammad-ali-met-henry-s-hammer Before he became Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay was known as the “Louisville Loud-mouth”, as famous for his sharp taunts and poetic put-downs as he was for his skills in the...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/how-a-broken-arm-improved-my-french-with-david-epstein Last week, Cautionary Tales described the rise and fall of General Magic, the startup with too much money and too few constraints. Was General Magic really...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/talent-time-and-money-the-curse-of-general-magic It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year...
In the noughties, reality TV is in an arms race. Shows compete for viewers by one-upping each other with increasingly shocking and controversial formats. The Dutch production company behind Big Brother, Endemol, has a bold idea. What if, instead of money, the...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/evel-knievel-faces-the-abyss Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide,...
https://omny.fm/shows/cautionary-tales-with-tim-harford/dumm-und-d-mmer-hitler-invades-florida In 1942, eight men are sent from Nazi Germany to infiltrate America. Their mission: to sabotage critical infrastructure. Their problem: they’re idiots. Operation Pastorius...