Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Fritterin' Away Genius (Classic)

Claude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines to play chess, solve Rubik's cubes and beat the house at roulette. If Shannon had worked more diligently - instead of juggling, riding a unicycle and abandoning project after project - would he have made an even greater contribution to human knowledge? Maybe... and maybe not. Are restlessness and "fritterin'" important parts of a rich and creative life? Read more about Tim's work at http://timharford.com/ [http://timharford.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Photographing Fairies (Classic)

Sherlock Holmes is known for approaching all mysteries with cool logic - and yet when his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw photographs taken by two young girls purporting to show real life fairies at play... he unwisely declared them genuine. How did Elsie and Frances fool so many people with their photography... and why did they keep the hoax going for decades? For a full list of sources go to timharford.com [https://timharford.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

"They fall behind and are slowly crushed" - Board Games and Economics with Richard Garfield

Playing board games and spending too much money are time-honored Christmas traditions, so to mark the festive season, Tim is joined by the creator of Magic: The Gathering - Richard Garfield - for a special Q&A about economics and game design. How should you go about building the perfect game? Why did the Magic trading card market crash? Why do so many people hate Monopoly? Plus, Richard has a bone to pick with Tim about a previous episode of Cautionary Questions. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Flixborough: The Factory that was Wiped off the Map

A megaplant near the small village of Flixborough, England, is busy churning out a key ingredient of nylon 6, a material used in everything from stockings to toothbrushes to electronics. When a reactor vessel fails, the engineers improvise a quick-fix workaround, so the plant can keep up with demand. Before long, the temporary patch - a small, bent pipe - becomes a permanent part of the factory, and the people of Flixborough unknowingly drift towards disaster. For a full list of sources, see www.timharford.com [http://www.timharford.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

The Disappearance of Grace Oakeshott

At the start of the 20th century, Britain was slowly becoming a freer place for women. Young Grace Oakeshott seized every opportunity to learn and improve the world around her - though she found those opportunities frustratingly narrow. One day, she vanished suddenly, leaving behind only a pile of clothes on a beach. A hundred years later, the truth about Grace’s disappearance has finally come to light. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.