Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

The Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic)

36 min · 22. maj 2026
episode The Inventor who Almost Ended the World (Classic) cover

Description

Thomas Midgley's inventions caused his own death, hastened the deaths of millions of people around the world, and very nearly extinguished all life on land.  Midgley and his employers didn't set out to poison the air with leaded gasoline or wreck the ozone layer with CFCs - but while these dire consequences were unintended... could they have been anticipated? For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com [https://timharford.com/] See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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episode LIVE: We Are Not Machines - with Sarah O'Connor artwork

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episode Presenting...This is History: A Dynasty to Die For artwork

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This episode comes to you from the new series of This is History, the podcast which tells the story of the Plantagenet Dynasty. Historian Dan Jones takes you through 300 years of calamities, wars and rebellions that marked the end of the Middle Ages and the rise of the Tudor Dynasty. This is the first episode of the tenth series, where you'll meet 13-year-old Margaret Beaufort and her newborn, Henry Tudor.  Listen to This is History [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/this-is-history-a-dynasty-to-die-for/id1641568639] wherever you get your podcasts. If you are a member of our Cautionary Club, you can listen ad-free with a month's free membership to their Patreon. Look out for the gift link on our Patreon [https://www.patreon.com/cw/CautionaryClub].  See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

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