Podcast Episodes
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Do NOT Pass GO! (Classic)
Season 6 Episode 1
Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th.
Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of …
1 year, 2 months ago
Demonizing Dungeons & Dragons (Classic)
Season 5 Episode 27
When James Dallas Egbert III was reported missing from his college dorm in 1979, one of America's most flamboyant private detectives was summoned to …
1 year, 2 months ago
Captain Coward and the Blame Game
Season 5 Episode 26
Off the coast of an Italian island, an enormous cruise ship - seventeen floors high, three soccer pitches long - is tilting noticeably to one side. T…
1 year, 3 months ago
Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving
Season 5
It's the season of giving: colorful paper and shiny bows, sure, and charitable giving, too. In this special episode, Jacob Goldstein, the host of Wha…
1 year, 3 months ago
RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine - Cautionary Questions 2
Season 5 Episode 25
What really drove the 2008 financial crash? What’s a shadow bank? And what’s the connection between NIMBYs and BANANAs? Tim Harford and Jacob Goldste…
1 year, 3 months ago
Darwin's Grandpa and the Art of Sex Appeal
Season 5 Episode 24
Charles Darwin was stumped by peacocks. According to his theory of evolution, some creatures were better equipped to survive in their particular envi…
1 year, 4 months ago
The Edinburgh Body Snatchers: Murder at Halloween
Season 5 Episode 23
In 1827, Edinburgh, Scotland was a world centre for anatomical study, but there was a shortage of cadavers for medical students to dissect. Two men, …
1 year, 4 months ago
Cautionary Tales Presents: Death Fraud and Other Risky Business
Season 5
Tim Harford joined Nate Silver and Maria Konnikova on their podcast Risky Business to discuss two of history’s most compelling swindlers: Sam Israel …
1 year, 4 months ago
The Poet Who Toppled The British Empire
Season 5 Episode 22
India, 1930. Sarojini Naidu is marching towards a British-controlled saltwork; behind her is a long column of protestors all dressed in white. The gr…
1 year, 4 months ago
Reason, Wrath and Rebellion on the High Seas
Season 5 Episode 21
Early morning, April 1789. Captain Bligh is abruptly dragged from his cabin. Wrists bound, bayonet pressed to his chest, he and a few loyal sailors a…
1 year, 5 months ago