The Man who Solved Kindness

The Man who Solved Kindness

Author: Pushkin Industries June 27, 2025 Duration: 37:42

George Price is on a mission to prove that human kindness is real. He's seen the latest research suggesting any altruism is ultimately selfish and finds it deeply depressing. George decides to learn the mathematics he needs to prove that research wrong, and throws his career, and life, into the quest for complete kindness.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


There’s a reason we share scary stories-not just to entertain, but to learn. Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford applies that same instinct to the real world, digging into history’s most fascinating blunders and disasters to uncover what they can teach us today. Brought to you by Pushkin Industries, each episode feels like a masterfully told story, where Tim Harford-known for his work at the Financial Times, the BBC, and as author of “The Data Detective”-unpacks a single event. You’ll hear about catastrophic business decisions, scientific hubris, and public policy fiascos, all presented with a blend of narrative flair and sharp analysis. This isn’t just a history podcast; it’s a deep dive into human nature, decision-making, and the unexpected consequences that ripple from a single mistake. Listening feels like having a brilliantly insightful guide explain why things went so terribly, or hilariously, wrong. The stories are gripping on their own, but the real value lies in the lessons they make tangible for our own lives and choices. If you’ve ever wondered how a group of smart people could make a disastrous call, or how a seemingly small error snowballed into legend, this is the podcast for you. New episodes arrive every Friday, ready to transform a true tale of error into a lasting piece of wisdom.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 219

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Podcast Episodes
The Data Detective [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:07
Cautionary Tales' host Tim Harford has a new book - The Data Detective - setting out ten commandments for understanding the numbers, charts, graphs and statistics that bombard us every day. In this free extract, Tim expl…
BONUS: Storks, Smoking and the Power of Doubt [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:14
It's easy to mock statistics or cast doubt on them... but we do so at our peril. Undermining our trust in facts and figures can cause great harm, and even death. We should guard against it.Tim Harford looks at how the se…
How To End A Pandemic [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:05
The eradication of smallpox is one of humanity's great achievements - but the battle against the virus was fought by the most unlikely of alliances. How did the breakthrough happen - and can we guarantee that the world i…
That Turn To Pascagoula [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:16
For years, people had warned that New Orleans was vulnerable - but when a hurricane came close to destroying the city, the reaction was muted. Some people took the near miss as a warning - others, as confirmation that th…
The Village of Heroes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:58
It looked like any ordinary roll of cloth, but it brought the dreaded plague to the village of Eyam. First it killed the tailor, then resident after resident succumbed. To stop the spread of the disease to neighbouring t…
The Spreadsheet of Life and Death [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:04
Clive had a deadly form of cancer, but fortunately there was a new drug to treat it. Imagine his anger when he was told the treatment was too expensive. He’d entered a world where unique human lives are given a value in…
A Tsunami of Misery [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:07
A monstrous wave and then a nuclear disaster forced Mikio and Hamako Watanabe from their home. But being saved from the potential dangers of a radiation leak destroyed their lives in a different way. Why do we overlook t…
Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:00
Flames are spreading through a Cincinnati hotel. The staff know it, the fire department is coming, and the people in the packed cabaret bar have been told to evacuate… and yet they hesitate to leave. Why don’t we react t…
Cautionary Tales Presents: TED Talk Daily [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 18:11
In this special episode of Cautionary Tales, we feature Cautionary Tales host Tim Harford's TED Talk Daily from 2018. What can we learn from the world's most enduringly creative people? They "slow-motion multitask," acti…
You Have Reached Your Destination [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:59
We may mock our ancestors for seeking the advice of oracles, soothsayers and psychics, but today we rely heavily on computer programs and math formulas to help us navigate our world. If we continue to follow them unthink…