When the Robots Take Over... - Cautionary Questions

When the Robots Take Over... - Cautionary Questions

Author: Pushkin Industries May 24, 2024 Duration: 39:37

Tim Harford is joined by Jacob Goldstein to answer your questions. Does winning the lottery make you unhappy? Is Bitcoin bad for the economy? When does correlation imply causation? And what will Tim and Jacob do when the robot overlords come for their jobs?

We love hearing from you, so please keep your questions coming: tales@pushkin.fm.

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: 100

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Podcast Episodes
Paradise Poisoned: How Utopias Fall Apart [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:00
Dore Strauch and Friedrich Ritter make an unconventional couple, united by their contempt for shoes, root vegetables and, above all, society. In 1929 they leave Germany and begin anew on the deserted Galapagos island of…
"Genius Still Unrecognised" - The Worst Poet in the World [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:03
William McGonagall's poems are something else. The jarring meter, the banal imagery, the awkward rhymes: they made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day. How does someone get tha…
Office Hell: The Demise of the Playful Workspace (Classic) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:40
In the early 90s, cutting-edge advertising agency Chiat/Day announced a radical plan, aimed at giving the company a jolt of creative renewal. They would sweep away corner offices and cubicles and replace them with zany o…
Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop (Classic) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:30
Pepsi twice ended up in court after promotions went disastrously wrong. Other big companies have fallen into the same trap - promising customers rewards so generous that to fulfil the promise might mean corporate bankrup…
Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club (Update) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:20
It's been five years since Cautionary Tales ran a mini-series about the Covid-19 pandemic, exploring the lessons we were learning in real time as the crisis unfolded. 'Fire at The Beverly Hills Supper Club' tells the sto…
"Captain Kirk Forgot to put the Machine on Stun" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:28
Lying on the cold metal table, Voyne Ray Cox knew the drill. This was his ninth round of cancer treatment - which is why he was certain that what happened next couldn't be right. He heard a sizzling sound and saw a blue…
Grand Theft Automated: How to Save a Trillion Lives [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:48
A radical thought experiment transforms the lives of a new breed of philanthropists, as they follow the logic of altruism to extraordinary lengths. The most famous convert to the Effective Altruism movement, Sam Bankman-…
The Man who Solved Kindness [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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 ne…
The Shark That Ate Hollywood: Jaws at 50 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:40
Steven Spielberg thought his career was finished. He was behind schedule, his actors were fighting, the crew were mutinous and worst of all, his shark was broken. It looked like Jaws was destined for failure, but the mov…