Your Chance to Attend a Cautionary Tales Table Read

Your Chance to Attend a Cautionary Tales Table Read

Author: Pushkin Industries December 4, 2025 Duration: 1:41

Ever wished you could be a fly on the wall while Cautionary Tales is being made? Now you can.

We just launched the Cautionary Club - our new Patreon community for Cautionary Tales fans who want to go deeper. If you sign up before the end of the year, you’ll be a Cautionary Club Founding Member, and you'll be invited to join Tim and the producers in a live table read of an unreleased episode.

This will be a rare chance for you to see how the stories we tell are developed in real time, hear the editorial suggestions, and ask your burning questions about Cautionary Tales. Founding Members will receive an invitation to the table read, which will be held early 2026.

But that’s just the beginning. You’ll also receive:
- two monthly bonus episodes
- a members-only newsletter with sneak peeks of what’s coming up
- behind-the-scenes chats and videos with Tim
- the chance to vote on future episodes
- early information on books and live events
- ad-free listening to the entire archive
and the opportunity to support the creation of the stories we tell on Cautionary Tales.

Join by December 31, 2025 to lock in exclusive perks and be recognised as one of the original members of the Cautionary Club. Sign up at patreon.com/cautionaryclub.

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
Missing on "Dead Mountain": A Cold War Cold Case [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 46:14
In the bleak Russian winter of 1959, nine experienced hikers led by Igor Dyatlov set out on an expedition. None of them made it back alive. When their campsite was finally discovered, it told a chilling story: their tent…
Frozen in a Burning 747 (Tenerife Air Disaster 2) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:35
Two airplanes have just collided on the runway at Tenerife Airport. While no one on the Amsterdam-bound KLM plane survives the resulting fireball, 71 Pan-Am passengers and crew make it off their plane. But could it have…
Cleared For Take-Off? (Tenerife Air Disaster 1) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:36
“Evacuate the airport, we’ve planted bombs,” a terrorist tells the telephone operator at the airport in Gran Canaria, in 1977. By the end of that day, 583 people will have lost their lives – but not to a bomb explosion.T…
Do NOT Pass GO! (Classic) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:58
Cautionary Tales returns with new episodes on January 10th. Lizzie J. Magie (played by Helena Bonham Carter) should be celebrated as the inventor of what would become Monopoly. But, even though she had a patent, her role…
Demonizing Dungeons & Dragons (Classic) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:46
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 solve the case. "Dallas" faced the same problems as many teenagers, but…
Captain Coward and the Blame Game [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:51
Off the coast of an Italian island, an enormous cruise ship - seventeen floors high, three soccer pitches long - is tilting noticeably to one side. The local mayor is horrified: there are thousands of people on board the…
Get Happier, Help Others: Some Good Ideas About Giving [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:51
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 What's Your Problem, gets smart about donating. Did you know that spending…
RoboPod and the Perpetual Money Machine - Cautionary Questions 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:41
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 Goldstein answer more of your questions. Do you have a question for Tim? Pleas…
Darwin's Grandpa and the Art of Sex Appeal [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:59
Charles Darwin was stumped by peacocks. According to his theory of evolution, some creatures were better equipped to survive in their particular environment than others. It explained a lot - but it didn't explain the pea…
The Edinburgh Body Snatchers: Murder at Halloween [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:47
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, William Burke and William Hare, spotted a grim business opportunity. Th…