Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Pushkin Industries

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups – and they are all true. Read more

History

Episodes

Why Miners See Ghosts | Halloween Season

10/30/2026 00:37:58Introducing... Unexplained: Lying in Wait

10/27/2026 00:35:28 The Pedlar and the Witch | Halloween Season

10/23/2026 00:39:15A Tale of Blood and Ashes: The Exeter Vampires | Halloween Season

10/16/2026 00:37:44When Aliens Landed in Wiltshire | Halloween Season

10/09/2026 00:38:19 Show all episodes

Our take on Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford podcast

As we walk through life, we make many mistakes, some of which significantly impact our well-being. Many of these mistakes are avoidable only if we got cautioned earlier. Tim Harford takes his time every Friday to tell us true stories about mistakes we should learn from. These stories might delight you; they will undoubtedly entertain you, and most will scare you; however, they teach you something. Tom is also the author of "The Data Detective," a book on the rules to make sense of statistics.