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History

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

by Pushkin Industries
HistorySociety & Culture

Today: #150 in History, Mexico on our combined chart.

If you like Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford, try…

Ranking history · Mexico

Latest daily rankings: Oct 21. New rankings will appear after the next update.

Position on the History, Mexico combined chart over the last 7 days. Toggle platforms to compare their positions. Lower rank numbers are better.

#119#130#142#153#164Chart rankOct 17Oct 19Oct 21#150
View as table
DateCombined RankApple PodcastsCastbox
Oct 21#150#130—
Oct 20#147#123—
Oct 19#129#99—
Oct 18#154#138#96
Oct 17#150#126—
Oct 16—#193—

Latest episodes

  • A Tale of Blood and Ashes: The Exeter Vampires | Halloween Season

    October 16, 2026 · 38 min

    In 1800s America, something terrifying is feeding on the quiet town of Exeter. As members of George Brown's family succumb one by one, the town considers drastic measures to protect the living from the dead. For a list of sources, see the…

  • When Aliens Landed in Wiltshire | Halloween Season

    October 9, 2026 · 38 min

    In 1980s Southern England, intricate crop circles are appearing overnight, and people are desperate for an explanation. Could humans really create something so complex without anyone spotting them? The truth is out there! Actually, the…

  • The Mummy's Curse (Halloween Classic)

    October 2, 2026 · 38 min

    This October, Cautionary Tales is going all out for Halloween. We've got four brand new spooky episodes coming your way throughout the month, plus a fifth over on the Cautionary Club on Patreon. If you have your own Halloween-themed…

  • When Muhammad Ali Met Henry’s Hammer

    September 25, 2026 · 41 min

    Before he became Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay was known as the "Louisville Loud-mouth", as famous for his sharp taunts and poetic put-downs as he was for his skills in the ring. In 1963, Clay arrived in England to take down beloved British…

  • How a Broken Arm Improved my French - with David Epstein

    September 18, 2026 · 43 min

    Last week, Cautionary Tales described the rise and fall of General Magic, the startup with too much money and too few constraints. Was General Magic really doomed from the start, and what does its fate tell us about AI, drug discovery and…

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  • Talent, Time and Money: The Curse of General Magic

    September 11, 2026 · 39 min

    It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year head start on the iPhone. What could go wrong?  This episode was based, with…

  • Evel Knievel Faces the Abyss

    September 4, 2026 · 40 min

    Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide, much bigger than any jump he's done before. To make it…

  • Dumm und Dümmer: Hitler Invades Florida

    August 28, 2026 · 39 min

    In 1942, eight men are sent from Nazi Germany to infiltrate America. Their mission: to sabotage critical infrastructure. Their problem: they're idiots. Operation Pastorius soon devolves into one of the most baffling failures of World War…

  • The DeLorean Saga: Fraud, Drugs and Marty McFly's Car - with Business History

    August 21, 2026 · 49 min

    This is a special crossover episode with Business History. John DeLorean was a visionary who wanted to create a futuristic new sports car - a stainless steel marvel with distinctive gull-wing doors. The British Government agreed to…

  • Proceed with Caution - Pascal's Guide to Podcasts

    August 14, 2026 · 26 min

    How does a story on Cautionary Tales come to life? In this episode of our subscriber-exclusive series, Proceed with Caution, sound designer Pascal Wyse shows Tim how the audio magic happens. He explains how he picks the music in an…

  • The Weight of Fame: A Hollywood Tragedy

    August 7, 2026 · 42 min

    Talented and beautiful, Molly O'Day is a rising star in 1920s Hollywood. But when Molly's teenage body starts to change and she can no longer fit into the dress she wore when she was 16, the studio wants nothing to do with her. As the…

  • Arsenic and Lace: The Trial of the Yorkshire Witch - with Maddy Pelling

    July 31, 2026 · 44 min

    Mary Bateman lived in Yorkshire in the late 18th Century, an age that prized rational thought. Many people still longed to believe in the old ways and Bateman used this to her advantage, selling spells and enchantments to the desperate. Dr…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

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. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of “The Data Detective”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.