From Cautionary Tales: Death on the Floor

Join Alyson for a work of folk horror fiction she wrote in honor of the new spring season. In this episode, we follow Fiona, who has gone to the village of Eldergrove after the death of her aunt, to claim her inheritance of Aunt Erin's cottage. However, this inheritance came with ...  عرض المزيد

In 1895 Ireland, Bridget Cleary was killed by those who believed she had been replaced by a fairy changeling. In this episode we explore the eerie folklore of the Aos Sí, the fear that fueled her murder, and how superstition turned deadly in modern Ireland. Hosted by Simplecast, ...  عرض المزيد

Here’s a special preview of the new season of Cautionary Tales from Pushkin Industries. On Cautionary Tales, bestselling author Tim Harford shares stories of human error, natural disasters, and tragic catastrophes from history that teach us important lessons for today. In this pr ...  عرض المزيد

Today’s podcast features two separate, unique stories that share a theme: workplace horror stories. The audio from these stories has been pulled from our YouTube channel, which is just called "MrBallen," and has been remastered for today's podcast.

Story names, previews ...

Henry Petroski is one of Tim Harford's favourite fellow nerds. His study of engineering failures has profoundly influenced Tim's own writing, including the classic Cautionary Tales episode Death on the Dance Floor. Petroski passed away in June 2023, at the age of 81. This week, i ...  عرض المزيد

In light of current events, we are re-posting one of my favorite episodes (from June, 2018) on the Black Death.

Between 1346 and 1351, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people - at least half the population - in Europe and the Middle East. This great mortality, ...