TEASER: From Cautionary Tales: Death on the Floor

TEASER: From Cautionary Tales: Death on the F...

Up next

How a Nazi French Mobster Made Paraguay a Smugglers’ Paradise

The French Connection and Paraguay In 1968, a gang of smartly-dressed gangsters robbed a bank in Buenos Aires. The fallout from the raid would lead authorities in all kinds of crazy directions — from French paramilitary hitmen to mobsters belonging to the feared Union Corse, Cors ...  Show more

Boston's Irish Mob Gang War: The Winter Hill Gang

In 1960s Boston, Buddy McLean ignited a savage gang war after tensions with the McLaughlin brothers boiled over into open bloodshed. What started as neighborhood beef turned into a cycle of ambushes, barroom executions, and street hits that terrorized Boston. McLean’s Winter Hill ...  Show more

Recommended Episodes

From Cautionary Tales: Death on the Floor
The Strange and Unusual Podcast

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 ...

  Show more

Introducing: Cautionary Tales
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

Coming November 15 from Tim Harford and Pushkin Industries, Cautionary Tales relates a true story of a time when something did not go according to plan. Some of these true stories are tragic, some are comic, but like the great fables and parables, each of them has a moral. Equipp ...  Show more

Cautionary Tales Returns Every Other Friday from March 25th
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

The greatest mistakes, disasters and fiascos of the past aren't just gripping stories... they're also warnings from which we all can learn.Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford returns EVERY OTHER FRIDAY FROM MARCH 25th to chronicle the defeats of mighty armies, the destruction of bu ...  Show more

A Fascination with Failure: Death On The Dancefloor (Classic)
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

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 ...  Show more