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

Cape Town’s underworld war was supposed to be about nightclub doors. Instead, it turned into a sprawling battle over drugs, extortion, government contracts, corrupt cops and control of an entire city. In part two, Danny follows the bodies as they pile up: the “Gentleman Gangster” ...  Show more

In a city on Colombia’s Caribbean coast, a young man rose through the ranks of a violent paramilitary organization to become one of its key leaders. But that wasn’t all. Throughout, he posted his criminal exploits to social media, crafting a Robin Hood image while robbing, dealin ...  Show more

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

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

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