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Podcast

Tim Harford tells the fascinating stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world.

Updated: weekly
Episodes available: indefinitely

Episodes to download

  •

    Introducing: Season 2 of 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

    Thu 22 Jul 2021

    How animals make us smarter – we thought you might like to hear our brand new episode

  • Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon Season 2

    Mon 9 Mar 2020

    Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story

  • Gutenberg press

    Sat 7 Mar 2020

    A revolutionary technology - so why did its inventor struggle to make money from it?

  • Slot machines

    Sat 29 Feb 2020

    Spinning wheels, flashing lights, and the business of addiction

  • Chess algorithms

    Sat 22 Feb 2020

    What chess reveals about the power of computers

  • Auctions

    Sat 15 Feb 2020

    Are things only worth what people are willing to pay for them?

  • Dams

    Sat 8 Feb 2020

    The benefits they bring can be huge - but so can the problems

  • Tulips

    Sat 1 Feb 2020

    Did colourful flowers really cause a financial bubble?

  • Sanitary towel

    Sat 25 Jan 2020

    Selling a product that some people found too embarrassing to mention

  • Wardian case

    Sat 18 Jan 2020

    How miniature greenhouses were a powerful tool for British colonisers

  • Fast food franchise

    Sat 11 Jan 2020

    How a milkshake-mixer salesman turned a burger restaurant into a global giant

  • CCTV

    Sat 4 Jan 2020

    How do we feel about being watched?

  • Retirement

    Sat 28 Dec 2019

    How should we treat our elders?

  • Santa

    Sat 21 Dec 2019

    Why does Father Christmas wear red and white?

  • Sewing machine

    Sat 14 Dec 2019

    A device that changed women's lives was designed to make a man very rich

  • Hollerith punch card

    Sat 7 Dec 2019

    The machine that turned data into money

  • Stock option

    Sat 30 Nov 2019

    An incentive for good performance, or another way to boost executives' pay?

  • Fundraising appeal

    Sat 23 Nov 2019

    What's the best way to get people to give to charity?

  • SWIFT

    Sat 16 Nov 2019

    A system that solved big problems is now facing its greatest challenge

  • Wedgwood

    Sat 9 Nov 2019

    What does the fashion industry owe to an 18th-century potter?

  • Glasses

    Sat 2 Nov 2019

    A vital aid for many, but billions don't know they need them

  • Vickrey turnstile

    Sat 26 Oct 2019

    How did an invention that was never built help make the modern world?

  • GPS

    Sat 19 Oct 2019

    What would happen if GPS stopped working?

  • Bonsack machine

    Sat 12 Oct 2019

    Why did a machine for making cigarettes transform the advertising industry?

  • Prohibition

    Sat 5 Oct 2019

    How much does it cost to outlaw something?

  • Interface Message Processor

    Sat 28 Sep 2019

    The big metal box that made the internet possible

  • Canned food

    Sat 21 Sep 2019

    The surprising lessons lurking under the lid

  • Interchangeable parts

    Sat 14 Sep 2019

    The manufacturing revolution that started with a gun

  • Oil

    Sat 7 Sep 2019

    How did the price of oil become so important?

  • Chatbot

    Sat 31 Aug 2019

    Can a computer convince you that it's human?

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