William McGonagall's poems are something else. The jarring meter, the banal imagery, the awkward rhymes: they made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day. How does someone get that bad at poetry? Or have we been misunderstanding McGonagall all along?

William McGonagall's poems are something else. The jarring meter, the banal imagery, the awkward rhymes: they made him a laughing stock in 19th Century Scotland and are still derided to this day. How does someone get that bad at poetry? Or have we been misunderstanding McGonagall all along?

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.

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups &ndash; and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of &ldquo;The Data Detective&rdquo;) 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.

Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life 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” and “The Undercover Economist”) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.

We tell our children unsettling fairy tales to teach them valuable life lessons, but these Cautionary Tales are for the education of the grown ups &ndash; and they are all true. Tim Harford (Financial Times, BBC, author of &ldquo;The Data Detective&rdquo; and &ldquo;The Undercover Economist&rdquo;) brings you stories of awful human error, tragic catastrophes, daring heists and hilarious fiascos. They'll delight you, scare you, but also make you wiser. New episodes every Friday.

"Genius Still Unrecognised" - The Worst Poet in the World 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/fd2acf28-383a-4874-b266-b33900f48f7c/transcript

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 episode, why it's best to avoid 'Mickey Mousing', and how to sound design some of the stranger moments of Cautionary Tales.

To subscribe to the Cautionary Club and hear more like this, go to patreon.com/cautionaryclub.

Dumm und Dümmer : Hitler Invades Florida is available now on Patreon, or will be released on this feed on August 28th. 

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 episode, why it's best to avoid 'Mickey Mousing', and how to sound design some of the stranger moments of Cautionary Tales.
To subscribe to the Cautionary Club and hear more like this, go to <a href="https://www.patreon.com/cautionaryclub" data-airgap-id="11">patreon.com/cautionaryclub.</a>
Dumm und D&uuml;mmer : Hitler Invades Florida is available now on <a href="https://www.patreon.com/cautionaryclub">Patreon</a>, or will be released on this feed on August 28th.&nbsp;

Proceed with Caution - Pascal's Guide to Podcasts 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/13eb4eac-7da6-4b82-8c6e-b4a50108939e/transcript

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 scripts dry up and the money runs out, Molly faces a difficult but painfully familiar choice. 

For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com

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.&nbsp;As the scripts dry up and the money runs out, Molly faces a difficult but painfully familiar choice.&nbsp;
For a list of sources, see the show notes at <a href="https://timharford.com/">timharford.com</a>

The Weight of Fame: A Hollywood Tragedy

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f25e4a82-7b75-4ea3-b5ae-b49d0110b174/transcript

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 Maddy Pelling, co-host of the After Dark podcast and author of Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment, joins Tim to tell the tale of the villainous Yorkshire Witch, and just how far she was willing to go. 

For the sources, see the show notes at timharford.com

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 Maddy Pelling, co-host of the After Dark podcast and author of Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment, joins Tim to tell the tale of the villainous Yorkshire Witch, and just how far she was willing to go.&nbsp;
For the sources, see the show notes at <a href="https://timharford.com/">timharford.com</a>

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

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/f1feb573-07b2-4dbe-92d6-b4970118d34a/transcript

"Genius Still Unrecognised" - The Worst Poet in the World

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