Sherlock Holmes is known for approaching all mysteries with cool logic - and yet when his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw photographs taken by two young girls purporting to show real life fairies at play... he unwisely declared them genuine.

How did Elsie and Frances fool so many people with their photography... and why did they keep the hoax going for decades?

For a full list of sources go to timharford.com

Sherlock Holmes is known for approaching all mysteries with cool logic - and yet when his creator Sir Arthur Conan Doyle saw photographs taken by two young girls purporting to show real life fairies at play... he unwisely declared them genuine. How did Elsie and Frances fool so many people with their photography... and why did they keep the hoax going for decades? For a full list of sources go to <a href="https://timharford.com/">timharford.com</a>

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.

Photographing Fairies (Classic)

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/620e5849-60a7-49f9-a65b-b3bb0113a847/transcript

Last week, Cautionary Tales described the rise and fall of General Magic, the startup with too much money and too few constraints. Was General Magic really doomed from the start, and what does its fate tell us about AI, drug discovery and our love lives? David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, joins Tim to make the case for loving limitations.

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

Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

Last week, Cautionary Tales described the rise and fall of General Magic, the startup with too much money and too few constraints. Was General Magic really doomed from the start, and what does its fate tell us about AI, drug discovery and our love lives? David Epstein, author of Inside the Box: How Constraints Make Us Better, joins Tim to make the case for loving limitations.
For a list of sources, see the show notes at timharford.com
Join our <a href="http://patreon.com/cautionaryclub" data-airgap-id="11">Cautionary Club </a>to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

How a Broken Arm Improved my French - with David Epstein

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/2ec01096-8e65-43fa-8b5b-b4c8016c5756/transcript

It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year head start on the iPhone. What could go wrong? 

This episode was based, with permission, on David Epstein's book Inside the Box: How Constraints Make us Better. For a list of sources, see the show notes.

Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

It's 1990. A new company called General Magic is going to build its vision of the future: the smart phone. They have talent, almost unlimited cash, and a 15 year head start on the iPhone. What could go wrong?&nbsp;
This episode was based, with permission, on David Epstein's book Inside the Box: How Constraints Make us Better. For a list of sources, see the show notes.
Join our <a href="http://patreon.com/cautionaryclub" data-airgap-id="12">Cautionary Club </a>to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

Talent, Time and Money: The Curse of General Magic 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/19e5a41d-87d8-4bc6-b32d-b4c10125f7ed/transcript

Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide, much bigger than any jump he's done before. To make it work, he'll need a custom-made rocket-powered "Skycycle," TV camera crews and - most importantly - a very positive attitude. 

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

Join our Cautionary Club to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

Evel Knievel, the world-famous daredevil, is planning his greatest ever stunt. In 1974, he wants to leap over Snake River Canyon in Idaho. The chasm is almost a third of a mile wide, much bigger than any jump he's done before. To make it work, he'll need a custom-made rocket-powered "Skycycle," TV camera crews and - most importantly - a very positive attitude.&nbsp;
For a list of sources, see the show notes at <a href="https://timharford.com/">timharford.com</a>.
Join our <a href="http://patreon.com/cautionaryclub" data-airgap-id="11">Cautionary Club </a>to get episodes ad-free, hear bonus interviews and get an extra Cautionary Tale every month.

Evel Knievel Faces the Abyss 

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/386a6856-3e1e-48c9-8ff1-b4ba01458e45/transcript

Photographing Fairies (Classic)

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