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.
…
continue reading
MP3•Episode home
Manage episode 515477356 series 2773423
Content provided by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Freakonomics Radio + Stitcher or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://staging.podcastplayer.com/legal.
Irving Finkel is an expert on cuneiform — the oldest known writing system. He tells Steve the amazing story of how an ancient clay tablet unlocked the truth about Noah’s ark (and got Finkel in trouble with some Christians).
- SOURCES:
- Irving Finkel, curator in the department of the Middle East at the British Museum.
- RESOURCES:
- "How to write cuneiform," by Irving Finkel (The British Museum, 2021).
- "PBS Nova: Secrets of Noah's Ark," (2015).
- The Ark Before Noah: Decoding the Story of the Flood, by Irving Finkel (2014).
- "Epic Hero," by David Damrosch (Smithsonian Magazine, 2007).
- "How Egyptian hieroglyphs were decoded, a timeline to decipherment," (The British Museum).
- EXTRAS:
- "Jane Goodall, Who Chronicled the Social Lives of Chimps, Dies at 91," by Keith Schneider (New York Times, 2025).
- "Jane Goodall Changed the Way We See Animals. She’s Not Done." by People I (Mostly) Admire (2022).
- "D:Ream - Things Can Only Get Better," (1993).
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
203 episodes