Introducing: Season 2 of 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
How animals make us smarter – we thought you might like to hear our brand new episode. It’s about a robotic arm inspired by an elephant’s trunk. For ...
Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon Season 2
Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story, told by the people who flew it and saved it. Search for 13 Minutes t...
Gutenberg press
Johannes Gutenberg's printing press changed the course of human history. It created a new way of doing business, drastically reduced the cost and spee...
Slot machines
First developed by a toy company in the 1890s, slot machines have become one of the most profitable tools of the gambling trade - but many who play th...
Chess algorithms
In 1997, Garry Kasparov, widely regarded as the world's greatest chess player, was defeated by Deep Blue, a computer. But how much did that reveal abo...
Auctions
Are things only worth what people are willing to pay for them? Tim Harford explains why a method of buying and selling that originated in ancient time...
Dams
From reliable water supplies to large-scale electricity generation, the benefits brought by dams can be huge. But so can the problems. Tim Harford exp...
Tulips
In the 1630s, the Netherlands experienced 'tulip mania' - a surge in demand for tulips from wealthy buyers, with some individual bulbs costing twenty ...
Sanitary towel
In the early 20th Century, makers of sanitary towels had to find a way to sell an item that some people found too embarrassing to mention. In some par...
Wardian case
Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward's miniature greenhouses made it far easier to successfully transport plants, spreading them far beyond their native lands. But ...