Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford

When the Autopilot Switched Off

An airline captain thought he was giving his children a harmless thrill by letting them "fly" his packed airplane - the young cockpit visitors weren't really in control... the autopilot was doing the real flying. Until it wasn't.  Do safety features actually lull us into a false sense of security - tempting us to take greater risks than we otherwise would? For a full list of sources go to <a href="https://timharford.com/">timharford.com</a> If you’d like to keep up with the most recent news from this and other Pushkin podcasts be sure to sign up for our email list at <a href="https://pushkin.us20.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=ec28005461416f0b42178894f&amp;id=1694c40f69">Pushkin.fm</a>.See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

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 other Friday.