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DOUBLE BILL: A Monkey For Mayor / A Screw Loose At 17,000 Feet

DOUBLE BILL: A Monkey For Mayor / A Screw Loose At 17,000 Feet

FromCautionary Tales with Tim Harford


DOUBLE BILL: A Monkey For Mayor / A Screw Loose At 17,000 Feet

FromCautionary Tales with Tim Harford

ratings:
Length:
34 minutes
Released:
Oct 13, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

This week, we've twice the storytelling fun for you: two Cautionary Tales shorts, previously only available to Pushkin+ subscribers.
A Monkey for Mayor: It was supposed to be a publicity stunt, but when the man who dressed as Hartlepool United’s monkey mascot stood in a mayoral election... he won. Actual politicians predicted disaster - since thousands of workers and millions of dollars were now in the hands of a complete novice.
But H’Angus the Monkey proved to be a more effective leader than anyone had predicted, raising interesting questions about how we select the best people to be our managers and our mayors.
And
A Screw Loose At 17,000 Feet: Can you tell the difference between an A211-7D bolt and an A211-8C? Well, nor could the tired and stressed engineer fitting a cockpit windshield to Flight 5390. The difference is tiny, but the consequences of muddling them up - which played out at 17,000 ft - were dramatic.
Such design flaws are common - and result in far more loose aircraft windows than you would imagine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Released:
Oct 13, 2023
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

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. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.