Podcasts by Pop-Up Ideas

Simon Garfield: Maps and Mistakes from 2014-01-01T21:00

"How boring would the world be," asks Simon Garfield, "if we knew precisely where everything was?"

Simon reflects on the many mistakes and deceptions in some of our best-loved maps. He beg...

Jared Diamond: How Geography Creates History from 2013-12-25T21:00

The geographer and polymath Jared Diamond argues that apparently slight differences in geography can have profound consequences for the culture and history of nations.

Jerry Brotton: Mapping History from 2013-12-18T21:00

Jerry Brotton, Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary, University of London, argues that how we see the world depends on where we stand on it.

He takes us back to the Hereford mapp...

Tim Harford: The Power of Maps from 2013-12-11T21:00

Tim Harford returns with a new series of Pop Up Ideas. This time Tim and his guests tell intriguing stories inspired by maps.

In the first talk, Tim argues that maps - for all their beauty...

Common Tragedy from 2013-07-30T09:00

Tim Harford presents the last in the series, 'Pop-up Ideas'.

Tim explores the concept of 'The Tragedy of the Commons' - a term coined by the American ecologist Garrett Hardin in a hugely i...

David Kilcullen: Feral Cities from 2013-07-23T09:00

One of the world's most influential counter-insurgency experts, David Kilcullen, whose ideas were described by the Washington Post as "revolutionizing military thinking throughout the West", tal...

Gillian Tett: The Anthropology of Finance from 2013-07-16T09:00

Tim Harford is joined by Gillian Tett for the second in this new series of talks inspired by ideas in anthropology and the social sciences.

The financial journalist describes how her backg...

Malcolm Gladwell: Listening in Vietnam from 2013-07-09T09:00

Tim Harford (the Financial Times' 'Undercover Economist' and presenter of Radio 4's More or Less) is joined by Malcolm Gladwell, David Kilcullen and Gillian Tett for a new series, 'Pop-up Ideas'...

Tim Harford: The day the geeks took over poker from 2013-02-13T21:00

Tim tells the story of Chris Ferguson who applied game theory to poker and won - big time. But, as Ferguson would find out, there's always a bigger game.

Tim Harford: The Indiana Jones of Economics from 2013-02-06T21:00

Tim Harford tells the story of Bill Phillips - war hero, engineer, crocodile-hunter, and one of the fathers of macro-economics.

Tim Harford: War Games and Armageddon from 2013-01-30T21:00

Tim Harford tells the story of Thomas Schelling, an economist who helped America and the Soviet Union to avoid nuclear war.

Tim Harford: The Kidney Matchmaker from 2013-01-23T21:00

Tim tells the story of Al Roth, who worked out how to create a clearing-house for kidneys.

Tim Harford: Hotpants vs The Knockout Mouse from 2013-01-16T21:00

Tim Harford weaves together economic ideas with remarkable personal histories in some unusual locations. The presenter of Radio 4's More or Less speaks to an audience from a shop window on Londo...