"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 begins with the map of the London Underground where lines on

Jared Diamond: How Geography Creates History

Dec 25th, 2013 14m 11s

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

Dec 18th, 2013 13m 58s

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 mappamundi - with its unicorns, griffins, cannibals and fable

Tim Harford: The Power of Maps

Dec 11th, 2013 13m 54s

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 - can be dangerous. In the hands of powerful people, the

Common Tragedy

Jul 30th, 2013 13m 43s

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 influential 1968 essay.He compares Hardin's work to that o

David Kilcullen: Feral Cities

Jul 23rd, 2013 13m 59s

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", talks about the time-bomb of rapidly-growing coastal

Gillian Tett: The Anthropology of Finance

Jul 16th, 2013 14m 12s

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 background in anthropology led her to predict the financial cr

Malcolm Gladwell: Listening in Vietnam

Jul 9th, 2013 13m 7s

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'.Following on from his earlier Radio 4 series 'Pop

Tim Harford: The day the geeks took over poker

Feb 13th, 2013 13m 26s

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

Feb 6th, 2013 13m 55s

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

Jan 30th, 2013 13m 53s

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

Jan 23rd, 2013 13m 51s

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

Jan 16th, 2013 13m 38s

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 London's Regent Street, and turns his attention to heat