BBC Radio Podcasts from 50 Things That Made the Modern Economy
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
Introducing 13 Minutes to the Moon Season 2
Jump on-board a doomed mission to the Moon. Apollo 13: the extraordinary story
Gutenberg press
A revolutionary technology - so why did its inventor struggle to make money from it?
Slot machines
Spinning wheels, flashing lights, and the business of addiction
Chess algorithms
What chess reveals about the power of computers
Auctions
Are things only worth what people are willing to pay for them?
Dams
The benefits they bring can be huge - but so can the problems
Tulips
Did colourful flowers really cause a financial bubble?
Sanitary towel
Selling a product that some people found too embarrassing to mention
Wardian case
How miniature greenhouses were a powerful tool for British colonisers
Fast food franchise
How a milkshake-mixer salesman turned a burger restaurant into a global giant
CCTV
How do we feel about being watched?
Retirement
How should we treat our elders?
Santa
Why does Father Christmas wear red and white?
Sewing machine
A device that changed women's lives was designed to make a man very rich
Hollerith punch card
The machine that turned data into money
Stock option
An incentive for good performance, or another way to boost executives' pay?
Fundraising appeal
What's the best way to get people to give to charity?
SWIFT
A system that solved big problems is now facing its greatest challenge
Wedgwood
What does the fashion industry owe to an 18th-century potter?
Glasses
A vital aid for many, but billions don't know they need them
Vickrey turnstile
How did an invention that was never built help make the modern world?
GPS
What would happen if GPS stopped working?
Bonsack machine
Why did a machine for making cigarettes transform the advertising industry?
Prohibition
How much does it cost to outlaw something?
Interface Message Processor
The big metal box that made the internet possible
Canned food
The surprising lessons lurking under the lid
Interchangeable parts
The manufacturing revolution that started with a gun
Oil
How did the price of oil become so important?
Chatbot
Can a computer convince you that it's human?
Solar PV
How important is solar power to the future of the planet?
Cassava
A toxic plant that sheds light on hidden social forces
Fire
Does the story of economics really begin with a spark?
RFID: The tech you’ve never heard of – but use every day
Radio frequency identification is the foundation of many contactless technologies
Postage stamp
How a disgruntled customer revolutionised the postal service
Rubber
An everyday substance with a bloody past
CubeSat
How a student engineering challenge has changed the way we use space
Factory
Have factories made workers' lives better?
Blockchain
How powerful could the technology behind Bitcoin be?
Pencil
Is the pencil underrated?
'Like' button
Are we addicted to getting 'likes' on social media?
Dwarf wheat
Feeding a hungry world – how Norman Borlaug used genetics to tackle predicted famines
Pornography
Did pornography help develop the internet?
Recycling
Could recycling save cash, as well as the planet?
Spreadsheet
How a grid on a computer screen gives us a glimpse of the future of automation
Brick
The humble brick has housed us for thousands of years - will it endure?
Mail order catalogue
How the Montgomery Ward shopping catalogue transformed the middle-class way of life
Bicycle
Has the bicycle had its day, or is it a technology whose best years lie ahead?
QWERTY
From the early typewriters, the QWERTY keyboard layout has stood the test of time
Bonus 4: Woodpecker and black box
The last bonus ep of #30Animals. For more, search for 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
Gyroscope
The gyroscope: a remarkable device used to guide everything from submarines to satellites
Bonus 3: Mosquito and surgical needle
Episode 3 of our new podcast: the blood-sucking pest and a pain-free surgical needle
Cellophane
Cellophane transformed how consumers purchased food, as well as how producers sold it
Bonus 2: Octopus and camouflage
Episode 2 of our new podcast, 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
Langstroth Hive
The Langstroth Hive: a wooden box that made the industrialisation of the bee possible
Bonus: 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter
Introducing our new podcast about innovation, technology and the animal kingdom
Coming soon: Season two
Fifty more things are on their way! Tim Harford returns with season two on 25 March 2019
Index Fund
Warren Buffett is one of the world’s great investors. His advice? Invest in an index fund
Special Bonus: Santa Claus
Why does Father Christmas wear red and white? It is not for the reason you may think
Number 51
Revealed – the winning 51st Thing! Which “thing” won the vote to be added to our list?
The Plough
The plough kick-started civilisation – and ultimately made our modern economy possible
Cold Chain
Refrigeration revolutionised the food industry, and other industries too
Welfare State
Do welfare states boost economic growth, or stunt it? It’s not an easy question to answer
Property Register
Property rights for the world's poor could unlock trillions in ‘dead capital’
Searching for 51
The extra “thing” – what should it be?
Management Consulting
If managers often have a bad reputation, what about those who tell them how to manage?
Double-entry Bookkeeping
Renaissance man Luca Pacioli wrote the definitive book on double-entry bookkeeping
S-Bend
The S-bend was a pipe with a curve in it, an invention that led to public sanitation
Radar
A high-tech ‘death ray’ capable of zapping sheep led to the invention of radar
Market Research
Market research marked a shift from a producer-led to consumer-led approach to business
Plastic
We make so much plastic these days that it takes about eight percent of oil production
Seller Feedback
Without seller feedback, companies like eBay might not have grown as they have
Paper Money
Currency derives value from trust in the government which issues it
Limited Liability Company
How some legal creativity has created vast wealth down the centuries
Dynamo
The big story behind the way dynamos made electricity useful
Leaded Petrol
When lead was added to petrol it made cars more powerful – but it also poisoned people
Department Store
Harry Selfridge pioneered a whole new retail experience with his London department store
Barbed Wire
“Lighter than air, stronger than whiskey” – barbed wire wreaked huge changes in America
Tax Havens
Gabriel Zucman invented an ingenious way to estimate how much wealth is hidden offshore
Infant Formula
For many new mothers who want, or need, to get back to work, infant formula is a godsend
Tally Stick
The tally stick shows us what money really is: a kind of debt that can be traded freely
Passports
If anyone could work anywhere, some economists think global economic output would double
Intellectual Property
Intellectual property reflects an economic trade off when it comes to innovation
Video Games
From Spacewar to Pokemon Go, video games have shaped the modern economy in surprising ways
Cuneiform
Cuneiform, the earliest known script, was used to create the world’s first accounts
Air Conditioning
Invented for the printing industry, air conditioning now influences where and how we live
Elevator
The safety elevator is a mass transit system that has changed the shape of our cities
Contraceptive Pill
The pill wasn’t just socially revolutionary, it also sparked an economic revolution
TV Dinner
The TV dinner, and other inventions from the same era, made a lasting economic impression
Gramophone
"Superstar” economics – the story of how the gramophone led to a winner-take-all market
Battery
The story of the battery begins inside a dead murderer. It’s a tale that’s far from over
Public Key Cryptography
Geeks versus government – the story of public key cryptography
Robot
Robots threaten the human workforce, but they are crucial to the modern economy
Disposable Razor
King Camp Gillette created the disposable razor. But his influence extends beyond shaving
Clock
The clock was invented in 1656 and has become an essential part of the modern economy.
The words 'clever' and 'death' crop up less often than 'Google' in conversation
Insurance
Insurance is as old as gambling, but it’s fundamental to the way the modern economy works
Paper
The Gutenberg press changed the world – but it could not have done so without paper
Antibiotics
The tale of antibiotics is a cautionary one, and economic incentives are often to blame
Billy Bookcase
Low cost, functional and brilliantly efficient, one is produced every three seconds
Compiler
Installing Windows might take 5,000 years without it
M-Pesa
Transferring money by text message is far safer and more convenient than cash
Lightbulb
Once too precious to use, light is now too cheap to notice
Banking
Warrior monks, crusaders and the mysterious origins of modern banking
Barcode
How vast mega-stores emerged with the help of a design originally drawn in the sand
iPhone
How Uncle Sam played an essential role in the creation and development of the iPhone.
Concrete
It's improved health, school attendance, agricultural productivity and farm worker wages
Shipping Container
The boom in global trade was caused by a simple steel box
Haber-Bosch Process
Saving lives with thin air - by taking nitrogen from the air to make fertiliser
Diesel Engine
Rudolf Diesel died in strange circumstances after changing the world with his engine