Fritterin’ Away Genius
Claude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines to play chess, solve Rubik's cubes and beat the house at roulette.If...
14 Maj 202136min
The Fan Who Infected a Movie Star
German measles is a minor illness for most people - but for unborn children it can be devastating. In 1943 - when the link was only just becoming clear - a young US marine decided to break rubella qua...
7 Maj 202131min
Whistleblower on the 28th Floor
Financial expert Ray Dirks (played by Jeffrey Wright) exposed one of the biggest corporate crimes of all time - and yet he was the one who ended up in front of the Supreme Court.Whistleblowers often f...
30 Apr 202131min
Masterly Inactivity Versus Micromanaging
Lady Sale (played by Helena Bonham Carter) was part of a bloody and ignominious British retreat from Afghanistan in 1842. The arrogant colonial invaders had thought intervening in Afghan affairs and d...
23 Apr 202132min
Demonizing Dungeons & Dragons
When James Dallas Egbert III was reported missing from his college dorm - one of America's most flamboyant private detectives was summoned to solve the case. "Dallas" had many of the same problems tha...
16 Apr 202136min
Number Fever: How Pepsi Nearly Went Pop
Pepsi twice ended up in court after promotions went disastrously wrong. Other big companies have fallen into the same trap - promising customers rewards so generous that to fulfil the promise might me...
9 Apr 202135min
The Curse of Knowledge Meets The Valley of Death
Why were soldiers on horseback told to ride straight into a valley full of enemy cannon? The disastrous "Charge of the Light Brigade" is usually blamed on blundering generals. But the confusing orders...
2 Apr 202133min
The Dunning Kruger Hijack (and Other Criminally Stupid Acts)
The hijackers of flight 961 wanted its pilot to fly them to Australia - and wouldn't listen to his pleas that there simply wasn't enough fuel for the mammoth trip. What would cause them to totally dis...
26 Mars 202133min
