Tim Harford

speaker

476 appearances 1 recordings 1 series first heard Jul 2026 last heard 20 Jul

Tim Harford’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 1 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 1.

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After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds & the Paranormal · Britain's Worst Airship Disaster · 20 Jul 2026 podcast

The airship briefly pulled out of its dive, a final show of defiance. voice-verified

Then she dipped again. voice-verified

At 2.08, R101 gently nosedived into a forest near Beauvais, the dark branches tearing into her skin. voice-verified

She was travelling at no more than 15 miles an hour. voice-verified

The passengers would have felt an impact like falling off a bicycle. voice-verified

But no bicycle carries five million cubic feet of hydrogen. voice-verified

A single spark and the darkness of the forest was banished by an instant hellish blaze. voice-verified

Just eight men managed to get out. voice-verified

Among the 48 victims of the crash were First Officer Noel Atherston, who'd repeatedly called for the flight to be postponed, the entire design team of the R101, and the boss of them all, Christopher Birdwood Thompson. voice-verified

The competition was over. voice-verified

R101, the serene hope of the future, had lost. voice-verified

It's horrible. voice-verified

If he'd been on the R101. voice-verified

Yes. voice-verified

But I think the hostility between the teams was such that I don't think anybody from the R100 team was invited. voice-verified

And I think tellingly, they were also not invited to contribute to the inquiry. voice-verified

So there was inquiry. voice-verified

I mean, I think the inquiry is not that interesting. voice-verified

Except that at no point did the team of people who were working on a very similar project, at no point were any of them asked to give any opinion about what might have happened with the R101. voice-verified

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