Person
Every book Tim Harford recommended on podcasts
Tim Harford appears on Modern Wisdom to explore the complexities of human thought, cognitive biases, statistics, and the reasons why intelligent people frequently fall for misinformation and hoaxes. Harford discusses several books that shed light on human irrationality and intellectual blind spots. To illustrate how easily people can be deceived by appealing falsehoods, he highlights Arthur Conan Doyle's The Coming of the Fairies, discussing how the famous author genuinely believed in fairy photographs. He also touches upon Marina Adshade's Dollars and Sex to examine economic perspectives on relationships and fertility, and mentions Seth Stephens-Davidowitz's Everybody Lies to discuss behavioral insights derived from internet data. A central focus of Harford's discussion is Darrell Huff's classic work How to Lie with Statistics, which he uses to demonstrate the dangers of reflexive skepticism and how numerical data can be manipulated to prove almost anything. Additionally, the conversation references Giles Milton's Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, collectively painting a picture of an author deeply fascinated by the quirks, deceptions, and hidden mechanics of human behavior.
Books recommended by Tim Harford
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Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
Churchill's Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare by Giles Milton is a gripping historical account detailing the clandestine British World War II organizations established by Winston Churchill to engage in unorthodox sabotage, espionage, and resistance operations behind enemy lines.
Discussed“I got suggested a book this weekend uh Churchill's Ministry of ungentlemanly warfare”
Where to get it
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Dollars And Sex
Discussed“she's an economist at British Columbia page University and she's written a book called dollars and page sex if I remember rightly”
Where to get it
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Everybody Lies
Everybody Lies by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz is a data science book that examines what internet search trends, big data, and anonymous digital footprints reveal about true human behavior and hidden desires.
Discussed“I enjoyed the his first one which was what everybody lies yes I got I got more out of everybody lives”
Where to get it
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How to Lie with Statistics
Discussed“you can prove anything with Statistics or this famous book how to lie with Statistics”
Where to get it
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The Coming of the Fairies
Discussed“um and he wrote a whole book at the coming of the fairies”
Where to get it
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The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle's classic detective fiction, presented with extensive commentary in editions like The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, continues to captivate readers and influence modern storytellers.
Discussed“um and he wrote a whole book at the coming of the fairies”
Where to get it
Books Tim Harford wrote
- The undercover economist
- How to Make the World Add Up
- The Logic of Life
- Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Why Is Thinking Clearly So Difficult? - Tim Harford - #548 | Modern Wisdom | 2022-11-05 | 9 |
Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
“yeah so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“yeah so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“so my that is a point I made in my most recent book which is called the data detective in the US and it's called how to make the world add up in the UK”
“so there's a discuss some of the evidence for this early on in my book the data detective of how to make the world add up”
“and in fact I wrote a whole book called the logic of life which is all about the different ways in which rational Choice Theory could be used”
“I studied the bicycle for another book of mine called 50 things that made the modern economy which also is a podcast series and I just explored different inventions”