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A Recast of ‘50 Things That Made the Modern Economy’

Tim Harford tells the fascinating stories of inventions, ideas and innovations which have helped create the economic world.

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What is Recast?

Recast is a podcast rebroadcasting service. You can get your own personalised feed of a podcast which will deliver you the episodes from the start at a schedule of your choosing.

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Recastable Episodes (110)

1. Diesel Engine Nov. 5, 2016
2. Haber-Bosch Process Nov. 14, 2016
3. Shipping Container Nov. 19, 2016
4. Concrete Nov. 26, 2016
5. iPhone Dec. 3, 2016
6. Barcode Dec. 10, 2016
7. Banking Dec. 17, 2016
8. Lightbulb Dec. 24, 2016
9. M-Pesa Dec. 31, 2016
10. Compiler Jan. 7, 2017
11. Billy Bookcase Jan. 14, 2017
12. Antibiotics Jan. 20, 2017
13. Paper Jan. 28, 2017
14. Insurance Feb. 4, 2017
15. Google Feb. 11, 2017
16. Clock Feb. 18, 2017
17. Disposable Razor Feb. 25, 2017
18. Robot March 4, 2017
19. Public Key Cryptography March 11, 2017
20. Battery March 18, 2017
21. Gramophone March 25, 2017
22. TV Dinner April 1, 2017
23. Contraceptive Pill April 8, 2017
24. Elevator April 15, 2017
25. Air Conditioning April 22, 2017
26. Cuneiform April 29, 2017
27. Video Games May 6, 2017
28. Intellectual Property May 13, 2017
29. Passports May 22, 2017
30. Tally Stick May 27, 2017
31. Infant Formula June 10, 2017
32. Tax Havens June 17, 2017
33. Barbed Wire June 24, 2017
34. Department Store July 1, 2017
35. Leaded Petrol July 8, 2017
36. Dynamo July 15, 2017
37. Limited Liability Company July 22, 2017
38. Paper Money July 29, 2017
39. Seller Feedback Aug. 5, 2017
40. Plastic Aug. 12, 2017
41. Market Research Aug. 19, 2017
42. Radar Aug. 26, 2017
43. S-Bend Sept. 2, 2017
44. Double-entry Bookkeeping Sept. 9, 2017
45. Management Consulting Sept. 16, 2017
46. Searching for 51 Sept. 23, 2017
47. Property Register Sept. 30, 2017
48. Welfare State Oct. 7, 2017
49. Cold Chain Oct. 14, 2017
50. The Plough Oct. 21, 2017
51. Number 51 Oct. 28, 2017
52. Special Bonus: Santa Claus Dec. 17, 2018
53. Index Fund Jan. 17, 2019
54. Coming soon: Season two March 17, 2019
55. Bonus: 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter March 25, 2019
56. Langstroth Hive March 25, 2019
57. Bonus 2: Octopus and camouflage April 1, 2019
58. Cellophane April 1, 2019
59. Bonus 3: Mosquito and surgical needle April 8, 2019
60. Gyroscope April 8, 2019
61. Bonus 4: Woodpecker and black box April 15, 2019
62. QWERTY April 15, 2019
63. Bicycle April 22, 2019
64. Mail order catalogue April 29, 2019
65. Brick May 6, 2019
66. Spreadsheet May 13, 2019
67. Recycling May 20, 2019
68. Pornography May 27, 2019
69. Dwarf wheat June 3, 2019
70. 'Like' button June 10, 2019
71. Pencil June 17, 2019
72. Blockchain June 24, 2019
73. Factory June 29, 2019
74. CubeSat July 8, 2019
75. Rubber July 15, 2019
76. Postage stamp July 22, 2019
77. RFID: The tech you’ve never heard of – but use every day July 29, 2019
78. Fire Aug. 5, 2019
79. Cassava Aug. 12, 2019
80. Solar PV Aug. 19, 2019
81. Chatbot Aug. 26, 2019
82. Oil Sept. 2, 2019
83. Interchangeable parts Sept. 9, 2019
84. Canned food Sept. 16, 2019
85. Interface Message Processor Sept. 23, 2019
86. Prohibition Sept. 30, 2019
87. Bonsack machine Oct. 7, 2019
88. GPS Oct. 14, 2019
89. Vickrey turnstile Oct. 21, 2019
90. Glasses Oct. 28, 2019
91. Wedgwood Nov. 4, 2019
92. SWIFT Nov. 11, 2019
93. Fundraising appeal Nov. 18, 2019
94. Stock option Nov. 25, 2019
95. Hollerith punch card Dec. 2, 2019
96. Sewing machine Dec. 9, 2019
97. Santa Dec. 16, 2019
98. Retirement Dec. 23, 2019
99. CCTV Dec. 30, 2019
100. Fast food franchise Jan. 6, 2020
10 more episodes