大象传媒

Welfare State

Do welfare states boost economic growth, or stunt it? It鈥檚 not an easy question to answer

• 9 mins

Cold Chain

Refrigeration revolutionised the food industry, and other industries too

• 9 mins

The Plough

The plough kick-started civilisation 鈥� and ultimately made our modern economy possible

• 9 mins

Number 51

Revealed 鈥� the winning 51st Thing! Which 鈥渢hing鈥� won the vote to be added to our list?

• 9 mins

Special Bonus: Santa Claus

Why does Father Christmas wear red and white? It is not for the reason you may think

• 9 mins

Coming soon: Season two

Fifty more things are on their way! Tim Harford returns with season two on 25 March 2019

• 1 min

Bonus: 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

Introducing our new podcast about innovation, technology and the animal kingdom

• 15 mins

Langstroth Hive

The Langstroth Hive: a wooden box that made the industrialisation of the bee possible

• 11 mins

Bonus 2: Octopus and camouflage

Episode 2 of our new podcast, 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

• 13 mins

Cellophane

Cellophane transformed how consumers purchased food, as well as how producers sold it

• 9 mins

Bonus 3: Mosquito and surgical needle

Episode 3 of our new podcast: the blood-sucking pest and a pain-free surgical needle

• 15 mins

Gyroscope

The gyroscope: a remarkable device used to guide everything from submarines to satellites

• 9 mins

Bonus 4: Woodpecker and black box

The last bonus ep of #30Animals. For more, search for 30 Animals That Made Us Smarter

• 14 mins

QWERTY

From the early typewriters, the QWERTY keyboard layout has stood the test of time

• 8 mins

Bicycle

Has the bicycle had its day, or is it a technology whose best years lie ahead?

• 8 mins

Mail order catalogue

How the Montgomery Ward shopping catalogue transformed the middle-class way of life

• 8 mins

Brick

The humble brick has housed us for thousands of years - will it endure?

• 9 mins

Spreadsheet

How a grid on a computer screen gives us a glimpse of the future of automation

• 10 mins

Recycling

Could recycling save cash, as well as the planet?

• 10 mins

Pornography

Did pornography help develop the internet?

• 8 mins

Dwarf wheat

Feeding a hungry world 鈥� how Norman Borlaug used genetics to tackle predicted famines

• 9 mins

'Like' button

Are we addicted to getting 'likes' on social media?

• 8 mins

Pencil

Is the pencil underrated?

• 10 mins

Blockchain

How powerful could the technology behind Bitcoin be?

• 10 mins

Factory

Have factories made workers' lives better?

• 8 mins

CubeSat

How a student engineering challenge has changed the way we use space

• 9 mins

Rubber

An everyday substance with a bloody past

• 9 mins

Postage stamp

How a disgruntled customer revolutionised the postal service

• 10 mins

RFID: The tech you鈥檝e never heard of 鈥� but use every day

Radio frequency identification is the foundation of many contactless technologies

• 10 mins

Fire

Does the story of economics really begin with a spark?

• 9 mins