Unintended Consequences

By Patrick

Every weekday, one true story of good intentions gone sideways. From cobra bounties in colonial Delhi to recommendation algorithms, each episode follows a single case through the original idea, how it... more

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FAQs about Unintended Consequences:

How many episodes does Unintended Consequences have?

The podcast currently has 103 episodes available.

Unintended Consequences episodes:

September 01, 2026 Ep 103: South Africa's post-apartheid fishing quotas were meant to spread ownership — and instead…
South Africa's post-apartheid fishing quotas were meant to spread ownership — and instead created a larger roster of paper rights leased straight back to the established fleets.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the waters off the Western Cape, a new quota holder received an allocation of hake or rock lobster under the fresh rules but owned no vessel, employed no crew, and had never set a net. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
🎬 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9LpZf-Av-0
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
8min
August 31, 2026 Ep 102: Khrushchev sent tractors across the Kazakh steppe to grow more grain and instead watched…
Khrushchev sent tractors across the Kazakh steppe to grow more grain and instead watched the wind strip the soil away in a new Dust Bowl.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the spring of 1954, Soviet officials watched as the first fleets of tractors bit into the dense sod of northern Kazakhstan, turning land that had supported only grass and nomads for centuries into straight rows of wheat. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
7min
August 29, 2026 Ep 101: Norman Borlaug’s dwarf wheat ended India’s grain crises but left Punjab’s water table…
Norman Borlaug’s dwarf wheat ended India’s grain crises but left Punjab’s water table dropping nearly a meter a year.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the villages of Punjab’s Malwa region, farmers once lowered their pumps a few meters each season to reach water. Today many must drill more than two hundred meters, and the electricity that runs those pumps still arrives free of charge. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
10min
August 28, 2026 Ep 100: Dutch subsidies boosted bicycle commuting by more than 40 percent, yet absolute head…
Dutch subsidies boosted bicycle commuting by more than 40 percent, yet absolute head-injury hospitalizations rose because helmet norms did not keep pace.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the early 1990s, Dutch transport planners expanded tax incentives and dedicated infrastructure to move daily commuters onto bicycles. The policy succeeded in shifting travel patterns on a large scale. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
8min
August 27, 2026 Ep 99: Brazil planted fuel on its best pasture to replace oil — and the cattle walked north into…
Brazil planted fuel on its best pasture to replace oil — and the cattle walked north into the Amazon.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
From a small plane over the interior of São Paulo state, the ground looks almost oceanic: kilometer after kilometer of sugarcane, grown less for the table than for the tank. A day’s travel north, along the ragged arc of settlement that rings the Amazon, the view inverts. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
14min
August 23, 2026 Ep 98: The treaty that healed the ozone layer accidentally put a climate accelerator in the…
The treaty that healed the ozone layer accidentally put a climate accelerator in the world’s air conditioners.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the spring of 1994, automobile plants from Michigan to Mainz began charging new car air conditioners with a refrigerant advertised as ozone-safe. The chlorine was gone. The chemistry that had been chewing a hole in the sky over Antarctica could not do that job anymore. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
16min
August 22, 2026 Ep 97: Norway went electric faster than any country on Earth. Its old gasoline cars just changed…
Norway went electric faster than any country on Earth. Its old gasoline cars just changed address.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In a warehouse lot outside Drammen, a 2014 Volkswagen Passat sits with its Norwegian plates already unscrewed. The winter tires are still in the trunk. The service book is complete. Within a month the same car will be on a lot in Vilnius or Poznań, advertised as a one-owner Nordic import — well maintained, rust-free, ready for another decade of commuting. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
14min
August 21, 2026 Ep 96: Deposit insurance stopped the bank run — then paid for a decade of thrift gambling that…
Deposit insurance stopped the bank run — then paid for a decade of thrift gambling that cost taxpayers $124 billion.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In March 1933, Americans queued around the block to yank their savings out of banks that might not open tomorrow. Half a century later, a money broker in New York could wire millions to a Texas savings-and-loan he had never seen, because the advertised rate was a quarter-point higher and every dollar was guaranteed by the United States. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
14min
August 20, 2026 Ep 95: The 1986 ban was meant to end commercial whaling. Japan’s scientific permits turned spared…
The 1986 ban was meant to end commercial whaling. Japan’s scientific permits turned spared minke into the catch.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In the 1987–88 austral summer, a Japanese fleet in the Antarctic took 273 minke whales under a new kind of paperwork: special permits for science. The International Whaling Commission’s commercial moratorium had just come into force, written to drive catch limits to zero and give battered stocks room to recover. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
16min
August 19, 2026 Ep 94: California tried to stop couches from burning — and quietly filled a continent's…
California tried to stop couches from burning — and quietly filled a continent's bloodstreams with flame retardants.
Segment 1 — The Cold Open
In a Sacramento testing room in the mid-1970s, a technician held a small open flame to a cube of polyurethane foam and watched the clock. Twelve seconds. If the foam did not keep burning, it passed, and a couch built with that foam could be sold in California. ...
AI Disclosure: This podcast is curated by Patrick but uses AI-generated voice synthesis for audio production.
📝 Full show notes, transcript & sources: read the episode page
🌐 Part of the Nerra Network — explore every show at nerranetwork.com.
...more
16min

FAQs about Unintended Consequences:

How many episodes does Unintended Consequences have?

The podcast currently has 103 episodes available.