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Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsClaude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines to play chess, solve Rubik's cubes and beat the house at roulette. If Shannon had worked...
Fritterin' Away Genius (Classic) is an episode from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries. Claude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines...
This episode belongs to Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford.
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Published Jan 2, 2026, 37:20 long, audio available.
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Claude Shannon was brilliant. He was the Einstein of computer science... only he loved "fritterin' away" his time building machines to play chess, solve Rubik's cubes and beat the house at roulette. If Shannon had worked more diligently - instead of juggling, riding a unicycle and abandoning project after project - would he have made an even greater contribution to human knowledge? Maybe... and maybe not. Are restlessness and "fritterin'" important parts of a rich and creative life? Read more about Tim's work at
You can listen to Fritterin' Away Genius (Classic) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.
Fritterin' Away Genius (Classic) is an episode from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries.
This episode is 37:20 long.
This episode was published on Jan 2, 2026.
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Yes. This page shows related episodes from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.