The WOW Machine Stops (Pt 2)

Tony Hsieh, the billionaire CEO of Zappos, is passionate about community. He pours his time, energy and fortune into building a network of like-minded people - first in Las Vegas, then Park City, Utah. But Tony's quest to build connection soon spirals into isolation, addiction and mistrust of those closest to him, revealing a contradictory truth about the pursuit of one of our most fundamental human needs. WARNING: This episode discusses death by suicide. If you are suffering emotional distress or having suicidal thoughts, support is available - for example, from the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US, or the Samaritans in the UK on 116 123 See the show notes at timharford.com

You can listen to The WOW Machine Stops (Pt 2) online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

The WOW Machine Stops (Pt 2) is an episode from Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford by Pushkin Industries.

This episode is 40:01 long.

This episode was published on Jan 23, 2026.

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