Grant Bremer

  Tim Harford comes back to improvisation in his Feb 26, 2021 episode , covering civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr and jewelry store owner Gerald Ratner and the significant speeches each gave. Each gave impactful speeches, King's "I Have a Dream" speech inspires and electrifies to this day, while Ratner's speech to a collected group of senior business directors torpedoed his company. Just as interesting, if not more, are the explorations into improvisation, and how the brain shuts down large sections of the neural processing in reaction. Criticisms and inhibitions are pushed down, creating the possibility of brilliance while increasing the risk and anxiety, like walking a high wire without a net. Miles Davis describes these moments of improvisation as the "freedom and space to hear things", to have a dialog.

 Tim Harford's Cautionary Tales Dec 20, 2019 podcast episode tells the tale of Keith Jarrett's Köln concert , a compelling story of rigid requirements that came up against a limited situation. Jarrett, who is extremely particular about his equipment and venues, was booked to play the Köln opera house and almost refused to play due to the poor state of the instrument, reportedly a practice piano with a tinny sound, unavailable high and low registers, and inoperable pedals. However, he did play and played to a sold out house, and the recording of the concert led to one of best-selling jazz albums ever.