Liar, Bigamist, Brute: How Isaac Singer Liberated Women
Cautionary Tales with Tim Harford
Pushkin Industries
4.7 • 6.4K Ratings
🗓️ 9 January 2026
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The sewing machine was once thought to be an impossible invention. It was such a complicated contraption that it would take more than one inventor, with more than one good idea, to make it work. Each of these inventors, including the notorious Isaac Singer, wanted the credit (and the fortune that came with it) for themselves. And so began the sewing machine war: a mire of backstabbing, stealing and misogyny.
See the show notes at timharford.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human |
| 0:03.5 | Pushkin. |
| 0:16.3 | Fifth Avenue, New York, 1860. |
| 0:20.5 | Mrs. Isaac Singer is driving in her horse-drawn carriage |
| 0:24.5 | when she sees on the other side of the road in another carriage, |
| 0:29.5 | Mr. Isaac Singer. |
| 0:32.0 | Mr. Singer is not alone. |
| 0:35.0 | Mrs. Singer has heard rumours about the woman he's with. Those rumours, it seems, |
| 0:39.9 | are true. Mrs. Singer begins to scream. She doesn't scream abuse, or even Singer's name. She just |
| 0:49.1 | screams. I used no language upon this occasion, she later recalls. |
| 0:56.3 | Mr Singer looks to see where the screaming is coming from. |
| 1:00.0 | It's Mrs Singer. |
| 1:02.3 | Oh dear. |
| 1:04.2 | Their carriages approach one another. |
| 1:06.5 | She continues to scream wordlessly in his direction. |
| 1:10.7 | Everyone on Fifth Avenue, it seems, |
| 1:12.8 | has stopped to stare at Mr and Mrs Singer as their carriages pass. You can understand why |
| 1:19.7 | Mrs Singer has snapped. She's caught her husband with his mistress, but no, it's much more |
| 1:25.8 | complicated than that. |
| 1:31.8 | You see, Mrs Singer isn't actually Mrs Singer. |
| 1:33.8 | Well, that's how everyone knows her. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Pushkin Industries, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Pushkin Industries and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.