Name: The Secret Genius of Modern Life
Released: 2022-11-10T00:00:00.000Z
Cast: Hannah Fry

TV Show · Documentary

Just 20 years ago, the lives we lead today would have seemed like science fiction. Each episode takes one simple everyday item, from bank cards to trainers, and reveals the hidden histories, extraordinary coincidences and remarkable science that dwells within them. You’ll never look at the world around you in the same way again.

2022 · 50m

Starring Hannah Fry

EPISODE 1

Bank Card

Hannah Fry uncovers the secrets behind the technologies of the modern world, revealing the stories behind their invention.
EPISODE 2

Food Delivery App

Hannah Fry explores the tech behind apps like Deliveroo and Just Eat, used by 24 million UK customers; she visits R and D experts, learns how delivery changed for seniors and shares how pizza first connected people to the web in the 1990s.
EPISODE 3

Virtual Assistant

Hannah Fry uncovers the secrets behind the technologies of the modern world, revealing the stories behind their invention.
EPISODE 4

Electric Car

Hannah Fry discovers why innovations in meat packing almost derailed the electric car revolution; how a breakthrough in camcorder batteries led to Elon Musk's empire; demonstrating how not to drive a multimillion-dollar prototype car.
EPISODE 5

Fitness Tracker

Hannah Fry finds out how 1970s car crashes helped us to count our steps; why WWII dog-fights led to a crucial health monitor; how fitness trackers are even being used to catch killers.
EPISODE 6

Trainer

Hannah Fry discovers how a family feud created two of the world's biggest trainer brands and how American breakfast waffles transformed trainer soles.