The Secret Genius of Modern Life — Season 1
About this season
Hannah Fry uncovers the secrets behind the miraculous technologies of the modern world, revealing the mind-blowing stories behind their invention.
Episodes (6)
1. Bank Card
8.0Aired 10 November 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry takes a look at the bank card, the digital key to accessing cash, and finds out how its extraordinary innovations have some surprising and sinister origins.
2. Food Delivery App
6.0Aired 17 November 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry tucks into the tech behind food delivery apps, which are now used by 24 million people in the UK. Hannah finds out how pizza made us fall in love with the internet.
3. Virtual Assistant
6.0Aired 24 November 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry delves into the inner workings of virtual assistants, such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri, which are now found in almost half of all UK homes.
4. Electric Car
5.0Aired 1 December 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry discovers why innovations in meat packing almost derailed the electric car revolution and how a breakthrough in camcorder batteries led to Elon Musk’s electric empire, as well as demonstrating how not to drive a multimillion dollar prototype car of the future.
5. Fitness Tracker
7.0Aired 8 December 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry finds out how 1970s car crashes helped us to count our steps, why WWII dog-fights led to a crucial health monitor and how fitness trackers are even being used to catch killers.
6. Trainer
5.0Aired 15 December 2022 • 59 min
Hannah Fry visits Ebay’s authentication centre, where they are waging war against fake high-value trainers.