About
The world around you is secretly brilliant, and we want to tell you about it.
At The Common Knowledge Club, we dig into the small, everyday objects most people never think twice about — from pens and paper clips to cans and credit cards — and uncover the wild engineering and history hiding behind them.
- What does Napoleon Bonaparte have to do with your pantry?
- What are the micro-tolerances in the tip of your biro that makes it one of the best-selling objects ever made?
- How did Australia keep food cool for nearly a century without any electricty?
Every episode, we grab one everyday thing and follow its trail — through accidental discoveries, forgotten rivalries, and key scientists that you have probably forgotten from school - and reveal its surprising and entertaining origin story.
So come and join the club for a friendly dose of science and surprises.
Richard Forshaw
Richard Forshaw is a software engineer and technology leader with a healthy interest in history, science and engineering. He likes to read and follow the rabbit-holes into ‘how did this get this way?’
Geoff Dair
Geoff Dair has a real PhD and is a published author. He likes lasers, exploring data (especially sports data) and hard-hitting crime capers. His two favourite Englishmen are Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday.