
How It Works: Episode 1
Four ordinary objects get taken apart to show how they're actually made. The wine glass segment goes deepest: a factory turning out a quarter of a million glasses a day still starts each design as a hand-blown prototype, shaped by science rather than habit, since red wine needs a wide bowl to let its tannins mellow in the air while white wine needs a narrow one to trap its aromas. The camera follows a glassblower keeping molten glass turning on the pipe so it doesn't drop, then watches the bowl, stem, and base built up in separate molded stages, setting in about fifteen seconds each. The episode also visits a workshop building a grand piano from the pedals up, traces how a household water tap is engineered never to fail, and follows the production of soy sauce from raw ingredients to bottle. Each segment sticks to process: the tools, the timing, and the specific engineering choices behind things people use without a second thought.