Description
Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture. From award winning producer Roman Mars. Learn more at 99percentinvisible.org.
Episodes
- 2024 / 7 / 23The 2024 Olympics SpectacularFrom TV commercials and branded soda cans to Emily in Paris spon-con, the Olympics are once again everywhere. In the Olympic spirit, we’re bringing you four stories about the games in all their international,...
- 2024 / 7 / 19The Power Broker #07: Sec. Pete ButtigiegNEWS: We've got 99PI Power Broker Breakdown merch! Visit 99pi.org/store.This is the seventh official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This...
- 2024 / 7 / 16A River Runs Through Los AngelesWhen you hear the word "river," you probably picture a majestic body of water flowing through a natural habitat. Well, the LA River looks nothing like that. Most people who see it probably mistake it for a...
- 2024 / 7 / 9As Slow As PossibleWhen you go to a concert, you might try to get there right when the doors open. Or perhaps you take your time and skip the opening act. But generally, you want to be there when the show starts. In February,...
- 2024 / 7 / 2The Containment Plan (rebroadcast)It’s hard to overstate the vastness of the Skid Row neighborhood in Los Angeles. It spans roughly 50 blocks, which is about a fifth of the entire downtown area of Los Angeles. It’s very clear when you’ve...
- 2024 / 6 / 25Backfired: The Vaping WarsWhen two Stanford graduate students set out to create a new kind of cigarette that wouldn’t kill them, they didn’t foresee all the obstacles that lay ahead—or the powerful forces their invention would...
- 2024 / 6 / 21The Power Broker #06: Mike SchurThis is the sixth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman and Elliott sit down with Mike Schur, who created the...
- 2024 / 6 / 18Category 6After Hurricane Camille caused widespread death and destruction along the US Gulf Coast in 1969, two scientists created the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale as a way to quickly warn the public when...
- 2024 / 6 / 11The Los Angeles Leaf Blower WarsThe leaf blower is one of the most hated objects in the modern world. They’re loud, they pollute, and… how important is a leafless lawn anyway? In a lot of towns and cities, the gas-powered leaf blower has...
- 2024 / 6 / 4Fact Checking the Supreme CourtFor a long time, the Court operated under what was called Legal Formalism. Legal formalism said that the job of any judge or justice was incredibly narrow. It was to basically look at the question of the case...
- 2024 / 6 / 4584- Fact Checking the Supreme CourtFor a long time, the Court operated under what was called Legal Formalism. Legal formalism said that the job of any judge or justice was incredibly narrow. It was to basically look at the question of the case...
- 2024 / 5 / 28Uptown Squirrel [update]In late 2018, two hundred people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building was once a clubhouse for famed naturalists and explorers. Now it’s an archive of ephemera and rarities from...
- 2024 / 5 / 28352- Uptown Squirrel [update]In late 2018, two hundred people gathered at The Explorer’s Club in New York City. The building was once a clubhouse for famed naturalists and explorers. Now it’s an archive of ephemera and rarities from...
- 2024 / 5 / 22583- The Lost Subways of North AmericaLos Angeles actually used to have a massive electric railway system in the early 1900s, called the Red Car. Jake Berman, the author of The Lost Subways of North America, tells us about how, time after time,...
- 2024 / 5 / 22The Lost Subways of North AmericaLos Angeles actually used to have a massive electric railway system in the early 1900s, called the Red Car. Jake Berman, the author of The Lost Subways of North America, tells us about how, time after time,...
- 2024 / 5 / 18The Power Broker #05: Brandy ZadroznyThis is the fourth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman and Elliott also sit down with Brandy Zadrozny, a senior...
- 2024 / 5 / 14582- Rocket ManIn the twentieth century, the jetpack became synonymous with the idea of a ‘futuristic society.’ Appearing in cartoons and magazines, it felt like a matter of time before people could ride a jetpack to work....
- 2024 / 5 / 14Rocket ManIn the twentieth century, the jetpack became synonymous with the idea of a ‘futuristic society.’ Appearing in cartoons and magazines, it felt like a matter of time before people could ride a jetpack to work....
- 2024 / 5 / 7581- It's Howdy Doody Time!The Howdy Doody Show is one of those pieces of 1950s ephemera that has come to symbolize mid-century American childhood. For over a decade, every weeknight at 5pm, kids all across the country would sit down...
- 2024 / 5 / 7It's Howdy Doody Time!The Howdy Doody Show is one of those pieces of 1950s ephemera that has come to symbolize mid-century American childhood. For over a decade, every weeknight at 5pm, kids all across the country would sit down...
- 2024 / 5 / 3579 BONUS- Towers of Silence: Vulture ConservationRecently we published an episode called Towers of Silence. It's about how the Parsis in India are grappling with the loss of vultures and how it changed something very intimate and meaningful for the...
- 2024 / 5 / 3BONUS- Towers of Silence: Vulture ConservationRecently we published an episode called Towers of Silence. It's about how the Parsis in India are grappling with the loss of vultures and how it changed something very intimate and meaningful for the...
- 2024 / 4 / 30Mr YukMr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking out of its mouth. It's the face you make when you taste...
- 2024 / 4 / 30580- Mr YukMr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking out of its mouth. It's the face you make when you taste...
- 2024 / 4 / 30Mr. YukMr. Yuk is a neon green circular sticker with a cartoon face on it. His face is scrunched up with his eyes squeezed tight and his tongue is sticking out of its mouth. It's the face you make when you taste...
- 2024 / 4 / 23Towers of SilenceSituated right in downtown Mumbai, India is an area of about 55 acres of dense, overgrown forest. In one of the most populous cities in the world, this is a place where peacocks roam freely -- a space out of...
- 2024 / 4 / 23579- Towers of SilenceSituated right in downtown Mumbai, India is an area of about 55 acres of dense, overgrown forest. In one of the most populous cities in the world, this is a place where peacocks roam freely -- a space out of...
- 2024 / 4 / 19The Power Broker: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezThis is the fourth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. Roman and Elliott also sit down with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S....
- 2024 / 4 / 19The Power Broker #04: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-CortezThis is the fourth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. Roman and Elliott also sit down with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S....
- 2024 / 4 / 16Anything's Pastable: Eat Sauté LoveThis week we're featuring an episode from The Sporkful's series on the creation of "Anything's Pastable," Dan Pashman's new pasta cookbook.Dan talks with Roman about how this massive project came to be and...
- 2024 / 4 / 16578- Anything's Pastable: Eat Sauté LoveThis week we're featuring an episode from The Sporkful's series on the creation of "Anything's Pastable," Dan Pashman's new pasta cookbook.Dan talks with Roman about how this massive project came to be and...
- 2024 / 4 / 9577- The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant PersonsHailing from central African cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, sapeurs have become increasingly recognizable around the world. Since the 1970s, sapeurs (from: le sape, short for "Société des Ambianceurs et...
- 2024 / 4 / 9The Society of Ambiance Makers and Elegant PersonsHailing from central African cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, sapeurs have become increasingly recognizable around the world. Since the 1970s, sapeurs (from: le sape, short for "Société des Ambianceurs et...
- 2024 / 4 / 2Chambre de BonneA chambre de bonne is usually one small room, on the top floor of a five- or six-story apartment building, and it’s usually just big enough to fit a bed and a table. It’s affordable housing in a city where...
- 2024 / 4 / 2576- Chambre de BonneA chambre de bonne is usually one small room, on the top floor of a five- or six-story apartment building, and it’s usually just big enough to fit a bed and a table. It’s affordable housing in a city where...
- 2024 / 3 / 29Roman Mars Describes Athens GA As It IsThis is the third and final episode in a three-part series of Roman Mars recording on-location guides to the design features and interesting spots in cities he loves. Roman moved to Athens, Georgia, to pursue...
- 2024 / 3 / 27575- Autism PleasantvilleA few years back, journalist Lauren Ober was diagnosed with autism. She then made a podcast about her experience called The Loudest Girl in the World. And she found herself imagining a fantasy world where...
- 2024 / 3 / 27575- Autism PlesantvilleA few years back, journalist Lauren Ober was diagnosed with autism. She then made a podcast about her experience called The Loudest Girl in the World. And she found herself imagining a fantasy world where...
- 2024 / 3 / 27Autism PleasantvilleA few years back, journalist Lauren Ober was diagnosed with autism. She then made a podcast about her experience called The Loudest Girl in the World. And she found herself imagining a fantasy world where...
- 2024 / 3 / 19574- The Monster Under the SinkIn the middle of the 20th century, the small town of Jasper, Indiana did something that no other city had done before: they made garbage illegal. The city would still collect some things, like soup cans and...
- 2024 / 3 / 19The Monster Under the SinkIn the middle of the 20th century, the small town of Jasper, Indiana did something that no other city had done before: they made garbage illegal. The city would still collect some things, like soup cans and...
- 2024 / 3 / 15The Power Broker #03: David SimsThis is the third official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. Blank Check podcast co-host and The Atlantic movie critic David Sims is our...
- 2024 / 3 / 13573- ToyeticThis year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define the genre or invent new genres. The great...
- 2024 / 3 / 13ToyeticThis year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define the genre or invent new genres. The great...
- 2024 / 3 / 5572- WARNING: This Podcast Contains Chemicals Known to the State of California to Cause Cancer or Other Reproductive HarmIntimidating Proposition 65 warnings can be found on all kinds of products manufactured or distributed in the State of California. They can seem rather terrifying at first, but within the state, they are...
- 2024 / 3 / 5WARNING: This Podcast Contains Chemicals Known to the State of California to Cause Cancer or Other Reproductive HarmIntimidating Proposition 65 warnings can be found on all kinds of products manufactured or distributed in the State of California. They can seem rather terrifying at first, but within the state, they are...
- 2024 / 3 / 2Roman Mars Describes Santa Fe As It IsRoman Mars is on a mission to describe the cities that shaped who he is and how he thinks about design. Next up, Santa Fe. Santa Fe wasn’t always on the proverbial map — in fact, the Santa Fe railroad just...
- 2024 / 2 / 27The Real Book [rebroadcast]Since the mid-1970s, almost every jazz musician has owned a copy of the same book. It has a peach-colored cover, a chunky, 1970s-style logo, and a black plastic binding. It’s delightfully...
- 2024 / 2 / 27438- The Real Book [rebroadcast]Since the mid-1970s, almost every jazz musician has owned a copy of the same book. It has a peach-colored cover, a chunky, 1970s-style logo, and a black plastic binding. It’s delightfully...
- 2024 / 2 / 21You Are What You WatchWhat we see on screen has this way of influencing our perception of the world, which makes sense because the average American spends 2 hours and 51 minutes watching movies and TV each day. That’s a whopping...