Shows / 99% Invisible
99% Invisible
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
- 99% Invisible
Doktoro Esperanto
Esperanto is what linguists call a “constructed language.” It isn’t attached to a nation or a region, and it didn’t evolve from another language over time…
99% Invisible100 Objects #21: Window from the House of D
In 1932, the Women's House of Detention—New York City's first women's prison—opened in the heart of Greenwich Village. It was opened to make "wayward" women…
99% InvisibleAudio Guide of the Imperfections of a Perfect Masterpiece
This episode is sponsored by Acura. From the outside, the building is a light gray spiral, and from the inside, the art is displayed on one long ramp that…
- 99% Invisible
Tony Hawk's Real-Life Willy Wonka
A desert train built for Tony Hawk leads into the strange and thoughtful world of N.D. Austin, a designer of real-life experiences. Subscribe to SiriusXM…
- 99% Invisible
The Problem With Football Helmets
Football helmets can prevent devastating injuries, but they may also help make an inherently violent game feel safer than it really is. Subscribe to SiriusXM…
- 99% Invisible
(Not Just) Another Brick in the Wall
A closer look at the messy, beautiful bricks hiding across Chicago. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a…
99% Invisible100 Objects #20: AA Sobriety Chip
Comedian, writer, and podcaster Jamie Loftus has always known about Alcoholics Anonymous. As a kid, she loved the album where her dad kept all his AA chips —…
- 99% Invisible
Tootle of a Devilish Song
How a Swiss mountain call crossed the Atlantic and helped define the sound of country music. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
99% Invisible100 Objects #19: Western Electric 500 Series
This episode is sponsored by Claude. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at Claude.ai. The Western Electric 500 Series Telephone used to be…
- 99% Invisible
The Rocky Statue
How a movie prop became one of Philadelphia’s most beloved monuments, and sparked a decades-long fight over where it belonged. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+…
99% Invisible100 Objects #18: Hair Relaxer
Somewhere between 85 to 95 percent of Black women in the United States have used a chemical hair relaxer at least once in their lifetime. It is a ubiquitous…
- 99% Invisible
Doves Type
A legendary typeface, a spectacular friendship breakup, and one extremely committed act of revenge. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes…
99% Invisible100 Objects #17: M43 Field Jacket
Articles of Interest host Avery Trufelman joins Roman to tell the incredible story of the American military’s jacket problem: How should the military outfit…
- 99% Invisible
Kobuk the Destroyer
Every product has to be tested somehow, and sometimes that means finding increasingly creative ways to break it. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to…
99% Invisible100 Objects #16: Wheel of Fortune Dalmatian
This episode is sponsored by Claude. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at Claude.ai. If you watched Wheel of Fortune in the 1980s, you…
- 99% Invisible
1-800-PODCAST
This week, two stories about the strange power of the 1-800 number. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a…
99% Invisible100 Objects #15: Bundy Clock
In 1888, Willard Bundy created the first employee "time clock" — essentially a souped-up grandfather clock that could, for the first time, produce an accurate…
- 99% Invisible
Spolia
Spolia, from a Liverpool neighborhood to ancient Rome. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week…
99% Invisible100 Objects #14: Basketball Sleeve
Producer and reporter Ramtin Arablouei (co-creator of the NPR show, Throughline) has a simple question: why are so many NBA players wearing a compression…
- 99% Invisible
The Bone Wars
Two rival paleontologists turn a hunt for dinosaur bones into an all-out scientific war. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
99% Invisible100 Objects #13: The Sand Letters
This episode is sponsored by Claude. For problems worth solving, get started with Claude at Claude.ai. On his deathbed, President Chester Arthur ordered that…
- 99% Invisible
Bamboo Is Innocent
A devastating fire put one of Hong Kong's oldest building traditions on trial, but the real story runs much deeper. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen…
99% Invisible100 Objects #12: "Negro Cloth"
In 1821, two Rhode Island brothers went looking for buyers for their woolen fabric, and stumbled into a lucrative, captive market: Southern slave plantations…
- 99% Invisible
The Borrowed Nature of Biomimicry
Behind every perfect nature-inspired design is a far more complicated story. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free…
99% Invisible100 Objects #11: Brannock Device
In 1925, the world saw the birth of what just might be the greatest gadget in American History: the Brannock Device. The metal contraption transformed the way…
- 99% Invisible
The Finnish Baby Box
A simple cardboard box helped transform Finland into one of the best places in the world to raise a child. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new…
99% Invisible100 Objects #10: Nunchaku
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee made nunchaku (nunchucks) cool — kids were building their own and buying them in record numbers. But the nunchucks craze…
- 99% Invisible
The Original 100 Objects
Neil MacGregor reflects on creating the landmark series that changed how people think about history. Then, revisit the Rosetta Stone, the artifact that…
99% Invisible100 Objects #9: Missing Children Milk Carton
In 1982, a twelve-year-old paperboy, Johnny Gosch, vanished from a quiet Iowa street and sparked an unlikely campaign: the faces of missing children printed on…
- 99% Invisible
If Mosquito Hawks Can Fly
A Louisiana man born into slavery designs an airship with hopes to take flight. Those plans are interrupted, but maybe not forever. Listen to Family Lore…
99% Invisible100 Objects #8: Billy Possum
In 1902, an American classic was born: the teddy bear. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the toy became a huge hit, and sparked an idea…maybe every…
- 99% Invisible
The Score
We keep score of everything these days. But what happens when the numbers start changing what we actually care about? Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen…
99% Invisible100 Objects #7: The Otis Pamphlet
Before the Declaration of Independence was even a twinkle in the founding fathers' eyes, there was James Otis. Journalist Jack Hitt returns to tell the wild…
- 99% Invisible
Transatlantic Fiber-Optic Expialidocious
Before the internet went global, one undersea gamble made it possible. Jane Ruffino’s story, "Say Goodbye to the Undersea Cable That Made the Global Internet…
99% Invisible100 Objects #6: "Sharpened Screwdriver"
In this episode, Roman and historians Heather Ann Thompson and Elliot Williams tell the story of the sharpened screwdriver: the object at the heart of the 1984…
- 99% Invisible
The Most Exciting Change America Has Ever Seen
Billions of state quarters disappeared from circulation...and that was exactly the plan. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
99% Invisible100 Objects #5: Blue Back Speller
In this episode, Roman and historian Imani Perry follow the Webster Blue Back Speller from the early days of the United States, to the heart of Black…
- 99% Invisible
The Horn That Divided the World Cup
Love it or hate it, one buzzing horn changed the sound of the World Cup forever. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible…
99% Invisible100 Objects #4: Lowe's Gas Bag
In 1861, one man and a “gas bag” filled with hydrogen sparked America's obsession with going higher, farther, into the unknown. In this episode, Roman and…
- 99% Invisible
Karaoke Videos
Behind every cheesy karaoke track was a surprisingly ambitious filmmaking experiment. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
99% Invisible100 Objects #3: The Pension Files
What do Civil War pension files reveal about one of history's most successful slave rebellions? Historian Edda Fields-Black joins Roman to trace a story of…
- 99% Invisible
The MAPL Test
Canada reshaped its music industry with a quirky radio rule that changed who got heard. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99%…
99% Invisible100 Objects #2: 60-Degree Screw
In the early 20th century, nothing quite fit — fire hoses couldn't connect to one another, football teams played with different balls, traffic lights meant…
- 99% Invisible
Drug Story: Ivermectin
What started as a revolutionary treatment for river blindness became something far messier. Listen to Drug Story wherever you get your podcasts! Subscribe to…
99% Invisible100 Objects #1: The Century Safe
In 1876, Americans filled an iron safe with objects meant to tell their story — to be opened a century later. Roman Mars and historian Jill Lepore trace its…
- 99% Invisible
Ask Your Doctor About
As wild and random as they might seem, a lot of work—and even poetry—goes into coming up with today's catchiest, most unforgettable drug names. Subscribe to…
99% InvisibleA History of the United States in 100 Objects Trailer
America’s 250th birthday calls for a history as sprawling and contradictory as the country itself. A History of the United States in 100 Objects — hosted by…
- 99% Invisible
Enshittification
Why is it suddenly so hard to fix the stuff we depend on most? Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole…
- 99% Invisible
Citizen of the World
One man rejected nationality and dared the world to recognize him anyway. Listen to Far From Home wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to SiriusXM…
99% InvisibleConstitution Breakdown #9: Alondra Nelson
This is the ninth episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution. This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss Article VI and VII, which include…
- 99% Invisible
Co-op City
The world’s largest housing co-op—built to save New York City’s middle class—became the unlikely site of a resident revolt Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to…
- 99% Invisible
RoboUmp Hits the Big Leagues
One study from 2018 found that Major League Baseball umpires blow about 14 calls every game. That’s 34,000 bad calls every year. And it makes a difference. A…
99% InvisibleService Request #5: Dude, Where's My Car?
A missing car reveals the confusing rules, murky fees, and private actors behind modern towing. What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at night? Submit your…
99% InvisibleService Request #4: How Does the Grid in Phoenix Work?
In a place where losing power can turn deadly, keeping the lights on is a high-stakes balancing act. What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at night? Submit…
99% InvisibleService Request #3: Why Is There So Much Litter in San Francisco?
Why did it take nearly a decade to redesign a city trash can, and why haven't more bins made the streets cleaner? What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at…
- 99% Invisible
Constitution Breakdown #8: Jill Lepore
This is the eighth episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution. This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss Article V, which lays out the…
99% InvisibleService Request #2: Why Is This Red Light So Damn Long?
What the world's most advanced traffic system can—and can't—do for the city that invented gridlock. What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at night? Submit…
99% InvisibleService Request #1: What Happens When I Call 311?
The surprising power of a simple phone number to connect a community. What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at night? Submit your Service Request by…
- 99% Invisible
A Man, a Plan, a Canal—Mars!
How one wealthy, amateur astronomer convinced the world Martians were real. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free…
- 99% Invisible
Where the F*** Are We?
For centuries, the world's greatest minds were stumped by the deadly mystery of longitude, until an obsessive underdog entered the fray and changed navigation…