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

July 15, 2025 31 mins

A rock icon sets out to save music with a strange yellow gadget that almost no one understood.

Neil Young’s iPod Killer

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In this bonus episode, an offbeat walking tour through San Francisco uncovers hidden rooftop parks, a leaning skyscraper scandal, a vanished statue, and the graceful brilliance of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This episode is sponsored by GetYourGuide. Discover and book experiences for your next trip at getyourguide.com.

Roman Mars's Guide to San Francisco

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July 8, 2025 38 mins

How did millions of Americans end up living in neighborhoods where finding fresh food is harder than ever, and why is the problem by design, not accident? The answer rests in a major policy shift that fundamentally altered the American food landscape.

Food Deserts

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July 1, 2025 29 mins

An immigration reporter’s chance encounter in the desert reveals how borders shape our actions, our beliefs, and the way we see the world around us.

Open Borders

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June 24, 2025 33 mins

A century-old shipwreck, a sea of glass, and the lifeboats that were never meant to save you.

The Titanic Was The Lifeboat

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June 17, 2025 35 mins

After Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd last year, tens of thousands of people all over the world took to the streets to protest police violence against Black people. And if you look at images from these marches, you will probably start to notice a common color scheme -- one involving a lot of red, black, and green. The flag was invented to unite Black people all over the world living under racial repre...

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June 10, 2025 57 mins

We heard you. The chorus of voices asking “where is Con Law? Where is Professor Elizabeth Joh to guide us through this madness? We need it now more than ever!” Well, here it is. We’re back with a special extra-long episode about Trump’s perverted use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process and how judges are trying to hold the administration accountable to the Constitution.

Plus, we announce the launch of The 9...

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June 3, 2025 32 mins

A debilitating injury forces 99PI's Kurt Kohlstedt to confront new everyday challenges and seek out accessible design solutions for one-handed living.

The full set of Adapt or Design articles can be found at 99pi.org/adapt.

Adapt or Design

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Why is it so hard to build anything in America? Ezra Klein explores how our good intentions led to a system that stifles progress, and what it would take to break free.

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Build, Interrupted: A Conversation with Ezra Klein

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May 20, 2025 38 mins

A dusty surveillance file uncovers the story of love, betrayal, and the fight for Puerto Rico’s freedom.

Foreign in a Domestic Sense

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May 13, 2025 44 mins

Shortwave radio opened a portal to the world—then became a weapon in a high-stakes war of propaganda and power.

The Divided Dial is a podcast series about the history of radio from WNYC's On the Media and longtime 99PI contributor, Katie Thornton.

Fishing in the Night

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May 6, 2025 27 mins

A single 👍 emoji sent over text was meant to say “got it”—but instead, it kicked off a $62,000 legal battle and raised the question: can an emoji seal a contract?

😅⚖️

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April 29, 2025 32 mins

At the January 6th Capitol insurrection, rioters waved Confederate, MAGA, and Trump-as-Rambo flags. Easy to miss without knowing the design was a bright yellow flag with three red stripes — the flag of South Vietnam.

There were actually several confounding international flags present at the Capitol riot that day: the Canadian, Indian, South Korean flags, all were spotted somewhere in the mayhem. But what was peculiar about the Vietn...

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April 22, 2025 32 mins

A goofy Shakira remix, a nervy penalty kick, and 60,000 fans turning banter into legend—welcome to the world of football chants.

One-Nil to the Arsenal

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April 15, 2025 33 mins

If you're one of the millions of Americans struggling with your tax forms today, you're not alone. Even Albert Einstein allegedly found income taxes to be "the hardest thing in the world to understand." But how did our tax system become so complicated?

I've Got 1099 Problems...

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April 8, 2025 29 mins

John Green uncovers how the world’s deadliest curable disease still thrives—and why everything, from cowboy hats to colonial borders, traces back to tuberculosis.

Everything Is Tuberculosis

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April 4, 2025 23 mins

Take a whirlwind tour of Memphis with the city’s most enthusiastic historian, uncovering duck parades, telecom turf wars, and a street named after a single day in 1934.

A Walking Tour with Mr. Memphis

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April 1, 2025 35 mins

In 1991, one of the strangest buildings in America opened — a 32-storey, stainless steel pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Great American Pyramid

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March 25, 2025 56 mins

A group of artists explored the back hallways of a mall in Providence, RI, and found the perfect place to build a private hangout. We interviewed the group's leader Michael Townsend a few years back, and he's now the subject of a new documentary called Secret Mall Apartment. Plus, mall history with Alexandra Lange.

For showtimes and more information, visit secretmallapartment.com.

The stories in this episode originally aired in 2018 ...

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March 18, 2025 30 mins

When global trade reshapes a city, who pays the price—and who fights back?

Alexis Madrigal’s new book is called The Pacific Circuit: A Globalized Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City.

Beautiful West Oakland, California

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