ArtsDesign

99% Invisible

Roman Mars

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.

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41 episodes
a few times a week
Avg 38 min
English

Episodes 41

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Counted on this page — what you have heard stays on this device, so it is not something the list can be paged by.

August 7 · 37 min
100 Objects #12: "Negro Cloth"
Roman Mars and historian Seth Rockman trace the strange life of so-called "Negro cloth" — a textile category defined by nothing but who it was worn by.
#677
August 4 · 31 min
The Borrowed Nature of Biomimicry
Behind every perfect nature-inspired design is a far more complicated story.
July 31 · 27 min
100 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.
#676
July 28 · 33 min
The Finnish Baby Box
A simple cardboard box helped transform Finland into one of the best places in the world to raise a child.
July 24 · 36 min
100 Objects #10: Nunchaku
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee made nunchaku (nunchucks) cool, but the nunchucks craze coincided with something much bigger: the birth of a radical new Asian American identity.
#675
July 21 · 44 min
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 unlocked ancient Egypt.
July 17 · 33 min
100 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 milk cartons by the billions.
#674
July 14 · 41 min
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.
July 10 · 36 min
100 Objects #8: Billy Possum
The teddy bear was a huge hit, and sparked an idea…maybe every president from then on should have their own viral stuffed animal.
#673
July 7 · 26 min
The Score
We keep score of everything these days. But what happens when the numbers start changing what we actually care about?
July 3 · 37 min
100 Objects #7: The Otis Pamphlet
Journalist Jack Hitt returns to tell the wild, tragic story of America’s forgotten proto-founding father and his inflammatory 1764 pamphlet.
#672
June 30 · 31 min
Transatlantic Fiber-Optic Expialidocious
Before the internet went global, one undersea gamble made it possible.
June 26 · 40 min
100 Objects #6: "Sharpened Screwdriver"
How was a household tool reimagined as a deadly weapon…that never actually existed?
#671
June 23 · 43 min
The Most Exciting Change America Has Ever Seen
Billions of state quarters disappeared from circulation...and that was exactly the plan.
June 19 · 45 min
100 Objects #5: Blue Back Speller
Why did an ordinary schoolbook become so treasured that enslaved people risked their lives to possess it?
#511
June 16 · 33 min
The Horn That Divided the World Cup
Love it or hate it, one buzzing horn changed the sound of the World Cup forever.
June 12 · 38 min
100 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.
#670
June 9 · 35 min
Karaoke Videos
Behind every cheesy karaoke track was a surprisingly ambitious filmmaking experiment.
June 5 · 43 min
100 Objects #3: The Pension Files
Unearthing a remarkable slave rebellion through dusty Civil War paperwork.
#669
June 2 · 40 min
The MAPL Test
Canada reshaped its music industry with a quirky radio rule that changed who got heard.

Showing 21–40 of 41 episodes