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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813 episodes
Updated Friday

Episodes813

Newest first

Oct 21, 2025 · 41 min
Hidden Levels #5: Press B to Touch Grass
From blocky biomes to breathtaking open worlds, video games are teaching us new ways to see, build, and even save nature.
Oct 17, 2025 · 45 min
Hidden Levels #4: Machinima
Back in the 90s, artists turned video games into movie sets, and their wildest ideas are finally hitting documentaries.
Oct 14, 2025 · 44 min
Hidden Levels #3: This Game Wants YOU
Before Fortnite and Call of Duty ruled the scene, the US Army quietly shaped the early 2000s with a wildly popular, free shooter designed to excite young people about enlisting.
Oct 10, 2025 · 41 min
Hidden Levels #2: Stick It to 'Em
From airplanes to Pac-Man to the battlefield, the joystick has quietly shaped the way humans connect with machines.
Oct 7, 2025 · 37 min
Hidden Levels #1: Mr. Boomshakalaka
Step back into the ’90s, when dunks broke backboards, catchphrases caught fire, and one arcade game turned every kid into an NBA superstar.
Oct 3, 2025 · 43 min
Get Played with Roman Mars and Ben Brock Johnson
In anticipation of the release of Hidden Levels, Roman and Ben join Heather Anne Campbell (Rick and Morty) and Matt Apodaca of Get Played to talk controllers, culture, and why video games might just be running the world.
Sep 30, 2025 · 54 min
The Power Broker #13: Drop Dead City
Like a shadow epilogue to The Power Broker, this story plunges into the chaos of 1970s New York where debt, unions, and one brutal headline nearly broke the city.
Sep 27, 2025 · 1 hr 17 min
Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep. Sharice Davids
This month, Roman and Elizabeth dive into Article One with Rep. Sharice Davids.
Sep 23, 2025 · 35 min
The New Jungle
In a Colorado meatpacking town, refugees fleeing persecution find themselves in some of the most dangerous jobs in America.
Sep 16, 2025 · 34 min
Replaceable You
Mary Roach dives into the strange, funny, and unsettling world of designing new body parts, from pig hearts to prosthetic feet, revealing just how messy replacing ourselves can be.
Sep 9, 2025 · 41 min
Revisiting The 99% Invisible City
Roman and Kurt describe Oakland as it is.
Sep 2, 2025 · 50 min
The 99PI Anniversary Special: 15 for 15
For 99PI’s 15th anniversary, Roman sits in the hot seat to answer 15 eclectic questions, touching on everything from his dream merch to the one object he's always wanted to cover on the show.
Aug 26, 2025 · 40 min
Ambassador Bridge
A billionaire family’s private bridge empire shaped Detroit for decades, sparking battles over power, neighborhoods, and the future of an international crossing.
Aug 19, 2025 · 25 min
All About That Bass
Vintage music barely had any bass. Today’s hits are all about the low end. What changed?
Aug 12, 2025 · 36 min
Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch
Aimee Semple McPherson built America’s first megachurch, blended showbiz with salvation, and vanished in a scandal that captivated the nation.
Aug 5, 2025 · 38 min
Weeding is Fundamental Revisited
The fight over weeding books from the library.
Jul 29, 2025 · 40 min
Air-Borne
Old ideas about air and disease were wrong on the science, but looking to the past might actually help us design healthier buildings today.
Jul 25, 2025 · 1 hr 20 min
Constitution Breakdown #1: Nikole Hannah-Jones
This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss the Preamble, alongside Nikole Hannah-Jones.
Jul 22, 2025 · 40 min
The Quiet Storm
A last-minute DJ shift in 1976 sparked “The Quiet Storm,” a silky new radio sound that captured black middle-class life and changed the music industry forever.
Jul 15, 2025 · 31 min
Neil Young’s iPod Killer
A rock icon sets out to save music with a strange yellow gadget that almost no one understood.

99% Invisible

Hidden Levels #5: Press B to Touch Grass

Hidden Levels #4: Machinima

Hidden Levels #3: This Game Wants YOU

Hidden Levels #2: Stick It to 'Em

Hidden Levels #1: Mr. Boomshakalaka

Get Played with Roman Mars and Ben Brock Johnson

The Power Broker #13: Drop Dead City

Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep. Sharice Davids

The New Jungle

Replaceable You

Revisiting The 99% Invisible City

The 99PI Anniversary Special: 15 for 15

Ambassador Bridge

All About That Bass

Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch

Weeding is Fundamental Revisited

Air-Borne

Constitution Breakdown #1: Nikole Hannah-Jones

The Quiet Storm

Neil Young’s iPod Killer