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

Jul 11, 2025 · 30 min
Roman Mars's Guide to San Francisco
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.
Jul 8, 2025 · 38 min
Food Deserts
In a city where grocery stores vanished and corporate power filled the gap, one woman is feeding Woonsocket while an old law stirs back to life.
Jul 1, 2025 · 29 min
Open Borders
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.
Jun 24, 2025 · 33 min
The Titanic's Best Lifeboat
A century-old shipwreck, a sea of glass, and the lifeboats that were never meant to save you.
Jun 17, 2025 · 35 min
The Red, the Black, and the Green
The Red, Black, and Green flag was invented to unite Black people all over the world living under racial repression.
Jun 10, 2025 · 57 min
The Return of Con Law
Announcing The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Constitution and the return of What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law.
Jun 3, 2025 · 32 min
Adapt or Design
A debilitating injury forces 99PI's Kurt Kohlstedt to confront new everyday challenges and seek out accessible design solutions for one-handed living.
May 27, 2025 · 43 min
Build, Interrupted: A Conversation with Ezra Klein
Why is it so hard to build anything in America?
May 20, 2025 · 38 min
Foreign in a Domestic Sense
A dusty surveillance file uncovers the story of love, betrayal, and the fight for Puerto Rico’s freedom.
May 13, 2025 · 44 min
Fishing In The Night
Shortwave radio opened a portal to the world—then became a weapon in a high-stakes war of propaganda and power.
May 6, 2025 · 27 min
Emoji Law 😅⚖️
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?
Apr 29, 2025 · 32 min
Changing Stripes Revisited
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.
Apr 22, 2025 · 32 min
One-Nil to the Arsenal
A goofy Shakira remix, a nervy penalty kick, and 60,000 fans turning banter into legend—welcome to the world of football chants.
Apr 15, 2025 · 33 min
I've Got 1099 Problems...
How did our tax system become so complicated?
Apr 8, 2025 · 29 min
Everything Is Tuberculosis
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.
Apr 4, 2025 · 23 min
A Walking Tour with Mr. Memphis
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.
Apr 1, 2025 · 35 min
The Great American Pyramid
In 1991, one of the strangest buildings in America opened — a 32-storey, stainless steel pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.
Mar 25, 2025 · 56 min
Secret Mall Apartment
A group of artists explored the back hallways of a mall in Providence, RI, and found the perfect place to build a private hangout. Plus, mall history with Alexandra Lange.
Mar 18, 2025 · 30 min
Beautiful West Oakland, California
When global trade reshapes a city, who pays the price—and who fights back?
Mar 11, 2025 · 34 min
What We're Reading
What the 99PI team is currently reading.

99% Invisible

Roman Mars's Guide to San Francisco

Food Deserts

Open Borders

The Titanic's Best Lifeboat

The Red, the Black, and the Green

The Return of Con Law

Adapt or Design

Build, Interrupted: A Conversation with Ezra Klein

Foreign in a Domestic Sense

Fishing In The Night

Emoji Law 😅⚖️

Changing Stripes Revisited

One-Nil to the Arsenal

I've Got 1099 Problems...

Everything Is Tuberculosis

A Walking Tour with Mr. Memphis

The Great American Pyramid

Secret Mall Apartment

Beautiful West Oakland, California

What We're Reading