99% Invisible (Standard Length)

Series produced by Roman Mars

Series image

Trying to comprehend the 99% invisible activity that shapes the design of our world.

A tiny radio show about design, architecture & the 99% invisible activity that shapes our world. From producer Roman Mars and KALW in San Francisco.

In August 2012, 99% Invisible became the highest-funded journalism project in Kickstarter history, raising over $170,000 from 5661 backers.

With over 4 million downloads online, 99% Invisible recently peaked at #2 in iTunes ranking for all podcasts in the US, and had occupied the #1 spot in both the Arts and Design categories.

"Roman Mars lights the radio. His pieces conjure other worlds, grapple with big ideas, make sound three dimensional. They are smart and funny and original. The Kitchen Sisters would like to be Presidents of his Fan Club."
-The Kitchen Sisters, Peabody Award-winning producers for NPR

"We think what he’s doing is inspiring. It has a kind of rhythm and musicality that you don’t normally find in radio or podcast storytelling."
-Jad Abumrad, Radiolab

"I love the show. It's wonderful. [It] actually reminded me of why I love radio."
-Jonathan Goldstein, CBC's WireTap

"Mars is the Ira Glass of design."
-Allison Arieff, The New York Times Opinionator design columnist

Learn more: http://99percentinvisible.org Hide full description

A tiny radio show about design, architecture & the 99% invisible activity that shapes our world. From producer Roman Mars and KALW in San Francisco. In August 2012, 99% Invisible became the highest-funded journalism project in Kickstarter history, raising over $170,000 from 5661 backers. With over 4 million downloads online, 99% Invisible recently peaked at #2 in iTunes ranking for all podcasts in the US, and had occupied the #1 spot in both the Arts and Design categories."Roman Mars lights the radio. His pieces conjure other worlds, grapple with big ideas, make sound three dimensional. They are smart and funny and original. The Kitchen Sisters would like to be Presidents of his Fan Club."-The Kitchen Sisters, Peabody Award-winning producers for NPR"We think what he’s doing is... Show full description


129 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
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In 1965, the people of Toronto were revolting against City Hall. Over furniture. Made out of concrete.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, WOUB, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:32
  • Purchases: 16
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Information designer Nicholas Felton has figured out how to graph the un-graphable: a year in his life.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:31
  • Purchases: 13
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The story of the guy who etched his name in 1,000 slabs of San Francisco concrete--and the reporter who spent years tracking him down.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Spokane Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 14
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Tompkins, Tiananmen, Tahrir...why do revolutions always start in public squares?

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, WUTC, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 15
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The inscription on the granite reads, “This soil and the air space extending above it shall not be a part of any nation...”

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, WOUB, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 17

  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 13
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When the District recovered the old Capitol columns, it forgot about the other fragments that had also once held up the country's icon of democracy.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, WTJU and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 16
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Imagine you're a country with 17 timezones. Your citizens want cassette players, but your factories only make tanks. What do you do?

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, WOUB, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 17

  • Added: Dec 19, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 11

  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 13
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Better (and less expensive) cancer treatment started with a sensei and ball of blue yarn...

Bought by Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 10:20
  • Purchases: 11
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If the suburbs had a flag, it would probably have a cul-de-sac on it. But what would it stand for?

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Spokane Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:31
  • Purchases: 15
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"Airports are ugly. Some are very ugly. Some attain a degree of ugliness that can only be the result of a special effort..."

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, WBEZ and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:31
  • Purchases: 14

  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 17
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What we can learn from architects who lived thousands of years ago: make buildings last longer.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, WOUB, Spokane Public Radio, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 16
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A building’s worth is an infinitesimal fraction of the worth a person’s life. But a building is still a living thing in a way.

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, WABE and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 10
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What happens to a city when its purpose is stripped away virtually overnight?

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, WBEZ and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 12
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I bet you think could pantomime changing lanes with an imaginary steering wheel. But you'd be very, very wrong. You’d probably kill a bunch of imag...

Bought by Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio, Rhythm & News Service, WBEZ and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:29
  • Purchases: 16
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Dennis Baxter and Bill Whiston are so good at doing their job, you probably don’t even know that their job exists at all.

Bought by ABC, Rhythm & News Service, Spokane Public Radio, WOUB, 90.1 WFYI Public Radio and more


  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:31
  • Purchases: 16

  • Added: Dec 20, 2011
  • Length: 04:30
  • Purchases: 12