99% Invisible

Constitution Breakdown #5: Dr. Tom Frieden

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the fifth episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth turn to the rest of Article Two wi...

Mini-Stories: Volume 21

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A glowing Vegas pyramid, a famously mistyped domain, and a long-delayed miracle investigation unfold in three unexpected tales. Subscribe to SiriusXM ...

Sax Appeal

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From military parades to smoky clubs, one invention’s wild journey reveals how an instrument can become a symbol of rebellion and reinvention. Subsc...

The Checkerboard

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A single diagonal step on a map sparks a legal war with huge consequences. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ...

U Is for Urbanism

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How Jane Jacob's urbanism dreams came to life on the most beloved kids' TV block. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Inv...

Constitution Breakdown #4: Janet Napolitano

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the fourth episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth turn to Article Two, which estab...

Murderland

25 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Writer Caroline Fraser argues a chilling link between industrial poison, deadly design, and a generation of serial killers in the Pacific Northwest. S...

The Moving Walkway Is Ending

18 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

People once dreamed of sidewalks that could whisk them across cities. Somehow, that dream ended up at the airport. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to ...

How to Write a Joke

11 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Comedy writer Elliott Kalan (The Daily Show, The Flop House, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and co-host of the 99% Invisible Breakdown of The Power Bro...

Gear (Articles of Interest)

04 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From buckskin breeches to Patagonia vests, uncover how America’s obsession with ruggedness and war shaped the clothes we wear every day. Avery Trufe...

Constitution Breakdown #3: Sen. Elizabeth Warren

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the third episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth dive into Article One, Sections 8 ...

Your Call Is Important to Us

28 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What if all those dropped calls, endless wait times and dead end hotlines every time you try to reach customer service weren’t accidents but part of...

Hidden Levels #6: Segagaga

24 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

One SEGA employee chronicles the company’s struggles the only way he knows how: by turning it into a game.Hidden Levels is a production of 99% Invis...

Hidden Levels #5: Press B to Touch Grass

21 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From blocky biomes to breathtaking open worlds, video games are teaching us new ways to see, build, and even save nature.Hidden Levels is a production...

Hidden Levels #4: Machinima

17 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Back in the 90s, artists turned video games into movie sets, and their wildest ideas are finally hitting documentaries.Hidden Levels is a production o...

Hidden Levels #3: This Game Wants YOU

14 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 yo...

Hidden Levels #2: Stick It to 'Em

10 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

From airplanes to Pac-Man to the battlefield, the joystick has quietly shaped the way humans connect with machines.Hidden Levels is a production of 99...

Hidden Levels #1: Mr. Boomshakalaka

07 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Step back into the ’90s, when dunks broke backboards, catchphrases caught fire, and one arcade game turned every kid into an NBA superstar.Hidden Le...

Get Played with Roman Mars and Ben Brock Johnson

03 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 cont...

The Power Broker #13: Drop Dead City

30 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 br...

Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep. Sharice Davids

27 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the second episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth dive into Article One with Repres...

The New Jungle

23 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In a Colorado meatpacking town, refugees fleeing persecution find themselves in some of the most dangerous jobs in America.This episode was produced i...

Replaceable You

16 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Roach dives into the strange, funny, and unsettling world of designing new body parts, from pig hearts to prosthetic feet, revealing just how mes...

Revisiting The 99% Invisible City

09 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re excited to celebrate the 5th anniversary of The 99% Invisible City, a NYT Bestseller by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt, with a guided audio tou...

The 99PI Anniversary Special: 15 for 15

02 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 obje...

Ambassador Bridge

26 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A billionaire family’s private bridge empire shaped Detroit for decades, sparking battles over power, neighborhoods, and the future of an internatio...

All About That Bass

19 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Vintage music barely had any bass. Today’s hits are all about the low end. What changed? An episode this week from our friends at Twenty Thousand He...

Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch

12 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Aimee Semple McPherson built America’s first megachurch, blended showbiz with salvation, and vanished in a scandal that captivated the nation.Sister...

Weeding is Fundamental Revisited

05 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Libraries get rid of books all the time. There are so many new books coming in every day and only a finite amount of library space. The practice of fr...

Air-Borne

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Old ideas about air and disease were wrong on the science, but looking to the past might actually help us design healthier buildings today.Air-Borne S...

Constitution Breakdown #1: Nikole Hannah-Jones

25 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss the Preamble, alo...

The Quiet Storm

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How a radio show born at a small college station in DC and dedicated to smooth, romantic love songs transformed black radio and reshaped love lives ac...

Neil Young’s iPod Killer

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A rock icon sets out to save music with a strange yellow gadget that almost no one understood.Neil Young’s iPod KillerIf you're new to the show (tha...

Roman Mars's Guide to San Francisco

11 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In this bonus episode, an offbeat walking tour through San Francisco uncovers hidden rooftop parks, a leaning skyscraper scandal, a vanished statue, a...

Food Deserts

08 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 accid...

Open Borders

01 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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....

The Titanic's Best Lifeboat

24 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A century-old shipwreck, a sea of glass, and the lifeboats that were never meant to save you.The Titanic Was The Lifeboat Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcas...

The Red, the Black, and the Green

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Return of Con Law

10 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Adapt or Design

03 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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

Build, Interrupted: A Conversation with Ezra Klein

27 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Foreign in a Domestic Sense

20 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A dusty surveillance file uncovers the story of love, betrayal, and the fight for Puerto Rico’s freedom.Foreign in a Domestic Sense Subscribe to Sir...

Fishing In The Night

13 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

😅⚖️ (Emoji Law)

06 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 e...

Changing Stripes Revisited

29 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the January 6th Capitol insurrection, rioters waved Confederate, MAGA, and Trump-as-Rambo flags. Easy to miss without knowing the design was a brig...

One-Nil to the Arsenal

22 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 Arsen...

I've Got 1099 Problems...

15 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 t...

Everything Is Tuberculosis

08 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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

A Walking Tour with Mr. Memphis

04 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The Great American Pyramid

01 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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

Secret Mall Apartment

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Beautiful West Oakland, California

18 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 A...

What We're Reading

11 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After we finished up The Power Broker, a bunch of people were asking us what other books we’d been reading. A group of us got together and presented...

A Beetle By Any Other Name

04 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A tiny, unremarkable beetle hiding in the caves of Slovenia has an infamously unfortunate name—one that has sparked heated debates in the scientific...

The Brutalists

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A film about a struggling architect, a style the world loves to hate—The Brutalist and Brutalism itself share more than just a name. Is it bold visi...

The Nazi Block

18 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the heart of Berlin’s Tempelhof-Schöneberg district sits a hulking, crumbling concrete cylinder—an abandoned relic of a Nazi plan to rebuild t...

The Power Broker Breakdown Wrap-Up

14 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Join Roman and Elliott one last time as they reflect on their journey with you all through The Power Broker, exploring their favorite moments and answ...

Your Own Personal Jesus

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did a simple painting transform into the world's most recognized depiction of Jesus?Head of Christ Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to ne...

The Wide Open

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last week, we delved into story of how the Tennessee Valley Authority, which started out as a public institution, ended up acting like a private for-p...

Valley So Low

28 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What went wrong in Kingston, Tennessee, and what does it reveal about the messy legacy of public utilities turned corporate giants?Valley So Low Subsc...

The Power Broker Breakdown Breakdown

24 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Power Broker Breakdown may have concluded, but if you're just tuning in (or if you just want a quick refresher), this episode is a compilation of ...

Sanctuary

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A deadly desert crossing leaves survivors seeking refuge—and sparks a movement that defied the law and redefined the idea of sanctuary in America. T...

Ancient DMs

14 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The story of an 2700 year old archive, its accidental preservation, and the unprecedented—and often funny—glimpse it gives us into the daily life ...

Mini-Stories: Volume 20

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year! We're starting 2025 with four more mini stories about a sleepy button, electric signs, a very important sticker, and video you can sme...

Hyperfixed: Dylan's Supermarket Cold Case

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We've all got problems. Sometimes your problem is a massive roadblock in your life, or maybe it's this little thing that quietly annoys you that you'v...

New Year, New Neighborhood

24 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The story of New Year's Eve in Times Square, and how a quiet group of unelected Manhattan property owners used the holiday — and their own undemocra...

The Power Broker #12: Robert Caro

20 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the twelfth and final episode breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro.We’ve waited unti...

Mini-Stories: Volume 19

17 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cheeky highway signs, Jane Fonda’s surprising side hustle, a dynamite twist on legacy, and the Greeks’ ideal foot obsession—expect the unexpecte...

The Flop House: Megalopolis, with Roman Mars

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roman Mars and the Flop House team dive into Francis Ford Coppola's intriguing and controversial film, Megalopolis, exploring its chaotic narrative, a...

The 15 Minute City

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How did the “15 Minute City,” a simple urban planning idea, spark protests, conspiracy theories, and death threats? This week, we unravel how a co...

Raccoon Thanksgiving

26 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After Toronto unveiled its "raccoon-resistant" compost bins in 2016, some people feared the animals would be starved, but many more celebrated the inn...

Roman, Elliott, and Robert Caro: Live in Conversation

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What makes The Power Broker endure 50 years on? Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan sit down with legendary author Robert Caro to explore the humanity, drama...

The Power Broker #11: Brennan Lee Mulligan

15 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the eleventh official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman...

The Memory Palace…Book!

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Roman talks with The Memory Palace creator Nate DiMeo, whose new book brings his poetic history podcast to life on the page. They explore how moments ...

Meet Me at Riis

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As the last warmth of summer fades, Riis Beach—a hidden queer oasis behind a decaying hospital—faces a new reality. With its shadowy protector dem...

How the World Ran Out of Everything

29 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Remember when grocery shelves went bare and cargo ships clogged the California coast? That chaos wasn’t just a pandemic hiccup—it was a symptom of...

Spirit Halloween

22 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Every fall, a vacant Toronto storefront is possessed by Spirit Halloween, the pop-up shop haunting 1,500 empty spaces across North America. What does ...

The Power Broker #10: Clara Jeffery

18 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the tenth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman Ma...

Trompe L'oeil

15 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we have three stories about designs meant to fool you. Camouflage meant to fool U-boats. Highways designed to fool your brain into going way fa...

Brilliantly Boring

11 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In this bonus episode, Roman unearths the surprising story behind the 99% Invisible's name and delves into the unnoticed brilliance of everyday design...

Christiania

08 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the heart of Copenhagen, a former military base transformed into Christiania, a self-proclaimed anarchist commune where residents built a new way o...

The Infernal Machine

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The unexpected story of how Alfred Nobel’s invention of dynamite—designed to build the world—was co-opted by anarchists to bring about its destr...

Cue the Sun!

24 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What started as Emily Nussbaum’s “guilty pleasure” of watching Big Brother became a deeper dive into the world of reality TV, leading to her boo...

The Power Broker #9: Majora Carter

20 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the ninth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman Ma...

Planet Money: Zombie 2nd Mortgages

17 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Karen MacDonough had paid her mortgage for years, raised her family, and lived a quiet life in her Quincy, Massachusetts home—until one day, a group...

Medellin, Revisited

10 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Once considered the most dangerous city in the world due to drug cartel violence, by the early 2000s Medellin had reinvented itself. But gentrificatio...

Not Built For This #6: Maximum Temperature

06 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The impacts of climate disasters are often measured in terms of property damage. But in places like Phoenix, Arizona, and in hot places all over the w...

Not Built For This #5: The Little Levee That Could

03 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Most of the stories in this series have been about places that are ill-prepared for the extreme weather that is coming their way. But this story is ab...

Not Built For This #4: Unbuilding the Terrace

30 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

All across the country thousands of people are living in locations that regularly flood, and many of these places will only get more flood-prone as th...

Not Built For This #3: The Price is Wrong

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Insurance companies are not climate activists, but they know more about climate risk than just about anyone. And as storms get more extreme and unpred...

Not Built For This #2: The Ripple Effect

23 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In disasters where a lot of people lose their homes, the impacts are not confined to a single city or town. They ripple outward, cascading into the su...

Not Built For This #1: The Bottom of the Bowl

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Reporter Emmett Fitzgerald was used to hearing people call his home state of Vermont a “climate haven.” But last summer, he got a wake up call in ...

The Power Broker #8: Shiloh Frederick

16 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the eighth official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman M...

Side Projects

13 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're highlighting a couple of series that live inside the 99pi production tent.We’ve got a preview of a new miniseries for you called Not...

Top Billing

06 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you’re watching the opening credits to a movie, it’s not just a list of names. What you’re actually seeing is intense negotiations by Holly...

The Art of the Olympics

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The 2024 Paris Olympics are currently under way, and we thought we’d play two stories from the 99% Invisible archives about the art of the Olympics....

The 2024 Olympics Spectacular

23 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From TV commercials and branded soda cans to Emily in Paris spon-con, the Olympics are once again everywhere. In the Olympic spirit, we’re bringing ...

The Power Broker #7: Sec. Pete Buttigieg

19 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the seventh official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman ...

A River Runs Through Los Angeles

16 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you hear the word "river," you probably picture a majestic body of water flowing through a natural habitat. Well, the LA River looks nothing like...

As Slow As Possible

09 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When you go to a concert, you might try to get there right when the doors open. Or perhaps you take your time and skip the opening act. But generally,...