Invisibilia
Episodes
"The Network" from NPR's Embedded
17 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New from NPR's Embedded: Hosts Victoria Estrada and Marta Martinez travel across Latin America and within the U.S. to understand how women in Brazil d...
Alternate Realities from NPR's Embedded
24 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New from NPR's Embedded: Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being ...
Tested (Ep 2): Questions of a Physical Nature
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women a...
Tested (Ep 1): The Choice
22 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New from NPR's Embedded podcast and CBC in Canada: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a ...
The Goodbye Show
27 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In their final episode, Invisibilia searches for the right way to say goodbye.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNP...
Revisiting Love and Lapses: A Conversation with Code Switch host B.A. Parker
16 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Sometimes the holidays are filled with the people you love. Other times, they're marked by an absence. In this special holiday episode, new Code Switc...
Power Tools
07 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Bad bosses. Obnoxious coworkers. Unfair compensation. There are so many reasons people feel disempowered in the workplace. But how can our feelings ab...
Freedom Diving
30 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
After months of working from home and retreating from the world, Kia Miakka Natisse is stuck - in her house, and in her head. In an attempt to break o...
Therapy Ghostbusters
23 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In San Jose, California, a community clinic was stumped as to why their clients were seeing ghosts. This week, a story about grappling with ghosts of ...
A Little Bit Pregnant
16 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This week on Invisibilia, could the rebrand of a familiar pill open up a new way to control fertility in a post-Roe America?Learn more about sponsor m...
The P-Word
09 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Alex is a comic who feels perfectly comfortable commanding a packed, rowdy audience, but consistently submits to what other people want in everyday li...
Invisibilia Takes Control
06 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
2022 feels like walking a tightrope. We're grappling with control of our bodies, our time, the direction of our country - while trying to not spin out...
Therapy, with Friends
04 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Would you ever consider going to therapy with a friend?Two best friends who call themselves brothers were drifting apart, so they asked psychotherapis...
Poop Friends
28 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Sh*t happens. So why is it so hard to talk about? This week, the ways that poop divides and binds us in our friendships.Learn more about sponsor messa...
Friends with Benefits
21 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of us think that it's a bad idea to get physical with friends. We worry it'll get messy, maybe even ruin the friendship. But if physical intimac...
International Friend of Mystery
30 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You know the old saying--keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if you can't tell the difference? In this episode, the story of two...
Nun of Us Are Friends
23 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's a basic tenet of friendship that you get to choose your friends. We look at two institutions that took away that choice: convents circa the 1960s...
A Friendly Ghost Story
16 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It's one of the most common and infuriating friend mysteries out there - a friend disappears into thin air. But where do these ghosts go? And why are ...
The Friendship Season
14 Sep 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Friendship gets the Invisibilia treatment.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
American Slow Radio
12 Jun 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Let's get slow. Producer Abby Wendle picks up the gauntlet that was thrown down in the last episode "The Great Narrative Escape." Sit back, relax, and...
The Great Narrative Escape
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Imagine a TV show with no plot, no characters, no tension... and yet, it went viral! In this episode, we have a story that questions storytelling as w...
The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Is 209 Times helping or hurting the community it claims to serve? What does the site mean for the future of local news in America? And what can be don...
The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The man behind 209 Times is not who you'd expect. In Part 2, co-host Yowei Shaw discovers the website's surprising origin story, and ends up at the fr...
The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Yowei gets a tip about Russian trolls in Stockton, California and falls down a hole of swirling conspiracy theories. At the center is a scrappy, contr...
Eat The Rich
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give u...
Season 7: New Stories. New Hosts.
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Invisibilia is back! Stories that help you see the world differently, with new hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw.Learn more about sponsor messag...
Trust Fall
13 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Hacking, phishing, surveillance, disinformation... these are tools used to silence dissidents and influence elections. But what happens when these sam...
Two Heartbeats A Minute
10 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The strange story of an unlikely crew of people who band together to take on one of our largest problems using nothing but whale sounds, machine learn...
White v. White?
03 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
A city council candidate says he's black. But his opponent accuses him of being a white man pretending to be black. If race is simply a social constru...
An Unlikely Superpower
27 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What if you had a superpower that allowed you to see part of the world that was to come? At the age of 60, a Scottish woman named Joy Milne discovers ...
The Confrontation
22 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to what is possibly the most tense and uncomfortable summer program in America! The Boston-based program aims to teach the next generation the...
The Reluctant Immortalist
16 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Daniel Martinez discovered the unthinkable: a creature that breaks one of the most fundamental laws of life. In the wake of his discovery--which has b...
The Last Sound
08 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Bernie Krause was a successful musician as a young man, playing with rock stars like Jim Morrison and George Harrison in the 1960s and '70s. But then ...
Season 6 Trailer
02 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
You hear the train barreling towards you and you're tied to the tracks. It's an impossible situation. Most people would panic, and then a tiny handful...
Raising Devendra
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you treat artificial intelligence with unconditional love?Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR ...
Love and Lapses
22 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Producer B.A. Parker started recording her calls with her father because she was concerned about the care at his nursing home. But the recordings gave...
Back When I Was Older
25 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
As a parent, what do you do when your four-year-old starts telling you about memories that can't possibly be his? Memories that he says are from a pas...
The Profile
20 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A mysterious profile pops up on a dating app - leading to a bubble of chaos and confusion. A story about trying to sort fact versus fiction, how dest...
Kraftland
23 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Richard Kraft was in a fog of grief when he bought his first Disney collectible at an auction. But once he started, he couldn't stop. In the first epi...
The End of Empathy
12 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Invisibilia is a show that runs on empathy. We believe in it. But are we right? In this episode, we'll let you decide. We tell the same story twice in...
A Very Offensive Rom-Com
05 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
A young woman discovers a pattern in her dating habits that disturbs her - a pattern that challenges her very conception of who she is and what she be...
The Remote Control Brain
29 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What would it be like if you could control your mood with a hand held device? Literally turn the device to different settings and make yourself happie...
The Weatherman
22 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of Invisibilia, we explore our relationship with uncertainty through the eyes of a chief meteorologist. We wonder: what do you do when...
Post, Shoot
15 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
What is the relationship between the version of you that lives online and the one that walks around the earth? We think of our online selves as shadow...
The Fifth Vital Sign
08 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
We look at how our culture's massive effort to address pain has paradoxically increased it. And we follow one young girl as she struggles through a bi...
Season 5 Trailer
04 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
This moment in our culture can feel fraught. From 'fake news' to the opioid crisis, there's a lot of uncertainty about the future. So this season, Inv...
BONUS: Youth Radio Girl Mystery
21 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Years ago, producer Yowei Shaw taught high school students how to make radio. And in one of her classes, something bizarre happened with one of her st...
BONUS: The Prayer
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Five years ago, Leena Sanzgiri was living her childhood dream... New York city apartment, job at Vogue, and a boyfriend she planned to marry. Until th...
BONUS: Who Do You Let In?
16 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
An uncomfortable encounter with a stranger sets producer Abby Wendle on a quest to answer the question: who do you let in and who do you keep out? In ...
BONUS: Leave A Message
14 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this story, comedian Cord Jefferson tells a heartfelt personal story and offers up some illuminating science about the power of the human voice. Su...
BONUS: Invisibilia Live with Story District
14 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Our first live event!! We explored the In Between with Alix, Hanna and several DC-based storytellers, who talked about charting their own path in a wo...
The Callout
13 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A lot of communities today are taking a hard stand against sexual harassment and assault. Using social media shaming, ostracism, professional excommun...
Everything Good
06 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Today we introduce you to Allie n Steve, who is one person. For half the day she can be Allie and the other half he is Steve. For many of us this woul...
The Pattern Problem
30 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
A panel of judges sits to decide the fate of the young woman. She's the child of addicts and an ex-addict and ex-felon herself, and she's asking the c...
What Was Not Said
22 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Your aging mother lives in another country. Then a tenant moves into her house – he's clean, polite, helpful. At first you are relieved, until you b...
The Other Real World
16 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Reality TV may be popular around the world, but it's also roundly mocked as formulaic and contrived. So, can that kind of fragile fantasy world meanin...
I, I, I. Him
09 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we talk to a 74-year-old woman who decides the only way to get over her husband's death is to jump out of an airplane. And to a third...
Season 4 Trailer
23 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
We're living in a black and white world, where the stories we tell ourselves lock us into one side or the other. These stories define us – imprison ...
BONUS: Catch-Up with Max Hawkins
22 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In this bonus episode, we catch up with a character from Season 3 of Invisibilia... Max Hawkins, a San Francisco-based computer programmer who initial...
BONUS: Catch-Up with Bill Millar
12 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
In a special podcast bonus, co-host Hanna Rosin checks in with Bill Millar, who we met in Season 2's "Flip the Script." They talk about dating, cats, ...
Emotions
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
A thief knocks down your door and you are flooded with fear. Your baby smiles up at you and you are filled with love. It feels like this is how emotio...
High Voltage (Emotions Part 2)
22 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Can you discover an emotion? We travel to the jungles of the Philippines where an anthropologist named Renato Rosaldo lived with the Ilongots, an isol...
Reality
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
How is it that two neighbors can look out their window at the exact same thing, and see something completely different? This is a question many people...
Bubble-Hopping (Reality Part 2)
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The concept of bubbles (social bubbles, media bubbles, political bubbles) has become popular lately as people grapple with the unexpected outcomes of ...
The Culture Inside
08 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it? We begi...
Future Self
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What do you want to be when you grow up? This is a question we ask children, and adults. In American culture the concept of the future self is critica...
True You
01 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when you discover a part of yourself that is so different from who you think you are? Do you hold on to your original self tightly? Do yo...
Rules for Road Tripping
30 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Season 3 has ended but we're hard at work on Season 4! We'll see you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to share Invisibilia's tips for a successful...
Season 3 Trailer
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
On June 1, Invisibilia is back for Season 3! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, ...
Outside In
29 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
There's a popular idea out there that you can change from the outside in. Power posing. Fake it 'til you make it. If you just assume the pose, inner t...
The Secret Emotional Life of Clothes
22 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
We know about the power of clothes to affect how others see us. But does clothing have the power to actually change us on the inside? To boost our int...
Flip the Script
15 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we look at situation where someone flips the script – does the opposite of what their natural instinct is, and in this way transform...
Frame of Reference
08 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
What shapes the way we perceive the world around us? A lot of it has to do with invisible frames of reference that filter our experiences and determin...
Bonus: Mr. Kitt
05 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story of William Kitt, a resident of the Broadway Housing Communities, featured in our episode "T...
The Problem with the Solution
01 Jul 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode we find that the solution can be the problem. The hour begins with a charming couple from Utah who stumble across a clever fix to thei...
Bonus: Four-Minute Mile
28 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In a special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story about a young runner who always thought he had it in him to break the four-minute mile, until ...
The Personality Myth
24 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
In America personality is often seen as destiny. Whether you're a famous CEO like Steve Jobs or a serial criminal like Hannibal Lecter, most of us th...
The New Norm
17 Jun 2016
Contributed by Lukas
You probably don't even notice them, but social norms determine so much of your behavior - how you dress, talk, eat and even what you allow yourself t...
Season 2 Trailer
20 May 2016
Contributed by Lukas
On June 17th Invisibilia is back for Season 2! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions...
BONUS: Inside Out!
14 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
Alix and Lulu present a bonus podcast about why "Inside Out" was considered as a possible name for the show, but ultimately wasn't chosen.Learn more a...
Our Computers, Ourselves
13 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In Our Computers, Ourselves, a look at the ways technology affects us, and the main question is : Are computers changing human character? You'll hear ...
The Power Of Categories
06 Feb 2015
Contributed by Lukas
The Power Of Categories examines how categories define us — how, if given a chance, humans will jump into one category or another. People need them,...
Entanglement
30 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In Entanglement, you'll meet a woman with Mirror Touch Synesthesia who can physically feel what she sees others feeling. And an exploration of the way...
BONUS: Falling Off a Cliff
23 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
A podcast BONUS for you today. We didn't have enough room in our Batman show for this lovely story about Julee-anne Bell, one of the many people who h...
How to Become Batman
23 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In "How to Become Batman," Alix and Lulu examine the surprising effect that our expectations can have on the people around us. You'll hear how people'...
Fearless
16 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In "Fearless," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller explore what would happen if you could disappear fear. A group of scientists believe that people ...
The Secret History of Thoughts
09 Jan 2015
Contributed by Lukas
In "The Secret History of Thoughts," co-hosts Alix Spiegel and Lulu Miller ask the question, "Are my thoughts related to my inner wishes, do they reve...
Invisibilia Preview
18 Dec 2014
Contributed by Lukas
Starting January 9th, NPR brings you Invisibilia, a six episode series about the invisible forces that shape human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assump...