99% Invisible
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.
Episodes
In 1991, one of the strangest buildings in America opened — a 32-storey, stainless steel pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee.
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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 group's leader Michael Townsend a few years back, and he's now the subject of a new documentary called Secret Mall Apartment. Plus, mall history with Alexandra Lange.
For showtimes and more information, visit secretmallapartment.com.
The stories in this episode originally aired in 2018 ...
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 Account of the Battle for the Soul of an American City.
Beautiful West Oakland, California
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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 some of our recent favorites, and the choices were so good and surprising and charming, we're now sharing it widely.
Here are the books covered in this episode:
- Lasha's book: Usha's Pickle Digest by Usha R Prabakaran
- Chris's books: What It Takes by Richard Ben Cramer (and The Power Br...
A tiny, unremarkable beetle hiding in the caves of Slovenia has an infamously unfortunate name—one that has sparked heated debates in the scientific world.
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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 vision or concrete failure?
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In the heart of Berlin’s Tempelhof-Schöneberg district sits a hulking, crumbling concrete cylinder—an abandoned relic of a Nazi plan to rebuild the city as a grand imperial capital. But this eerie structure isn’t just a forgotten engineering experiment; it’s a lasting monument to one of the Third Reich’s most colossal architectural failures.
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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 answering listener questions in this bonus episode.
If you finished The Power Broker with us (or know someone who did), get the 99PI Power Broker challenge coin to commemorate your achievement! Visit 99pi.org/store to get the challenge coin and other 99PI merch.
How did a simple painting transform into the world's most recognized depiction of Jesus?
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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-profit company, and the lawsuit that attempted to finally bring the TVA to its heel. Today, Montana Public Radio’s podcast The Wide Open tells the story of a different lawsuit against the TVA that had even bigger consequences. In the 1970s, the fight to save a tiny fish called the snai...
What went wrong in Kingston, Tennessee, and what does it reveal about the messy legacy of public utilities turned corporate giants?
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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 the summary portions of the The Power Broker Breakdown series.
The Power Broker Breakdown Breakdown
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A deadly desert crossing leaves survivors seeking refuge—and sparks a movement that defied the law and redefined the idea of sanctuary in America. This is the story of how faith, courage, and resistance collided with one of the biggest immigration battles in modern history.
Note: This episode originally aired as two episodes in 2017.
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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 of an ancient king.
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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 smell.
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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've learned to grudgingly put up with. But regardless of the size of your problem, it would be so great if someone would just fix it for you. Not just fix it, hyperfix it.
Today, we're playing a great story from Alex and his new show, Hyperfixed. Alex investigates why there's no door in ...
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 undemocratic municipal power — to transform the neighborhood from its porn-theater-and-vice-rich past to its flashy, family-friendly present.
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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 until the evening to see how splendid the day has been, and for this final installment, there was only one guest truly worthy of the last slot: Robert Caro. This time, he discusses the book’s lasting legacy, parallels to today, and how he decided on the last line of the book.
This week, Elli...
Cheeky highway signs, Jane Fonda’s surprising side hustle, a dynamite twist on legacy, and the Greeks’ ideal foot obsession—expect the unexpected.
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Roman Mars and the Flop House team dive into Francis Ford Coppola's intriguing and controversial film, Megalopolis, exploring its chaotic narrative, ambitious ideas, and perplexing execution.
Listen to The Flop House wherever you get your podcasts!
The Flop House: Megalopolis, with Roman Mars
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