99% Invisible

This is the third episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.

This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss Article. I, Sections 8-10. Then, Sen. Elizabeth Warren joins to discuss 

San Francisco! Come to a screening of Drop Dead City followed by a conversation with Roman on Monday, Nov 3. Info and tickets.

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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 the plan?

San Francisco! Come to a screening of Drop Dead City followed by a conversation with Roman on Monday, Nov 3. Info and tickets.

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One SEGA employee chronicles the company’s struggles the only way he knows how: by turning it into a game.

San Francisco! Come to a screening of Drop Dead Cityfollowed by a conversation with Roman on Monday, Nov 3. Info and tickets.

Hidden Levels is a production of 99% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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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 of 99% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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Back in the 90s, artists turned video games into movie sets, and their wildest ideas are finally hitting documentaries.

Hidden Levels is a production of 99% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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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 young people about enlisting.

Hidden Levels is a production of 99% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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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% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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

Hidden Levels is a production of 99% Invisible and WBUR's Endless Thread.

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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 controllers, culture, and why video games might just be running the world.

Hidden Levels launches on October 7th wherever you get your podcasts. Join SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to each episode early and ad-free.

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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 broke the city.

San Francisco! Come to a screening of Drop Dead City followed by a conversation with Roman on Monday, Nov 3. Info and tickets.

Drop Dead City is now playing in select cities, and available on VOD on November 14. You can watch the trailer here.

The Power Broker #13: Drop Dead City

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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 Representative Sharice Davids, examining lawmaking, committees, and the unique responsibilities of the House of Representatives.

Elizabeth also explains how the Supreme Court’s “major questions doctrine" could decide whether Trump’s sweeping use of tariffs under emergency powers is constitutional.

Constitution Breakdown #2: Rep. Sharice Davids

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

This episode was produced in partnership with the Food & Environment Reporting Network, an independent, nonprofit news organization.

The New Jungle

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

Replaceable You

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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 tour of beautiful downtown Oakland, California. Join us as we explore different everyday designs, using examples from the built environment around our old offices as jumping-off points.

And if you don't already have one: be sure to get your print or audio copy of the book at 99pi.org/book.

Exploring The 99% Invisible City

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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 object he's always wanted to cover on the show.

Plus, a behind-the-scenes look at how the show gets made.

The 99PI Anniversary Special: 15 for 15

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

Ambassador Bridge

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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 Hertz, featuring hip hop legend DJ Jazzy Jeff and Roland's Paul McCabe.

All About That Bass

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

Sister Aimee and the Birth of the Megachurch

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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 freeing up library space is called weeding. When the main branch of the San Francisco Public Library was damaged by an earthquake 1989, the argument over which books need to be weeded, and how they were chosen for removal, reached fever pitch.

This episode originally aired on May 14, 2019.

Weeding is Fundamental

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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

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This is the first official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the U.S. Constitution.

This month, Roman and Elizabeth discuss the Preamble, alongside Nikole Hannah-Jones. 

Elizabeth also explains that while the United States generally does not allow a standing army to be used against civilians, Trump has been exploiting an exception to keep troops in Los Angeles to protect ICE agents — with terrifying implications.

Constitution Breakdown #1: Nikole Hannah-Jones

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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 across the country.

The Quiet Storm

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A rock icon sets out to save music with a strange yellow gadget that almost no one understood.

Neil Young’s iPod Killer

If you're new to the show (thanks Apple Podcasts!) here are some favorite episodes to get you started:

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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.

This episode is sponsored by GetYourGuide. Discover and book experiences for your next trip at getyourguide.com.

Roman Mars's Guide to San Francisco

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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 accident? The answer rests in a major policy shift that fundamentally altered the American food landscape.

Food Deserts

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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.

Open Borders

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A century-old shipwreck, a sea of glass, and the lifeboats that were never meant to save you.

The Titanic Was The Lifeboat

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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 protest police violence against Black people. And if you look at images from these marches, you will probably start to notice a common color scheme -- one involving a lot of red, black, and green. The flag was invented to unite Black people all over the world living under racial repression. When it first came into existence, the flag posed some bold questions about where Black people owed their loyalty: was it to the...

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 than ever!” Well, here it is. We’re back with a special extra-long episode about Trump’s perverted use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport people without due process and how judges are trying to hold the administration accountable to the Constitution.

Plus, we announce the launch of The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Constitution, where Elizabeth and Roman will tackle a different section of this 7600-word document each month, treating...

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

The full set of Adapt or Design articles can be found at 99pi.org/adapt.

Adapt or Design

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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 take to break free.

Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson

Build, Interrupted: A Conversation with Ezra Klein

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A dusty surveillance file uncovers the story of love, betrayal, and the fight for Puerto Rico’s freedom.

Foreign in a Domestic Sense

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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 about the history of radio from WNYC's On the Media and longtime 99PI contributor, Katie Thornton.

Fishing in the Night

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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?

😅⚖️

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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.

There were actually several confounding international flags present at the Capitol riot that day: the Canadian, Indian, South Korean flags, all were spotted somewhere in the mayhem. But what was peculiar about the Vietnamese flag being there was that it's not technically the flag of Vietnam but the Republic of Vietnam, a country that no longer exists. And what this flag stands for (or...

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 Arsenal

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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 to be "the hardest thing in the world to understand." But how did our tax system become so complicated?

I've Got 1099 Problems...

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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.

Everything Is Tuberculosis

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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.

A Walking Tour with Mr. Memphis

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

The Great American Pyramid

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