99% Invisible

Sand has always been an essential part of human life and the rise of cities. but its impact and the world’s dependence on it have been largely overlooked.

August 8, 2019 - 99% Invisible

How many now-classic design features are actually tax-avoidance strategies?

February 16, 2018 - 99% Invisible

As the energy grid evolves to accommodate more and more solar energy, conflicts emerge.

May 7, 2017 - 99% Invisible

Designing trails means serving many masters. Those who do it professionally must balance aesthetics with practical concerns like drainage.

March 4, 2017 - 99% Invisible

What would Richard Neutra do with a third arm? UC Berkeley researchers once asked him that and more, for science.

July 20, 2016 - 99% Invisible

Local lore, and Hollywood movies, have it that a conspiracy by car companies led to the dismantling of L.A.'s sprawling streetcar system to induce dependence on newly built freeways. Eric Molinsky tells the real, but no less dramatic, story.

April 3, 2013 - 99% Invisible

This episode of 99% Invisible looks into the history of the cul-de-sac, and why its design flaws overpower its benefits.

June 21, 2011 - 99% Invisible

The early skyscrapers were inspired by the idea of turning steel train bridges on their sides. This episode of 99% Invisible explains.

June 10, 2011 - 99% Invisible

A federal jail, The Metropolitan Correctional Center, is snuggled right into Chicago's Loop. Reporter Roman Mars looks at how the architecture manages to help the building disappear.

May 20, 2011 - 99% Invisible

A new website offers a compelling way to understand cities through sound. It combines audio feeds from city police radios with ambient music.

April 28, 2011 - 99% Invisible

This episode of 99% Invisible explores public spaces and their role in political change, and how over hundreds of years, riots have defined New York's Tompkins Square Park -- despite efforts to design unrest out.

April 9, 2011 - 99% Invisible

Toronto's City Hall is a massive concrete structure. Oddly, so was all its furniture, which was included with the original design. 99% Invisible looks at this unconventional design choice, and the legacy of that furniture.

March 5, 2011 - 99% Invisible

This episode of public radio program 99% Invisible looks at oil, and how the way people move from work to home has been seemingly designed to waste fuel.

December 1, 2010 - 99% Invisible

99% Invisible talks with Chris Downey, an architect who lost his sight three years ago and who continues to work.

November 20, 2010 - 99% Invisible

The history of San Francisco's version of the Statue of Liberty, and how it disappeared, is discussed in this episode of 99% Invisible, a new radio segment from KALW.

October 6, 2010 - 99% Invisible