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In 2008, a billion gallons of toxic sludge spewed across 300 acres of Tennessee in the middle of the night. It was just before Christmas. At the time, Jared Sullivan was in high school and remembers the disaster. For over fifty years a power company called the Tennessee Valley Authority – or the TVA –
3 days ago

More from 99% Invisible

The Power Broker Breakdown Breakdown

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. You can find the entire series in the 99% Invisible feed, wherever you get your podcasts. The 99%

a week ago 7 votes
Sanctuary

In July 1980, a group of Salvadoran migrants crossed the border between Mexico and Arizona. They walked over a remote mountain range and halfway across a wide desert valley in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. There were more than two dozen of them—people who had left behind lives and jobs to come to the United

a week ago 21 votes
Ancient DMs

Archaeologists searching through the ruins of the very ancient past are always happy to come across an epic poem or a historical chronicle, but very often the hardest documents to find are the ones that tell historians something about everyday life. About what it was like to be a bureaucrat in Egypt’s middle kingdom, or

2 weeks ago 24 votes
Mini-Stories: Volume 20

Happy New Year! We’re starting 2025 with four more mini stories! This week we have a sleepy button, electric signs, a very important sticker, and video you can smell. Let’s get into it! Snooze Buttons In the 1950s, General Electric changed alarm clocks forever by adding a snooze button. On top of the clock there

3 weeks ago 53 votes

More in architecture

Hans van der Laan: Playing With Proportions in 3D

A new book on the Dutch monk-architect tries to explain it all.

13 hours ago 1 votes
Architects vs. Algorithms: A 2025 Love Story

This year, AI will assert itself on both the designer and the client sides of the construction industry.

2 days ago 2 votes
What a Renaissance Painting Tells Us About the Future of Architectural Visualization

In the closing chapter of Archinect In-Depth: Visualization, we return to one Renaissance painting referenced in an earlier article from the series. What does this painting, and our wider series, teach us about the relationship between technology and visualization? What do they tell us about the potential for visualization to open new worlds not beholden to the natural laws of space and time?

3 days ago 2 votes