99% Invisible
For Amusement Only (Free Replay) [EPISODE]
Everyone has tried it at some point. The authorities started turning a blind eye years ago, but it...
a month ago
Everyone has tried it at some point. The authorities started turning a blind eye years ago, but it wasn’t officially legalized until the summer of 2014. Finally, after more than 80 years of illegitimacy, the City of Oakland has legalized…pinball machines. Today, we travel back to...
99% Invisible
Nuts and Bolts [EPISODE]
In her new book Nuts and Bolts Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way),...
4 weeks ago
In her new book Nuts and Bolts Seven Small Inventions That Changed the World (in a Big Way), structural engineer Roma Agrawal identifies and examines the seven of most basic building blocks of engineering that have shaped the modern world: the nail, the wheel, the spring, the...
99% Invisible
Lost Cities of Geo Redux [EPISODE]
If we’ve learned anything from watching the turnover of tech giants like Yahoo and Myspace, it’s...
3 months ago
If we’ve learned anything from watching the turnover of tech giants like Yahoo and Myspace, it’s that internet darlings rise and fall — and there’s something darkly fascinating about watching it happen in real time. The Lost Cities of Geo We may now be seeing it all again with...
99% Invisible
De Fiets is Niets [EPISODE]
Today the Netherlands has a reputation as a kind of bicycling paradise. Dutch people own more...
2 months ago
Today the Netherlands has a reputation as a kind of bicycling paradise. Dutch people own more bicycles per capita than any other place in the world. The country has more than 20,000 miles of dedicated cycling paths. International policymakers make pilgrimages to the Netherlands...
99% Invisible
Craptions [EPISODE]
Bad closed captions can be entertaining, but they can be serious, too, because captions are a...
a month ago
Bad closed captions can be entertaining, but they can be serious, too, because captions are a critical tool for lots of lots of people. There are the people learning a new language, the easily confused, and of course captions are essential for people who are Deaf or...
99% Invisible
Orange Alternative [EPISODE]
In the months following the invasion of Ukraine, cryptic anti-war graffiti began popping up across...
3 months ago
In the months following the invasion of Ukraine, cryptic anti-war graffiti began popping up across Russia. People started writing out the phrase “no war” using asterisks instead of the various letters in order to disguise the meaning of the message. Then back in September, a...
99% Invisible
A Whale-Oiled Machine [EPISODE]
In the 1800s, whaling was a vast and brutal industry–sometimes as deadly for the sailors involved as...
2 months ago
In the 1800s, whaling was a vast and brutal industry–sometimes as deadly for the sailors involved as it was for the whales. And the global epicenter of whaling could be found in New Bedford, MA. All this slaughter wasn’t to feed hungry people with whale meat. It was about all the...
99% Invisible
Train Set: Track Three [EPISODE]
Happy National Train Day, everyone – for those of you who missed it: that was May 13th this year. A...
2 weeks ago
Happy National Train Day, everyone – for those of you who missed it: that was May 13th this year. A year ago, we started down this path with Train Set: Track One, which gave way to Track Two …and now, here we are for the final part of our train-fecta. First Stop: Shining Time...
99% Invisible
Goodnight Nobody [EPISODE]
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library, a list was published of the ten...
a week ago
To celebrate the 125th anniversary of the New York Public Library, a list was published of the ten books that had been checked out the most in the history of the library — and most of these were children’s books, like The Cat in the Hat and Where the Wild Things Are. Curiously...
99% Invisible
The Wilderness Tool [EPISODE]
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away...
2 months ago
Imagine one of those old-timey lumberjack photos. The kind where two men in plaid are working away at a tree, holding opposite ends of a huge, human-length saw. That is a vintage crosscut saw. Some avid crosscut seekers spend hours mining websites like eBay and Craigslist. But...
99% Invisible
One Year: The Day the Music Stopped [EPISODE]
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new...
4 months ago
On Aug. 1, 1942, the nation’s recording studios went silent. Musicians were fed up with the new technologies threatening their livelihoods, so they refused to record until they got their fair share. Evan Chung explores one of the most consequential labor actions of the 20th...
99% Invisible
Dear John and Roman [EPISODE]
Last year, Roman Mars teamed up with Hank Green to guest host Dear Hank & John — this year he’s back...
a month ago
Last year, Roman Mars teamed up with Hank Green to guest host Dear Hank & John — this year he’s back on the Greens’ show once again, but this time with Hank’s brother John. In their podcast Dear Hank & John, “hosts John and Hank Green (who are also authors and YouTubers) offer...
99% Invisible
The Chinatown Punk Wars [EPISODE]
The most recognizable feature of LA’s Chinatown is its Central Plaza. It’s an outdoor pedestrian...
3 months ago
The most recognizable feature of LA’s Chinatown is its Central Plaza. It’s an outdoor pedestrian mall that is almost overwhelmingly colorful. Brightly painted buildings are topped with sweeping pagoda style roofs, and then accented with fluorescent neon lacing. For decades...
99% Invisible
For a Dollar and a Dream [EPISODE]
Every week, one in eight Americans places a bet on the dream of a life-changing lottery jackpot....
a month ago
Every week, one in eight Americans places a bet on the dream of a life-changing lottery jackpot. Americans spend more on lottery tickets annually than on video streaming services, concert tickets, books, and movie tickets combined. The story of lotteries in the United States may...
99% Invisible
RoboUmp [EPISODE]
In the major leagues, there are four umpires on the field — one behind each base, and one behind...
3 months ago
In the major leagues, there are four umpires on the field — one behind each base, and one behind home plate, who has arguably the most important job, calling balls and strikes. A strike is basically any hittable pitch — something over the plate, between the batter’s chest and his...
99% Invisible
The Panopticon Effect [EPISODE]
In the Netherlands, about an hour and a half south of Amsterdam, there’s a city called Breda. Like...
2 months ago
In the Netherlands, about an hour and a half south of Amsterdam, there’s a city called Breda. Like many Dutch towns, it has cozy narrow streets, canals and plenty of bicycles. But there’s one historic building – right in the middle of town that really stands out from the rest....
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