Posts about 99% Invisible
Update: Thank you all for showing up and asking great questions! For more on The 99% Invisible City, including reviews, previews, and signed copies, check out 99pi.org/book. We also did an episode with short versions of 10 stories from the book and an article about the book design process! And if you're new to 99pi or looking to share it with friends: I recently rounded up 10 staff favorites episodes from the 2010s to start with. Thanks for having us!
99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast and website about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive on, and sidewalks we traverse. The show and book celebrate design in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with tales of exceptional designers but also everyday designs.
Show host and creator Roman Mars launched what was then a “tiny radio show about design” a decade ago, then broke crowdfunding records for journalism. He co-founded an independent podcasting network and did a beautifully nerdy TED talk on flags with over 6MM views to date.
Producer and book co-author Kurt Kohlstedt joined the show five years ago, but has been writing about design and cities since getting a graduate degree in architecture in 2007. In addition to working on episodes of the show, he also regularly writes articles for the website.
Our new book, The 99% Invisible City, reflects years of research and reporting about how cities work, exploring the origins and other fascinating stories behind everything from power grids and fire escapes to drinking fountains and street signs. It’s for anyone curious about design processes, urban environments, and the unsung marvels of the world around them.
To read more about the book, our upcoming live events or read reviews, check out our book page! Also: visit our subreddit at r/99percentinvisible (special thanks to the fans who created and maintain that wonderful space!) and feel free to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram -- and if this show sounds like your cup of tea, be sure to subscribe to the podcast! Bonus: In our just-released episode, Roman and Kurt walk around beautiful downtown Oakland, California, telling stories from the book and offer a behind-the-scenes look at how we made it!
Proof:
Note: Roman and I will show up at 2:30 to answer your questions, but meanwhile: ask away!
Update: Need to take a break and start getting ready for the live show this evening with Alexis Madrigal (details at 99pi.org/book) - will try to check in later tonight and answer more questions!
Update: Dropped back in after the show to answer a bunch of new questions - what a blast! Thanks all! The link above lists our live (virtual) tour dates this week, so if you're interested, sign up for one!
After two years in seclusion, I'm re-entering the world to bring you my super-secret project: Bellwether www.bellwether.show, a podcast of speculative journalism—true stories of the world as it is through the lens of what it might become. After a decade of launching and working on other people's radio shows and podcasts (including 99% Invisible, NPR’s TED Radio Hour, USA Today’s The City, and others), Bellwether is my attempt to take what I've learned and move the podcast medium forward.
The first episode of Bellwether is now live on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and everywhere podcasts are RSS'd. Also here: https://soundcloud.com/thisisbellwether/01_autopilot-off and http://thisisbellwether.libsyn.com/01_autopilot-off.
Episode 01, "AUTOPILOT OFF," concerns the car crash in Tempe, Arizona, in which, for the first time in human history, a self-driving car killed a pedestrian. But who’s really at fault? If the person behind the wheel takes the fall, suddenly we are living in a world where a person can go to jail for the crimes of an AI.
This non-fiction reporting is told within a sci-fi radio serial: my 'podcast' has been found in the future by a pair of data archaeologists—one human, one AI—listening back, trying to figure out if this reportage from back in 2019 holds clues to what happened to their world. Over the course of the show, we'll learn more about these [fictional] protagonists, the world they inhabit, and what it might tell us about our own.
Bellwether is currently 100% independent. I'm currently running a Kickstarter to help me complete the first cycle of four episodes. Unlike a normal Kickstarter, the victory condition here is not about hitting a certain dollar amount, but to find 1,000 people to back the project at any level. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bellwether/b-e-l-l-w-e-t-h-e-r-a-podcast-of-speculative-journalism. If you're into Bellwether existing, please consider supporting the show!
I am currently a fellow at the Institute For The Future and will soon be a fellow at the Center for Science and the Imagination at Arizona State University. Ask Me Anything!
Proof: https://twitter.com/samlistens/status/1151627300405780480
More proof: https://i.redd.it/orybvesdahd31.jpg
EDIT: TAKING A NOURISHMENT BREAK AS OF 12:51PM PST! Will be back on by around 1pm :)
EDIT 2: AND WE'RE BACK! Answering questions again!
EDIT 3: OK, everyone, I think I'm gonna call it a day [as of 3:39pm PST]. Thanks for all of your questions and for the rousing debate! I'm gonna log off for a bit but will check back tomorrow [Thursday] morning and answer anything I missed. I hope you get a chance to listen to the pilot, and if you like it, please support our Kickstarter [tinyurl.com/bellwetherKS] and help me get the first cycle of stories finished! We only get funding if we get to 1,000 backers, so every pledge counts. OKthxbyebye!
EDIT 4: [Aug 8, 11:02am PT] Gonna hop back on periodically througout the day to answer any additional questions. Yay!
EDIT 5: [Aug 9, 10:18am PT] I think we can call this done-zo. Thanks everyone! This was really fun.
Hello reddit and thanks for having us!
We are Radiotopia, a collection of story-driven radio shows and podcasts that broke Kickstarter fundraising records last year in the publishing category. We are here to answer your questions about the "us" - the creators, hosts and producers - and our shows - as well as podcasting in general and Radiotopia as a network.
If you would like to support Radiotopia, we are currently seeking sustaining members to pledge support for this season and beyond. We are offering all kinds of Radiotopia and show-specific rewards to thank our contributors!
We’d love to have commenters use the username of the host/show at which they're aiming their question… e.g. /u/romanmars for Roman
/u/helenzaltzman and /u/romanmars recently did AMAs here and here. Now the rest of the Radiotopians are here.
We are:
Nikki Silva (/u/KitchenSistersNikki) and Davia Nelson (/u/KitchenSistersDavia), hosts of Fugitive Waves with The Kitchen Sisters
Nick van der Kolk and Brendan Baker (/u/loveandradio/), of Love+Radio
Sarah Kramer (/u/skk_wire), of Radio Diaries
Lea Thau (/u/Leathau) host of Strangers
Hrishikesh Hirway (/u/HrishiHirway) host of Song Exploder
Mitra Kaboli and Samara Breger, (/u/theheartradio) of The Heart
Dave Nadelberg (/u/davenadelberg), host of Mortified
Benjamen Walker (/u/bwradio) host of Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything
Jonathan Mitchell (/u/thetruthpodcast), host of The Truth
Roman Mars (/u/romanmars), host of 99% Invisible
Julie Shapiro (/u/julieatomic), Executive Producer of Radiotopia
We'll sign our responses with our initials so you know who said what. Follow us on Twitter at: @radiotopiafm
Our Proof: https://twitter.com/radiotopiafm/status/663778106898063362