99% Invisible

In 1950s Soviet Russia, citizens craved Western popular music—everything from jazz to rock & roll. But smuggling vinyl was dangerous, and...

The skyline of beautiful downtown Oakland, California, is defined by various towers by day, but at night there is one that shines far more...

For Americans, the sight of pagoda roofs and dragon gates means that you are in Chinatown. Whether in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles,...

Many material trifles, such as Silly Putty, started as attempts at serious inventions, but in rare cases, the process works in reverse:...

Superhero costumes for TV and film used to be pretty cringe-worthy. Lately, however, super outfits are looking much better. Costume...

From rock-paper-scissors, to tennis, to Mario Kart, every game is a designed system and all games are grounded in the same design...

On April 21st, 1859, an incredible thing happened in London and thousands of people came out to celebrate it. Women wore their finest...

Ballots are an essential component to a working democracy, yet they are rarely created (or even reviewed) by design professionals. Good...

Households tend to take pantry food for granted, but canned beans, powered cheese, and bags of moist cookies were not designed for everyday...

The phrase ‘from Central Casting’ has become a kind of cultural shorthand for a stereotype or archetype, a subject so visually suited to...

99% Invisible is honored to accept a 2015 Third Coast International Audio Festival award for Structural Integrity, a story of architectural...

Indian philosopher and mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh had a vision: he would build a Utopian city from the ground up, starting with 64,000...

When something is lost in the mail, it feels like it has disappeared into the ether, like it was sucked into a black hole, like it no...

On the night of March 30, 2005, the Powerball jackpot was 25 million dollars. The grand prize winner was in Tennessee, but all over the...

On a Sunday morning in 1982, in Des Moines, Iowa, Johnny Gosch left his house to begin his usual paper route. A short time later, his...

There are around 6,000 cargo vessels out on the ocean right now, carrying 20,000,000 shipping containers, which are delivering most of the...

In 1860, a chance find at sea forever changed our understanding of marine habitats, sparking an unprecedented push to explore a new world...

Stirling, Scotland is the home of Stirling Castle, which sits atop a giant crag, or hill, overlooking the whole town of Stirling. There has...

In communities across America, lawns that are brown or overgrown are considered especially heinous. Elite squads of dedicated individuals...

No matter which James Bond actor is your favorite, it’s undeniable that the Sean Connery films had the best villains. There’s Blofeld, who...