99% Invisible: The Podcast where Design meets Curiosity
99% Invisible transforms the podcast into an art form of exquisite elegance. It is — all at once — sleek, thoughtful, insouciant and devilishly clever. Developed, hosted and handcrafted by Roman Mars, 99% invisible delves into the world of design and architecture, but in an expansive way.
The show’s name is taken from a quote by Buckminster Fuller: “Ninety-nine percent of who you are is invisible and untouchable.” The podcast, therefore, does a deep dive into design in everything from board games to milk cartons to currency.

The show started life as a project of KALW public radio in San Francisco and the American Institute of Architects in San Francisco.
Each podcast episode focuses on a single topic — a hotel in the Bowery in lower Manhattan or the the color of paper currency — and is introduced and sometimes narrated by Roman Mars.

Roman Mars is also a founding member of the podcast collective, Radiotopia, which is an independent production and raises all its funds directly from the listeners, most notably from its record breaking Kickstarter campaign and from podcast underwriters.
Mars has also contributed to radio programs such as Radiolab and Planet Money. Fast Company magazine identified him as one of the 100 most creative people (number 63) of 2013.
With a deep, sonorous voice and alpha wave cadence, Mars makes a perfect vocal companion to the episodes. He gently flames the embers of our curiosity as we sink into each episode.
For example, award-winning episode 110 about the structural integrity of the CitiCorp Center in Manhattan told the story of an engineering student who found a fatal design flaw that threatened the building’s ability to withstand severe storms. Ironically, the flaw was missed by one of the world’s preeminent architects.
In episode 164, 99% Invisible investigated the golden age of billiards in the mid-19th century and how the game was standardized, including billiard balls, which had been made of ivory. The episode explores the search for the perfect material for billiard balls — Bakelite plastic — and how that search also created celluloid to be used as imitation ivory.
There is no topic out of bounds for the peripatetic podcast. Water fountains, lawns, Freud’s couch, postage stamps, escalators, Superman, and even dentures make for fascinating stories.
The episodes unfold slowly and carefully and often encapsulate tiny morality plays and reveal the hidden genius of inspired design.
The podcast is downloaded more than three million times per month and typically ranks in the top 10 of Arts podcasts and top 20 overall on iTunes.
