On this special feature episode, President Bill Clinton interviews 99% Invisible host and creator Roman Mars. Roman Mars has spent his career chronicling these bits of human ingenuity that we so often take for granted—things like the utility codes, the curb cuts, the traffic signals, and much more. As host of the 99% Invisible and, with Kurt Kohlstedt, co-author of the book The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design, his work challenges all of us to look up and around, and to think about the how and the why of design around the …
Tags: urban, arts, sanfrancisco, radiotopia, publicradio, design, architecture, prx, radiolab, npr, english, talk, makeuseof, educational, cerebral, stories, fav, in, education
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How did we get to a point where "search" is failing us?
North Korea's state-run design studio has long been a prolific maker of statues around the world, particularly in Africa
The infrastructure, zoning, and cultural factors that make the hit Japanese TV program Old Enough, where toddlers go on errands by themselves, possible
There's a particular one-kilohertz tone that is universally understood to be covering up inappropriate words on radio and TV. But there are other options, too, like silence -- so why did this particular *bleep* sound become ubiquitous?
We're sharing the latest episode of Roman's other show What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law, your guide to the US Constitution and the Supreme Court.
For the love of peat
In the final episode of our vernacular spectacular anniversary series, 99pi producers and friends of the show will be sharing more stories of regional architecture–some close to home, some on remote islands– that capture our imagination and inspire us to look deeper.
In the final episode of our vernacular spectacular anniversary series, 99pi producers and friends of the show will be sharing more stories of regional architecture–some close to home, some on remote islands– that capture our imagination and inspire us to look deeper.
The utilitarian and "ugly" architecture that is beautiful to us
The utilitarian and "ugly" architecture that is beautiful to us
We often tell stories about how people shape the built world, but on this milestone 500th episode, we're telling stories about how the built world has shaped us (with good history and facts thrown in, because we're us).
We often tell stories about how people shape the built world, but on this milestone 500th episode, we're telling stories about how the built world has shaped us (with good history and facts thrown in, because we're us).
The history of taking plants that grow naturally in one place, and moving them halfway around the world to an entirely different place with a different, often inhospitable, climate-- and then keeping them alive by growing them in potting soil that we bought at Home Depot.
The history of taking plants that grow naturally in one place, and moving them halfway around the world to an entirely different place with a different, often inhospitable, climate-- and then keeping them alive by growing them in potting soil that we bought at Home Depot.
The Octagonal House fad and self-improvement in the 1800s
The Octagonal House fad and self-improvement in the 1800s
The story of a long, skinny island east of Russia's mainland and the ethnic Koreans who have had no choice but to call it home for decades.
The story of a long, skinny island east of Russia's mainland and the ethnic Koreans who have had no choice but to call it home for decades.
Wild Rice has long played an important role in Ojibwe cultures, but last year, it took on a new role: plaintiff in a court case.