99% Invisible

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Cover Story

Magazine covers function as a critical identity marker, signaling a publication's brand and the reader's social status. Historically, covers transitioned from illustrated mascots to bold, photographic statements, pioneered by art director George Lois, who used provocative imagery to drive newsstand sales. Modern design...

Higher And Higher

The View From The 79th Floor

Six Stories- the memory palace

Numbers Stations

Shortwave numbers stations function as mysterious, high-power broadcasts of encrypted, repetitive number strings, serving as a persistent Cold War relic for clandestine communication. These stations, often utilizing theoretically unbreakable one-time pads, allow intelligence agencies to transmit private messages over p...

DIY Space Suit

Future Screens are Mostly Blue

Unbuilt

Revolving Doors

All the Buildings

Kickstart Season 4 of 99% Invisible- Weekly Episodes

Wild Ones Live

Strowger and Purple Reign Redux

Bubble Houses

The Broadcast Clock

The broadcast clock serves as the invisible, rigid framework governing public radio, dictating the precise timing of segments to ensure seamless transitions between national and local programming. This structure forces producers to distill complex narratives into strict time limits, creating a constant tension between ...

I Heart NY, TM

Milton Glaser’s 1977 "I Love New York" logo transformed from a temporary tourism campaign into a permanent, globally recognized symbol of civic identity. Its enduring success relies on a simple, grid-based design that invites endless cultural remixing, from official state spin-offs to unauthorized merchandise. This ubi...

Reversal of Fortune

Noble Effort

Ode to Ladislav Sutnar plus Trading Places with Planet Money