Have you ever passed by a neighbor’s garage and wondered whether they are recording groundbreaking radio inside of it? Maybe it’s time you start, because Bay Area resident Roman Mars has been doing just that for the past three years, turning 99% Invisible, a “tiny radio show” about design and architecture, into one of podcasting’s biggest success stories.
The radio legends of our time, including Ira Glass, Jad Abumrad, and The Kitchen Sisters, sing the praises of Mars and 99% Invisible, and with just one listen it’s clear why. Although it may seem counterintuitive to examine something as visual as design and architecture through an auditory medium, the podcast engages listeners’ imaginations in unexpectedly vivid ways.
Befitting this paradox, one of the most talked-about episodes explores “razzle dazzle” camouflage, which uses bold patterns to hide naval ships in plain view. Some of the podcast’s most engaging episodes describe places almost no one can see, such as the mysterious art installation dubbed “Heyoon” that cannot be legally photographed or visited. Others explore universal visuals and feelings such as the unexpected impact of a broken window on a young woman’s life.
Surprisingly, Mars is not an architect, although his excellent research and radio production could fool anyone.
99% Invisible describes itself as a podcast about “the 99% invisible activity that shapes our world” (also known as design), but for independent producers the award-winning show highlights the previously 99% invisible activity that shapes public media. As an independent production, 99% Invisible has raised funds with record-breaking Kickstarter campaigns that turned listeners into what Mars deems “the best bosses a radio program could have.”
