Episode notes
In 1925, the world saw the birth of what just might be the greatest gadget in American History: the Brannock Device.
Podcast
99% Invisible
Roman Mars · Arts & Books · English
Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we've just stopped noticing. 99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture. From award winning producer Roman Mars. Learn more at 99percentinvisible.org.
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E679 · 18 Aug 2026 · 45 min
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Comedian Elliott Kalan joins Roman Mars to tell the story of how a politician who owed so much to a corrupt government system became the one to dismantle it, thanks to one woman: Julia Isabella Sand.
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E678 · 11 Aug 2026 · 32 min
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A devastating fire put one of Hong Kong's oldest building traditions on trial, but the real story runs much deeper.
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100 Objects #12: "Negro Cloth"
Roman Mars and historian Seth Rockman trace the strange life of so-called "Negro cloth" — a textile category defined by nothing but who it was worn by.
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E677 · 4 Aug 2026 · 32 min
The Borrowed Nature of Biomimicry
Behind every perfect nature-inspired design is a far more complicated story.
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E676 · 28 Jul 2026 · 33 min
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A simple cardboard box helped transform Finland into one of the best places in the world to raise a child.
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100 Objects #10: Nunchaku
In the early 1970s, Bruce Lee made nunchaku (nunchucks) cool, but the nunchucks craze coincided with something much bigger: the birth of a radical new Asian American identity.
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E675 · 21 Jul 2026 · 45 min
The Original 100 Objects
Neil MacGregor reflects on creating the landmark series that changed how people think about history. Then, revisit the Rosetta Stone, the artifact that unlocked ancient Egypt.
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17 Jul 2026 · 34 min
100 Objects #9: Missing Children Milk Carton
In 1982, a twelve-year-old paperboy, Johnny Gosch, vanished from a quiet Iowa street and sparked an unlikely campaign: the faces of missing children printed on milk cartons by the billions.
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E674 · 14 Jul 2026 · 42 min
If Mosquito Hawks Can Fly
A Louisiana man born into slavery designs an airship with hopes to take flight. Those plans are interrupted, but maybe not forever.
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