Skip to content
Melo Podcasts Home
CategoriesLanguagesFollowing

Episode 674 · 99% Invisible

If Mosquito Hawks Can Fly

14 Jul 2026 · 41 min

Play episode WhatsApp Download

Episode notes

A Louisiana man born into slavery designs an airship with hopes to take flight. Those plans are interrupted, but maybe not forever.

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.

More from 99% Invisible All episodes →

  1. 31 Jul 2026 · 28 min

    100 Objects #11: Brannock Device

    In 1925, the world saw the birth of what just might be the greatest gadget in American History: the Brannock Device.

  2. E676 · 28 Jul 2026 · 33 min

    The Finnish Baby Box

    A simple cardboard box helped transform Finland into one of the best places in the world to raise a child.

  3. 24 Jul 2026 · 36 min

    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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 10 Jul 2026 · 36 min

    100 Objects #8: Billy Possum

    The teddy bear was a huge hit, and sparked an idea…maybe every president from then on should have their own viral stuffed animal.

  7. E673 · 7 Jul 2026 · 26 min

    The Score

    We keep score of everything these days. But what happens when the numbers start changing what we actually care about?

  8. 3 Jul 2026 · 37 min

    100 Objects #7: The Otis Pamphlet

    Journalist Jack Hitt returns to tell the wild, tragic story of America’s forgotten proto-founding father and his inflammatory 1764 pamphlet.

  9. E672 · 30 Jun 2026 · 32 min

    Transatlantic Fiber-Optic Expialidocious

    Before the internet went global, one undersea gamble made it possible.

  10. 26 Jun 2026 · 40 min

    100 Objects #6: "Sharpened Screwdriver"

    How was a household tool reimagined as a deadly weapon…that never actually existed?

Take it with you

The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.

Get it on Google Play