99% Invisible
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 p...
AI overview.Roman Mars is an independent podcast creator renowned for his insightful storytelling and exploration of design and architecture. As the host of 99% Invisible, …
Insights from recent episode analysis
On the show
- Alondra Nelson1 ep
- Jill Lepore1 ep
- Neil MacGregor1 ep
Also: Jack Hitt, Ramtin Arablouei, Elliott Kalan
Audience Interest
- design principles
- architecture trends
Podcast Focus
- design in everyday life
- architecture impact
Publishing Consistency
- weekly episodes
- 15 years running
Insights are generated by CastFox AI using publicly available data, episode content, and proprietary models.
Most discussed topics
Brands & references
Total monthly reach
Based on 3 signals.
Built from
By chart position
- 🇺🇸United States · DesignHOME#21.1M to 5.9M
- 🇬🇧United Kingdom · Design#1120K to 633K
- 🇧🇷Brazil · Design#1103K to 543K
- 🇩🇪Germany · Design#185K to 452K
- 🇮🇳India · Design#185K to 452K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
2.2M to 11M🎙 Daily cadence·823 episodes·Last published yesterday - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
7.2M to 38M🇺🇸51%🇬🇧6%🇧🇷5%+19 more - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
4.0M to 21M113K real followers tracked across platforms
Market Insights
Platform Distribution
Reach across major podcast platforms, updated hourly
Total Followers
—
Total Plays
—
Total Reviews
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* Data sourced directly from platform APIs and aggregated hourly across all major podcast directories.
| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/27/26 | Doktoro Esperanto | Reporter Katie Thornton tells the story of Doktoro Esperanto’s dream, and what we can all still learn from Esperanto right now. | 35m 18s | ||||||
| 10/23/26 |  100 Objects #21: Window from the House of D | How a women’s prison in Greenwich Village, and its unusual open windows, helped shape queer community and the modern gay rights movement. | 37m 03s | ||||||
| 10/21/26 |  Audio Guide of the Imperfections of a Perfect Masterpiece | A closer look at the quirks, imperfections, and clever design solutions that have helped Frank Lloyd Wright’s Guggenheim Museum evolve over the decades. | 29m 44s | ||||||
| 10/20/26 | Tony Hawk's Real-Life Willy Wonka | A desert train built for Tony Hawk leads into the strange and thoughtful world of N.D. Austin, a designer of real-life experiences. | 52m 16s | ||||||
| 10/13/26 | The Problem With Football Helmets | Football helmets can prevent devastating injuries, but they may also help make an inherently violent game feel safer than it really is. | 43m 19s | ||||||
| 10/6/26 | (Not Just) Another Brick in the Wall | A closer look at the messy, beautiful bricks hiding across Chicago. | 28m 18s | ||||||
| 10/2/26 |  100 Objects #20: AA Sobriety Chip | Imbued in the Alcoholics Anonymous sobriety chip is a hidden history of America’s relationship to gender, religion, and morality. | 52m 57s | ||||||
| 9/29/26 | Tootle of a Devilish Song | How a Swiss mountain call crossed the Atlantic and helped define the sound of country music. | 32m 19s | ||||||
| 9/25/26 |  100 Objects #19: Western Electric 500 Series | Former MythBuster Adam Savage joins Roman Mars to explore the history of the 500 Series Telephone and what we lost when we eventually decided to leave it behind. | 38m 50s | ||||||
| 9/22/26 | The Rocky Statue | How a movie prop became one of Philadelphia’s most beloved monuments, and sparked a decades-long fight over where it belonged. | 32m 34s | ||||||
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 9/18/26 |  100 Objects #18: Hair Relaxer | How a single product—the hair relaxer—became a mirror for all of America's contradictions. | 35m 04s | ||||||
| 9/15/26 | Doves Type | A legendary typeface, a spectacular friendship breakup, and one extremely committed act of revenge. | 37m 18s | ||||||
| 9/11/26 | militarysafety+3 | — | M43 Field Jacket | — | militaryM43 Field Jacket+4 | — | 41m 23s | ||
| 9/8/26 | product testingdesign+3 | — | — | — | product testingdesign+3 | — | 38m 01s | ||
| 9/4/26 | game showsmascots+3 | — | ceramic DalmatianWheel of Fortune | — | DalmatianWheel of Fortune+3 | — | 46m 52s | ||
| 9/1/26 | 1-800 numbersstorytelling+3 | — | 1-800PODCAST | — | 1-800 numberpodcast+3 | — | 43m 08s | ||
| 8/28/26 | workplace efficiencysurveillance+3 | — | Bundy Clock | — | Bundy Clockworkplace efficiency+4 | — | 37m 41s | ||
| 8/25/26 | architecturehistory+3 | — | — | LiverpoolRome | spoliaLiverpool+4 | — | 28m 07s | ||
| 8/21/26 | basketballcompression sleeve+3 | Ramtin Arablouei | NBA | — | basketball sleevecompression sleeve+3 | — | 41m 50s | ||
| 8/18/26 | paleontologydinosaur bones+3 | — | — | — | paleontologydinosaur+3 | — | 44m 42s | ||
| 8/14/26 | politicscorruption+3 | Elliott Kalan | — | — | politiciancorrupt government+3 | — | 48m 40s | ||
| 8/11/26 | architecturefire safety+3 | — | Bamboo | Hong Kong | bamboofire+4 | — | 32m 02s | ||
| 8/7/26 |  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. | 37m 50s | ||||||
| 8/4/26 | The Borrowed Nature of Biomimicry | Behind every perfect nature-inspired design is a far more complicated story. | 31m 44s | ||||||
| 7/31/26 |  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. | 27m 42s | ||||||
| 7/21/26 | historyartifacts+3 | Neil MacGregor | Rosetta Stone | Egypt | Neil MacGregorRosetta Stone+3 | — | 44m 59s | ||
| 7/17/26 | missing childrenmilk cartons+3 | — | — | Iowa | missing childrenmilk carton+5 | — | 33m 53s | ||
| 7/14/26 | airship designslavery+4 | — | — | Louisiana | airshipslavery+4 | — | 41m 56s | ||
| 7/10/26 | stuffed animalspresidential memorabilia+3 | — | Billy Possumteddy bear | — | Billy Possumteddy bear+3 | — | 36m 10s | ||
| 7/7/26 | scoringnumbers+3 | — | — | — | scorenumbers+3 | — | 26m 08s | ||
| 7/3/26 | journalismhistory+3 | Jack Hitt | Otis Pamphlet | — | Otis PamphletJack Hitt+4 | — | 37m 26s | ||
| 6/30/26 | internet historyundersea cables+3 | — | 99% Invisible | — | fiber-opticundersea cable+3 | — | 31m 56s | ||
| 6/26/26 | household toolsweapons+3 | — | Sharpened Screwdriver | — | screwdriverhousehold tool+3 | — | 40m 28s | ||
| 6/23/26 | currencydesign+3 | — | America | — | state quarterscurrency design+3 | — | 43m 28s | ||
| 6/19/26 | educationenslavement+3 | — | Blue Back Speller | — | Blue Back Spellerschoolbook+3 | — | 45m 55s | ||
| 6/12/26 | historyaviation+3 | — | gas bag | — | gas baghydrogen+3 | — | 38m 54s | ||
| 6/9/26 | karaokefilmmaking+3 | — | — | — | karaokefilmmaking+3 | — | 35m 27s | ||
| 6/5/26 | slave rebellionCivil War+3 | — | — | — | slave rebellionCivil War+3 | — | 43m 24s | ||
| 6/2/26 | music industryradio rules+3 | — | Canadamusic industry+1 | — | Canadamusic+5 | — | 40m 27s | ||
| 5/29/26 | screwsengineering+3 | — | 60-Degree ScrewAmerica | — | screw60-degree+5 | — | 35m 36s | ||
| 5/26/26 | medicinepublic health+3 | — | Ivermectin | — | Ivermectinriver blindness+3 | — | 48m 26s | ||
| 5/19/26 | objectshistory+3 | — | 99% InvisibleThe Century Safe | — | iron safe100 years+3 | — | 30m 05s | ||
| 5/12/26 | drug namesbranding+3 | — | — | — | drug namesbranding+3 | — | 32m 15s | ||
| 5/8/26 | historyobjects+3 | — | A History of the United States in 100 Objects | United States | historyobjects+4 | — | 3m 30s | ||
| 5/5/26 | technologyinfrastructure+3 | — | — | — | fixinginfrastructure+3 | — | 35m 04s | ||
| 4/28/26 | nationalityidentity+3 | — | — | — | nationalityidentity+3 | — | 40m 31s | ||
| 4/24/26 | ConstitutionSupremacy Clause+3 | Alondra Nelson | Article VIArticle VII+1 | — | ConstitutionSupremacy Clause+3 | — | 1h 05m 44s | ||
| 4/21/26 | housingcooperatives+3 | — | Co-op City | New York City | housing co-opNew York City+3 | — | 37m 31s | ||
| 4/14/26 | roboticsbaseball+3 | — | RoboUmp | — | RoboUmprobot umpires+3 | — | 31m 39s | ||
| 4/7/26 | towingautomobiles+3 | — | 99% Invisible | — | towingmissing car+3 | — | 32m 59s | ||
| 4/3/26 | power gridurban design+3 | — | — | Phoenix | Phoenixpower grid+5 | — | 33m 13s | ||
| 3/31/26 | litterurban design+3 | — | — | San Francisco | litterSan Francisco+3 | — | 28m 16s | ||
| 3/27/26 | Constitutionamendment process+3 | Jill Lepore | Article V | — | Constitutionamendment+3 | — | 1h 06m 17s | ||
| 3/24/26 | traffic systemsurban design+3 | — | traffic system | citygridlock | trafficurban design+3 | — | 28m 01s | ||
| 3/17/26 | community connectionphone services+3 | — | 311 | — | 311community+3 | — | 34m 57s | ||
| 3/10/26 | astronomyMartians+4 | — | — | Mars | Martiansastronomy+3 | — | 32m 40s | ||
Showing 56 of 823
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Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Distribution & Reach
About the show, platforms, and key insights.
Roman Mars is an independent podcast creator renowned for his insightful storytelling and exploration of design and architecture. As the host of 99% Invisible, he brings a keen eye to the often-overlooked aspects of the built environment that shape everyday life, making complex topics accessible and engaging for a broad audience. 99% Invisible stands out for its deep dives into design, architecture, and urbanism, revealing the hidden intricacies of the world around us. The podcast features a weekly format that blends storytelling with interviews and sound design, encouraging listeners to reconsider their surroundings and appreciate the thought behind seemingly mundane objects and spaces. The show attracts a diverse audience, particularly those interested in arts and design, who value its unique perspective on how design influences society. Listeners appreciate the blend of education and entertainment, gaining insights that inspire a deeper understanding of the aesthetics and functionality present in their everyday lives.
By the numbers
- Total followers: 131K
- Total plays: 849K
- Total reviews: 26K
Platforms
TuneIn
- Followers: 44K
YouTube
- Subscribers: 19K
- Views: 849K
- Videos: 670
Podcast App
- Followers: 26K
- Reviews: 26K
Podcast Republic
- Followers: 43K
- Reviews: 164
Find them online
Key insights
What the show covers
- design in everyday life
- architecture impact
- cultural design stories
- exploration of unnoticed design
Audience interests
- design principles
- architecture trends
- everyday aesthetics
- creative processes
Platform reach
- available on major platforms
- website for additional content
- growing online presence
- potential for broad audience
Publishing consistency
- weekly episodes
- 15 years running
- over 780 episodes
- consistent release schedule
Chart history for 99% Invisible
Peaked at #1 in United Kingdom, top 10 in 50 of 50 tracked markets, currently #1 in United Kingdom.
| Market | Genre | Peak | Current | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Canada | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Canada | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Australia | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Ireland | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| New Zealand | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Germany | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Spain | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Netherlands | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| CH | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| AT | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| PT | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Sweden | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Norway | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Denmark | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| Finland | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| PL | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| CZ | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| HU | — | #1 | #1 | — |
| RO | — | #1 | #1 | — |
Chart Positions
50 placements across 45 markets.
Chart Positions
50 placements across 45 markets.