Roman Mars of 99% Invisible

Episode notes

(Photo: 99 Percent Invisible)

Roman Mars hosts the radio show and podcast 99% Invisible.

It’s a show about the little known stories behind everyday design and architecture. Prefabricated homes. Trash can design. Even those little ramps you see on sidewalk corners: how and why did stuff like that come to be?

He just released a new book based on the podcast – it’s called the The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. The book is an illustrated look at how cities work, and why they work the way they do.

Photo: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Roman is also the founder of the podcast network Radiotopia. He’s worked in podcasts and radio for decades. His career didn’t start out in audio, though. He was originally getting a PhD in genetics, pipetting stuff into tubes, recording data.

Roman Mars joins us to talk about life before podcasting, and what decades in radio has taught him. Plus, the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected the design of cities, and which of those changes might be permanent.

His new book 99 Percent Invisible City is out now.