99% Invisible
AI Audio Summaries
15 videos summarized
1 follower on BriefTube
Last summary: May 26, 2026
AI Audio Summaries
15 videos summarized
1 follower on BriefTube
Last summary: May 26, 2026
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Everyday objects, from a folded boarding pass to a paper clip, tell personal stories, forming a biography through things we keep or discard. Imagine if the United States, celebrating its 250th birthday, had objects that told its history. Beyond famous artifacts like the Declaration of Independence or Lincoln's top hat, there's another narrative found in less obvious items. This new show, "A History of the United States in 100 Objects," from 99% Invisible and BBC Studios, explores these hidden stories. It features objects like a bootleg band t-shirt revealing punk rock history, a blue book used by enslaved people for liberation, or a 1-inch screw demonstrating America's industrial empire.
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This episode of 99% Invisible delves into the phenomenon of "inshittification," a term coined by author and activist Cory Doctorow, which describes the process by which digital platforms and smart devices degrade over time, becoming worse for consumers while benefiting businesses. The discussion begins with producer Chris Berube aiming to increase host Roman Mars's anger level by exploring everyday frustrations with smart devices. Mars immediately relates to this, citing his own smart thermostat as a source of annoyance, wishing for a simpler, analog alternative. The conversation then shifts to the agricultural sector, specifically the digitization of tractors. Farmer Jared Wilson, a seventh-generation farmer, explains how modern tractors, like many other machines, are now run by complex computer operating systems. While this digitization has brought benefits, such as auto-steer, which significantly reduces the physical strain of long hours in the field, it also introduces significant problems. When a tractor malfunctions due to a software issue, such as a sensor failure, the system can "derate" the machine, drastically reducing its horsepower and rendering it unusable for farming. This derating can occur even for minor issues, and the error codes provided by the tractor's software are often unhelpful, requiring a technician to diagnose the problem.
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The podcast "99% Invisible" presented a story from Scott Gurian's "Far From Home" podcast about Garry Davis, a man who deliberately renounced his American nationality to become a "citizen of the world." This decision, made in 1948 at age 26, led to a life of frequent detentions and confrontations with authorities who struggled to classify him. Davis, born into a wealthy Philadelphia family with a famous bandleader father, was a rising Broadway star before World War II. His experience as a B-17 bomber pilot, and the loss of his brother in the war, profoundly impacted him, leading him to question the concept of nation-states. He felt compelled to reject a system that forced individuals into roles like "killer in the name of the nation." After extensive study of philosophy, history, and law, he concluded that preventing future wars required people to disassociate from the "us versus them" mentality fostered by nationhood.
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This episode of the 99% Invisible Breakdown of the Constitution delves into Articles 6 and 7, with a particular focus on the crucial Supremacy Clause and its modern implications, especially concerning the regulation of artificial intelligence. Article 7, the ratification clause, is presented as a foundational element that established the legitimacy of the Constitution. It stipulated that the agreement would become effective once ratified by nine of the thirteen states, a threshold that was met on June 21, 1788, when New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify. While historically significant for the Constitution's adoption, it holds little contemporary legal relevance.
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This episode of 99% Invisible delves into the history and significance of Co-op City, a massive housing cooperative in the Bronx, New York. Initially met with criticism for its modernist architecture, Co-op City stands as a testament to a complex movement aimed at creating affordable middle-class housing in post-war America. The story begins with the narrator’s first impression of Co-op City’s imposing high-rises, which he initially mistook for public housing. However, Co-op City is revealed to be the world's largest housing cooperative, where residents own shares in the corporation that owns the building, granting them rights to their units and a say in their improvements. Unlike typical co-ops where shares can be sold for profit, the vision behind Co-op City, championed by Abraham Kasin, was to prevent profit-making to ensure long-term affordability.
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Major League Baseball has introduced several rule changes in recent years, including a pitch clock and stricter rules on foreign substances. However, the most talked-about change for the 2026 season is the introduction of robot umpires, specifically the ABS (Automatic Balls and Strikes) system. This system will allow players to appeal a ball or strike call, with the robot arbitrator having the final say. The idea of robot umpires isn't new; the Brooklyn Dodgers tested a rudimentary machine in the 1950s that proved ineffective. Modern "robot umpires" are not physical robots but sophisticated camera-based tracking systems, similar to those used in tennis (Hawkeye) and soccer for offsides and goal-line technology. Most MLB stadiums already have advanced ball-tracking systems, initially installed for TV broadcasts, which can track every revolution of a baseball and its exit velocity. This technology allows viewers to see the precise location of pitches within the strike zone, often leading to frustration when human umpires make calls that contradict the visual evidence.
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This episode explores the "black box of mystery" surrounding predatory towing and impoundment, addressing questions about who authorizes towing, where vehicles go, and why it's so difficult to resolve issues when things go wrong. The discussion begins with an account from Kelly Prime, who experienced predatory towing firsthand in Brooklyn. She parked her old Mazda in a brightly lit, empty 7-Eleven lot, only to find it gone 15 minutes later. A 7-Eleven employee informed her it had been towed, not stolen, citing a high volume of daily tows and pointing to obscured warning signs. Google reviews for the 7-Eleven revealed numerous similar experiences, highlighting a widespread problem. The practice Kelly encountered is known as predatory towing, where towers actively seek out cars to impound and then demand inflated fees for their return. This issue is prevalent in many areas, including Detroit, Michigan, which serves as a case study due to its well-documented history of predatory towing. Tom Berry, a retired Detroit police lieutenant and fraud investigator, explains that towing is a multi-million dollar business. He clarifies the ideal function of towing as a public good: removing illegally parked cars blocking driveways or clearing accident scenes. In many cities, including Detroit, police contract private towing companies for these services.
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In the summer of 2023, Phoenix experienced its hottest summer on record, with temperatures exceeding 110°F for 31 consecutive days. This extreme heat highlighted the city's total dependence on air conditioning and, consequently, on the electrical grid. Without power, especially during the summer, lives would be at risk. This raises the question of how a city like Phoenix ensures it has enough energy to meet demand, particularly on the hottest days. The electrical grid, often called the largest machine in the world, is a complex and largely invisible system. As cultural anthropologist Gretchen Baky explains, the grid is designed to be "illegible" to the average person. Most people only interact with it through their monthly utility bill, which provides little insight into how electricity is generated or why costs fluctuate.
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This episode of Service Request delves into the complex world of public trash cans in San Francisco, triggered by host Roman Mars's observation of a lack of them during a visit. The investigation, led by Delaney Hall, explores who decides where trash cans are placed, how they are maintained, and if their design impacts litter. Rachel Gordon, Director of Policy and Communications at San Francisco Public Works, explains that her department is responsible for installing and maintaining the city's approximately 3,000 trash cans. Placement is strategic, focusing on high-traffic areas like transit stops, commercial corridors, schools, and hospitals. Fewer cans are found in purely residential areas, though requests for dog-walking routes are accommodated. Public Works also responds to requests from the public via 311 and the Board of Supervisors. Interestingly, if a trash can has been removed from a location before, even after multiple placements and removals, Public Works may decide not to reinstate it, indicating underlying issues or conflicts.
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This episode of the 99% Invisible Breakdown of the Constitution focuses on Article 5, which outlines the process for amending the U.S. Constitution, with historian and author Jill Lepore. Lepore argues that the Constitution was designed to be amended, and that amendments can occur formally through Article 5, or informally through judicial decisions and evolving practices. The formal amendment process, as described in Article 5, is a single, complex sentence. It allows Congress, with a two-thirds vote in both houses, to propose amendments, or a convention called by the legislatures of two-thirds of the states can propose them. For any proposed amendment to become part of the Constitution, it must be ratified by three-fourths of the state legislatures or by conventions in three-fourths of the states. There are also specific protections against amendments affecting certain clauses before 1808 and against depriving states of equal suffrage in the Senate without their consent.
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In the first episode of the new series *Service Request*, host Delaney Hall and producer Christopher Johnson explore the hidden machinery of urban life by examining one of the most vital pieces of modern city infrastructure: the 311 system. While most people view 311 simply as a hotline for complaints, the transcript reveals it is a complex, data-driven operation that has fundamentally changed how cities function and how they communicate with their residents. The investigation begins with a personal grievance from Christopher Johnson, who found himself "trolled" by the relentless jingles of Mr. Softy ice cream trucks after moving to a high-rise in Washington Heights. Despite living twelve stories up, the sound of multiple trucks idling and playing music for hours became the "bane of his existence." After discovering a city law that forbids ice cream trucks from playing music while stationary, Christopher turned to 311. His experience—navigating an automated menu to eventually speak with a real human being—serves as the entry point into understanding how New York City manages millions of such requests.
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The Isles of Scilly, an archipelago off the far west of the UK, are home to at least 900 shipwrecks. This treacherous area was the site of the deadliest maritime disaster in British history on October 22, 1707. A fleet led by Admiral Cloudsley Shovel, returning from battle with the French, struck jagged rocks, resulting in the loss of four ships and nearly 2,000 lives. This tragedy occurred because the navigators were 200 miles off course; they knew their latitude but were unable to calculate their longitude, their east-west coordinates. In the 18th century, calculating longitude at sea was considered nearly impossible, a feat comparable to finding the philosopher's stone. While latitude is easily determined by measuring the height of the sun or the North Star above the horizon, longitude is tethered to the Earth's rotation. To determine longitude, a navigator needs to know the exact time at a home port and the local time simultaneously. Since the Earth rotates 15 degrees every hour, the time difference reveals the distance traveled. However, 18th-century clocks were notoriously unreliable. Pendulums were useless on rocking ships, lubrication oils became "gunked up" in salty air, and temperature changes caused metal parts to expand or contract, throwing off the time.
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In this discussion, Ben Brock Johnson and Roman Mars speak with Andrew Callaway about the current "renaissance" of Machinima—the art of using video game engines to create films. The conversation highlights how this medium has evolved from niche internet culture into a massive force in mainstream entertainment and contemporary art. The dialogue begins by addressing the legacy of Rooster Teeth, the studio famous for the early Machinima series *Red Versus Blue*. While the company’s archives were recently threatened by a corporate shutdown, one of the original creators has since bought back the name and revived the domain, signaling a return for the pioneering series. Beyond these legacy projects, the speakers note that mainstream filmmakers are now adopting the medium. For example, Harmony Korine, director of *Kids* and *Spring Breakers*, has established a studio called "Edgelord" to explore video game technology. His latest work, *Baby Invasion*, utilizes Machinima to allow for live, DJ-style remixing of the film.
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In the vast interior of Australia lies a structure that challenges the scale of the world’s most famous landmarks. While the Burj Khalifa is the tallest building and the Boeing factory in Washington is the largest by volume, Australia holds the title for the longest fence in the world. Known as the Dingo Barrier Fence, it stretches over 5,000 kilometers—a distance greater than that between San Francisco and New York City. As reporter Shirley Wong and host Roman Mars explore, this simple wire structure has effectively split the continent into two distinct ecological universes. The story of the fence begins not with dingoes, but with rabbits. In the late 18th century, British colonizers introduced European species to Australia to make the landscape feel more like home. In 1859, a man named Thomas Austin released 24 rabbits for hunting. Within three years, the population exploded into the thousands, creating a "rabbit plague" that devastated crops and grazing lands. In 1901, the government established a "Rabbit Department" and built three massive fences to contain the spread. However, the rabbits simply hopped around or burrowed under them, rendering the project a failure.
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