99% Invisible

I have talked before about my love of podcasts and the app I use to listen to them. I highly suggest you listen to podcasts and use Overcast to listen to them.

One of the podcasts you should subscribe to is 99% Invisible. A new episode of 99PI is one of my favorite events of the week! The production quality sets the bar by which I judge all other podcasts (most are found wanting), and the stories they tell are compelling. Every episode is a no regret, automatic listen. You can listen to one of my favorite recent episodes below:

The episodes cover a variety of topics, but they always focus on the stuff you never think about/pay attention to. The stuff that is 99% Invisible; things like the origin of Monopoly, the graphic design of the 1968 Summer Olympics, or the flaws of thinking about the “average person.” Trust me, subscribe and start listening today, before you know it you will start listening through the back catalog of almost 300 episodes and be jonesing for new episodes every week just like me.

I have found them so well done that I have started using them to supplement my classroom instruction. I use the Stethoscope episode in my Biomedical Innovation class to talk about how medical devices get invented and I use the Blue Yarn and Castle on the Park episodes to get kids thinking about how medical buildings are designed.

99PI is often considered a “design” podcast, but you do not have to be a designer to enjoy their show, just a person who inhabits the world and has 30 minutes to spare once a week.