99% Invisible

You can also hear it on the 99% Invisible podcast feed, which, of course, you are subscribed to already.

I would hope so.

But just in case some algorithm has unsubscribed you, resubscribe, and along with the regular 99PI episodes, which are wonderful, you will hear all 100 objects, is that right?

You will eventually hear all 100 objects.

We put a new one out every Friday, so you'll eventually hear them.

BBC Studios is headquartered in beautiful White City, West London.

If you want to get in touch or have an object for them to consider, email 100objects at 99pi.org. That's 100objects at 99pi.org.

I will include a link to the series and the email address in our show notes.

Thanks so much for listening.

This is 99% Invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

A couple of years back, 99PI producer Emmett Fitzgerald created a series called Not Built for This.

It was all about how the world we currently live in was not designed for the weather it's starting to experience.

Emmett is back this week with an episode that has a lot in common with that series.

And it takes place very close to 99PI headquarters in Berkeley, California.

I'll let Emmett take it from here.

Michel Thouati had been dreaming of California since childhood.

And the results bend into something spectacular.

You know, I would listen to every episode, but there was a time where I started skipping everything that wasn't sound in 99PI because I didn't have time for everything.

So I was just like, you know, is it about sound? Nope.

Is it about sound? Yep, I'm in it.

And so it got to a point where like I was only consuming the sound shows in 99% Invisible, but then I was like, gosh, this could be so much bigger.

Around this time, I actually got a chance to meet Roman in San Francisco.

I got to tell him how much I appreciate 99PI, especially those sound design episodes.

And I very nervously asked him, how would you feel if I made my own show that's directly inspired by 99PI, but focused exclusively on sound? And he's like, heck yeah, you can do a show about sound.

And the other part of my success is I try to lead with kindness first.

And the people who work with me, Delaney Hall is our senior editor on 99PI.

I hired Delaney out of college in 2005.

And we've worked together in different parts.

This is 99% Invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

And I'm here today with friend of the show and frequent 99PI contributor, Katie Thornton.

Hey Katie, what do you have for us today?

Hey, Roman.

We are part of the SiriusXM podcast family, now headquartered six blocks north in the Pandora building in beautiful Uptown, Oakland, California.

You can find us on all the usual social media sites, as well as our own Discord server.

There's a link to that, as well as every past episode of 99PI at 99pi.org.

I hope you like it.

We're going to post an episode guide with photos on our website at 99pi.org so you can follow along at home.

But I think you can close your eyes and imagine and still enjoy all the stories.

Here's the first stop.

This is 99% Invisible.

I'm Roman Mars.

If there's one thing we like here at 99PI, it's serendipity.

Those little unexpected moments of magic that puncture the blahs of everyday life.

But why leave serendipity to chance? What if you could design serendipity into someone's life or some other magical experience to make a better world? while our friends at Death, Sex, and Money found someone who does just that.

It's called Facing Giants: My 38-Year Battle.

These are totally worth your time, and we will have a link to all of these on our show page at 99pi.org. And special thanks to all the researchers and football players who spoke to Chris for this episode.

Kathy Tu is our executive producer.

Kurt Kolhstedt is our digital director.

We are part of the SiriusXM podcast family, now headquartered six blocks North in the Pandora Building in beautiful uptown Oakland, California.

You can find us on all the usual social media sites, as well as our own Discord server.

There's a link to that, as well as every past episode of 99pi, at 99pi.org.

This episode is presented by Air France.

[upbeat music]

Just a heads up, another 99PI project has Anthropic as an advertiser, but there is no communication between editorial and advertising on any of the projects that I produce, and nothing Elizabeth said was vetted or changed.

This show is produced by Elizabeth Zhou, Isabel Angel, and me, Roman Mars.

It is mixed by Martin Gonzalez.