This is the fourth official episode of our ongoing series breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. This week, Roman and Elliott also sit down with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the U.S. representative for New York’s 14th congressional district, who describes the lasting impact Moses’ highways have made on her district, and her own philosophy when it comes to political power and bringing ambitious projects to life. On today’s show, Elliott Kalan and Roman Mars will cover the second section of Part 4 of the book (Chapters 16 through the end ..read more

Each week, The Sporkful uses humor and humanity to approach food from many angles, including identity, culture, science, history, economics, and lengthy debates on the best way to layer a PB&J. They like to say it’s not a show for for foodies, but for eaters. This week we’re featuring an episode from The Sporkful‘s series on the creation of “Anything’s Pastable,” Dan Pashman’s new pasta cookbook. In this episode, Dan an embarks on an epic trip across Italy in search of lesser-known pasta dishes — and to learn about the evolution of pasta more broadly, traveling to Rome, interviewing a pa ..read more

Hailing from central African cities of Brazzaville and Kinshasa, sapeurs have become increasingly recognizable around the world. Since the 1970s, sapeurs (from: le sape, short for “Société des Ambianceurs et des Personnes Élégantes”) have been known for donning technicolored three-piece suits with flamboyant accessories like golden walking sticks and leopard-print fedoras, and then cat-walking through their city streets. In recent years, Solange, Kendrick and SZA have all featured sapeurs in their music videos. The iconic British menswear designer Paul Smith did a whole spring line of sapeu ..read more

For many young people in Paris, it’s a right of passage to live in a very small, very French type of apartment, called a “chambre de bonne.” Literally, a maid’s room. A chambre de bonne is usually one small room, on the top floor of a five- or six-story apartment building, and it’s usually just big enough to fit a bed and a table. It’s affordable housing in a city where finding housing is nearly impossible. But while cute, they are also cramped and can be unpleasant spaces for people who have to live there, a living embodiment of the gap between the rich in Paris, and everyone else. The cha ..read more

This is the third and final episode in a three-part series of Roman Mars recording on-location guides to the design features and interesting spots in cities he loves. Roman moved to Athens, Georgia, to pursue a PhD in plant genetics, but dropped out and got into the local music scene instead, and started making his way toward radio. Note: this series is made possible by the all-new 2024 Lexus GX and SiriusXM who heard this idea, gave no notes, and said just go make something cool.  There’s an arch in Athens where the town transitions to the university. This pretty modest three column b ..read more

A few years back, journalist Lauren Ober was diagnosed with autism. She then made a podcast about her experience called The Loudest Girl in the World. And she found herself imagining a fantasy world where everything is tailored to Lauren’s very specific autistic needs. And she called this magical imagined place, wonderfully devoid of overwhelming stimuli “Autism Pleasantville.” “Obviously,” Ober notes, “there’s not a one-size fits all diagnosis or even definition of autism … as the autism adage goes: ‘If you know one autistic person…you know one autistic person.’ But despite our wide va ..read more

In the middle of the 20th century, the small town of Jasper, Indiana did something that no other city had done before: they made garbage illegal. The city would still collect some things, like soup cans and plastics, but yucky junk, like food waste, wouldn’t get picked up. This change was made possible by a new appliance: the garbage disposer – that little grinding machine at the bottom of a lot of kitchen sinks. Most people call it the “disposal” (or “InSinkErator,” or even the “garburator”). In other countries, these machines are less common, but an estimated half of American homes have on ..read more

This is the third official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro. Blank Check podcast co-host and The Atlantic movie critic David Sims is our book club guest. On today’s show, Elliott Kalan, Roman Mars, and David Sims will cover the first section of Part 4 of the book (Chapters 11 through the end of Chapter 15), discussing the major story beats and themes. Join the discussion on Discord and our Subreddit. The 99% Invisible Power Broker Book Club The post The Power Broker #03: David Sims appeared first on 99 ..read more

This year marks the 40th anniversary of a lot of landmarks in pop culture, especially sci-fi and fantasy. So many franchises were born in 1984. Some came to define the genre or invent new genres. The great podcast Imaginary Worlds noticed this and produced a three-part series about 1984’s Cambrian explosion of creativity that  landed on the big screen, the small screen, bookstore shelves and, of course, the toy store. In this episode we learn about at two iconic franchises that launched in 1984: Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They came from opposite ends of the business ..read more

WARNING: Entering this area can expose you to chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm, including Benzene, a chemical used in urinal cleaners and Toluene, a chemical used in common household cleaning products. For more information, go to www.p65warnings.ca.gov. Intimidating Proposition 65 warnings like that one can be found on all kinds of products manufactured or distributed in the State of California. They can seem rather terrifying at first, but within the state, they are ubiquitous, on everyday objects from power tools to pot ..read more