The Siren of Scrap Metal
99% Invisible13 Kesä 2023

The Siren of Scrap Metal

Amid the noisy bustle of Mexico City, there is a particularly iconic sound echoing on repeat in the background. This recording blares from trucks that cruise the streets all across this massive city. The crews inside are looking to buy old household items and appliances to fix and resell or to just sell for scrap. Basically, they’re scrap metal haulers, and the recording is their pitch to prospective sellers. Their pitch culminates in "o algo de fierro viejo que vendan," which basically means “or any old metal thing you’re selling.” This last bit has become the recording’s namesake: fierro viejo, literally “old iron.”

How this recording (and its subsequent remixes for live performances and otherwise) managed to achieve icon status in Mexico is a story of an unlikely alchemy: a family that, through grit, talent and a bit of luck, transmuted scrap metal into poetry, music, and joy.

The Siren of Scrap Metal

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole week early.

Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jaksot(773)

99% Undesigned

99% Undesigned

Almost everything in modern life is designed to waste energy. The whole system evolved on a false premise that petroleum is cheap and plentiful and will be that way forever. The awesome Lisa Margonell...

25 Marras 20104min

99% Sound and Feel

99% Sound and Feel

Chris Downey explains it like this, “Beethoven continued to write music, even some of his best music, after he lost his hearing…What’s more preposterous, composing music you can’t hear, or designing a...

19 Marras 20105min

One Way Ticket To Mars

One Way Ticket To Mars

99% Invisible Extra! NASA is figuring out how to take the next great leap into space. The difficulty is, if we leap to Mars, we might not make it back. This is a story I produced last year (Summer 200...

13 Marras 201011min

99% Private

99% Private

Privately Owned Public Open Spaces, or POPOS, are these little gardens, terraces, plazas, and seating areas that are private property, but are mandated for public use. City planners require developers...

5 Marras 20104min

99% Free Parking

99% Free Parking

It’s weird how much anxiety comes from parking in a city. Beyond the stress of looking for parking, you must contend with the frequently unreliable meters. The signage can be indecipherable. As a poin...

29 Loka 20105min

99% Alien

99% Alien

Humans need a few basic things to survive- air, water, food, heat, shelter- but just surviving isn’t really enough. We also need familiarity, a little comfort, interaction, a small place of our own. W...

14 Loka 20104min

99% Symbolic

99% Symbolic

Before I moved to Chicago in 2005, I didn’t even know cities had their own flags. In Chicago, the city flag is everywhere. It’s incorporated into all different aspects of city life and the design elem...

7 Loka 20104min

99% Forgotten

99% Forgotten

At the top of Mt. Olympus in San Francisco, on what was once thought to be the geographic center of the city, is a pedestal for a statue that isn’t there. There’s no marker. You can just make out the ...

1 Loka 20104min

Suosittua kategoriassa Liike-elämä ja talous

sijotuskasti
psykopodiaa-podcast
mimmit-sijoittaa
rss-rahapodi
rss-rahamania
rss-lahtijat
inderespodi
ostan-asuntoja-podcast
rss-h-asselmoilanen
rss-paasipodi
herrasmieshakkerit
rahapuhetta
pomojen-suusta
sijoituspodi
rss-laakispodi
rss-bisnesta-bebeja
taloudellinen-mielenrauha
syo-nuku-saasta
asuntoasiaa-paivakirjat
rss-startup-ministerio