Significant Others: A Sneak Peek at the Woman Behind Benedict Arnold’s Betrayal
It’s been said that history is written by the person at the typewriter. But who did the person who made history depend on? Often, it’s impossible to find out. But once in a while, we get lucky, and th...
23 Feb 20247min
You Are What You Watch
What we see on screen has this way of influencing our perception of the world, which makes sense because the average American spends 2 hours and 51 minutes watching movies and TV each day. That’s a wh...
21 Feb 202431min
The Power Broker #2: Jamelle Bouie
This is the second official episode, breaking down the 1974 Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Power Broker by our hero Robert Caro.This week, Roman Mars and Elliott Kalan sit down with New York Times p...
16 Feb 20241h 45min
The White Castle System of Eating Houses
White Castle has its own take on fast food hamburgers. For starters, the patties are square, with five holes in each patty. And they’re small, too –- two-and-a-half inch sliders. Just big enough to fi...
13 Feb 202442min
Between the Blocks
Seen from above, Sofia, Bulgaria, looks less like a city and more like a forest. Large "interblock park" green spaces between big apartment structures are a defining characteristic of the city. They'r...
6 Feb 202433min
Don't Forget to Remember
When a highway gets made, there’s a clear and consistent process for doing so. Not so, public memorials. From the Vietnam Wall to the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, it’s always different. So...
30 Jan 202439min
Roman Mars Describes Chicago As It Is
A few years ago, at the very start of the pandemic, Roman Mars wrote an episode of 99pi in which he simply talked about design details in his house -- realizing that he, like the audience, didn't have...
26 Jan 202437min
The Double Kick
Watch a skate video today, and you'll notice how similarly shaped the boards are. It’s called the “popsicle” design, because the deck is narrow in the middle and rounded off at both ends, like a popsi...
24 Jan 202451min
