The Octagon House

The surprising power of a simple phone number to connect a community. What infrastructure mystery keeps you up at night? Submit your Service Request by recording a voice memo with your question and emailing it to servicerequest@99pi.org. Service Request is a production of 99% Inv ...  Show more

How one wealthy, amateur astronomer convinced the world Martians were real. 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 Simp ...  Show more

If you grew up in the 1960s or 1970s in suburbia, you probably lived in a smallish ranch house that looked like this. That house probably had an “ultra modern” kitchen that probably looked like this. I grew up in such a house and it had such a kitchen. In fact, I think my mom, si ...  Show more

Amelia Anna Alfaro was always the best at everything. (Part 1 of 5) Weather: “Skinchanger” by Skeptic skepticdeath.bandcamp.com Just announced: our 13-city book tour for The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives in Your Home! Come see Joseph and Jeffrey out on the road this s ...  Show more

The first episode of a new podcast! Luke and George read Hermann Muthesius's early 20th c. epic 'The English House'. Learn about the English, their famed love of nature, damp, draughty buildings and burnt meat. Discover how these strange proclivities shape the homes they build an ...  Show more

Elaborately conceived, grandly constructed insane asylums—ranging in appearance from classical temples to Gothic castles—were once a common sight looming on the outskirts of American towns and cities. Many of these buildings were razed long ago, and those that remain stand as gri ...  Show more