A Year in the Dark

Love it or hate it, one buzzing horn changed the sound of the World Cup forever. 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 ...  Show more

In 1861, one man and a “gas bag” filled with hydrogen sparked America's obsession with going higher, farther, into the unknown. In this episode, Roman and journalist Jack Hitt tell the story of Thaddeus Lowe — showman, scientist, and dreamer — whose balloon flight from Cincinnati ...  Show more

Hurricane Maria touched down in Puerto Rico on September 20, 2017. It knocked out power for months and killed nearly 3,000. Years later, the island still bears the storm’s scars. Laura Marrero, a college student in San Juan, vlogged the storm and its aftermath.Source Material is ...  Show more

Samira Hussain takes you to Puerto Rico. Back to back hurricanes 5 years ago shattered the island's electricity grid, leading to the longest blackout in American history. Residents are still trying to claw their way out of the darkness. But one Puerto Rican town, in the island's ...  Show more

Puerto Rico became a U.S. territory in 1898 and for much of the next fifty years Puerto Ricans fought fiercely about this status. Should they struggle for independence, or to be a U.S. state, or something in between? In this episode, we look at Puerto Rico's relationship with the ...  Show more

After Hurricane Maria knocked out power on Puerto Rico for months, Ada Ramona Miranda Alvarado worked to protect communities on the island against future outages, using solar power. A transcript of this episode is available at https://bit.ly/3OjofW2.