My favorites 💛

33 episodes

Curated by:
User profile picepekilis

A playlist of my favorite episodes


  • 1

    332- The Accidental Room

    99% Invisible

    34:37 | Dec 12th, 2018

    3 recommendations

    A group of artists find a secret room in a massive shopping center in Providence, RI and discover a new way to experience the mall. Plus, we look at the origin of the very first mall and the fascinat...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Ok this is why 99pi will always be my favourite podcast, no matter what other ones I discover. Deep in the utility passages of a mall is a hidden room that nobody remembers. Some prankster artists m...Show More

  • 2

    Dirty Water

    Ear Hustle

    36:02 | Mar 28th, 2018

    1 recommendation

    Sex trafficking crimes are hard to talk about. In this episode, Sara and LA share their individual experiences of being “in the life,” at the same time demonstrating the difficult, yet important work ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    This is one of the most powerful podcast episodes I have ever heard. A pimp incarcerated for life and a former child prostitute have an actual restorative justice session. Articulate, thoughtful, wi...Show More

  • 3

    A Look inside the Preservation Centre

    Discover Library and Archives Canada

    57:38 | Dec 18th, 2017

    1 recommendation

    Ever wonder where Library and Archives Canada (LAC) stores, protects and preserves Canada’s diverse and rich documentary heritage? Join us for this episode as we take you on a walking tour of LAC’s Pr...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    For architects and design fans, absolutely fascinating discussion of the technical challenges in building Canada’s National Archives building. This must have been an architects dream project.

  • 4

    In 1918, a flu pandemic killed more than 50 million people worldwide. Forty years later, it nearly happened again. This week on Sidedoor, we go back to a time when the viruses were winning, and we rem...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    One person, Dr. Hilleman, saved untold millions of lives by single handedly developing a large number of the standard vaccines we use today. Wikipedia: “He is credited with saving more lives than any...Show More

  • 5

    272- Person in Lotus Position

    99% Invisible

    27:57 | Aug 22nd, 2017

    1 recommendation

    Tech analysts estimate that over six billion emojis are sent each day. Emojis, which started off as a collection of low-resolution pixelated images from Japan, have become a well-established and graph...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Who decides what emojis are accepted? Its a consortium of big IT companies. I come from the world of standards development so found this fascinating.

  • 6

    280- Half Measures

    99% Invisible

    25:38 | Oct 18th, 2017

    2 recommendations

    The United States is one of just a handful of countries that that isn’t officially metric. Instead, Americans measure things our own way, in units that are basically inscrutable to non-Americans, near...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Why hasn’t the US gone metric? Largely because they industrialized before global commercial activity was important. But blaming it on crackpot astrologers who thought that the word of God was expres...Show More

  • 7

    Living Legacy

    Home Cooked

    25:11 | Apr 27th, 2020

    3 recommendations

    In 1898, during the Gold Rush, Ione Christensen’s grandfather brought to the Yukon a wad of sourdough starter, the essential ingredient in making generation after generation of delicious bread. Ione h...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Meet Ione Christensen, Keeper of The Yukon Sourdough. It is 118, it is alive, and she calls it “him”. Christensen is also a Senator and was also the first female Mayor of Whitehorse and first female...Show More

  • 8

    UBC President Santa J Ono is a renowned biologist. But he says it was the liberal arts education that he had as an undergraduate gave him the wisdom he needed to flourish. Ono argues that the values i...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    A scientist defends the importance of liberal arts. STEM without humanities divorces technology from the social context it needs to serve and dooms is to repeat history.

  • 9

    Poison Squad: Founding of the FDA

    A Taste of the Past

    52:06 | Jan 30th, 2020

    1 recommendation

    Technology and industry put more food on the shelves and in markets by extending the life of perishable goods with canning and processing methods. But was the food safe? By the late 19th century, the...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Maybe I’ll start a foodie true crime playlist. We rely heavily on labeling to tell us the truth. There is a reason for that - a chemist named Dr. Wiley made it his mission to reform food safety for ...Show More

  • 10

    Why We Drive

    Over the Road

    41:02 | Mar 5th, 2020

    1 recommendation

    A tale of two truckers in Grand Island, Nebraska: former real-estate agent Kenyette Godhigh-Bell, and third-generation owner-operator Jared Sidlo. One is testing the waters of a new career, while the ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Only 8% of US truck drivers are women . . . But the numbers are big. 8% = 200,000 female truck drivers. Wow. Really enjoying this podcast about the lives of truck drivers. It has a very Studs Terkel ...Show More

  • 11

    iPhone

    50 Things That Made the Modern Economy

    08:58 | Dec 3rd, 2016

    1 recommendation

    Surprisingly, Uncle Sam played an essential role in the creation and development of the iPhone - of course, much has been written about the late Steve Jobs and other leading figures at Apple and their...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Great episode with unexpected focus. It’s easy to see how the iPhone has completely revolutionized modern society. What’s less obvious is the degree to which Apple took the benefit of pulling togeth...Show More

  • 12

    Vivian Le is on a mission that requires equal parts science, philosophy, and daring, in search of something that’s been hotly contested for decades: the world's largest ball of twine. Goodness Gracio...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Giant balls of twine; obsessive farmers; the Guinness Book of Records; feuding towns. Does it count if the whole town helped wind it? Do you get extra marks for making it PERFECTLY SYMMETRICAL (hint...Show More

  • 13

    It's not just the market in your city. Or your neighbourhood. Or your budget or financial situation. There's a shadowy global financial practice at work that is fuelling the housing crisis in cities a...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    A deep dive into the role of private equity and political lobbying in driving housing prices up in cities around the world. This is a global phenomenon, driven by hedge funds like BlackRock. The 200...Show More

  • 14

    Introducing Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

    Against the Rules with Michael Lewis

    02:38 | Mar 22nd, 2019

    3 recommendations

    Get ready for the launch of Michael Lewis's first podcast, where he takes listeners from student-loan call centers to the courts of Uzbekistan to the new trading hubs of Wall Street (in New Jersey). W...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Public trust in regulatory bodies continues to erode even as increased reliance on data and transparency is actually continuously improving the quality of the regulatory activity. Uses the increasing...Show More

  • 15

    The Hero's Journey Endgame

    Imaginary Worlds

    33:49 | Apr 3rd, 2019

    3 recommendations

    Ever since George Lucas cited Joseph Campbell’s 1949 book, “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” as the inspiration for Star Wars, Hollywood screenwriters have used Campbell’s theory of The Hero’s Journey ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    This episode was almost a master class in screen writing. Since the extraordinary success of Star Wars, the Hero’s Journey story arc has dominated Hollywood scripts to the point where 9 of 10 of the ...Show More

  • 16

    The End of Empathy

    Invisibilia

    52:13 | Apr 12th, 2019

    21 recommendations

    Invisibilia is a show that runs on empathy. We believe in it. But are we right? In this episode, we'll let you decide. We tell the same story twice in order to examine the questions: who deserves our ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Brilliant episode features a rare degree of self-reflection by the host about a basic philosophical value of the show, namely encouraging the audience to empathize with the subject being interviewed. ...Show More

  • 17

    The Lady Vanishes

    Revisionist History

    33:48 | Jun 16th, 2016

    3 recommendations

    In the late 19th century, a painting titled The Roll Call, by a virtually unknown artist, took England by storm. But after that brilliant first effort, the artist all but disappeared. Why? And what do...Show More

  • 18

    The Culture Inside

    Invisibilia

    56:22 | Jun 8th, 2017

    2 recommendations

    Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it?

    epekilis recommended:

    What to do about the unconscious biases that we deny in ourselves? The black sales guy who had to plan out his sales lunches to ensure the waiter wouldn’t humiliate him in front of the clients by pre...Show More

  • 19

    People who write the White House know that the president himself will most likely not see their message. Many of their letters start with phrases like, “I know no one will read this.” Although someone...Show More

  • 20

    99% Invisible-13- Maps

    99% Invisible

    04:58 | Dec 17th, 2010

    1 recommendation

    I’m sorry, but if you don’t love maps, I don’t think we can be friends anymore. Maps are amazing. They are art and story. A representation of where we are and where we wish we could be. They’ve always...Show More

  • 21

    The New City Hall, designed by Finnish architect Viljo Revell, was the first modern, concrete, civic building in Toronto. When it opened in 1965, it stood out very prominently in the traditional Victo...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Quirky early episode of 99PI that I heard many, many years ago. Definitely was one of my gateway drugs to podcast addiction. This episode focuses on the Toronto City Hall, which is a widely beloved ...Show More

  • 22

    99% Invisible-49- Queue Theory and Design

    99% Invisible

    10:22 | Mar 9th, 2012

    In the US, it’s called a line. In Canada, it’s often referred to as a line-up. Pretty much everywhere else, it’s known as a queue. My friend Benjamen Walker is obsessed with queues. He keeps sending m...Show More

  • 23

    Kowloon Walled City was the densest place in the world, ever. By its peak in the 1990s, the 6.5 acre Kowloon Walled City was home to at least 33,000 people (with estimates of up to 50,000). That’s a p...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    A forgotten little sliver of land between Hong Kong and China was, for a time ungoverned by either. It became a primordial soup of unbridled and unlicensed urban development; a real life escape hatch...Show More

  • 24

    99% Invisible-67- Broken Window

    99% Invisible

    10:29 | Nov 29th, 2012

    1 recommendation

    When Melissa Lee was growing up in Hastings-on-Hudson, a small town in upstate New York, there were only so many fun things to do. One was buying geodes and smashing them apart with a hammer. (You kno...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    This episode of 99PI completely blew me away when I heard it all those years ago. I had found 99PI somehow and thoroughly enjoyed the interesting stories about urban architecture and design, but this...Show More

  • 25

    114- Ten Thousand Years

    99% Invisible

    29:22 | May 13th, 2014

    4 recommendations

    In 1990, the federal government invited a group of geologists, linguists, astrophysicists, architects, artists, and writers to the New Mexico desert, to visit the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. They wer...Show More

  • 26

    Sing Gently

    Twenty Thousand Hertz

    37:20 | Dec 16th, 2020

    1 recommendation

    After composer Eric Whitacre finished Virtual Choir number 5 in 2018, he thought the project might be done for good. But 2020 was just around the corner, and the Virtual Choir was far from over. For o...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    If there was ever a time to join together in virtual community for mutual creativity, support and healing it is now. Sing Gently As One is an update to the beautiful Virtual Choir episode: #80 I Virt...Show More

  • 27

    Annie Duke: How to Decide Annie Duke is an author, corporate speaker, and consultant in the decision-making space. As a former professional poker player, Annie won more than $4 million in tournament ...Show More

  • 28

    Unraveling a Mapmaker’s Dangerous Decision

    Overheard at National Geographic

    29:32 | Feb 23rd, 2021

    2 recommendations

    For much of recorded history, maps have helped us define where we live and who we are. National Geographic writer Freddie Wilkinson shows us how one small line on a map led to a bitter conflict in ano...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    You’d think mapmaking has “all been done” in the day of satellites until you hear this tale. One tiny little mistake made in a cubicle halfway around the world sparked armed conflict between two nucle...Show More

  • 29

    Cracked Windshield

    Ear Hustle

    41:44 | May 26th, 2021

    1 recommendation

    A year after George Floyd’s death at the hands of a police officer, the Ear Hustle team and friends talk about their first interactions with cops, the role of empathy, and whether those relationships ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Powerful episode clearly illustrates how being viewed by strangers and authority figures as a total threat from the age of 11 shapes a person’s view of life. Nigel’s revelation was a complete shock; E...Show More

  • 30

    492- Inheriting Froebel's Gifts

    99% Invisible

    32:19 | May 24th, 2022

    5 recommendations

    The educational toys that changed the world

    epekilis recommended:

    How the learning theory behind the concept of kindergarten influenced generations of creatives that followed. @rmmiller364 you 100% have to listen to this.

  • 31

    Chicago

    The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong

    1:13:12 | Jul 12th, 2022

    3 recommendations

    After every American mass shooting, the gun debate is drowned in one question: What about Chicago? Today, we're answering it. "How the A.T.F., Key to Biden’s Gun Plan, Became an N.R.A. ‘Whipping Boy’"...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    Words just can’t . . . I just can’t.

  • 32

    Tiny Doors of Atlanta (Classic)

    The Atlas Obscura Podcast

    13:59 | Mar 17th, 2023

    As part of Women’s History Month, we're sharing some episodes from the archive including this story about mysterious doors scattered throughout Atlanta. They dare you to imagine what might be found on...Show More

  • 33

    On September 18, 1998, an unusual ad ran in USA Today — a company called John’s Estate Sales was looking to buy a moon rock. The phone number on the ad belonged to Special Agent Joe Gutheinz at NASA. ...Show More

    epekilis recommended:

    This is awesome. NASA investigator was trying to stop innocent people from being defrauded by dumb “Pssst hey ya wanna buy a gen-u-ine moon rock brought back by an astronaut” scam. Until they found o...Show More

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