Roman Mars

Roman Mars abandoned a genetics doctorate for public radio, and in 2010 started 99% Invisible at KALW in San Francisco as a short segment co-produced with the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects. It became a design podcast with a worldwide following and led him to co-found the Radiotopia collective with PRX. His 2015 TED talk, arguing that most city flags are badly designed, put vexillology in front of an audience that had never heard the word. The 99% Invisible City followed in October 2020 from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, written with the show's digital director Kurt Kohlstedt, carrying over a hundred line drawings by Patrick Vale and book design by Raphael Geroni. It is a field guide to the things nobody looks at: manhole covers, fire escapes, road markings, drinking fountains, utility poles. It reached the hardcover non-fiction bestseller list in America.