Invisibilia artwork

Invisibilia

105 episodes - English - Latest episode: 11 months ago - ★★★★★ - 21.5K ratings

Unseeable forces control human behavior and shape our ideas, beliefs, and assumptions. Invisibilia—Latin for invisible things—fuses narrative storytelling with science that will make you see your own life differently.

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Episodes

The Goodbye Show

April 27, 2023 22:40 - 50 minutes - 45.9 MB

In their final episode, Invisibilia searches for the right way to say goodbye.

Revisiting Love and Lapses: A Conversation with Code Switch host B.A. Parker

December 16, 2022 02:01 - 32 minutes - 30 MB

Sometimes the holidays are filled with the people you love. Other times, they're marked by an absence. In this special holiday episode, new Code Switch co-host and former Invisibilia producer B.A. Parker tells a story about family, loss and preserving memories before it's too late. Then Parker joins Kia and Yowei to reflect on the making of this story, and what it means to her now.

Power Tools

October 07, 2022 21:45 - 34 minutes - 32.5 MB

Bad bosses. Obnoxious coworkers. Unfair compensation. There are so many reasons people feel disempowered in the workplace. But how can our feelings about power enable or disrupt the larger dynamics we hate at work? This week, Yowei Shaw seeks answers from a power researcher and a union organizer.

Freedom Diving

September 30, 2022 07:00 - 32 minutes - 30.4 MB

After months of working from home and retreating from the world, Kia Miakka Natisse is stuck - in her house, and in her head. In an attempt to break out of the funk, she's searching for wisdom at the bottom of the ocean with South Africa's first Black freediving instructor, Zandile Ndhlovu.

Therapy Ghostbusters

September 23, 2022 07:00 - 47 minutes - 44.4 MB

In San Jose, California, a community clinic was stumped as to why their clients were seeing ghosts. This week, a story about grappling with ghosts of our past and one clinic's attempt to heal intergenerational trauma.

A Little Bit Pregnant

September 16, 2022 07:00 - 27 minutes - 25.9 MB

This week on Invisibilia, could the rebrand of a familiar pill open up a new way to control fertility in a post-Roe America?

A Little Bit Pregnant

September 16, 2022 07:00 - 28 minutes - 25.9 MB

This week on Invisibilia, could the rebrand of a familiar pill open up a new way to control fertility in a post-Roe America?

The P-Word

September 09, 2022 07:00 - 41 minutes - 38.7 MB

Alex is a comic who feels perfectly comfortable commanding a packed, rowdy audience, but consistently submits to what other people want in everyday life. This week, a look at how uncomfortable feelings about power can backfire on ourselves and the people we love. We get the help of a power expert - a dominatrix - to untangle Alex's power dynamics, and find out what it takes to treat a power allergy.

The P-Word

September 09, 2022 07:00 - 42 minutes - 38.7 MB

Alex is a comic who feels perfectly comfortable commanding a packed, rowdy audience, but consistently submits to what other people want in everyday life. This week, a look at how uncomfortable feelings about power can backfire on ourselves and the people we love. We get the help of a power expert - a dominatrix - to untangle Alex's power dynamics, and find out what it takes to treat a power allergy.

Invisibilia Takes Control

September 06, 2022 07:00 - 1 minute - 1.53 MB

2022 feels like walking a tightrope. We're grappling with control of our bodies, our time, the direction of our country - while trying to not spin out and just doomscroll. So this season, Invisibilia takes on control. The narratives we have about what's in or out of our control. Invisible tools of control. The crutches we use to FEEL in control but that might not be helping.

Invisibilia Takes Control

September 06, 2022 07:00 - 1 minute - 1.53 MB

2022 feels like walking a tightrope. We're grappling with control of our bodies, our time, the direction of our country - while trying to not spin out and just doomscroll. So this season, Invisibilia takes on control. The narratives we have about what's in or out of our control. Invisible tools of control. The crutches we use to FEEL in control but that might not be helping.

Uncomfortable with power? Tell us about it!

March 03, 2022 20:32 - 51 seconds - 802 KB

Invisibilia is seeking stories about discomfort with power. Stories about leaders denying their power, organizations with supposedly flat power structures and invisible hierarchies, or personal relationships with difficult power dynamics. If you have a story about power – at a workplace, in a band, on a high school basketball team, etc... – send a short summary with the subject line – POWER – to [email protected]. The deadline is March 11th.

The Nostalgia Bone from Throughline

December 09, 2021 08:00 - 56 minutes - 51.7 MB

This week at Invisibilia, we're bringing you an episode from NPR's Throughline about an emotion you might be feeling a lot these days: nostalgia. Longing for 'simpler times' and 'better days', many of us have been turning to 90s dance playlists, TV sitcoms, and sports highlights. We're looking for comfort and safety in the permanence of the past, or at least, what we think the past was. But, when it first appeared, nostalgia itself wasn't considered a feeling; it was a deadly disease. This ep...

How To Make Friends from Life Kit

November 18, 2021 15:48 - 24 minutes - 22.6 MB

It's the end of the friendship season! We'll be back next year with more Invisibilia. In the meantime, if you're hungry for more friendship content, our friends over at Life Kit have done several episodes about it - from how to be a better listener, to what to do when a friendship changes. In this episode: practical tips on how to make new friends.

Therapy, with Friends

November 04, 2021 21:07 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

Would you ever consider going to therapy with a friend?Two best friends who call themselves brothers were drifting apart, so they asked psychotherapist Esther Perel to help — and we listened in. This episode was recorded in collaboration with Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel and a companion episode can be heard on her podcast.

Therapy, with Friends

November 04, 2021 21:07 - 39 minutes - 35.8 MB

Would you ever consider going to therapy with a friend?Two best friends who call themselves brothers were drifting apart, so they asked psychotherapist Esther Perel to help — and we listened in. This episode was recorded in collaboration with Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel and a companion episode can be heard on her podcast.

Poop Friends

October 28, 2021 18:26 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MB

Sh*t happens. So why is it so hard to talk about? This week, the ways that poop divides and binds us in our friendships.

Friends with Benefits

October 21, 2021 18:47 - 50 minutes - 46 MB

A lot of us think that it's a bad idea to get physical with friends. We worry it'll get messy, maybe even ruin the friendship. But if physical intimacy between friends weren't so taboo, what could our friendships look like? In this episode, we explore the gray zone of sex and friendship, following a man who deliberately kept his friendships with women hazy and now wants to apologize, and a pair of BFFs who became close through sex.

Friends with Benefits

October 21, 2021 18:47 - 50 minutes - 46 MB

A lot of us think that it's a bad idea to get physical with friends. We worry it'll get messy, maybe even ruin the friendship. But if physical intimacy between friends weren't so taboo, what could our friendships look like? In this episode, we explore the gray zone of sex and friendship, following a man who deliberately kept his friendships with women hazy and now wants to apologize, and a pair of BFFs who became close through sex.

International Friend of Mystery

September 30, 2021 18:40 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MB

You know the old saying--keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if you can't tell the difference? In this episode, the story of two friends who got caught up in a Top Secret operation that tested their assumptions about trust, betrayal, loyalty, and power.

International Friend of Mystery

September 30, 2021 18:40 - 35 minutes - 32.5 MB

You know the old saying--keep your friends close and your enemies closer. But what if you can't tell the difference? In this episode, the story of two friends who got caught up in a Top Secret operation that tested their assumptions about trust, betrayal, loyalty, and power.

Nun of Us Are Friends

September 23, 2021 19:16 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MB

It's a basic tenet of friendship that you get to choose your friends. We look at two institutions that took away that choice: convents circa the 1960s and a summer program with unusual rules. What do we lose and what do we gain when we give up our preferences and try to make friends with everyone equally?

Nun of Us Are Friends

September 23, 2021 19:16 - 44 minutes - 40.9 MB

It's a basic tenet of friendship that you get to choose your friends. We look at two institutions that took away that choice: convents circa the 1960s and a summer program with unusual rules. What do we lose and what do we gain when we give up our preferences and try to make friends with everyone equally?

A Friendly Ghost Story

September 16, 2021 23:48 - 48 minutes - 44.5 MB

It's one of the most common and infuriating friend mysteries out there - a friend disappears into thin air. But where do these ghosts go? And why are we so haunted by them? If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.

The Friendship Season

September 14, 2021 15:53 - 1 minute - 1.45 MB

Friendship gets the Invisibilia treatment.

The Friendship Season

September 14, 2021 15:53 - 1 minute - 1.45 MB

Friendship gets the Invisibilia treatment.

Presenting: On Our Watch

July 07, 2021 17:45 - 50 minutes - 46.6 MB

A 16-year-old Black kid walks into a gas station in Stockton, Calif. to buy gummy worms for his little sister. When the teen gets in an argument with the clerk over a damaged dollar bill, a white officer in plainclothes decides to intervene — with force. We bring you an episode of On Our Watch, a new podcast from NPR and KQED that traces the ripple effects of this incident over the next 10 years in a department trying to address racism and bias.

American Slow Radio

June 12, 2021 07:00 - 41 minutes - 37.9 MB

Let's get slow. Producer Abby Wendle picks up the gauntlet that was thrown down in the last episode "The Great Narrative Escape." Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

The Great Narrative Escape

May 20, 2021 07:00 - 55 minutes - 53.2 MB

Imagine a TV show with no plot, no characters, no tension... and yet, it went viral! In this episode, we have a story that questions storytelling as we know it. Plus, co-hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw take a spectacularly unspectacular train ride.

The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt

May 13, 2021 19:52 - 47 minutes - 43.9 MB

Is 209 Times helping or hurting the community it claims to serve? What does the site mean for the future of local news in America? And what can be done about it? In the final installment of "The Chaos Machine" series , Yowei finds herself in the middle of a long-standing tug of war over who owns the truth.

The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt

May 13, 2021 19:52 - 46 minutes - 43.9 MB

Is 209 Times helping or hurting the community it claims to serve? What does the site mean for the future of local news in America? And what can be done about it? In the final installment of "The Chaos Machine" series , Yowei finds herself in the middle of a long-standing tug of war over who owns the truth.

The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord

May 06, 2021 18:40 - 50 minutes - 46.2 MB

The man behind 209 Times is not who you'd expect. In Part 2, co-host Yowei Shaw discovers the website's surprising origin story, and ends up at the frontlines of a revolt against the mainstream media and a fight over who gets to own the truth.

The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord

May 06, 2021 18:40 - 49 minutes - 46.2 MB

The man behind 209 Times is not who you'd expect. In Part 2, co-host Yowei Shaw discovers the website's surprising origin story, and ends up at the frontlines of a revolt against the mainstream media and a fight over who gets to own the truth.

The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole

April 29, 2021 22:47 - 38 minutes - 36.7 MB

Yowei gets a tip about Russian trolls in Stockton, California and falls down a hole of swirling conspiracy theories. At the center is a scrappy, controversial website that has become one of the most popular sources of local news in town. Some say it's doing important investigative journalism while others say it's spreading hateful lies about progressive leaders. In part 1 of The Chaos Machine series, what happens when traditional local news runs out of resources and reporting the narrative of...

The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole

April 29, 2021 22:47 - 40 minutes - 36.7 MB

Yowei gets a tip about Russian trolls in Stockton, California and falls down a hole of swirling conspiracy theories. At the center is a scrappy, controversial website that has become one of the most popular sources of local news in town. Some say it's doing important investigative journalism while others say it's spreading hateful lies about progressive leaders. In part 1 of The Chaos Machine series, what happens when traditional local news runs out of resources and reporting the narrative of...

Eat The Rich

April 22, 2021 07:00 - 52 minutes - 48 MB

Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give up their wealth?

Eat The Rich

April 22, 2021 07:00 - 51 minutes - 48 MB

Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give up their wealth?

Season 7: New Stories. New Hosts.

April 19, 2021 07:00 - 4 minutes - 3.82 MB

Invisibilia is back! Stories that help you see the world differently, with new hosts Kia Miakka Natisse and Yowei Shaw.

Trust Fall

June 13, 2020 19:00 - 47 minutes - 44.5 MB

Hacking, phishing, surveillance, disinformation... these are tools used to silence dissidents and influence elections. But what happens when these same methods are used against an ordinary citizen? The story of a man fighting an enemy he can't see and becoming increasingly paranoid.Which makes him a lot like the rest of us. What happens when you no longer know how to trust?

Two Heartbeats A Minute

April 10, 2020 07:03 - 1 hour - 62.9 MB

The strange story of an unlikely crew of people who band together to take on one of our largest problems using nothing but whale sounds, machine learning, and a willingness to think outside the box. Even stranger, several of the world's most accomplished scientists seem to think they might have a good idea. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

White v. White?

April 03, 2020 07:03 - 1 hour - 56.9 MB

A city council candidate says he's black. But his opponent accuses him of being a white man pretending to be black. If race is simply a social construct and not a biological reality, how do we determine someone's race? And who gets to decide? We tell the story of a man whose racial identity was fiercely contested... and the consequences this had on an entire city. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

An Unlikely Superpower

March 27, 2020 07:03 - 50 minutes - 47.8 MB

What if you had a superpower that allowed you to see part of the world that was to come? At the age of 60, a Scottish woman named Joy Milne discovers she has a biological gift that allows her to see things that will happen in the future that no one else can see. A look at how we think about the future, and the important ways the future shapes the present. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

The Confrontation

March 22, 2020 07:03 - 51 minutes - 49.1 MB

Welcome to what is possibly the most tense and uncomfortable summer program in America! The Boston-based program aims to teach the next generation the real truth about race, and may provide some ideas for the rest of us about the right way to confront someone to their face. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

The Reluctant Immortalist

March 16, 2020 07:03 - 43 minutes - 42.8 MB

Daniel Martinez discovered the unthinkable: a creature that breaks one of the most fundamental laws of life. In the wake of his discovery--which has been widely confirmed by the scientific community--all kinds of people have thrown themselves into trying to unlock the secrets of how this creature seems to cheat death. Cellular biologists, aging researchers, and the biotech industry all hold high hopes that there may be some application to slow human aging. Millions of dollars are being poured...

The Last Sound

March 08, 2020 07:03 - 45 minutes - 42.6 MB

Bernie Krause was a successful musician as a young man, playing with rock stars like Jim Morrison and George Harrison in the 1960s and '70s. But then one day, Bernie heard a sound unlike anything he'd ever encountered and it completely overtook his life. He quit the music business to pursue it and has spent the last 50 years following it all over the earth. And what he's heard raises this question: what can we learn about ourselves and the world around us if we quiet down and listen? | To lea...

The Last Sound

March 08, 2020 07:03 - 44 minutes - 41.9 MB

Bernie Krause was a successful musician as a young man, playing with rock stars like Jim Morrison and George Harrison in the 1960s and '70s. But then one day, Bernie heard a sound unlike anything he'd ever encountered and it completely overtook his life. He quit the music business to pursue it and has spent the last 50 years following it all over the earth. And what he's heard raises this question: what can we learn about ourselves and the world around us if we quiet down and listen? | To lea...

Season 6 Trailer

March 02, 2020 08:03 - 1 minute - 1.5 MB

You hear the train barreling towards you and you're tied to the tracks. It's an impossible situation. Most people would panic, and then a tiny handful would think up improbable workarounds. This season on Invisibilia: inventors in desperate times.

Invisibilia Presents: Throughline

January 30, 2020 15:16 - 1 hour - 50.4 MB

Alix presents one of our favorite episodes from our friends at NPR's history podcast "Throughline." For centuries, the United States has been a prime destination for migrants hoping for better economic opportunities, fleeing danger in their home countries or just seeking a new life. But has there ever been a moment when Americans were the ones who felt compelled to flee elsewhere? In this episode, two stories that challenge the idea of who and why Americans sought refuge in other countries.

VIDEO: The (Future) Friendship Machine

December 20, 2019 05:03 - 8 minutes - 35.5 MB Video

A special gift during this season of giving: An original animated video in two parts! Part 1 explores a small but strange study about a machine that could predict human friendships. Then, in collaboration with fictionalist Ian Chillag (Everything Is Alive), we ask, What would the machine have to say about all of this, if it could talk? If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can watch it at npr.org/invisibilia. And, if you want to reciprocate this little gift, don't forget to donate ...

Raising Devendra

December 17, 2019 08:03 - 29 minutes - 25.5 MB

What happens when you treat artificial intelligence with unconditional love?

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