Stuffed possums and sunken gold coins: the podcast that explains America in 100 unlikely items

Roman Mars’s pod 99% Invisible is a worldwide hit. Now he has teamed up with the BBC for new series A History of the United States in 100 Objects, an insight into the secret significance of everyday stuff

In 2010, the audio producer Roman Mars launched 99% Invisible, a podcast about the hidden designs and inventions most of us overlook. At the time, he didn’t have high hopes for it. Not only was the subject matter wilfully niche – early topics included building acoustics and the ergonomics of the toothbrush – but the episodes were just four minutes long. Still, listener numbers quickly grew and the episodes got longer. Sixteen years on, 99% Invisible is now a podcasting institution that has amassed more than 660 episodes, investigating everything from political logos to the colour of margarine. “It’s taking something that seems really boring and going, ‘No, no, no, this is interesting,’ and really convincing you of that,” Mars says.

Mars, 51, is talking over video call from a small, foam-panelled studio at his home in Berkeley, northern California, where he records the show. His voice – warm, mellifluous, gently quizzical – is synonymous with a particular American podcasting style that is erudite yet informal. There’s a reason why Mars habitually talks close to the microphone rather than declaiming from a distance. The effect is to make listeners feel as if he’s broadcasting from the inside of their heads.