Roman Mars

❧

Wikipedia

Roman Mars
Alma mater
OccupationRadio producer
Known for99% Invisible
Websiteromanmars.com

Roman Mars is an American radio producer. He is the host and producer of 99% Invisible, a KALW radio show and podcast, and a founder of the podcast collective Radiotopia,[1] which he describes as efforts "to broaden the radio landscape [and] make shows that aren't bound by conventions" of public radio in the United States.[2] In 2020, he co-authored the New York Times best seller The 99% Invisible City with Kurt Kohlstedt.

He has also contributed to radio programs Radiolab and Planet Money.[3][4] Fast Company identified him as one of the hundred most creative people of 2013.[5] Mars, with Elizabeth Joh, also hosts the podcast What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law.[6]

Early life

Mars left a PhD program in genetics to undertake an unpaid internship at public radio station KALW in San Francisco.[7]

In 2004, he produced a program called Invisible Ink[8] on KALW.

99% Invisible

Mars and his radio show, 99% Invisible, have been credited in the mainstream press as an innovative form of radio production, defining a new movement of independent radio and podcast creators.[9][10][11] In 2016, Mars and Justin McElroy used asynchronous podcasting, a method where each person recorded their portions separately and later combined them to create a podcast episode. This new technique was used to create the first episode of Smart Stuff, which started with My Brother, My Brother and Me episode 316[12] and was completed in 99% Invisible episode 225.[13]

99% Invisible Inc., the company that produces 99% Invisible, was sold to Sirius XM's Stitcher Radio in April 2021. Mars donated $1 million from the sale to Radiotopia.[7]

Books

In October 2020, Mars and 99pi digital director Kurt Kohlstedt released The 99% Invisible City, a non-fiction book that functions as a field guide to the built environment. Mars noted that the book allowed the team to explore visual stories that were difficult to convey in a purely audio format.[14] The book debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list for hardcover non-fiction.

Radiotopia

In partnership with the Knight Foundation and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), Mars also created the podcast collective Radiotopia. The Public Radio Exchange has hired Mars to curate a radio program called Remix, which is syndicated by at least 14 public radio stations across the US.[15] In June 2017, Roman Mars began cohosting the constitutional law podcast What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law with Elizabeth Joh, a professor of the subject at University of California, Davis, School of Law. The show later left Radiotopia and is now distributed as What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law alongside 99% Invisible as part of SiriusXMref name="Conlawsite" />

What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law

In June 2017, Mars launched What Trump Can Teach Us About Con Law, an educational podcast co-hosted with Elizabeth Joh, a professor at the University of California, Davis School of Law. The series analyzes the United States Constitution through the framework of modern executive actions and legal controversies. The show launched without prior announcement, yet quickly reached the top of the podcast charts and surpassed 100,000 downloads within days.[16]

The podcast has been cited by the Nieman Foundation for Journalism and Oxford University Press as a defining example of "civic mediation," noted for its ability to translate complex legal theory for general audiences.[17] Educational institutions, including the University of Sydney and Berkeley Law, have adopted the series as a curriculum resource.[18]

Following a production hiatus in late 2024, the podcast resumed in June 2025. The relaunch introduced a new monthly format, The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Constitution, which features guest commentators analyzing the text of the Constitution chronologically.[19]

Episodes typically focus on making complex legal concepts, such as the Emoluments Clause or impeachment, accessible to a general audience. The show features theme music by the hip-hop collective Doomtree and has been highlighted by critics for its educational approach to constitutional scholarship.[20][21]

Initially part of the Radiotopia network, the podcast was included in SiriusXM's 2021 acquisition of Mars’s production company, 99% Invisible Inc.[22] Following a hiatus, Mars and Joh revived the show in June 2025 as a weekly production alongside a companion series, The 99% Invisible Breakdown: The Constitution, which provides a clause-by-clause analysis of the constitutional text.[23]

Use of crowdfunding

Mars notably used the Kickstarter crowdfunding platform to support 99% Invisible, raising over $170,000, making it the highest-funded journalism project ever, and the second highest-funded project across the platform's entire publishing category.[24] In November 2013, 99% Invisible's season four Kickstarter campaign received 11,693 backers raising over $375,000. The original goal of $150,000 was raised in 92 hours.[25] Following this success, Mars introduced another campaign to build season two of Radiotopia, a collection of seven storytelling podcasts: 99% Invisible, Fugitive Waves, Love and Radio, Radio Diaries, Strangers, Theory of Everything, and The Truth. Its original goal of $250,000 was funded within six days.[26] By the time the campaign closed on November 15, 2014, it had more than doubled its original target, achieving $620,412 from 21,808 backers, making it the most-funded Kickstarter project in the publishing and radio and podcast categories. Meeting its 'stretch goals' allowed Radiotopia to add three podcasts hosted by women (Criminal, The Heart, and The Allusionist), host a series of events, provide more content, wage increases and paid internships, and create a pilot development fund to find new, talented producers and hosts not covered by traditional radio. Ultimately, the fundraising allowed for a fourth podcast, Mortified, to be added to the collective.[27]

  • Mars, Roman; Kohlstedt, Kurt (2020). The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 978-0-358-12660-7.

References

  1. ↑ KALW website. "KALW staff directory", KALW. Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
  2. ↑ Steuer, Eric. "Roman Mars: The Man Who's Building a Podcasting Empire". WIRED. Retrieved April 1, 2018.
  3. ↑ NPR website. "Planet Money Episode 471", Planet Money. Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
  4. ↑ Radiolab website. "RadioLab staff directory", Radiolab. Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
  5. ↑ Fast Company Magazine website. "List of most Fast Company's creative people of 2013", Fast Company. Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
  6. ↑ "What Roman Mars Can Learn About Con Law". Learnconlaw.com. Retrieved November 20, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Ugwu, Reggie (April 26, 2021). "SiriusXM Is Buying '99% Invisible,' and Street Cred in Podcasting". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2021.
  8. ↑ PRX website. In 2015, Roman was the host of the AIGA National Conference in New Orleans. "Invisible Ink show listings", Public Radio Exchange
  9. ↑ Mother Jones Magazine "Roman Mars on the Secret Allure of Highway Stripes and Manhole Covers", Mother Jones. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  10. ↑ Wired Magazine "How 99% Invisible Will Change Public Radio", Wired. Retrieved on June 18, 2014.
  11. ↑ The Guardian Newspaper "Roman Mars: public radio maverick", The Guardian. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  12. ↑ "MBMBaM 316: Smart Stuff". My Brother, My Brother and Me. Maximum Fun. August 16, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  13. ↑ Mars, Roman (August 16, 2016). "99% invisible 225: Photo credit: Negatives of the Bauhaus". 99% invisible. 99pi. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  14. ↑ Jackson, Kenneth T. (October 16, 2020). "The Hidden Wonders of the City, Made Visible". The New York Times.
  15. ↑ About Remix Radio "How does Remix get made?", Public Radio Exchange. Retrieved June 18, 2014.
  16. ↑ Mullin, Benjamin (June 15, 2017). "How Roman Mars used President Trump to become the Beyoncé of podcasting". Poynter Institute. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  17. ↑ Chihaya, Sarah (Fall 2019). "Our Town, the MacDowell Colony, and the Art of Civic Mediation". American Literary History. 31 (3). Oxford University Press: 395–414.
  18. ↑ "Resources for parents working at home with kids during COVID-19". The University of Sydney. Retrieved January 1, 2026.
  19. ↑ "The Return of Con Law". Apple Podcasts. June 10, 2025.
  20. ↑ Meyer, Carla (January 4, 2021). "'Con Law' podcast addresses Trump's 'Final Days'". UC Davis School of Law. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
  21. ↑ Walker, Alissa. "Roman Mars' other podcast is a Con Law 101 class". Curbed. Retrieved December 28, 2025.
  22. ↑ "SiriusXM Acquires Roman Mars' 99% Invisible Podcast" (Press release). SiriusXM. April 26, 2021. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  23. ↑ Mars, Roman (June 10, 2025). "The Return of Con Law". 99% Invisible. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  24. ↑ Mediabistro website. "99% Invisible is the most successful funded Kickstarter for public radio journalism", Retrieved on October 27, 2013.
  25. ↑ Kickstarter page. "99% Invisible: Season 4- Weekly!", retrieved on August 15, 2014.
  26. ↑ "Update #2 Funded!". Kickstarter. October 21, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
  27. ↑ "Update #10 We did it!". Kickstarter. November 15, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.