Invisibilia

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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.

NPR


    • May 6, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • infrequent NEW EPISODES
    • 37m AVG DURATION
    • 98 EPISODES

    4.5 from 21,493 ratings Listeners of Invisibilia that love the show mention: lulu, invisibilia, alix, hidden forces, invisible forces, frame of reference, dance parties, hanna rosin, implicit bias, dance party, spiegel, hidden brain, human mind, latest season, listen to find, future self, thought provoking material, season so far, encourage everyone, emotions episode.


    Ivy Insights

    The Invisibilia podcast has been a favorite of mine for years. From the beginning with Alix, LuLu, and Hannah to the new millennial hosts, this show has consistently delivered thought-provoking and deeply impactful episodes. It truly was my favorite podcast of all time, and I am devastated that it has come to an end. The news of its cancellation has left me gutted and heartbroken.

    What I loved most about Invisibilia was its ability to nurture a starved mind. The storytelling and reporting were done with so much sensitivity and humanity that it made my own heart grow bigger. The topics explored were diverse and captivating, ranging from friendships to love to mental health. Each episode perfectly captured the unspoken moments and sparks happening in between the ephemeral moments of everyday life.

    The hosts of Invisibilia were incredibly talented and brought unique perspectives to each episode. I particularly enjoyed their ability to address social topics from new angles, challenging conventional narratives while still engaging listeners in an entertaining way. The season on friendships was one of my favorites, as it delved deep into the complexities of human connections.

    However, despite my love for this podcast, there were a few aspects that could be considered its weakest points. Some may argue that in recent seasons, the focus on personal stories became overwhelming and overshadowed the exploration of broader themes. While I personally enjoyed these episodes, I understand how they may not be everyone's cup of tea.

    In conclusion, Invisibilia was a proudly good show that touched the hearts and minds of many listeners. It provided hours of incredible content during difficult times, offering solace and inspiration when everything else seemed uncertain. It will be sorely missed, but I am hopeful that the team behind it will find new avenues to continue their impactful work. Thank you for all the incredible episodes and best wishes for your future projects!



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    Latest episodes from Invisibilia

    Proxy with Yowei Shaw

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2025 54:50


    The case of George, a guy who got dumped by his bisexual wife, who left him for another woman. For her new podcast Proxy, former Invisibilia host Yowei Shaw finds a proxy to stand in for George's ex - another queer woman who left her straight relationship, former Invisibilia host Hanna Rosin. Proxy investigates niche emotional conundrums through conversations with strangers who have relevant experience. New cases every other Tuesday in the Proxy feed. You can binge episodes in the Proxy feed now.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

    Alternate Realities from NPR's Embedded

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 24, 2025 25:53


    New from NPR's Embedded: Reporter Zach Mack thinks his dad has gone all in on conspiracy theories, while his father thinks that Zach is the one being brainwashed. In 2024, after the latest round of circular arguments, they decided to try something new, an attempt to pull each other out of the spell each of them thinks the other is under. Can one family live in two realities?This is episode 1 of a three-part series. To hear the rest, head to NPR's Embedded podcast.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

    Tested (Ep 2): Questions of a Physical Nature

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2024 34:26


    We go back almost 100 years, to the beginning of women's inclusion in elite sports. It turns out that men had an odd variety of concerns about women athletes. Some doubted these athletes were even women at all. And their skepticism resulted in the first policies requiring sex testing. Tested is a six-part series, you can binge all the episodes now in the Embedded podcast and the CBC feed.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

    Tested (Ep 1): The Choice

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2024 39:23


    New from NPR's Embedded podcast and CBC in Canada: Would you alter your body for the chance to compete for a gold medal? That's the question facing a small group of elite athletes right now. Last year, track and field authorities announced new regulations that mean some women can't compete in the female category unless they lower their body's naturally occurring testosterone levels. You'll meet one of those runners, Christine Mboma, a reigning Olympic silver medalist, and hear about the difficult choice she faces. Tested is a six-part series, you can binge all the episodes now in the Embedded podcast and the CBC feed.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

    Invisibilia Presents: Buffalo Extreme

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2023 45:17


    If you're a kid and a terrible thing happens, what do you do to feel safe? If you're an adult, how do you offer guidance to the kids when you can't even make sense of what's happened—and when it's your job to act as a shield to the children? Those are some of the questions that animate Buffalo Extreme, a new series from NPR's Embedded. Buffalo Extreme follows a group of Black cheerleaders, their coaches and their mothers in the year after a racist mass shooting at a supermarket just three blocks away from their gym. Several former Invisibilia staff worked on this documentary series, and we're bringing you the first of three episodes. You can listen to the rest of the series in NPR's Embedded podcast.

    The Goodbye Show

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 27, 2023 50:10


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

    One Last Callout

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 29, 2023 2:30


    We need your help to say goodbye.

    It's Been A Minute: The molten center of 'The Real Housewives' multiverse

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2023 34:44


    This week, we're running an episode from our friends at It's Been a Minute that digs into the cultural phenomenon that is Real Housewives...and why so many of us can't look away.

    Life Kit: What's your attachment style?

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 13, 2023 19:30


    The new year is a time to be reflective and make changes - maybe to yourself or how you relate to others. With resolutions in mind, we bring you this NPR Life Kit episode exploring what attachment styles reveal about your relationships. Reported and guest hosted by our own Kia Miakka Natisse.

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

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 16, 2022 32:44


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2022 35:27


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2022 33:10


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2022 48:32


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2022 28:19


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2022 42:14


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2022 1:40


    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!

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 3, 2022 0:51


    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 invisibiliamail@npr.org. The deadline is March 11th.

    The Nostalgia Bone from Throughline

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2021 56:27


    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 episode traces the history of nostalgia from its origins as an illness to the dominating emotion of our time.

    How To Make Friends from Life Kit

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 18, 2021 24:38


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2021 39:08


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 28, 2021 44:43


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 21, 2021 50:16


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2021 35:32


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 23, 2021 44:41


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 16, 2021 48:34


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2021 1:35


    Friendship gets the Invisibilia treatment.

    Presenting: On Our Watch

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2021 50:50


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2021 41:21


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later May 20, 2021 58:04


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later May 13, 2021 47:56


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later May 6, 2021 50:25


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 29, 2021 40:02


    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 a community is anybody's game?

    Eat The Rich

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 22, 2021 52:32


    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.

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 19, 2021 4:10


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

    Trust Fall

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2020 47:39


    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?

    The Last Sound

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2020 45:52


    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 learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

    The Reluctant Immortalist

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2020 45:35


    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 into the dream of extending the human lifespan, which looks increasingly possible. But Daniel? He trashed his experiment. He completely abandoned the pursuit of unlocking the secrets of immortality. Perhaps because he believes that dream is all wrong. Invisibilia co-founder Lulu Miller went down to visit him in California to try to find out why. Please take our short, anonymous listener survey: npr.org/invisibiliasurvey. | To learn more about this episode, subscribe to our newsletter. Click here to learn more about NPR sponsors.

    White v. White?

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2020 62:31


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2020 52:02


    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

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2020 53:43


    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.

    Two Heartbeats A Minute

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2020 68:29


    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.

    Season 6 Trailer

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 2, 2020 1:39


    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.

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