Service Request #4: How Does the Grid in Phoenix Work?
<p><img width="600" height="314" src="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8231-600x314.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8231-600x314.png 600w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8231-728x380.png 728w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8231-300x157.png 300w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8231.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>During the summer of 2023, Phoenix, Arizona, endured a streak of heat so unrelenting that saguaro cacti were collapsing in the streets. For thirty-one consecutive days, temperatures broke 110 degrees. Playgrounds sat empty. People navigated the city by dashing between buildings chilled to refrigerator temperatures. In Phoenix, air conditioning is not a luxury. It is
Service Request #3: Why Is There So Much Litter in San Francisco?
<p><img width="600" height="314" src="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-2-600x314.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-2-600x314.png 600w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-2-728x380.png 728w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-2-300x157.png 300w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-2.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>Walking through San Francisco’s North Beach neighborhood with an empty cup in hand after grabbing a slice of pizza at Tony’s, 99PI host Roman Mars faced a surprisingly difficult urban challenge: finding a public trash can. This minor frustration opens up an investigation into one of the most fundamental services a municipality provides. The absence
Service Request #5: Dude, Where’s My Car?
<p><img width="600" height="314" src="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8324-600x314.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8324-600x314.png 600w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8324-728x380.png 728w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8324-300x157.png 300w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/IMG_8324.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>A brightly lit, entirely empty 7-Eleven parking lot in Brooklyn looked like a miracle to Kelly Prime. The 99% Invisible editor and her friends just needed a quick spot to leave their 2011 Mazda 6 while grabbing takeout next door. Fifteen minutes later, the car was gone. Assuming it was stolen, Prime asked the store
Service Request #2: Why Is This Red Light So Damn Long?
<p><img width="600" height="314" src="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-1-600x314.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-1-600x314.png 600w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-1-728x380.png 728w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-1-300x157.png 300w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-1.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>Navigating Los Angeles by car is a notoriously soul-crushing endeavor, particularly when you find yourself trapped in the kind of infrastructural purgatory locals affectionately call the “Devil’s three-way”—the chaotic, multi-signal convergence of Fairfax, Olympic, and San Vicente. For 99% Invisible’s Vivian Le, sitting squarely in the passenger seat while her husband Cody Franklin white-knuckles it
Service Request #1: What Happens When I Call 311?
<p><img width="600" height="314" src="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-EP.-1-600x314.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-EP.-1-600x314.png 600w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-EP.-1-728x380.png 728w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-EP.-1-300x157.png 300w, https://99percentinvisible.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/WEBSITE-EP.-1.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px" /></p>During the early days of the pandemic lockdowns, 99% Invisible producer Christopher Johnson found himself trapped in a high-rise apartment in Washington Heights, tormented by the relentless, looping jingle of idling Mr. Softee ice cream trucks. Armed with the knowledge that local noise ordinances required the trucks to silence their music while parked, he dialed
