Invisibilia

By NPR

Personal Journals Society & Culture Social Sciences

What's Invisibilia about?

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.

4.5

16,165 ratings

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LAST EPISODE

Rough Translation: Liberté,...

10.18.2019

Alix presents a new episode from NPR's Rough Translation about residents of an immigrant neighborhood in Marseille, France who considered their local McDonalds to be a home of sorts, so when the owner tries to sell it, they take extreme ...

Invisibilia episodes:

10.18.2019 Rough Translation: Liberté, Égalité and French Fries Alix presents a new episode from NPR's Rough Translation about residents of an immigrant neighborhood in Marseille, France who considered their local McDonalds to be a home of sorts, so when the owner tries to sell it, they take extreme ...
09.20.2019 The Profile A mysterious profile pops up on a dating app - leading to a bubble of chaos and confusion. A story about trying to sort fact versus fiction, how destabilizing that can be, and a very strange confrontation with the truth. ...
08.23.2019 Kraftland Richard Kraft was in a fog of grief when he bought his first Disney collectible at an auction. But once he started, he couldn't stop. In the first episode of our new fall season, we explore the role of positive ...
07.26.2019 Invisibilia Presents: Rough Translation Hanna presents an episode from one of our favorite NPR podcasts, Rough Translation, which tells the story of two people on a mission to help Evangelicals and environmentalists find common ground.
05.17.2019 Invisibilia Presents: Embedded What do you do when someone you love makes a terrible mistake? Hanna presents one of her favorite episodes from the latest season of Embedded, that explores how far one woman will go to save her brother's life.
05.03.2019 Things That Serve Webs Tech Genii Alix and Hanna expose the unseen forces behind the extra downloads that may have mysteriously appeared in your feed this week.
04.12.2019 The End of Empathy Invisibilia is a show that runs on empathy. We believe in it. But are we right? In this episode, we'll let you decide. We tell the same story twice in order to examine the questions: who deserves our empathy? And ...
04.05.2019 A Very Offensive Rom-Com A young woman discovers a pattern in her dating habits that disturbs her - a pattern that challenges her very conception of who she is and what she believes in. The realization sets her off on a quest to change ...
03.29.2019 The Remote Control Brain What would it be like if you could control your mood with a hand held device? Literally turn the device to different settings and make yourself happier and sadder? Alix Spiegel talks to a woman who has that power. If ...
03.22.2019 The Weatherman In this episode of Invisibilia, we explore our relationship with uncertainty through the eyes of a chief meteorologist. We wonder: what do you do when you don't know what to do? And how do we handle it when that question ...
03.15.2019 Post, Shoot What is the relationship between the version of you that lives online and the one that walks around the earth? We think of our online selves as shadow versions of us which we can control. But in this age when ...
03.08.2019 The Fifth Vital Sign We look at how our culture's massive effort to address pain has paradoxically increased it. And we follow one young girl as she struggles through a bizarre and extreme treatment program. NOTE: The treatment in this episode is administered by ...
03.04.2019 Season 5 Trailer This moment in our culture can feel fraught. From 'fake news' to the opioid crisis, there's a lot of uncertainty about the future. So this season, Invisibilia helps you discern truth from fiction, cure your pain, and find your true ...
12.21.2018 BONUS: Youth Radio Girl Mystery When truth becomes stranger than fiction.
12.07.2018 BONUS: The Prayer How one prayer changed a life.
10.16.2018 BONUS: Who Do You Let In? Who do you let in and who do you keep out?
09.14.2018 BONUS: Leave A Message Why would you leave a message when you can just send a text?
06.14.2018 BONUS: Invisibilia Live with Story District On April 19, 2018 Invisibilia co-hosted our first-ever live event with our friends at Story District.
04.13.2018 The Callout When someone in your community transgresses, do you banish them in an attempt to make the community safer for everyone? WARNING: This episode contains obscenities and descriptions of sex and violence.
04.06.2018 Everything Good We're living in a polarized world, where picking a side is almost a requirement. But what happens in the space in between?
03.30.2018 The Pattern Problem Are we destined to repeat our patterns or do we generally stray in surprising directions? CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of sexual abuse.
03.22.2018 What Was Not Said We examine how leaving things unsaid with our intimates can lead to misunderstandings and missed connections.
03.16.2018 The Other Real World Can a reality show - and telling a certain kind of story - call a different kind of reality into being?
03.09.2018 I, I, I. Him What happens when you lose something so central to your life that you no longer understand who you are? How do you find yourself again?
02.23.2018 Season 4 Trailer We're living in a black and white world, where the stories we tell ourselves lock us into one side or the other. These stories define us – imprison or liberate us. In their fourth season, co-hosts Hanna Rosin and Alix ...
12.22.2017 BONUS: Catch-Up with Max Hawkins What happens when you have to choose between having an open mind, or a moral backbone? Listen to the original episode here: http://apple.co/2DoRC5X
09.12.2017 BONUS: Catch-Up with Bill Millar In a special podcast bonus, co-host Hanna Rosin checks in with Bill Millar, who we met in Season 2's "Flip the Script." They talk about dating, cats, and how love can look different for everyone. Listen to the original episode ...
06.22.2017 Emotions It feels like emotions just come at us, and there is nothing we can do. But we might have it backwards. We look at an unusual legal case and examine a provocative new theory about emotions.
06.22.2017 High Voltage (Emotions Part 2) An anthropologist discovers an emotion, and after a tragic event, comes to understand it. And a young woman does the one thing guaranteed to ruin a date, and learns something about her emotional life.
06.15.2017 Reality What happens when we can't agree on reality? In Eagle's Nest Township, Minnesota, residents have been grappling with that question since long before the polarizing presidential election of 2016.
06.15.2017 Bubble-Hopping (Reality Part 2) The concept of social bubbles has become popular lately as people grapple with the unexpected outcomes of the 2016 election. We meet two people making radical attempts to break out of their bubbles.
06.08.2017 The Culture Inside Is there a part of ourselves that we don't acknowledge, that we don't even have access to and that might make us ashamed if we encountered it?
06.01.2017 Future Self We all have a better self, a version of us that is better, more successful. It can inspire us to achieve our dreams, or mock us for everything we have failed to become.
06.01.2017 True You What happens when you discover a part of yourself that is so different from who you think you are? Do you hold on to your original self tightly? Do you explore this other self? Or do you just panic?
05.30.2017 Rules for Road Tripping Season 3 has ended but we're hard at work on Season 4! We'll see you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted to share Invisibilia's tips for a successful road trip.
05.18.2017 Season 3 Trailer On June 1, Invisibilia is back for Season 3! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season!
07.29.2016 Outside In There's a popular idea out there that you can change from the outside in. Power posing. Fake it 'til you make it. If you just assume the pose, inner transformation will follow. Is it true?
07.22.2016 The Secret Emotional Life of Clothes Do clothes have the power to transform us? Seven stories that explore how clothes can change us in quiet but surprising ways with help from Yowei Shaw, Chenjerai Kumanyika and Colin Dwyer.
07.15.2016 Flip the Script Psychology has a golden rule too: If I am warm, you are usually warm. If I am hostile, you are too. But what happens if you flip the script and meet hostility with warmth?
07.08.2016 Frame of Reference We all carry an invisible frame of reference in our heads that filters our experience. Alix and Hanna talk to a woman who gets a glimpse of what she's been missing – and then loses it.
07.05.2016 Bonus: Mr. Kitt In this special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story of William Kitt, a resident of the Broadway Housing Communities, featured in our episode "The Problem with the Solution". William Kitt was insane, by his own definition. But he no ...
07.01.2016 The Problem with the Solution Americans LOVE solutions. But are there problems we shouldn't try to solve? Lulu visits a town in Belgium with a completely different approach to dealing with mental illness.
06.28.2016 Bonus: Four-Minute Mile In a special podcast bonus, Lulu Miller tells the story about a young runner who always thought he had it in him to break the four-minute mile, until a potential change in personality made him question if he was the ...
06.24.2016 The Personality Myth We like to think of our own personalities, and those of our family and friends as predictable, constant over time. But what if they aren't? What if nothing stays constant over a lifetime?
06.17.2016 The New Norm Social norms determine much of your behavior - how you dress, talk, eat and even what you feel. Alix and new co-host, Hanna Rosin, examine two experiments that attempt to shift these norms.
05.20.2016 Season 2 Trailer On June 17th Invisibilia is back for Season 2! Invisibilia explores the invisible forces that shape human behavior – thoughts, emotions, assumptions, expectations. Check out the trailer for the upcoming season!
07.15.2015 Invisibilia Update Been hungry for more Invisibilia? Alix and Lulu pop in to tell you a bit about what they are working on for Season 2 — and a way you can hear a brand new Invisibilia story. On Tuesday, July 28, ...
02.18.2015 See You Soon Thanks for listening to the first season of Invisibilia! Here's a message from Alix and Lulu about what's happening next.
02.14.2015 BONUS: Inside Out! Alix and Lulu present a bonus podcast about why "Inside Out" was considered as a possible name for the show, but ultimately wasn't chosen.
02.13.2015 Our Computers, Ourselves In Our Computers, Ourselves, a look at the ways technology affects us, and the main question is : Are computers changing human character? You'll hear from cyborgs, bullies, neuroscientists and police chiefs about whether our closeness with computers is changing ...

Older episodes

Invisibilia

What's Invisibilia about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Invisibilia episodes:

Rough Translation: Liberté, Égalité and French Fries

The Profile

Kraftland

Invisibilia Presents: Rough Translation

Invisibilia Presents: Embedded

Things That Serve Webs

The End of Empathy

A Very Offensive Rom-Com

The Remote Control Brain

The Weatherman

Post, Shoot

The Fifth Vital Sign

Season 5 Trailer

BONUS: Youth Radio Girl Mystery

BONUS: The Prayer

BONUS: Who Do You Let In?

BONUS: Leave A Message

BONUS: Invisibilia Live with Story District

The Callout

Everything Good

The Pattern Problem

What Was Not Said

The Other Real World

I, I, I. Him

Season 4 Trailer

BONUS: Catch-Up with Max Hawkins

BONUS: Catch-Up with Bill Millar

Emotions

High Voltage (Emotions Part 2)

Reality

Bubble-Hopping (Reality Part 2)

The Culture Inside

Future Self

True You

Rules for Road Tripping

Season 3 Trailer

Outside In

The Secret Emotional Life of Clothes

Flip the Script

Frame of Reference

Bonus: Mr. Kitt

The Problem with the Solution

Bonus: Four-Minute Mile

The Personality Myth

The New Norm

Season 2 Trailer

Invisibilia Update

See You Soon

BONUS: Inside Out!

Our Computers, Ourselves

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