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Invisibilia

Invisibilia is about the invisible forces that control human behavior – ideas, beliefs, assumptions and emotions. Invisibilia interweaves narrative storytelling with scientific research that will ultimately make you see your own life differently.

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Episodes

  • A group of nuns look upward toward the viewer, one holding flowers and another peeking at them.

    Nun of Us Are Friends

    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?

  • An illustration of a hand grasping at fading lips as another hand tries to push other lips into a smile.

    A Friendly Ghost Story

    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.

  • A teenager walks out of a store as a looming blue shape raises his hand behind him.

    Invisibilia Presents: On Our Watch

    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.

  • A still from the Winter episode of "Nordlandsbanen - Minutt for Minutt" produced by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation.

    American Slow Radio

    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.

  • caption: Artwork by <a href="http://www.qieerwang.com/" target="_blank">Qieer Wang</a>.

    The Great Narrative Escape

    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.

  • caption: Artwork by <a href="http://www.qieerwang.com/" target="_blank">Qieer Wang</a>.

    The Chaos Machine: A Looping Revolt

    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.

  • caption: Art by <a href="http://www.qieerwang.com/" target="_blank">Qieer Wang.</a>

    The Chaos Machine: Wrathful Lord

    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.

  • caption: Art by <a href="http://www.qieerwang.com/" target="_blank">Qieer Wang.</a>

    The Chaos Machine: An Endless Hole

    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?

  • caption: Art by <a href="http://www.qieerwang.com/" target="_blank">Qieer Wang</a>.

    Eat The Rich

    Invisibilia explores a social experiment with money, focused around a contentious topic: reparations. What happens when you demand white people give up their wealth?

  • caption: Artwork by <a href="http://www.leonardosantamaria.com/" target="_blank">Leonardo Santamaria</a>.

    Trust Fall

    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?

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