99% Invisible: 157- Devil’s Rope

March 18, 2015 12:55 PM

An exploration of the history of barbed wire.
posted by radioamy (3 comments total)

I liked this episode.

In general, I really appreciate many things about 99% Invisible: that the episodes are only as long as they need to be, that Roman Mars clearly wants to elevate new (and female) voices, that the whole premise is to look at stuff that is meant to not be noticed, but in general I often wish the show was more political than it always is. This episode couldn't help but be political.

I learned a bunch of factoids that then fit into a larger, meaningful narrative. Really smart, well informed people talked about their areas of expertise. I was also convinced to read Lonesome Dove. Maybe I can get it on audiobook?

Good episode of a good show.
posted by latkes at 10:20 PM on March 20, 2015

I really enjoyed this show (although there are few 99PIs that I haven't enjoyed). I was disappointed that they didn't talk much about barbed wire tattoos and other visual depictions of barbed wire (although I think they mentioned it briefly).

I do like that Roman gives new and female voices a chance to shine, although I am so enamored by his voice that sometimes I am disappointed that I don't get to hear as much of it.
posted by radioamy at 9:38 AM on March 23, 2015

Ditto on the new voices. The problem is that Roman's voice is so good that it makes his co-presenters sound worse in comparison (I'm only half-joking about that).
posted by adrianhon at 5:55 AM on March 24, 2015