99% Invisible — "Mini-Stories: Volume 22" (January 6, 2026)

Episode Overview

Kicking off 2026, Roman Mars hosts the 22nd edition of "Mini-Stories," where three 99% Invisible producers share design-centric tales Roman has not heard before. This episode investigates hidden innovations and provocative design stories in the worlds of sports equipment, maritime disaster, and retrofitted art vending machines. The tone is curious, friendly—and as always, appreciative of the quietly powerful ways design shapes all our lives.

Story 1: The Fastest Suits and Brooms in Sports

Producer: Jakob Medina Gleason
Segment: 02:32–08:25

The Speedo LZR Racer and Olympic Swimsuit Technology

• The 2008 Olympics saw the debut of the Speedo LZR Racer, a swimsuit featuring polyurethane panels to reduce drag.
• “Speedo really took advantage of the fact that World Aquatics was pretty lenient on what could be considered fabric.” (Jakob, 02:51)
• At first, World Aquatics took no action; the IOC eventually mandated the suit be available to all competitors.
• In 2008, over 90% of swimming medalists wore the LZR; 25 world records were broken at those games.
• Following, rival manufacturers made full-body rubberized suits; the 2009 World Championships saw another 43 records broken, with 147 in the year overall.
• “Well, that’s too many records at this point. That’s a problem.” (Roman, 05:49)
• In 2010, full-body tech suits were banned. Some in the swimming world argue this was an overcorrection; others felt unnerved by such rapid record-breaking.

Curling and the "Sweeping Summit"

• In 2015, new broom head fabrics in curling allowed sweepers unprecedented control of the stone, making a two-sweeper system obsolete.
• These were dubbed “performance-enhancing brooms.” (Roman, 07:23; Jakob, 07:27)
• Outcry led to the 2016 “Sweeping Summit,” where governing bodies banned the new technology to preserve fair competition.
• “And actually, Roman, in these Olympics 2026, we almost had another broom controversy. But thankfully, earlier this year, the curling world got out ahead of this one and banned a new set of brush heads.” (Jakob, 07:58)
• Roman welcomes this, declaring, “I really like to watch curling. Just pure.” (Roman, 08:16)

Memorable Moment:
“I mean, I probably could because it’s like compression, so like it would like suck in your gut. Like it looks like they’ve poured this man into this suit.” (Roman, 05:19)

Story 2: Violet Jessop — Survivor of the Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic

Producer: Joe Rosenberg
Segment: 08:34–26:14

Background and Near Misses

• Violet Constance Jessop, born 1887 in Argentina, joined the White Star Line as a stewardess—despite a lifelong fear of drowning and not knowing how to swim.
• She was aboard the Olympic in 1911 when it collided with a navy ship—two compartments flooded, but the ship survived.

Titanic and The Pattern of Disaster

• April 1912: Jessop is on the Titanic’s maiden voyage. The ship’s starboard hull is gashed by an iceberg. Jessop escapes in a lifeboat; she survives, many others do not.

Britannic: Third Time’s Calamity

• WWI: Violet serves as a nurse on the Britannic—sister ship to Titanic and Olympic.
• November 1916: Britannic strikes a German mine. Violet recounts her experience in a rare recording:
  • “I was upstairs in the pantry…when suddenly, crash. Well, no sooner did the crash happen than everybody stood up from the table and disappeared...” (Violet Jessop, 16:53)
• The portholes had been left open after patient complaints about heat, allowing water to rush in—Britannic sinks rapidly.
• During the chaotic lifeboat launch, spinning propellers threaten survivors; Violet’s boat nears disaster, and she must leap into the sea:
  • “I was left alone… and I decided, which would it be better, to be cut to pieces or to drown… and so when I went into the water, I went down miles with the weight of, you know, clothes and came up under the boat and I got a terrible blow on the head.” (Violet Jessop, 20:45–21:47)
• Miraculously, she surfaces and clings to a life jacket. The Britannic, longer than the ocean was deep, sinks with awe-inspiring violence:
  • “All the deck machinery fell into the sea like a child’s toys. Then she took a fearful plunge, her stern rearing hundreds of feet into the air until, with a final roar, she disappeared into the depths. The noise of her going resounding through the water with an undreamt of violence.” (Joe, paraphrasing Violet’s memoir, 22:18–23:37)

Legacy and Reflections

• Violet Jessop’s memoir, Titanic Survivor, was published posthumously.
• Another crew member, Arthur Priest, outdid even her: he survived four shipwrecks and two major collisions.
• “Another one of these people where you can’t tell if they’re the luckiest person around you or the unluckiest person in the world.” (Roman, 25:41)
• Closing life lesson: “I think the lesson of Violet Jessup is you don’t know if your next ship is gonna sink. The best you can do is just grab your toothbrush and just keep your head above water.” (Roman, 25:51)

Notable and Quirky Detail:
Violet makes sure to grab her toothbrush before escaping Britannic—a lesson learned from her first Titanic sinking.

Story 3: Art-o-mat — From Cigarette Vending to Accessible Art

Producer: Kurt Kohlstedt
Segment: 30:07–37:17

What is an Art-o-mat?

• An Art-o-mat is a retrofitted cigarette vending machine that dispenses small pieces of art instead of cigarette packs.
• “If you look closely, you can see that there are these 10 telltale columns for, you know, 10 different brands of cigarettes. But in the converted Art-o-mat, each column corresponds to a different artist.” (Kurt, 30:44)
• Artists create mini art blocks to fit precise “king sized hard pack” cigarette dimensions due to vending machine constraints.

History and Spread

• Concept originated with artist Clark Whittington in the 1990s, aiming to make art accessible via vending machines. The first installations were in Winston-Salem, “Camel City,” home of RJ Reynolds.
• As cigarette vending waned under regulation, surplus machines were adapted for art sales.

From “Dude with a Project” to Network

• Roman notes the “dude with a project” trope—a clever one-off—but Kurt explains the Art-o-mat now comprises 200+ machines, with 400+ participating artists, and an organizational structure overseeing distribution and curation.
• “You know me, I'm a big sucker for adaptive reuse, whether it be in architecture or vending machines.” (Kurt, 36:19)
• Roman concedes, “This sounds like an interesting dude with an interesting project that sort of brings out some of the things you might not notice and add some sort of color around the built world in an interesting way.” (Roman, 36:19)

Where to Find Art-o-mats

• The project’s website (artomat.org) features a map of active machines.
• “If you have any money left over at any moment in your life, you should always buy art. And why not buy it from a cigarette machine?” (Roman, 37:01)

Fun Fact:
Kurt’s local Art-o-mat is at a cat café—his recent purchases: a funky hole punch flipbook, a chicken painting, and a woodblock flower print.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• “Progress is good, but like too much of it is really jarring.” (Jakob, 06:16)
• “Performance enhancing brooms.” (Jakob, 07:27)
• “Her life is like Groundhog Day meets Titanic.” (Joe, 09:50)
• Violet Jessop, recalling her escape: “It did occur to me if I get another blow like that, I'll be finished.” (Violet, 21:47)
• “You don’t know if your next ship is gonna sink. The best you can do is just grab your toothbrush and keep your head above water.” (Roman, 25:51)
• “Better than cigarettes. That’s for sure.” (Roman on Art-o-mat art, 37:10)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening and Episode Framing: 00:00–02:32
• Sports tech (swimming and curling): 02:32–08:25
• Violet Jessop and maritime disasters: 08:34–26:14
• Art-o-mat and design reuse: 30:07–37:17

Tone and Takeaway

True to 99% Invisible’s spirit, this episode unpacks how design quietly shapes fairness, survival, and even playfulness in our environment. Whether questioning the ethics of high-tech athletic gear, marveling at a truly unlucky (or lucky) ship stewardess, or delighting in the transformation of forgotten cigarette machines into miniature art galleries, the hosts and producers share a sense of communal nerdy wonder.

For anyone who never noticed the story behind a swimsuit, a broom, a lost ship, or a vending machine—this episode makes those 99% invisible details visible, and just as remarkable as the grandest of designs.