Roman Mars
| Roman Mars | |
|---|---|
| Born | Newark, Ohio |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Bard College at Simon's Rock Oberlin College University of Georgia |
| Occupation | Radio producer |
| Known for | 99% Invisible |
| Website | RomanMars |
Roman Mars is the host and producer of 99% Invisible, a KALW radio show and podcast.
He has also contributed to radio programs such as Radiolab and Planet Money. Fast Company identified him as one of the hundred most creative people (number 63) of 2013. In and around 2004 he produced a program called Invisible Ink on KALW.
Mars and his signature radio show, 99% Invisible, have been credited in the mainstream press as an innovative form of radio production, defining a new movement of independent radio and podcast creators. In 2016 Mars co-invented asynchronous podcasting with Justin McElroy creating the first episode of Smart Stuff which began in MBMBaM episode 316 and was completed in 99% Invisible episode 225.
In March 2015, Mars delivered a talk at the TED conference in Vancouver, BC, entitled "Why city Flags may be the worst-designed thing you've never noticed", revealing the five basic principles of flag design and sparking flag-change efforts across the US and Canada with over 4 million views. The talk inspired the city of Pocatello, Idaho to invite Mars to a conference to redesign their flag, voted the worst city flag in North America and highlighted in the talk. Mars maintains a personal collection of flags.
In partnership with the Knight Foundation and the Public Radio Exchange (PRX), Mars also created the podcast collective 'Radiotopia'. The Public Radio Exchange has hired Mars to curate a radio program called Remix, which is syndicated by at least 14 public radio stations across the US.
Mars is also notable for having successfully used Kickstarter for 99% Invisible, raising over $170,000, making it the highest-funded journalism Kickstarter project ever, and the second highest-funded Kickstarter project across the entire publishing category.
In November 2013, 99% Invisible's season four Kickstarter campaign received 11,693 backers raising over $375,000. The e-mail marketing service MailChimp donated $20,000 once the campaign reached 10,000 backers. The original goal of $150,000 was raised in 92 hours.
Following this success, Mars introduced another Kickstarter campaign to build Season Two of Radiotopia, a collection of seven storytelling podcasts.
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