Kurt Kohlstedt is a skeptical urbanist and design journalist who writes, edits, and produces stories for 99% Invisible. He co-authored The 99% Invisible City with show host Roman Mars. A New York Times bestseller, the book earned a starred Kirkus review (and a stellar Booklist one, too), and was named one of the Financial Times best books of 2020. A UK edition was also published and the book his since been translated into Chinese, Czech, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, and Thai.
99pi has published over 600 episodes, downloaded 750,000,000+ times. As its longest-serving producer, Kurt has spent over a decade on the show. He recently completed Adapt or Design, a twelve-part print and audio series on accessibility. He is currently at work on his next book.
During Kurt’s tenure at 99pi, the show has also won notable awards from the Third Coast Audio Festival, Discover Pods Awards, Webby Awards, Signal Awards, and Academy of Podcasters Awards, in categories such as Best Podcast, People’s Choice, Society & Culture, and Arts.
99pi was named one of the 100 best podcasts of all time by TIME magazine, one of the 20 most beloved podcasts of the past 20 years by Apple Podcasts, and has made top podcast lists on Wired, Vulture, Business Insider, The Atlantic, and The Guardian, among other media outlets.
Back in 2007, Kurt founded WebUrbanist, the first in a series of urban architecture, art and design publications that would go on to reach hundreds of millions of readers around the world. These included Dornob and WebEcoist (respectively acquired by Internet Brands and Evolve Media).
Kurt studied philosophy (BA) at Carleton College and received a graduate degree in architecture (M. Arch) from the University of Washington’s College of Built Environments. He also completed a specialized architecture program at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD).
P.S. Feel free to reach out regarding speaking engagements, panels, and other professional (ad)ventures … or simply to go grab a coffee and nerd out together in the Twin Cities, talk about podcasts, design, dogs, board games, or whatever crap weather we’re having that day.
📧 Kurt àt urbanist dót us
Note: all photographs on this page are (CC BY-SA 4.0)
