The magic of 99pi is humanization.<p>If I found out people were living in an empty part of the mall in any other context, my response would be: “ehh weird.”<p>But 99pi presents the story and by the end they seem like heroes sticking it to the man.
I feel like 99pi is becoming more like This American Life. They’re both great radio programs but 99pi used to produce content that shon a light on an interesting but lesser noticed aspect of our daily lives. Like this episode could have been a this American life episode. It was mostly just an anecdotal experience from a unique person. Maybe focusing a little on property developers. Maybe it’s true that Roman Mars is just too talented to stay in his niche, but I’d be pretty disappointed if he just became budget Ira Glass.
Strongly reminds me of Mrs Basil E Frankenweiler<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Mixed-Up_Files_of_Mrs._Basil_E._Frankweiler" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_Mixed-Up_Files_of_Mrs...</a>
this is great. In a previous life I would bid construction jobs, and it was noticeable how much dead space you would end up with in say, a high school or a prison.<p>Nothing like this, though.
I believe the same folks were also responsible for a secret art installation that included a bunch of hanging mannequins inside a nearby drainage tunnel. I remember hearing about it around the same time as the discovery of the mall apartment. I've only been able to find a couple[0][1] references for it though.<p>[0]: <a href="http://www.insanebunkers.com/index.php?topic=1244.0" rel="nofollow">http://www.insanebunkers.com/index.php?topic=1244.0</a><p>[1]: <a href="https://youtu.be/LKdbYh5uoJA" rel="nofollow">https://youtu.be/LKdbYh5uoJA</a>
If they had occupied the room peacefully for 10 years, I wonder if they would have squatter's rights:<p><a href="http://www.landlordstation.com/blog/what-are-squatters-rights-in-rhode-island/" rel="nofollow">http://www.landlordstation.com/blog/what-are-squatters-right...</a><p><i>If squatters are using a property consistently without the permission of the owner for a minimum of 10 years, then a claim can be filed to take over title</i> of the land that is being used.<i>