Twenty Thousand Hertz

A lovingly crafted podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Music
Society & Culture
Arts
176
Evolution of Accents
You may not realize it, but your accent is a window to who you are and where you come from. How do accents evolve?
23 min
177
Forensic Audio
Deciphering audio has become crucial to solving cases, but how do specialists interpret audio evidence?
15 min
178
The Wilhelm Scream
A history of the most iconic scream in movie history that you’ve definitely heard, but might not have heard of.
17 min
179
Voice Acting
Who are the voices behind our favorite cartoon characters and commercials? Take a look behind-the-scenes of voice acting.
16 min
180
Hearing Loss
As we age our hearing naturally diminishes, but what other factors are causing our hearing to disappear? Plus, take an informal hearing test.
17 min
181
The Good, the Bad & the Irritating
Ever wonder why certain sounds make us cringe while others are soothing? Find out why we consider some sounds “good” and some “bad”.
17 min
182
Foley
What is Foley and how does it make our movie listening experience more realistic?
14 min
183
Space
What do other planets in our solar system sound like to our ears?
19 min
184
Dolls That Talk... And Some That Listen
Why have humans been so fascinated in re-creating toy versions of ourselves? Talking dolls have been around for over 100 years. Take a look at the evolution of how that came to be… and why they are so creepy.
14 min
185
Cars
Discover how car companies are enhancing every aspect of your vehicle’s sound to provide the ultimate driving experience.
14 min
186
Audio Descriptions
Ever wonder how the visually impaired are able to enjoy their favorite movies? Discover how technology has been able to make this possible.
12 min
187
Movie Soundtrack
What goes into making a movie soundtrack? Take a look behind the scenes with the sound designers that make your movies sound perfect.
14 min
188
From Analog to Digital
What did we lose when we switched from analog to digital?
14 min
189
Sound of Extinction
We've grown accustomed to the everyday sounds we experience; cell phones ringing, cars idling, Facebook messaging. What about the sounds that we've forgotten about, the sounds we’ve lost?
14 min
190
Mystery Hum
There’s a hum emanating from an island in Detroit that is so loud it disturbs the residents of Windsor, ON. The hum has caused so much discomfort and annoyance that a film crew decided to investigate the cause.
10 min
191
8-bit
8-bit audio defined countless childhoods. How did early sound artists and composers create such iconic sounds using the most primitive game technology?
12 min
192
NBC Chimes
The now iconic NBC Chimes were originally created to solve a small problem. Where did these three notes come from?
12 min
193
Siri
Who is the person behind the voice of Siri? ...and how was the world's first virtual personal assistant developed?
11 min