Twenty Thousand Hertz

The stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds.

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
76
Listening to the Movies
Hearing is believing.
27 min
77
Sonic Bubbles
Self-control through sound control.
24 min
78
Domestic Symphony
What happens when dryers and dishwashers get the sound design treatment?
22 min
79
The Windsor Hum
Cracking the case of a sonic mystery.
13 min
80
The Buzzer
Tuning in to spy radio.
31 min
81
Stay Tuned
The new voices of the Looney Tunes.
25 min
82
Prop 'til You Drop
The secret tools of Foley Artists.
21 min
83
Foley Artists
The secrets behind the subtle art of Foley.
20 min
84
The Leaky Pipeline
A story within a story about pioneering women in audio.
25 min
85
Auditory Icons
Why are some device sounds pleasing, while others stress us out?
16 min
86
Progression Obsession
From Pachelbel's Canon, to the Ice Cream Changes, to the Four Chords, we examine the most-used chord changes in pop music.
25 min
87
SM7
How the Shure SM7 became one of the most game-changing vocal microphones of all time.
22 min
88
Minecraft
Crafting the music and sounds of Minecraft.
24 min
89
20th Century Fox
The history and future of the 20th Century Fox fanfare.
24 min
90
The Deterrent Tone
What happens when you get hit with a “sound cannon?”
20 min
91
I'm Lovin' It
Ba da ba ba ba.
23 min
92
Sound 101 with Bill Nye
Listen up! It’s time to go back to basics on the physics of sound.
22 min
93
Synesthesia
What’s it like to see sounds and taste names?
25 min
94
Sing Gently
How an internet choir connects singers around the world at a time when they can't sing together.
33 min
95
Sounds Worth Saving
Legendary music archivist Alan Lomax made it his life's work to preserve and promote the sounds of local culture.
24 min
96
Conlang
From Klingon to Elvish, what makes a good constructed language?
26 min
97
Space Audity
The mind-boggling technology behind space communication.
21 min
98
Sonic Utopia
What can we expect the future to sound like, and how can we build a sonic utopia?
25 min
99
Sound and Silence
The way we each experience sound depends on so many unique factors, from tiny receptors in our ears to the way we were taught to communicate.
48 min
100
Dies Irae
How a four-note melody from the 13th century became a movie soundtrack superstar.
26 min