Twenty Thousand Hertz

The stories behind the world’s most iconic and fascinating sounds.

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
76
The Booj Strikes Back: Why all modern trailers ...
How to turn your trailers up to 11.
24 min
77
The weird, wild world of 1-900 numbers
The rise and fall of 900 numbers.
34 min
78
Tokyo Rose: World War II’s most controversial r...
How a Japanese-American radio host became one of the most despised voices of World War II.
24 min
79
TikTalk: The woman who sued TikTok for using he...
Meet the voices of TikTok.
28 min
80
The sonic secrets behind Ted Lasso
The winning sound design behind Ted Lasso.
30 min
81
Sonic Happiness: A guide to feeling better thro...
Practical tips for making your world sound better so that you feel better.
42 min
82
Shock Horror A: The origin of the dramatic “Dun...
Dun dun duuun!
27 min
83
Sleight of Ear: Behind the scenes w/ Dallas Taylor
Dallas reveals the tricks of the trade.
24 min
84
Breathe: My Unexpected Journey
A story from Dallas’ former life.
32 min
85
Relearning Boléro: How our brains rewrite the s...
Can we really trust our ears?
38 min
86
Ghosts in the Hit Machine: The secrets of music...
Inside the secretive world of ghostwriting and ghost producing.
27 min
87
Why Windows Got Rid of Startup Sounds
The death and rebirth of the Windows startup sound.
31 min
88
Ta-da! The history of Windows’ classic startup ...
Start me up.
26 min
89
The Waterphone: Hollywood’s spookiest sound effect
The sound that haunts Hollywood.
24 min
90
Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices
Stand clear of the closing doors, please.
32 min
91
Hidden Hitmakers: The unsung heroes behind pop’...
Who writes the hits for the pop stars?
30 min
92
Happy Little Episode: The soothing voice of Bob...
How a soft-spoken, poofy-haired painter changed the world, one gentle word at a time.
41 min
93
Pirate Radio: Britain’s AM rebels of the ’60s
How a group of scrappy radio pirates changed the course of music history.
33 min
94
Being Dallas Taylor: Meeting my name twins
What’s in a name?
40 min
95
Sul Sul! Behind the gibberish language of The Sims
The secrets of Simlish, the gibberish language of The Sims.
25 min
96
Guess That Sound 2021: Underunderstood
The hosts of Underunderstood go head to head in our annual Mystery Sound game.
37 min
97
The Static Angel: How HBO perfected its sonic i...
How HBO reconciled its analog past with its digital future.
25 min
98
It’s Not TV: Behind HBO’s legendary sounds
How HBO crafted two of the most iconic pieces of sonic branding in history.
23 min
99
One simple trick scientists say will stop snoring
If you live with a snorer, it can be tricky to roll out of bed after a night of little sleep.
40 min
100
Creature Speakers: The art of voicing monsters
How do you voice over 200 monsters?
26 min