Twenty Thousand Hertz

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

Whether you're a professional audio engineer with decades of experience, a fourth grader who loves sound and music, or anyone in between, Twenty Thousand Hertz will help unlock your sonic world… from the sound design secrets of hit movies, to the sonic craft of jingles and device sounds, to the forgotten backstories of classic theme songs, to linguistic mysteries, psychoacoustics, video game music, animal communication, and beyond. With moving human stories, immersive sound design, and the guiding voice of host Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz has grown into the world’s leading podcast about sound.


New to the show? Start here:

• I'm Lovin' It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over the world

• The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life

• Tudum! The story behind the iconic Netflix sound

• The Legend of Zelda: A Beep to the Past

• Inside Hans Zimmer’s Remote Control Studios

• A sonic journey through the Solar System

• Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
101
The Waterphone: Hollywood’s spookiest sound effect
The sound that haunts Hollywood.
24 min
102
Mind the Gap: NYC & London’s iconic transit voices
Stand clear of the closing doors, please.
32 min
103
Hidden Hitmakers: The unsung heroes behind pop’...
Who writes the hits for the pop stars?
30 min
104
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
105
Pirate Radio: Britain’s AM rebels of the ’60s
How a group of scrappy radio pirates changed the course of music history.
33 min
106
Being Dallas Taylor: Meeting my name twins
What’s in a name?
40 min
107
Sul Sul! Behind the gibberish language of The Sims
The secrets of Simlish, the gibberish language of The Sims.
25 min
108
Guess That Sound 2021: Underunderstood
The hosts of Underunderstood go head to head in our annual Mystery Sound game.
37 min
109
The Static Angel: How HBO perfected its sonic i...
How HBO reconciled its analog past with its digital future.
25 min
110
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
111
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
112
Creature Speakers: The art of voicing monsters
How do you voice over 200 monsters?
26 min
113
How blind gamers are changing the world of vide...
The ins and outs of gaming without sight.
24 min
114
Sports Without Sight: The sound-driven world of...
Keep your ears on the ball.
21 min
115
Sound Cinema: Experiencing film through audio d...
Hearing is believing.
27 min
116
Sonic Bubbles: Escaping noise, but at what cost?
Self-control through sound control.
24 min
117
Domestic Symphony: Why your dryer has a theme song
What happens when dryers and dishwashers get the sound design treatment?
22 min
118
The mysterious “Windsor Hum” is finally solved!
Cracking the case of a sonic mystery.
13 min
119
The Buzzer: Are there secret spy messages on th...
Tuning in to spy radio.
31 min
120
Stay Tuned: The new voices of the Looney Tunes
The new voices of the Looney Tunes.
25 min
121
Inside the Foley Prop Room: Frozen, Jurassic Pa...
The secret tools of Foley Artists.
21 min
122
The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to life
The secrets behind the subtle art of Foley.
20 min
123
Leaky Pipeline: The fight that revolutionized c...
A story within a story about pioneering women in audio.
25 min
124
Auditory Icons: Credit card beeps to driverless...
Why are some device sounds pleasing, while others stress us out?
16 min
125
Progression Obsession: Pop music’s most used ch...
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