Twenty Thousand Hertz

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

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
126
Historically Speaking: How language & accent sh...
How we shape language to our needs, and how it shapes us in return.
26 min
127
Vroom Vroom: The symphony of high-performance e...
A song of fuel and fire - what’s happening inside your car engine?
26 min
128
Baby Shark: From summer camp song to viral earworm
The history and future of one of the biggest viral sensations ever.
36 min
129
Virtual Choir: 8,000 Voices, One Song
The story of the internet choir connecting people from around the world to share the joy of singing.
25 min
130
The Price is Right: The drama behind TV’s catch...
The story behind one of the most recognizable TV show themes ever.
18 min
131
The Loudness War: Can streaming finally end it?
We take a deep dive into the Loudness War, and look for signs of hope in the modern age.
32 min
132
The [COMPRESSED] history of music mastering
A look at the mystical art of mastering from its analog beginnings to the digital world of today.
27 min
133
You’ve Got Mail: The voice behind AOL
The most recognizable 3 words of the early internet age + the birth of a whole new musical instrument.
20 min
134
From Spinal Tap to The Simpsons: Voice acting w...
How to find your voice.
18 min
135
Hear Here: The messy history of architectural a...
The story of how acoustics changed our history, and how we might use it to better our world today.
19 min
136
What makes Stradivarius violins so special?
The story behind the most valuable violins in the world.
22 min
137
808: The drum machine that changed music forever
The story of the drum machine that (accidentally) changed music forever.
23 min
138
Soundmarks: AT&T, United Airlines, and inventiv...
How sonic branding shapes a brand.
26 min
139
Deaf Gain: The promise and controversy of cochl...
The story of how a revolutionary implant sparked a human rights movement.
22 min
140
Plants That Listen (and some that sing)
For plants and the people who love them.
20 min
141
Sonic Illusions: Can you really trust your ears?
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
142
Mother of Dragons(sounds): Game of Thrones’ bit...
Hear from the sound designer who gave a voice to the dragons, direwolves, white walkers, and more in Game of Thrones.
19 min
143
Sound Escapes: Nature’s untouched soundtrack
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
144
The Voyager Golden Record: Humanity’s message t...
The most epic album of all time isn’t even on Earth. It’s over 11 billion miles away.
31 min
145
Bird Translation Guide: Decoding Tweets, Hoots,...
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
146
Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone numbe...
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
147
The Booj: The secret sound formula behind block...
The story of the sounds you always hear in movie trailers, but never noticed... until now.
22 min
148
Dining on Decibels: Why are restaurants so noisy?
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
149
Do Not Disturb: The unseen impacts of alarms an...
The story of how alarms and alerts came to rule, and endanger, our lives.
24 min
150
Blue! 42! How helmet radio changed the NFL
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min