Twenty Thousand Hertz

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

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
126
Baby Shark
The history and future of one of the biggest viral sensations ever.
36 min
127
Virtual Choir
The story of the internet choir connecting people from around the world to share the joy of singing.
25 min
128
The Price is Right (Yeah, Yeah!)
The story behind one of the most recognizable TV show themes ever.
18 min
129
The Loudness Wars
We take a deep dive into the Loudness War, and look for signs of hope in the modern age.
32 min
130
The [COMPRESSED] History of Mastering
A look at the mystical art of mastering from its analog beginnings to the digital world of today.
27 min
131
You've Got Mail!
The most recognizable 3 words of the early internet age + the birth of a whole new musical instrument.
20 min
132
Speak Easy
How to find your voice.
18 min
133
Hear Here!
The story of how acoustics changed our history, and how we might use it to better our world today.
19 min
134
Stradivarius
The story behind the most valuable violins in the world.
22 min
135
808
The story of the drum machine that (accidentally) changed music forever.
23 min
136
Soundmarks®
How sonic branding shapes a brand.
26 min
137
Deaf Gain
The story of how a revolutionary implant sparked a human rights movement.
22 min
138
Plants that Sing
For plants and the people who love them.
20 min
139
Sonic Illusions
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
140
Mother of Dragons(ounds)
Hear from the sound designer who gave a voice to the dragons, direwolves, white walkers, and more in Game of Thrones.
19 min
141
Sound Escapes
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
142
Voyager Golden Record
The most epic album of all time isn’t even on Earth. It’s over 11 billion miles away.
31 min
143
Birdsong
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
144
Phone Tones
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
145
The Booj
The story of the sounds you always hear in movie trailers, but never noticed... until now.
22 min
146
Dining on Decibels
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
147
Do Not Disturb
The story of how alarms and alerts came to rule, and endanger, our lives.
24 min
148
Blue! 42!
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min
149
Silence
Dallas is locked into an anechoic chamber to experience how our brains process complete silence.
21 min
150
Space Remix
A completely remixed version of our favorite episode, where we explore what other plants sound like.
19 min