Twenty Thousand Hertz
The stories behind the world’s most iconic and fascinating sounds.
151
Sonic Illusions: Can you really trust your ears?
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
152
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
153
Sound Escapes: Nature’s untouched soundtrack
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
154
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
155
Bird Translation Guide: Decoding Tweets, Hoots,...
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
156
Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone numbe...
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
157
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
158
Dining on Decibels: Why are restaurants so noisy?
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
159
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
160
Blue! 42! How helmet radio changed the NFL
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min
161
Silence: Dispatches from the quietest place on ...
Dallas is locked into an anechoic chamber to experience how our brains process complete silence.
21 min
162
A sonic journey through the Solar System
A completely remixed version of our favorite episode, where we explore what other plants sound like.
19 min
163
Boots ’n Cats: The scientific secrets of beatbo...
The evolution & science of beatboxing.
21 min
164
Being George Clooney: Dubbing Hollywood celebri...
Explore how Hollywood films are adapted for foreign languages.
30 min
165
The Xbox Startup Sound: Crafting a console classic
How the designers of the Xbox startup sounds overcame tight parameters to come up with an iconic audio logo.
21 min
166
Theater for the Mind: The Golden Age of radio d...
The stories behind the golden age of sci-fi and horror radio dramas.
29 min
167
Theremin: The instrument that defined classic s...
The story behind this infamous, spooky-sounding instrument.
25 min
168
Cartoon Sound Effects: From Steamboat Willie to...
How were old cartoon sounds made, and how did they become so iconic?
27 min
169
Behind the Mic: The making of Twenty Thousand H...
A behind the scenes look at the inspiration and creation of Twenty Thousand Hertz.
31 min
170
Jingles: How they hooked us and why they vanished
What is the story behind these unforgettable earworms?
28 min
171
“Intel Inside” and other sonic branding brilliance
The story behind audio logos and what makes them so powerful.
24 min
172
Loop Groups: The art of movie background chatter
We go behind the scene with the actors responsible for bringing your TV and film backgrounds to life.
25 min
173
Slot Machines: The addictive power of sound
The sound design and science behind today's slot machines.
16 min
174
Misophonia: Why we can't stand certain sounds
The hatred of sound.
16 min
175
THX Deep Note Part 2: How a lost file shaped mo...
What happened after THX lost its iconic "Deep Note"?
25 min