Twenty Thousand Hertz

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

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
1
Mixing Madison Square Garden for Vulfpeck’s Big...
Behind the faders at a legendary music venue.
36 min
2
The Music of Jeopardy! From a Lullaby to $100,0...
The evolution of Jeopardy’s unforgettable theme song.
22 min
3
Sound Off: Siren Calls, Medical Melodies & Miss...
The first collection of listener-produced stories from our Sound Off competition.
28 min
4
I interviewed 5 other Dallas Taylors and things...
An odyssey into the power of names.
41 min
5
Mix Notes: Dumb Farts, Alien Crickets & Junkyar...
Hollywood’s sound masters share their best sonic stories.
26 min
6
The Deaf Composer: How Beethoven wrote music he...
The fact and fiction around one of the greatest composers in history.
26 min
7
The Sonic Brand Makeover We Didn’t Know We Needed
How Switched on Pop changed their theme music after 400 episodes.
39 min
8
Inside Apple: Sonic Accessibility
How accessible design benefits everyone.
30 min
9
“In a World…” The epic evolution of movie trailers
The trends and tropes of movie marketing.
21 min
10
“The Autumn, She’s Been Hit!” The wish that cha...
The incredible story behind a single line of dialogue in Halo.
41 min
11
Solar Symphony: Listening to the Sun’s hidden “...
Hearing the universe through data sonification.
32 min
12
Speaker Terror Upper: When Bass Tapes shook the...
The rise and fall of the Boom Car phenomenon.
26 min
13
Radio Station Jingles: 80 Years of Earworms
How to keep radio listeners hooked.
32 min
14
Sound Pro Smackdown: Guess That Sound! w/ 3 ind...
Three audio pros go head to head in our annual Mystery Sound game.
41 min
15
Dog Translation Guide: Decoding Barks, Howls, &...
How to decode your dog’s barks, growls, and wags.
37 min
16
Cat Translation Guide: Decoding Meows, Purrs, &...
How to decode your cat’s meows, chirrups, and chitters.
36 min
17
The Voices of Bluey w/ Uncle Stripe
The voices and real-life inspiration behind the hit series.
25 min
18
The Organic Sound of Bluey w/ Sound Designer Da...
The organic sound design of the hit series.
27 min
19
"Blah, blah, blah" and the Ungooglable Phrase
A linguistic deep dive into nonsensical phrases.
24 min
20
Lofi Girl: The story behind 📚 beats to relax/st...
How Lofi became the go-to genre for studying and relaxing.
28 min
21
How Doctors Listen: A sonic journey through the...
What sound can tell doctors about our health.
23 min
22
The Sound of Apple: Marimbas, Radars & Reflections
The design genius behind Apple’s ringtones, alarms, and more.
23 min
23
The Sound of Apple: Tritones, Chords & Origins
The design secrets behind Apple’s iconic sounds.
24 min
24
Listener Stories: Auditory hallucinations & fam...
A collection of six audience tales.
20 min
25
The dark history of nursery rhymes
Once you listen, you’ll never hear nursery rhymes the same way again.
41 min