Twenty Thousand Hertz+

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

Hosted by Sound Designer Dallas Taylor, Twenty Thousand Hertz unlocks the stories, secrets and science behind what you hear.

Whether you’re a professional audio engineer with decades of experience, a fourth grader who loves sound and music, or anyone in between, you’ll find something to love: the sound design secrets of hit movies, the forgotten backstories of classic theme songs, the sonic craft of jingles and device sounds, linguistic mysteries, psychoacoustics, video game music, animal communication, and beyond. With moving human stories, immersive sound design, and non-stop ear candy, 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
126
Domestic Symphony: Why your dryer has a theme song
What happens when dryers and dishwashers get the sound design treatment?
22 min
127
The mysterious “Windsor Hum” is finally solved!
Cracking the case of a sonic mystery.
13 min
128
The Buzzer: Are there secret spy messages on th...
Tuning in to spy radio.
31 min
129
Stay Tuned: The new voices of the Looney Tunes
The new voices of the Looney Tunes.
25 min
130
Inside the Foley Prop Room: Frozen, Jurassic Pa...
The secret tools of Foley Artists.
21 min
131
The Art of Foley: Bringing Slimer & Batman to ...
The secrets behind the subtle art of Foley.
20 min
132
Leaky Pipeline: The fight that revolutionized ...
A story within a story about pioneering women in audio.
25 min
133
Auditory Icons: Credit card beeps to driverless...
Why are some device sounds pleasing, while others stress us out?
16 min
134
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
135
SM7: The mic that shaped sound and culture
How the Shure SM7 became one of the most game-changing vocal microphones of all time.
22 min
136
The Sound of Minecraft: A melancholy masterpiec...
Crafting the music and sounds of Minecraft.
24 min
137
20th Century Fox Fanfare: A family legacy
The history and future of the 20th Century Fox fanfare.
24 min
138
Sonic Weapons: How “sound cannons” are used fo...
What happens when you get hit with a “sound cannon?”
20 min
139
I'm Lovin’ It: How “Ba da ba ba ba” took over ...
Ba da ba ba ba.
23 min
140
The Physics of Sound w/ Bill Nye the Science Guy
Listen up! It’s time to go back to basics on the physics of sound.
22 min
141
Seeing Sounds, Tasting Names: The world of syne...
What’s it like to see sounds and taste names?
25 min
142
Sing Gently: Singing together, even when apart
How an internet choir connects singers around the world at a time when they can't sing together.
33 min
143
The Song Hunter: How Alan Lomax saved the soun...
Legendary music archivist Alan Lomax made it his life's work to preserve and promote the sounds of local culture.
24 min
144
From Klingon to Dothraki: How sci-fi languages ...
From Klingon to Elvish, what makes a good constructed language?
26 min
145
Space Audity: The challenges of space communic...
The mind-boggling technology behind space communication.
21 min
146
Sonic Utopia: Can we build a better sounding wo...
What can we expect the future to sound like, and how can we build a sonic utopia?
25 min
147
The Cyborg, The Scientist, and the Death of Sil...
The way we each experience sound depends on so many unique factors, from tiny receptors in our ears to the way we were taught to communicate.
48 min
148
Dies Irae: The death melody haunting Hollywood
How a four-note melody from the 13th century became a movie soundtrack superstar.
26 min
149
Perfect Pitch: Unlocking Jacob Collier’s musica...
What's it like when every sound you hear—from the whir of the coffee grinder to the beep of the microwave—all sound like musical notes?
27 min
150
Tyrannosaurus FX: What dinosaurs really sounde...
The sound design wizardry behind the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park, and how these sounds compare to what dinos REALLY sounded like.
23 min