Twenty Thousand Hertz+

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

Design
Arts
Music Commentary
151
Hear Here!
The story of how acoustics changed our history, and how we might use it to better our world today.
19 min
152
Stradivarius
The story behind the most valuable violins in the world.
22 min
153
808
The story of the drum machine that (accidentally) changed music forever.
23 min
154
Soundmarks®
How sonic branding shapes a brand.
26 min
155
Deaf Gain
The story of how a revolutionary implant sparked a human rights movement.
22 min
156
Plants that Sing
For plants and the people who love them.
20 min
157
Sonic Illusions
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
158
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
159
Sound Escapes
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
160
Voyager Golden Record
The most epic album of all time isn’t even on Earth. It’s over 11 billion miles away.
31 min
161
Birdsong
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
162
Phone Tones
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
163
The Booj
The story of the sounds you always hear in movie trailers, but never noticed... until now.
22 min
164
Dining on Decibels
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
165
Do Not Disturb
The story of how alarms and alerts came to rule, and endanger, our lives.
24 min
166
Blue! 42!
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min
167
Silence
Dallas is locked into an anechoic chamber to experience how our brains process complete silence.
21 min
168
Space Remix
A completely remixed version of our favorite episode, where we explore what other plants sound like.
19 min
169
Boots 'n Cats
The evolution & science of beatboxing.
21 min
170
Being George Clooney
Explore how Hollywood films are adapted for foreign languages.
30 min
171
Xbox Startup Sound
How the designers of the Xbox startup sounds overcame tight parameters to come up with an iconic audio logo.
21 min
172
Theater for the Mind
The stories behind the golden age of sci-fi and horror radio dramas.
29 min
173
The Theremin
The story behind this infamous, spooky-sounding instrument.
25 min
174
Classic Cartoon Sound Effects!
How were old cartoon sounds made, and how did they become so iconic?
27 min
175
Twenty Thousand Hertz
A behind the scenes look at the inspiration and creation of Twenty Thousand Hertz.
31 min