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
176
The Price is Right: The drama behind TV’s catc...
The story behind one of the most recognizable TV show themes ever.
18 min
177
The Loudness War: Can streaming finally end it?
We take a deep dive into the Loudness War, and look for signs of hope in the modern age.
32 min
178
The [COMPRESSED] history of music mastering
A look at the mystical art of mastering from its analog beginnings to the digital world of today.
27 min
179
You’ve Got Mail: The voice behind AOL
The most recognizable 3 words of the early internet age + the birth of a whole new musical instrument.
20 min
180
From Spinal Tap to The Simpsons: Voice acting ...
How to find your voice.
18 min
181
Hear Here: The messy history of architectural ...
The story of how acoustics changed our history, and how we might use it to better our world today.
19 min
182
What makes Stradivarius violins so special?
The story behind the most valuable violins in the world.
22 min
183
808: The drum machine that changed music forever
The story of the drum machine that (accidentally) changed music forever.
23 min
184
Soundmarks: AT&T, United Airlines, and inventi...
How sonic branding shapes a brand.
26 min
185
Deaf Gain: The promise and controversy of coch...
The story of how a revolutionary implant sparked a human rights movement.
22 min
186
Plants That Listen (and some that sing)
For plants and the people who love them.
20 min
187
Sonic Illusions: Can you really trust your ears?
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
188
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
189
Sound Escapes: Nature’s untouched soundtrack
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
190
The Voyager Golden Record: Humanity’s message ...
The most epic album of all time isn’t even on Earth. It’s over 11 billion miles away.
31 min
191
Bird Translation Guide: Decoding Tweets, Hoots...
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
192
Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone numb...
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
193
The Booj: The secret sound formula behind bloc...
The story of the sounds you always hear in movie trailers, but never noticed... until now.
22 min
194
Dining on Decibels: Why are restaurants so noisy?
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
195
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
196
Blue! 42! How helmet radio changed the NFL
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min
197
Silence: Dispatches from the quietest place on...
Dallas is locked into an anechoic chamber to experience how our brains process complete silence.
21 min
198
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
199
Boots ’n Cats: The scientific secrets of beatb...
The evolution & science of beatboxing.
21 min
200
Being George Clooney: Dubbing Hollywood celebri...
Explore how Hollywood films are adapted for foreign languages.
30 min