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
Virtual Choir: 8,000 Voices, One Song
The story of the internet choir connecting people from around the world to share the joy of singing.
25 min
177
The Price is Right: The drama behind TV’s catc...
The story behind one of the most recognizable TV show themes ever.
18 min
178
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
179
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
180
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
181
From Spinal Tap to The Simpsons: Voice acting ...
How to find your voice.
18 min
182
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
183
What makes Stradivarius violins so special?
The story behind the most valuable violins in the world.
22 min
184
808: The drum machine that changed music forever
The story of the drum machine that (accidentally) changed music forever.
23 min
185
Soundmarks: AT&T, United Airlines, and inventi...
How sonic branding shapes a brand.
26 min
186
Deaf Gain: The promise and controversy of coch...
The story of how a revolutionary implant sparked a human rights movement.
22 min
187
Plants That Listen (and some that sing)
For plants and the people who love them.
20 min
188
Sonic Illusions: Can you really trust your ears?
Our hearing can be deceiving.
20 min
189
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
190
Sound Escapes: Nature’s untouched soundtrack
Sound Tracker Gordon Hempton gives us a masterclass on how to listen.
28 min
191
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
192
Bird Translation Guide: Decoding Tweets, Hoots...
The story of how birdbrains produce the most complex sounds in the natural world.
24 min
193
Phone Tones: The hidden language of phone numb...
The touch tone sounds from our phones might be slowly going extinct.
22 min
194
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
195
Dining on Decibels: Why are restaurants so noisy?
The story behind how restaurants became so darn loud.
21 min
196
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
197
Blue! 42! How helmet radio changed the NFL
How headsets revolutionized American football.
23 min
198
Silence: Dispatches from the quietest place on...
Dallas is locked into an anechoic chamber to experience how our brains process complete silence.
21 min
199
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
200
Boots ’n Cats: The scientific secrets of beatb...
The evolution & science of beatboxing.
21 min