The sound of Late Night television is a complex beast with many moving parts. In this episode, we step inside the daily hustle of Broadcast Mixer Fred Hedemark as he and his team bring the sound of Late Night with Seth Meyers to life. Along the way, Fred reveals the highs and lows of working on a high-adrenaline, live-to-tape TV show, and shares some never-heard recordings from his years on the show. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free. If you know what this...

What do you call it when you’re homesick for a place you’ve never been? Is there a word for letting books pile up in your house without reading them? How about weather that looks beautiful out the window, but that you wouldn’t want to go out in? For this episode, we worked with Babbel to bring you our second annual Untranslatable Words challenge. In it, resident linguist Grace East pits the Twenty Thousand Hertz crew against each other in a hilarious and enlightening multilingual game...

Hans Zimmer is responsible for some of the most iconic film scores of the last 35 years. So how does one person create so much amazing music? It turns out, he doesn’t do it alone. In this episode, Hans Zimmer’s incredible team pulls back the curtain to reveal their extraordinary creative process, and uncover the secrets behind the otherworldly music of Dune. Featuring Raul Vega, Taurees Habib, Suzanne Waters, Tina Guo, and Steve Mazarro. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire...

All over the world, there are unique and breathtaking sounds that you can only hear in one specific place. In this episode, we travel to two of the most astounding sonic wonders in the United States. The first is a hidden sound installation in Times Square that might be the most visited art exhibit on Earth. The second is an enormous organ built right into the rock of an ancient Virginian cave. These stories originally aired on the Atlas Obscura podcast. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to...

If you listen to vintage music, one of the first things you’ll notice is the complete lack of bass. But turn on a Top 40 station today, and you’ll hear song after song with deep, sub-ratting bass tones. So how and why did this change happen? For this episode, we worked with OnePlus to tell the story of our collective obsession with bass, and the one device that transformed the sound of popular music. Featuring hip-hop legend DJ Jazzy Jeff and Roland's Paul McCabe. Buy the OnePlus Buds 3,...

For more than three decades, it was common for American companies to put on “industrial musicals” for their employees. These elaborate productions could rival Broadway shows, and featured original songs about the company and its products. And while this music was never intended for the general public, once you hear it for yourself, you might just get hooked. This is a story about bathroom remodeling, corporate art, and one man’s obsession with a forgotten corner of pop culture. Featuring...

Today, virtually every streaming platform has a sonic logo, from HBO’s classic “Static Angel” to the iconic Netflix “Tudum.” For Hulu, standing out in such a crowded marketplace has been a process of experimentation and revision. In this episode, we chart the evolution of Hulu’s sonic branding across 5 unique sonic logos. Along the way, the creative team shares unused alternate versions for the first time, and breaks down how they used AI to test their latest sound. Featuring Dan Capstick of...

The world of sound is full of great stories. To get in touch with your sonic world, follow Twenty Thousand Hertz right here in your podcast player. If you’re already a listener, send this trailer to someone you know would love the show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For our fourth annual Mystery Sound Game Show, we pitted the winners from the past three years against each other. The result? Chaos and hilarity. So unclog your ears, put on your listening cap, and get ready to play along. Featuring Travis McElroy, John Lagomarsino and Emily Jankowski. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit and Facebook. Sign up for Twenty Thousand Hertz+ to get our entire catalog ad-free. If you know what this week's mystery sound is,...

From electric guitars to samplers to drum machines and beyond, the music we love is only possible thanks to the technology used to create it. In many ways, the history of popular music is really a history of technological innovation. In this episode, we partnered with BandLab to unpack four inventions that changed music forever. Featuring author and journalist Greg Milner. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. Sign up for Twenty...

The world of headphones is a deep rabbit hole. With thousands of options and endless technical jargon, it’s hard to know which factors really matter, and which ones are just marketing gimmicks. In this episode, we cut through all of the gobbledygook, and break down the ins and outs of headphones to help you find your perfect pair. Featuring Wirecutter’s resident headphone expert Lauren Dragan. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit, Twitter, and...

Since the earliest days of commercial radio, companies have been using sound to worm their way into our brains. And over the decades, they’ve come up with all kinds of sonic tactics to make us want, crave and remember their products. In this episode, we take a whirlwind tour through the sounds of persuasion. This story was adapted from Under the Influence with Terry O’Reilly. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. Sign up for...

The sound of a roaring combustion engine is a fixture of modern life. But as electric vehicles become more and more common, these mechanical sounds will gradually be replaced with artificial tones that have been designed from scratch. And once self-driving cars start to take over, there will be an even bigger need for creative and intuitive sound design. In this episode, we explore the future of car sounds with Audio UX Co-Founder Dexter Garcia and Creative Consultant/Futurist John...

For more than seventy years now, filmmakers have been using and reusing a particular scream. Without a doubt, this is Hollywood’s most famous sound effect. Many people even know it by name. But despite how widely-known this sound is, lots of people still don’t know its surprising origin story. To set the record straight, we’ve remixed one of our classic, early episodes. Featuring Steve Lee, sound designer, film historian, and creator of the Hollywood Sound Museum. Watch our video shorts on...

In recent years, the dialogue in movies and TV shows has gotten harder and harder to understand. No one seems to agree on who or what the main culprit is, much less how to fix the problem. In this episode, we wade into the murky waters of The Great Dialogue Debate, and maybe, just maybe, find a solution. Featuring Production Sound Mixer Tom Curley and Slashfilm Senior Writer Ben Pearson. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit, Twitter, and...

Mark Mangini is one of the most prolific sound designers of all time. He’s been credited on over 150 films, including Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Aladdin, Space Jam, The Green Mile, Anchorman, Mad Max: Fury Road, Dune, and tons more. In this episode, Mark joins us to count down six of our favorite sonic moments from his career, and reveals the secrets behind how these iconic sounds were made. This episode was made in partnership with Pro Sound Effects. Share your sound stories with us! Record...

Many of us talk to ourselves in our heads pretty much all day long. But it turns out that there are plenty of people who don’t. In fact, thinking comes in many shapes and sizes, and no two minds are exactly alike. In this episode, we explore the peculiar world of how we think, and consider the pros and cons of inner speech. Featuring psychologists Charles Fernyhough and Russell Hurlburt, and lots of 20K listeners. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit,...

The original Zelda game featured three melodies that would come to define the franchise: the Secret Unlocked Sound, the Treasure Chest sound, and the classic Zelda theme. Throughout the series, these melodies have been transformed again and again. Each version reflects the hardware it was made for, and Nintendo’s evolving approach to these iconic games. Featuring Thomas of Thomas Game Docs, and Kirk Hamilton of Strong Songs. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us...

Music is a quintessential part of the Zelda series. And some of Zelda’s most iconic melodies go all the way back to the original game, on the Nintendo Entertainment System. These tunes were born in an age of 8 bits, and 5 lo-fi channels of audio. But those limitations forced composer Koji Kondo to make them as distilled and powerful as possible. Featuring Thomas of Thomas Game Docs, and Kirk Hamilton of Strong Songs. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on...

The history of recorded sound stretches back over a hundred and fifty years, starting with a device that could “record” a voice on a piece of paper. Today, we can enjoy lossless streaming anywhere we go… but getting here wasn’t easy. In this episode, we worked with Qobuz, the high quality music platform, to chart the history of audio mediums, from cylinders made of tin foil and wax, to vinyl, 8-track, cassette, CDs, and mp3s. Along the way, we explore the innovations and quirks of each...

Baseball fan or not, there’s one song that virtually every American knows… or at least, we think we do. “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” is one of the top three most recognizable songs in the country, next to “The Star Spangled Banner'' and “Happy Birthday.” But if you dig into the lyrics, you’ll find a forgotten message buried among the peanuts and Cracker Jack. This story comes from the Smithsonian’s Sidedoor podcast. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on...

Our vocal system is incredibly complex. What we call “the voice” starts with very precise movements of our vocal cords, and then goes through an entire “resonation system” that includes our throat, mouth, lips, tongue, and teeth. With enough control over these components, people can do some truly mind-bending things with their voices, creating sounds that feel out of this world—from rumbling lows to piercing highs, and even two notes sung at once. This episode features vocal coach Matt Ramsey...

Why do bugs make the sounds they do? And how do they make them? In this episode, we explore the un-bee-lievable world of insect sounds, including crickets who craft tools to make themselves louder, and moths who can jam the natural sonar of bats. By the time it’s over, you’ll never hear these buzzes and chirps the same way again. Featuring entomologists Natasha Mhatre and Nancy Mioreli. Watch our video shorts on Youtube, Instagram, and TikTok. Follow us on Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook. Sign...

In honor of Mental Health Awareness month, we’ve revamped one of the most personal episodes we’ve ever worked on. To create it, Dallas worked with the team from Meditative Story to tell a story from his former life as a musician. It’s about losing the thing that had defined his life for more than a decade, and finding something entirely different in the process. This remix concludes with an all-new segment where Dallas reflects on what it was like to finally share this story. Check out our...