Twenty Thousand Hertz
Presentation
Hosted byDallas Taylor
UpdatesBiweekly
Production
ProductionDefacto Sound
No. of episodes159
Publication
Original release2016-10-31
Related
Website20k.org

Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast about "the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds".[1] Episodes are published every other Wednesday.

Overview

The show's title refers to highest frequency that can be perceived within the human hearing range (without hearing loss). It grew out of host Dallas Taylor's admiration for the podcast 99% Invisible and a desire to hear more stories like the ones they produced about audio design.[2] The show is hosted and produced by Dallas Taylor and the writer of the episode, with help from Sam Schneble.

Though the audio production company Defacto Sound, which is owned by Taylor, is the production headquarters for Twenty Thousand Hertz, he has said that the podcast is not intended as content marketing.[2] Instead of focusing on the industry of sound design exclusively, episodes focus on a variety of topics related to sound. The podcast has covered topics such as the THX Deep Note, misophonia, the Voyager Golden Record,[3] the Shure SM7 microphone, ASMR, and advertising jingles.

"Theater of the Mind", a crossover episode with the podcast Imaginary Worlds, was produced in 2018.[4] The episode explored the history of radio dramas. Episodes of Twenty Thousand Hertz have also been featured on the Radiotopia productions 99% Invisible[5][6] and The Allusionist.[7]

In May 2020, host Dallas Taylor delivered a TED Talk, "What silence can teach you about sound."[8] The talk discussed John Cage's composition 4'33", a topic which had previously been explored in an episode of Twenty Thousand Hertz.[9] In August 2020, the podcast joined the TED podcast network, but left due to unexplained reasons.[10][11] In October 2020, host Dallas Taylor was featured in "Sound and Silence," an episode of the TED Radio Hour, drawn from his TED Talk.[12]

Following a Twenty Thousand Hertz episode about audio deepfakes, host Dallas Taylor was featured in a September 2020 segment of NPR's Here & Now, discussing the topic.[13][14] Taylor was featured in a November 2020 episode of the Popular Science podcast The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week, discussing the use of animals noises in sound design.[15]

Reception

The podcast was featured in Esquire magazine's list of "The 63 Best Podcasts You Can Listen To In 2020," as well as Discover Pods "The 71 Best Podcasts of 2020."[16][17]

In 2017, OZY listed Twenty Thousand Hertz as one of "4 Podcasts that'll Make You Wish Your Commute Were Longer."[18]

Doug Fabrizio of KUER-FM says the show "challenges listeners to refine their sense of hearing."[19] In a review for 34th Street Magazine, reviewer Caylen David writes, "Twenty Thousand Hertz presents the stories of iconic sound designs in a creative way that keeps listeners wanting more. Give it a listen—you might find that the journey to create pop culture's greatest sounds is more interesting than the finished product."[20]

The show's "I'm Lovin' It" episode was chosen as one of Spotify's "Best Podcast Episodes of 2021."[21]

Awards

Award Year Category Result Ref.
Webby Awards 2019 People's Voice Award for Best Original Music / Sound Design Won [22][23]
2020 Webby Award for Science & Education Won [24]
People's Voice Award for Science & Education Won [24]
Academy of Podcasters 2017 Arts Won [25]
Adweek's Podcast of the Year Awards 2021 Best Innovation Podcast Won [26]
Ambies 2022 Best Production and Sound Design Won [27]

References

  1. ^ "What's that sound?". The Daily Star. 2020-01-16. Archived from the original on 2020-02-13. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  2. ^ a b "Twenty Thousand Hertz mixes sound design and storytelling for a fantastic podcast". Discover Pods. 2017-08-16. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  3. ^ "The Voyager Golden Record deconstructed on the Twenty Thousand Hertz podcast". Boing Boing. 2019-04-22. Archived from the original on 2019-06-17. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  4. ^ "Theater for the Mind". Imaginary Worlds. Archived from the original on 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  5. ^ "NBC Chimes: Behind the Scenes with the First Trademarked Sound". 99% Invisible. 29 November 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-10-19. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  6. ^ "Classic Cartoon Sound Effects!". 99% Invisible. 12 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  7. ^ "Allusionist 63: Evolution of Accents". The Allusionist. 15 September 2017. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  8. ^ "What silence can teach you about sound". TED.com. May 2020. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  9. ^ "4'33". 20k.org. Defacto Sound. 2020-01-22. Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  10. ^ "r/20k – After 4 years, 99 episodes, multiple Webby Awards, and over 18 million downloads... we're joining TED! AMA!". reddit.com. 5 August 2020. Archived from the original on 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2020-08-09.
  11. ^ "Twenty Thousand Hertz Joins TED Family of Podcasts". Pressparty.com. Archived from the original on 2022-05-03.
  12. ^ "Sound And Silence". NPR.org. 2020-10-16. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  13. ^ "Deepfake Dallas". 20k.org. 2020-09-02. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  14. ^ "Can We Believe Our Ears? Experts Say To Heed Caution As Audio Deep Fake Technology Advances". wbur.org. 2020-09-28. Archived from the original on 2020-10-21. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  15. ^ "Imagine traveling to the moon only to realize you're allergic to it. One astronaut did". popsci.com. 2020-11-25. Archived from the original on 2020-11-26.
  16. ^ Nicholson, Tom (2020-12-07). "The 63 Best Podcasts You Can Listen To In 2020". esquire.com. Archived from the original on 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  17. ^ "The 71 Best Podcasts of 2020". discoverpods.com. 2020-12-15. Archived from the original on 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  18. ^ Pathak, Sushmita (2017-09-10). "4 Podcasts That'll Make You Wish Your Commute Were Longer". OZY. Archived from the original on 2019-09-04. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  19. ^ Fabrizio, Doug (2 November 2018). "Twenty Thousand Hertz". radiowest.KUER.org. Archived from the original on 2018-11-02. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  20. ^ David, Caylen (2020-12-11). "Sound Design Matters: A Review of the 'Twenty Thousand Hertz' Podcast". 34st.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-12. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
  21. ^ "Best Episodes of 2021". Spotify. Archived from the original on 2021-12-01. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  22. ^ "Twenty Thousand Hertz". The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 2020-02-12. Retrieved 2020-02-12.
  23. ^ Liao, Shannon (2019-04-23). "Here are all the winners of the 2019 Webby Awards". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2020-02-13.
  24. ^ a b "Twenty Thousand Hertz". winners.webbyawards.com. The Webby Awards. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-10-23.
  25. ^ "Academy of Podcasters: Past Winners". Academy of Podcasters. Podcast Movement. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017.
  26. ^ "Here Are 2021's Adweek Podcast of the Year Winners". Adweek. 13 December 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2021-12-13.
  27. ^ "Best Production and Sound Design (sponsored by PRX)". Ambies. Retrieved 2022-12-09.

External links

External podcast links (?)
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