Twenty Thousand Hertz

Podcast about sound design

Podcast

Twenty Thousand Hertz

Presentation
Hosted by| Dallas Taylor
Updates| Biweekly
Production
Production| Defacto Sound
No. of episodes| 159
Publication
Original release| 2016-10-31
Related
Website| 20k.org

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

## Overview

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* Defacto Sound website

External podcast links (?) |

* Apple Podcasts
* fyyd
* iHeart
* Listen Notes
* Panoptikum
* Player FM
* Pocket Casts
* Pod.link
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* Spotify
* RSS feed

|

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