Podcast Episodes
Back to Search
From Klingon to Dothraki: How sci-fi languages shape worlds
Episode 111
Sci-fi and fantasy creators often use constructed languages (or conlangs) to help us believe that the characters come from ancient times or distant g…
5 years, 8 months ago
Space Audity: The challenges of space communication
Episode 110
We've all heard the iconic recordings from the Apollo missions. But how exactly does NASA manage to run live audio between Earth and the moon? And ho…
5 years, 8 months ago
Sonic Utopia: Can we build a better sounding world?
Episode 109
Technology has the power to transform the way our world sounds. It could even give us entirely new ways to experience our surroundings. In this episo…
5 years, 9 months ago
The Cyborg, The Scientist, and the Death of Silence
Episode 108
Sound surrounds us, even in the quietest moments. But depending on how we hear, the world can be a different auditory experience for each of us. This…
5 years, 9 months ago
Dies Irae: The death melody haunting Hollywood
Episode 107
For hundreds of years, composers have been using a specific four-note melody to evoke death. It's appeared in dozens of famous movies, and you probab…
5 years, 9 months ago
Perfect Pitch: Unlocking Jacob Collier’s musical brilliance
Episode 106
People with perfect or "absolute" pitch hear every single sound as precise musical notes. Is this extraordinary talent a blessing or a curse? In this…
5 years, 9 months ago
Tyrannosaurus FX: What dinosaurs really sounded like
Episode 105
When you imagine the sound of a dinosaur, you probably think of a scene from the Jurassic Park movies. How do sound designers make these extinct crea…
5 years, 10 months ago
Napster: How free music broke the industry
Episode 104
In less than two years, Napster became a global sensation... and then record labels and multi-platinum artists brought it crashing down. But in its s…
5 years, 10 months ago
Vocal Discords: When nodules silence singers
Episode 103
Musicians like Justin Timberlake, Adele, Björk and Rod Stewart have all had surgery to treat vocal nodes. Nodes are so widely discussed, they've almo…
5 years, 10 months ago
Deepfake Dallas: How AI learned to speak like me
Episode 102
Using artificial intelligence, someone can make an algorithm that sounds just like you. And then they can say... whatever they want you to say. We're…
5 years, 11 months ago