Nursery Rhymes
Many of the songs we sing to our children are hundreds of years old, with their original meanings obscured by history. In this episode, producer Leila Battison takes Dallas on a dark, surprising journey through history’s most famous nursery rhymes and lullabies, and up through the “Baby Sharks” and “Happy Songs” of today. Along the way, they share the songs they’ve made up for their own children, and explore why this music is just as important to parents as it is to kids.
Silent Sea
Whale songs are some of the most beautiful, cathartic sounds in nature. These extraordinary creatures use sound to socialize, to mate, to find food, and avoid predators. But for aquatic animals, the sounds of human activity can be absolutely devastating. With underwater noise pollution on the rise, what can we do to ensure the survival of these amazing creatures? Featuring acoustician Al Jones, Professor John Hildebrand of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Vox Senior Producer Christophe Haubursin.
Songbugs
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.
Breathe Deep
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.
Golden
In a noisy, tumultuous world, how can we find inner peace? This episode features two stories about the transformative power of silence. In the first, the Lieutenant Governor of Washington State abandons politics to become a Jesuit novice, and takes a temporary vow of silence. In the second, a death row inmate at San Quentin discovers Buddhist practices that help to calm his mind, and embrace compassion. Featuring Cyrus Habib, Jarvis Masters, Leigh Marz, and Justin Zorn.
Tokyo Rose
In World War II, the Japanese military operated a propaganda station called Radio Tokyo. Along with jazz music, the station featured several English-speaking female announcers, who became collectively known as Tokyo Rose. But who was Tokyo Rose? And was she really the treacherous villain that the US government made her out to be? This story comes from the History Daily podcast.
Mind the Gap
The voices of subway and train announcements are deeply ingrained in peoples’ lives. Many of us hear them every day, for years on end. And yet, hardly anyone knows who those voices belong to. In this episode, we uncover the human stories behind two of the most iconic transit systems in the world: the New York City Subway, and the London Tube. Featuring NYC Subway announcer Charlie Pellett and Tube announcer Elinor Hamilton.