The “Soundscape” Heard ’Round the World
The rich origins of an everyday word about everyday sound—and why we celebrate composer R. Murray Schafer on World Listening Day.
Tuskegee University’s Audio Collections
The archives of the historically Black Tuskegee University recently released recordings from 1957 to 1971, with a number by powerful civil rights leaders.
The Sonic Triumph of American Graffiti
In 1973, George Lucas joined forces with sound designer Walter Murch to celebrate a bygone era. They ended up revolutionizing the role music plays in film.
How to Hear Images and See Sounds
Artists Shannon Finnegan and Andy Slater talk accessibility, transdimensional hearing, alt-text as poetry, sound descriptions, and Instagram captions for McSweeney’s Audio Issue.
Wait, There’s Noise Pollution at the Bottom of the Ocean?
Anthropogenic sounds have made it all the way down into the deepest place on Earth—Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench.
Recalling City Sounds During a Quarantine
The New York Public Library presented the city with the gift of its own "missing sounds" during the coronavirus crisis.
The Problems with Supersonic Flight
Supersonic aircrafts are much faster than typical passenger planes. Unfortunately, there are some downsides.
A History of Noise
What's noisier, nature or civilization? Whether we consider the sounds of nature to be pleasant or menacing depends largely on our ideologies.
Why Human Echolocators Will Never Be As Precise As Bats
Research seems to indicate that human echolocation is surprisingly sophisticated, and may aid a deeper understanding of hearing and sensory perception.
Is Human Noise Stressing Out Protected Wildlife?
A survey in the United States found that in more than half of protected areas human-caused sounds significantly increased background noise levels.