Relearning Boléro: How our brains rewrite the...

The “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle is one of the most recognizable melodies on Earth. But the story behind it involves a global competition, thousands of mixes, a Trojan Horse pop song, and a surprising amount of celebrity beef. In this updated version of one of our favorite episodes, we ...  Show more

Our 2026 Listener Story competition continues with five more incredible listener-made pieces. In this Silver collection, you’ll hear the surprising craft behind mechanical keyboards, the natural sounds hidden in Indian ragas, and how learning a new language can transform noise in ...  Show more

In the same way optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. This raises a fundamental question: What is hearing, and how much of it is made up by our brains? This is the first episode of our new six-part series, Making Sense. You can find more of Diana D ...  Show more

We love listening to music at a ridiculous level of detail. But the other day we heard a podcast that made us fundamentally question the accuracy and reliability of our own listening skills. In it they played a familiar melody, “Yankee Doodle,” in such a way that we couldn’t reco ...  Show more

How do we hear? What parts of our brain respond to sound? And how can we use vibrations to expand the way we enjoy music? In this episode of How We’re Wired, join evolutionary anthropologist Dr Anna Machin on a sensory journey exploring the world of sound, and how we hear it. We’ ...  Show more

Just like optical illusions trick our eyes, audio illusions can trick our ears. It makes scientists wonder: What exactly are we hearing, when we're hearing? This is the first episode of our new four-part series, The Sound Barrier. Guests: Diana Deutsch, emeritus professor at the ...  Show more