Preview
Humans are born into a wondrous planetary chorus. The whistles of dolphins. The trill of a bird. The pop and crackle of trees. But today, many of us rarely hear anything other than ourselves. In a world teeming with sound, what happens when a species only listens to itself?
Join us on a journey into the heart of a quiet revolution—a listening renaissance. We’ll meet a global community of listeners devoting their lives to paying attention to what other beings are saying. Flowers that can “hear” their pollinators. Coral larvae that use sound to find reefs. Turtles, long considered silent, with rich acoustic lives. And everywhere we listen, we discover there’s more to hear.
In this season of Threshold, we investigate what it means to listen to the nonhuman voices on our planet—and the cost if we don’t. With mounting social and ecological crises, we ask what happens when we tune into the life all around us.
Episodes
Episode 1
The Slime of Life
For most of our planet’s existence, the Earth was quiet. The boisterous sounds of life we know today are a recent development, one that the growing field of bioacoustics is helping us understand and interpret. In this episode, we travel to Australia to listen to dolphins and meet the microbes that helped usher in life on the planet.
Episode 2
Unk Boop Kwa
Beneath the water lies a whole world of sound: snorts, boops, croaks, grunts. Fish, it turns out, have a lot to say, and they’ve been communicating for a long time. In this episode, we take a dive with some of the planet’s oldest vertebrates.
Episode 3
Emergency Services
Coral reefs are some of our planet’s most beautiful and biodiverse habitats. They’re also rich with sound, a bustling marine metropolis whose future is severely threatened by climate change. In this episode, we discover the important role of listening in coral communities.
Episode 4
Do You Hear What I Hear?
What is sound? And what does it mean to listen? In this episode, we take a closer look at sound: what it is, how it works, and how what you hear may not be the same as your neighbor.
Episode 5
Common Sense
Insects invented song. They’ve developed a multitude of ways to listen. But insects couldn’t have evolved these complex skills without plants. In this episode, we explore the interconnected acoustic lives of insects and plants.
Episode 6
Coming December 24th
Interludes
This season we’re offering something new: Hark Interludes. Published periodically, these brief, immersive listening experiences will explore how we can notice and appreciate sound in our everyday lives.
Interlude 1
Isen Låter Så
The planet is filled with unexpected and magical sounds … all you have to do is listen.
Interlude 2
Hey Bear
Sometimes we have to be loud when we want to be quiet.
Extras
We want to hear from you!
Do you have questions about our latest season, Hark? Want to know more about where and how we reported on the world of sound? Are you interested in the behind-the-scenes at Threshold?
Submit your questions for an upcoming ask-us-anything episode to outreach@thresholdpodcast.org.
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Original illustrations by Cannaday Chapman
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