We look around us—constantly. But how often do we listen around us? Sound is critically important to our bodies and brains, and to the wider natural world. In the womb, we hear before we see. Join John Schaefer, Jamshed Bharucha, Christopher Shera, the Danish sound artist Jacob Kirkegaard and multi-instrumentalists Polygraph Lounge for a fascinating journey through the nature of sound. How we perceive it, how it acts upon us and how it profoundly affects our well-being—including a demonstration of sounds produced by sources as varied as the human inner ear and the creation of the universe itself.

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Original Program Date: June 4, 2010
MODERATOR: John Schaefer
PARTICIPANTS: Christopher Shera, Jacob Kirkegaard, Mark Whittle, Polygraph Lounge

John Schaefer's Introduction. 00:00

Musical Introduction by Polygraph Lounge. 01:27

Participant Introductions 08:26

What makes you interested in sound? 09:45

What are the fundamentals of sound? 16:45

Can we learn to hear noise as musical? 23:48

Visualizing sound wave. 29:23

Music is about emotion... Right? 38:17

Does language get in the way of communication? 44:53

Peripheral auditory system. 54:00

Recording the sounds of the ear. 01:07:00

The paradox of hearing. 01:14:00

Polygraph Lounge makes music with stir sticks. 01:20:00

How sound describes the universe. 01:29:00

Fifty octave shift turned into music. 01:38:00

Polygraph Lounge plays us out. 01:41:25