You're listening to 20,000 Hertz. I'm Dallas Taylor.

For the last century, our society has been car crazy. Here in the U.S., the average person spends

220 hours each year just driving to work

and back. Now, I'm the type who likes to drown out the sound of my car with music and podcasts,

but there's a lot of sonic stuff going on under the hood. I've also met so many people

who absolutely adore the sounds that a car can make. Now, I've never been much of a car

enthusiast myself. I don't

know why. I love sound and it seems like a natural fit. So right now is the time for me to finally

get to the bottom of this and figure out why the sound of car engines can be so visceral to so many

people. If you're a skeptic like me, this is especially for you. First things first, I really need some help.

Luckily, we have a resident car enthusiast right here in the office, Nick's Bradlin.

Hey, Nick. Hey, Dallas. So tell me, how did you come to enjoy the sound of a car engine?

You know, I started by just liking cars. When I was a kid, I was at a car show

with my dad every weekend. There's just always around them. You can't help but notice the sound of a

powerful car when you go to a hot rod show or any kind of car show. You know, you're standing there

just kind of watching the cars parade by and one comes by and it's just like thundering and

just feels so powerful. It's so visceral and alive sounding.

As a car person, you just enjoy that. And I think later in life when I became a sound professional,

I started to think about where those sounds were coming from and understood it in a little bit different way.

So you're a sound designer and I'm a sound designer. What have I been missing out by not being this car enthusiast?

I think we have to start from a place of if an engine is the soul of a car or the heart of a car,

then the sound of the engine is the voice of the car.

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