Why Are Restaurants So Loud? Plus the Science Behind the Perfect Playlist

Gastropod

Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley

Science, Food, History, Arts

4.7 • 3.5K Ratings

🗓️ 14 May 2024

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

When you go out for a meal, it’s not just what's on your plate that matters, it's what's in your eardrums, too. From dining rooms so loud you have to shout to be heard, to playlists that sound like a generic Millennial Spotify account, it's not surprising that sound is the single most complained about aspect of restaurants. This episode, Gastropod explores the science behind the sonic experience of eating. Are restaurants really getting louder, and, if so, why? What does it take to create the perfect acoustic environment for dining? Can restaurateurs design their playlists to make customers order more or eat faster? Listen in now for the secrets to culinary acoustic bliss! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's loud, deafening, cacophonous.
0:05.0	It's a nightmare.
0:07.0	Oppressive.
0:08.0	Nate and Charlie Harding are the hosts of a great podcast called Switched on Pop.
0:12.0	It's a show about the making and meaning of
0:13.8	popular music. But this is not their review of the latest Beyoncé or
0:18.1	Taylor Swift album. It is instead their uncensored feelings about a thing many of you will be familiar with.
0:25.2	I'm talking about the horrific assault on the eardrums mounted by many, if not most, restaurants today.
0:32.7	Charlie and I live on opposite coasts.
0:34.7	Charlie's in New York City.
0:36.6	I'm in Los Angeles.
0:38.6	So on the rare occasion that we get together,
0:42.2	you know, we have a lot to discuss and when we find ourselves in a restaurant I think we're always looking for the table that's kind of in a corner furthest away from the speakers furthest away from the speakers, furthest away from the
0:55.0	hosts and the servers where we can just have a little quiet place to discuss
0:59.1	because I think it's it's the restaurants are loud these days.
1:02.3	We can sympathize with this.
1:04.3	And we, of course, are Gastropod,
1:06.4	the podcast that looks at food
1:07.8	through the lens of science and history.
1:09.6	I'm Nicola Twilly.
1:10.6	And I'm Cynthia Graber.
1:11.7	And we have many questions about why restaurants sound the way they do.
	...

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