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Every Little Thing

Why One Horrible Sound Haunts Reality TV. Plus, Is That Bug Threatening Me?

Every Little Thing

Gimlet

Comedy, Education, Science

4.64.6K Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2018

⏱️ 17 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Who put the tension in reality TV? ELT tracks down the source of the nail biting-sound you can’t unhear. Plus, cicada killer wasps — a backyard horror story, turned intervention. Guests: sonic puppetmaster Rick Livingstone; cicada killer wasp expert Chuck Holliday. Thanks to callers Caitlin and Stephanie. Have a question that needs answering? Call the ELT Help Line #(833) RING ELT. To find a list of our sponsors and show-related promo codes, go to gimlet.media/OurAdvertisers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

At the tone, please record your message.

0:05.0

Hi, Flora, I have a factual emergency.

0:09.0

So we're watching a lot of reality TV because that's all we do and there's a sound that

0:15.0

comes up on every single show my boyfriend thinks it's like the verbal like

0:20.9

sound of like oh shit but in like a squeaky loud siren noise.

0:25.4

We'll play it for you one second.

0:27.3

All this next.

0:31.3

That's like what what is that?

0:34.6

Caitlin, thank you for your question.

0:37.8

Describe the sound you called about.

0:39.8

It's just, it sounds like knives getting sharpened in some sort of like workshop.

0:44.4

It's like a...

0:45.4

Is that it?

0:52.4

Is that the sounding question?

0:54.1

It is the sound, the sound.

0:55.8

Yes. And there's a lot of different like subtleties to it too.

0:58.1

It's like sometimes it's quiet, sometimes it's loud, sometimes it's quick,

1:00.7

sometimes it's short.

1:01.8

But then there's the whole side of like,

1:03.4

what does it feel like?

1:05.1

And it feels like someone just said something really

1:08.5

crungy and you're making that like emoji like,

...

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