About this episode
<p>Audiologists are concerned there may be a rising tide of 'hidden hearing loss' among young people. As electronic prices have fallen, sound systems have become cheaper and more powerful. At the same time, live music events and personal music players are more popular than ever, resulting in an increase in noise-related hearing damage. </p><p>Aged 32, science writer Frank Swain is losing his hearing. In this programme, he asks what the future holds for people like him, part of a tech-savvy generation who want to hack their hearing aids to tune in to invisible data in the world around them. </p><p>Could these designers and hackers create the next super sense? </p><p>(Photo: Graphic design shows an ear with computer sound waves. Credit: Getty Images)</p><p>Credits: </p><p>Sound files of tinnitus kindly provided by Action on Hearing Loss. Free Helpline: 0808 808 0123.</p><p>Sonified data produced by Semiconductor, with audio courtesy of CARISMA, operated by the University of Alberta, funded by the Canadian Space Agency. Special thanks to Andy Kale. </p><p>Colour music created by cyborg artist Neil Harbisson.</p>
Listen to this episode in English to learn English
Podcast episodes are one of the highest-density ways to absorb English at native pace. Hack my Hearing from Discovery gives you natural dialogue, unscripted speech, and vocabulary that actually appears in real conversations.
In the Clue app, every word in the transcript is tappable. Tap an unknown word, see the translation in your language instantly, and keep listening without breaking flow.
Episodes to Learn English
- The friendly virus Jun 22, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Dean Lomax Jun 15, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Helen Hastie Jun 8, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Seth Berkley Jun 1, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Hiranya Peiris May 25, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Washington Yotto Ochieng May 18, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Lucy Carpenter May 11, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Jens Juul Holst May 4, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Jim Ashworth-Beaumont Apr 27, 2026
- Inside Universe 25 Apr 20, 2026
- Dark Breath Apr 13, 2026
- Superbugs: Resistance Rising Part 3 Apr 6, 2026
- Superbugs: Resistance rising, part 2 Mar 30, 2026
- Superbugs: Resistance rising, part 1 Mar 23, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Jehane Ragai Mar 16, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Tony Juniper Mar 9, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Pierre Friedlingstein Mar 2, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Julia Simner Feb 23, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Caroline Smith Feb 16, 2026
- The Life Scientific: AP De Silva Feb 9, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Eleanor Schofield Feb 2, 2026
- The Life Scientific: Peter Knight Jan 26, 2026
- Frontiers of Earth Science Jan 19, 2026
- Frontiers of Space Science Jan 12, 2026
- What is Quantum? Jan 5, 2026
- The Life Scientific: George Church Dec 29, 2025
- The Life Scientific: Gareth Collett Dec 22, 2025
- The Life Scientific: Sonia Gandhi Dec 15, 2025
- The Life Scientific: Mark O'Shea Dec 8, 2025
- Waking up with a different voice Dec 1, 2025