Have you ever stood in front of a piece of very abstract art at a museum, and been like, “Ok. I don’t get it.” Of course you have. And then you look at the small placard below it, and it gives you some explanation, and all of the sudden the abstract colors, shapes, and lines come together in a way that makes sense? Yeah. That’s how I hear.

Well, anyway, it’s how I hear NPR. I learned how to listen to – and understand – podcasts from well-written descriptions about each episode to help me out. Let me explain.

Ok, let’s face it. I needed a better conversation starter than “did you hear about the new features in Google Analytics?”

So, regrettably, I can say with authority that Google’s search algorithm is not the subject matter useful in scoring a certain young lady a date. For my social sanity (and date-ability), I needed some better subject matter.

As it turns out, NPR has help for a gal like me. Did you know that the reason we find the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard so unbearable is that the frequency mimics that of a primal warning call. So, you hear that high-pitched sound and the “you’re about to get eaten by a predator” stress hormone is released. Pretty interesting, right!? Next time you cringe with that sound, you’ll know why. I learned this from my roommate, Callie, who’d heard this on an NPR show. Callie also tells me cool stuff like this every day.

Eager for better subjects of conversation than our company’s mobile app challenges,  I donned my Bose over-the-ear headphones, holding my cochlear implant-assisted hearing confidence sky high and started off with “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!” Wait. Wait. Tell me. Seriously, WHAT is going on here? It was confusing. I didn’t know what they were saying. I said to myself:

“Oh there’s too much ad-libbing going on, too many overlapping speakers. I’ll try ‘This American Life,’ so that I can get a vignette on people’s lives around the country.”

Tried that too, and it was too unpredictable in what people were talking about. Some were talking about farms. Others were talking about growing plants on skyscrapers. I was lost.

Listening doesn’t come naturally. Context helps.

I was bummed. So I went back to listening my books on tape via Kindle and then it dawned on me that I listen well when I have context, and an expectation for what I am about to hear. You see, I may be able to hear well with a cochlear implant and appreciate the sounds around me, but it’s the processing of the sounds that makes all the difference. My brain has to analyze the sounds that have come through, but with hearing not being natural for me, I have to help out my brain a little bit. So in order for me to help myself, I need as much information as possible, and that comes in from understanding the context in which the words are coming from. Like, when I’m on the phone with someone, a picture of the person – to know whether I’m speaking to a man or a woman, an older person or a child, a person whose first language is English or Spanish – all those things really help me put the words together in my head. I can come to expect certain cadences, accents, and tonation. You do it too – I think we all do – but for me, hearing is a full time job, so I pay attention a little more.

With that said, having as much detail about the content provides the needed context for effective listening and processing. It narrows the field of words in our dictionary to a specific subject or topic. For example if you are listening to a sports station, you know NOT to expect hearing words like “telescope” or “mitochondria” in commentary, so you temporarily throw out the science dictionary in your brain. Rather, you’d think about all the sports terminology that you know and listen out for words like “players,” “ball,” or “homerun.” So in a sense, it really helps to already have that “listening vocabulary” in place.

How It’s Done (and not done)

With this realization, podcasts like “This American Life” or “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me” have too wide of a range of content for me to zone in on. It’s too unpredictable for me to understand what might be said within a segment. (Absolutely not a slight on “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell me!” It’s just the current-events and calling-in nature of this show.) This is an example of a description that doesn’t help me very much:

Show: “Wait, Wait…Don’t Tell Me!“

Title: “Who’s Carl This Time?”

Description: Carl Reads three quotes from the week’s news: European Vacation, RSVPing the Grand Old Party and Rapture Redo.

So what am I supposed to prepare myself for? Maybe a Chevy Chase reference here and there. Likely something about a new potential presidential candidate from the GOP who I haven’t heard of before, and talk about fireballs never coming down from the skies for the rapture that didn’t happen. It’s simply not enough background for me to know already to be able to follow along. Don’t get me wrong, I keep up with the news on a daily basis, but not fast enough.

Well, compare that description to this one:

Show: HowStuffWorks

Title: “How Igloos Work.”

Description: Igloos were created by Inuit Indians as temporary houses to use on fishing and hunting expeditions. Learn about igloos and find out how to construct an igloo.

Now, isn’t that a nice description! I know exactly what I’m going to get into, so I’m prepared myself to hear words like “Inuit”, “igloos,” “cold,” “Alaska,” and “ice.” I certainly do not expect to hear words like “cement,” “mortar,” or “nails” because based in my 1st grade social studies education, they did not use those materials to build Igloos. Going off from the knowledge that I already have about the Inuit and their lifestyle really helps, and from there, I can build off my foundation and learn even more. Plus, I mean, who DOESN’T want to talk about igloos at their next cocktail party?

Want to Give it a Try? Some Podcasts to Get You Started

So to my deaf & hard of hearing friends who want to give listening to NPR a try, I suggest that you really focus on podcasts that give you just enough detail and description so that you can more easily process what you hear. Here are ones that I’ve found to have great contextual descriptions that allow you to be able to follow along:

The Splendid Table

How Stuff Works (There’s a lot more under this umbrella, like “Stuff You Missed in History Class“…)

Now, whether this has been a way for you to think about the way you hear and listen to content differently, or a way to think about the way you create audio and video content in a way that’s more accessible, you can think of me as your own personal placard below the abstract concept of hearing for a deaf person. And if you’ve got any more suggestions for podcasts with great contextual descriptions – send ‘em my way!

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