Body Electric: Your earbuds and you—what all that listening is doing to us

0:00This message comes from Charles Schwab with their original podcast, Choiceology. Choiceology is a show about the psychology and economics behind people's decisions. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash podcast. Hey, TED Radio Hour listener, it's Manoush. So last fall, we did a special series called Body Electric, which was all about how our tech habits are impacting our physical health. Today, we are continuing that series with an investigation into what all our earbud and headphone listening is doing to our hearing. If you like this episode, go check out the Body Electric feed for more.

0:40All the episodes from Season 1 are there, plus we've been doing new 5-minute walk and talks with people who are trying to get more movement into their screen-filled lives. I hope you'll join us. Meanwhile, enjoy this episode.

0:59Hey, it's Manoush. And have you ever considered what we needed to listen for thousands of years ago? That rumble in the distance. Is a storm coming? How about those birds? If you run fast enough, maybe you can catch dinner. Just in time for a nice chat with your family by the fire and maybe a little music on the drum. But what about today? How are you listening right now? Did you just boost the volume on your earbuds because of a wailing siren? Or maybe you've got noise-canceling headphones on, and you are completely tuned out to the world around you. I recently tried talking to people about their headphone habits in downtown Brooklyn.

1:51Sorry, sorry, can I just ask you? Dozens of people passed me by. You have to go to class. Okay, no worries. Avoiding eye contact and definitely not taking their earbuds out to stop and chat. A question about wearing headphones? I got totally blown off. She had her headphones on and looked really annoyed. So we put together a little listener focus group instead. I do kind of have an issue with always needing to be listening to something. I wear my noise-canceling headphones, listening to music at least eight hours a day. I have them up so loud, like louder than anything around me and my surroundings.

2:31I do kind of have an addiction, really, to just listening to something, being bombarded with noise. Over half a billion pairs of headphones were sold in 2023. That's nearly double the number sold in 2013. And over that decade, a lot of us stopped ever leaving the house without our earbuds, AirPods, Beats. Pick your listening device. Heck, a lot of us don't walk around inside the house without them on. What is all that listening doing to our ears? I'm Manoush Zomorodi, and this is Season 2 of NPR's Body Electric, An investigation into the relationship between our technology and our bodies. In Season 1, we delved into how all our screen time is affecting our eyes, our posture, our ability to focus.

3:24Today, let's talk about how our devices are impacting our hearing. And no, it does not escape me that you might be listening to this very episode with headphones, which should prompt you to listen even more closely to some statistics. The World Health Organization recently predicted that over 1 billion young adults aged 12 to 35 are at risk of permanent avoidable hearing loss due to unsafe listening practices. I would add that a lot of us older people are rushing towards early hearing loss too. Part of the problem is going to noisy restaurants, bars, and concerts. But also, one group of researchers estimate that about one out of four of us are exposed to what they call excessive noise from personal listening devices.

4:18All that noise can give us headaches, trouble sleeping, stress. But those big numbers that you're hearing, yes, they're alarming, but there's not a lot of nuance in them. When researchers say excessive, what exactly do they mean? How loud is too loud? How long is too long? What about noise-canceling headphones? Does it matter what we listen to or whether we listen on headphones or earbuds? So it's only been fairly recently that we've had the technological means to actually start to really assess in an accurate fashion not only how long people are listening, but also how loud. We have more than 180 ,000 participants in this study, and that's a lot of people, as you might imagine.

5:03In a minute, we delve into the details with the guide doing a first-of-its-kind study into the impact of our headphone habits on our health. And later, I'll explain what the future of headphones looks like. We'll be right back.

5:23This message comes from the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Did you know that every six minutes, someone in the U.S. is diagnosed with Parkinson's? It's the fastest growing brain disease in the world. Chances are, you or someone you know is impacted by Parkinson's. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is on a mission to find a cure. Now is a critical time for Parkinson's research, and your support will help drive progress toward a cure. Get involved today. Visit michaeljfox.org slash getinvolved.

6:20Ready to bring your visions to life? Learn how at AmazonBusiness.com. This message comes from NPR sponsor Fixable, a podcast from TED. Hear unfiltered expert advice from CEO Ann Morris and Harvard business professor Francis Fry on how to build, regain, and maintain your confidence. Find Fixable wherever you listen. This message comes from the Hartford. Every day, they make business insurance easy, or easier anyway. And when it comes to business insurance for midsize and large businesses, they know just how complex it can be, and businesses rely on them to make the complex challenges less so. That's why at each step, from quotes to claims to everything in between, The Hartford is devoted to making it easier.

7:06Connect with your underwriter at The Hartford or visit thehartford.com. Okay. Can you still hear me? I can, yes. Hey, Manoush. Hey, how you doing? Here, I'm... Rick Neitzel is a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. And I've spent the majority of my career studying noise exposures in the workplace and to the public and how those exposures might harm people's health. And despite all those global health warnings I shared with you earlier, he says there's still a lot we don't know. You know, one of the issues with headphone or any kind of audio listening is historically we haven't had a lot of good data to even be able to answer a question like, are we listening more or less or the same?

7:50So starting in November 2019, we launched the Apple Hearing Study, which is a partnership between Apple and the University of Michigan. And this is really a first-of-its-kind study intended to better understand what are people exposed to in terms of sound in their daily lives. Over 180 ,000 people have volunteered to share data from their Apple devices with the Michigan team. And they really want to know three things. One is, of course, how high are we setting the volume on our headphones and earbuds? Two, how long are we listening? Are you rocking out for hours every day? Or maybe you blast a political podcast in the morning and then you listen to soft jazz in the evening.

8:36And third, they're measuring the noise happening around us. How loud is our environment? Are we listening at higher volumes because of that? And then for the first time ever, we're also actually able to deliver a hearing test, even several different types of hearing tests, to those participants via their phone so we can start to link those exposures to potentially changes in hearing health. There's a speech and noise test. Different speech with different levels of background sound. to allow us to assess how well they can hear in the presence of background sound. And a tinnitus check-in. For people who are experiencing ringing, roaring, buzzing, whistling that people perceive in their ears, this allows them to take the test and essentially match what they're hearing in their head to what we play on the phone.

9:27And if we see changes, we can start to evaluate, well, among people whose hearing changed, What did their exposures to sound look like? Were they more exposed to sound in the general environment or more exposed to headphone sound? And so statistically, we can start to connect those changes to differences in the environment with the goal of understanding do people who, for instance, listen to their headphones at very high volume for long periods of time or do people who live in very dense city settings who have very noisy surroundings, are those folks more likely to have changes or negative impacts on their hearing compared to folks who don't have those behaviors?

10:09I know that the study is ongoing, but you are already figuring out a few things, right? Absolutely. So we've documented that about one in three of our participants are exposed to noise levels from their environment that are above what the Environmental Protection Agency and the World Health Organization consider safe. So that's alarming. But I think the duration really is the key thing that's just grown tremendously. That is the top line. We are listening to louder sounds and we are listening for longer amounts of time. And so, as he continues to do the research, Rick has some best practices for us to put into use right now.

10:54You ready? Okay. First, dig into your phone settings. You can put a limit on your max listening volume, like Rick does for his 15-year-old daughter. I like to be able to set the volume to know that no matter how loud she wants to listen to it, it will only go up to a certain volume. That gives me comfort in terms of protecting her hearing health. And I do the same thing on my own phone. Obviously, we're mostly focused on Apple devices in this conversation. And here's something funny strange. Apple's volume limit is set to 75 decibels. And the recommendation is for 70. What the heck, Apple? For the record, though, I checked my iPhone and my volume was set to 80 decibels, which Apple says could lead to temporary hearing loss if I listen for around five and a half hours a day.

11:46Ugh. Which brings us to Rick's next tip. Don't just focus on how loud. Consider duration, too. It's not just how loud or how intense that exposure is, but very much how long does it last and how often does it happen. And I do want to emphasize that your ear can totally handle high levels of sound if they are relatively short. What we're trying to avoid here are high levels of sound that you're having for prolonged periods of time, hours at a time. Finally, Rick says when it comes to choosing earbuds or headphones, the design doesn't really matter. What does matter is that noise-canceling feature that most of them have these days.

12:29Use it, especially in loud places. So you're essentially providing yourself a little bit of protection. For instance, if you're riding on a really noisy subway, cutting down on that background sound, which lets you cut down on your listening volume. So those are both wins for your ears. A caveat, though. For those of you who have headphones or earbuds that let you choose noise-canceling or noise transparency, When appropriate, the transparency setting is totally fine. It provides some protection for your ears and it's safer if, let's say, you're walking in a busy area and you'd like to hear the bus coming around the corner.

13:08Yeah, it's a great point. I routinely run with my earbuds in and I use that transparent mode. So there's some active noise cancellation, but it's letting in especially kind of sharper acute sounds like someone shouting a warning to you. And so you're already getting some protection just from having that device in your ear. If you've done all these things, but you're still worried, Rick has a low-tech hearing test you can give yourself. Anybody can do this. So if you know that you're going to do something really noisy, let's say go to a concert or go to a noisy worksite for your job, before you go and do that noisy thing, if you put on your listening device and turn onto a podcast and turn it down so you can just barely hear the podcast, don't change any of the settings on your phone.

14:00Go do that noisy thing, the concert, the club, whatever. And if when you're done with that, you put your listening devices back on and you turn that podcast back on and you can't hear the audio anymore, you have suffered a temporary hearing loss. I can virtually assure you that if you then, for instance, go and sleep overnight, not changing any more settings on the phone, and take that same quick test in the morning, you should be able to hear the audio again. So this is your ear's way of saying, hey, that was too much sound. I'm basically temporarily stunned and not working as well. And given some time to recover, I'll get back to my normal hearing levels.

14:42I'm just thinking, Guns N' Roses, front row, 1991. Oh, fabulous. Did not go well. I couldn't hear for days. Yes, and so that's exactly this phenomenon. It's called a temporary threshold shift. So hearing thresholds are what we're measuring when we do a hearing test. And if you have a temporary shift in those thresholds, that means typically it takes you a bit more sound to hear something that you would hear normally because your ears have essentially been temporarily damaged. But too many of these temporary threshold shifts, and you could end up with a cumulative long-term problem. Each one of those instances can add up to a permanent irreversible hearing loss.

15:25And as most people with noise-induced hearing loss will attest, you don't really notice that hearing loss until it's so far gone that it's impacting the quality of your life, your communication. So it's a very insidious disease that typically takes years or even decades to develop. But once it's developed, we don't have a way to reverse it. Hearing aids can help, but they don't fix or cure the problem, which is why the prevention side that I'm so focused on is so important and critical in this fight against noise and hearing loss. So is it good to like take breaks? Like some days don't listen at all or maybe after an hour of listening, give yourself an hour off.

16:06Is there any prescribed sort of cadence of listening that you can give people? Yeah, it's a great question. And so the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, and the World Health Organization, the WHO, both agree that if we can keep everybody's exposure on average below 70 decibels, which is a little bit louder than you'd be talking to someone or that I would be talking to you if we were sitting at the same table three feet apart. So if we can keep people's on average exposure below that level, we essentially eliminate any risk of hearing loss from noise. It's a truly safe level. Now, as people start to exceed that level, they can do one of two things.

16:49They could have a higher exposure, but for a shorter amount of time. Or they could start to program in breaks to give their ears some rest. You know, I find when I spend any time in a very high noise environment, I just start to feel stressed and anxious. And noise certainly is something that activates our fight or flight response. So, in fact, noise exposure, chronic noise exposure to relatively high levels is actually linked to cardiovascular disease, to heart attacks, to strokes, to high blood pressure. And we think that's essentially because it is activating that fight or flight response, which can be quite toxic if it's happening for extended periods of time.

17:33So, you know, keeping an eye out or an eye inwards, as it were, to just sort of take stock of how you're feeling, that can be another way to sort of assess if the noise is impacting you. Yeah, it makes me think when people, especially young people who we know are reporting feeling more anxious and depressed even than ever, asking themselves, what have my listening habits been? That seems like an important one to add to the list of not just screen time or social media time, but just – I don't know that we necessarily think about listening. I would totally agree with you. What I don't want to do is dismiss the benefits of listening to music.

18:15You know, when I listen to music, I find it to be very calming. It can be, of course, extremely enjoyable. So, you know, occasional noise exposure is totally okay. Listening to music is totally okay. It's beneficial at the right level. We just want to make sure these exposures stay down at that safe level and don't creep up into the level where they might cause harm over time. I am going to try to do the basics of what Rick suggested. My AirPods are set to 75 max decibels. I am not going to turn them up when I walk past the very loud construction in my neighborhood. In fact, on certain blocks, I will make sure I have noise-canceling mode turned on to protect my ears.

18:59But also, I think I'm just going to put my AirPods in my pocket more often, too. Listen to the birds when I can. Maybe even stop and talk to my fellow dog walkers. Rick Neitzel is a professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. He and his team are still recruiting participants for their Michigan Public Health Apple hearing study. We will put links in the show notes. And when we come back, I'm going to round up the future of headphones for you. It is kind of insane what is on the horizon for our hearing. This message comes from NPR sponsor Walmart.

19:41Did you know that Walmart is one of Fortune's 100 best companies to work for in 2025? It's no surprise. Walmart is investing$1 billion in training and development to help associates build lasting careers with or without a degree. In fact, 75 % of Walmart management started in hourly roles. With benefits like health care, paid parental leave, and tuition support, Walmart isn't just a place to work. It's a place to grow. Learn more at walmart.com slash spark. Okay, we're back. So when I asked Rick Neitzel why Apple was collaborating, what's in it for them? He told me he doesn't speak for the company, of course.

20:25But his sense is that Apple recognizes that these extremely powerful computers we carry around all day can help us better understand our own behavior and our health. And he hopes his work helps them design hardware and software that minimizes the risks. And to be clear, say what you will about the price point or market tactics of the company. But Apple's accessibility features have long been praised by people who are hard of hearing. There's a sound recognition setting that can alert you when noises are detected, like the doorbell or smoke alarm. There's also a setting called Live Listen that basically turns AirPods into a decent hearing aid.

21:09Audio is sent from the microphone on your device to your headphones, so you can hear more clearly. Rumor has it that Apple will officially have a hearing aid mode in the next software update. More people with access to assistive technology. That is a good thing. But let's be real. All of these companies want us to use their products all the time. So, to make it easier to talk and wear earbuds simultaneously, the newest models from all the big companies have something called a speech detection feature. Whenever you start talking, it pauses what you're listening to. This way, you never have to take your earbuds out.

21:53Like, ever. And they may soon be collecting a lot more of our personal data. In 2023, Apple filed a patent to put in sensors like an EEG for detecting brain activity into these AirPods of the future, meaning they could collect and interpret your brain waves. Maybe they'll use that to coach you to meditate better or track your emotions as you look at ads. Who knows how AirPods will be used? And actually, we should fix something. Industry people have been referring to all of these technologies as consumer hearables. I saw a demo of another new hearable that will be on the market soon. Do you remember the movie Her?

22:41Is that weird? Do you think I'm weird? Well, you seem like a person, but you're just a voice in a computer. Yeah, that's kind of what the IO1 is. These supercharged earbuds are for chatting with your personal AI bot all day long. No smartphone needed. They also let you tune into the discussion happening at the end of the table at a noisy dinner party. Yeah, I know. Which is kind of cool. Unless those two people are trying to have a conversation about you. Okay. Have you been trying to get less screen time and move more? then I hope you have been listening and moving with our recent five minute episodes.

23:23I am walking and talking to folks about how they are trying to balance work, technology, and their health. I've talked to a listener in South Carolina who is struggling. I talked to the head researcher at Columbia who discovered that five minute breaks are the gold standard. I've also talked to a notable author. Maybe you're a fan of hers. I hope you'll listen along as you take a break from your screen. If you are not taking breaks, we have a quick start guide to get you going. And also it's a weekly newsletter now with more information and motivation to keep you going. Just go to npr.org slash body electric to sign up.

24:04You can also find me on Instagram. I'm going to be putting other information and tips about these episodes on there. Also sharing my personal experience with trying to live better with my technology. Come say hi. Tell me about your experience. I'm at Manoush Z. Meanwhile, thank you so much for listening to this episode and giving us some time and hopefully not too much volume in your ears. This episode was produced by Katie Monteleone and edited by Sana Zmeshkenpour. Original music comes from David Herman. Our audio engineer was James Willits. Special thanks to Colin Campbell, Fiona Guerin, and Ariel Redding.

24:46I'm Manoush Zomorodi, and you've been listening to Body Electric from NPR.

25:09Get started with your own design studio with hundreds of ready-to-use templates. Shopify helps you build a beautiful online store to match your brand's style. If you're ready to sell, you're ready for Shopify. Sign up for your$1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com slash NPR. This message comes from NPR sponsor Fixable, a podcast from TED. Hear unfiltered expert advice from CEO Ann Morris and Harvard business professor Francis Fry on how to build, regain, and maintain your confidence. Find Fixable wherever you listen.