Radiolab – "Voice" (September 26, 2025)

Overview

This Radiolab episode, hosted by Lulu Miller along with producers Matt Kilty and Annie McEwen, embarks on a layered exploration of "The Voice." Through storytelling, science, interviews, and personal narratives, the episode looks at where the human voice comes from, the power it holds over us, and what it gives (and takes) from us. The show is suffused with empathy, curiosity, and the inventive Radiolab sound universe.

Structure

The episode explores three “layers” of the voice:

1. Origins – Evolution of the voice, from ancient fish to modern humans
2. Power Over Us – How voices, especially a mother’s, shape our brains and relationships
3. The Power it Gives (and Takes Away) – The story of Alice Wong, the Passy-Muir speaking valve, and what it means to lose and reclaim voice

1. Where the Voice Comes From

[00:01 – 24:50]

Key Points

• The hosts introduce "voice" as a multilayered construct: a musical, emotional, and profoundly physical phenomenon.
• They are joined by John Colapinto, author of This Is The Voice, who traces the voice back 400 million years.

Evolutionary Origins

• The story begins in the age of fishes: a random genetic mutation (a pouch in the throat) becomes the first lung.
• This “hole” or slit, essentially a sphincter, both allows breathing air and accidentally creates the proto-vocal organ—the forerunner of our vocal cords.

"That slit, that valve, that became our vocal cords...And our vocal cords remain a valve."
— John Colapinto [07:40]

• These early “voices” were little more than fart-like noises (both literally and evolutionarily).
• As life moved onto land and lungs evolved, so did the sophistication of vocal sounds, especially with mammals developing diaphragms and intricate facial/tongue musculature.

Quote / Memorable Audio

"The first sounds heard on Earth were very fart-like."
— John Colapinto [10:45]

• The “voice” develops into a tool for dominance, attraction, and later, nuanced emotional expression.

The Voice as Identity

• Vocal abilities—made possible by a complex system of muscles, lungs, diaphragm, and vocal folds—become a distinct “sonic fingerprint,” unique to every individual.

"400 million years of evolution to all these parts of your body that eventually allow you to escape your own body...Your voice is you. Your sonic fingerprint."
— John Colapinto [20:48]

2. The Power the Voice Holds Over You

[24:51 – 52:25]

Key Points

• The episode shines a light on how voices affect our brains—specifically, the profound connection between a child and their mother's voice.
• Clinical researcher Daniel Abrams discusses studies which show:
  • Fetuses recognize their mother’s voice in the womb (as early as 18 weeks).
  • Hearing mom’s voice increases fetal heart rate—a sign of recognition and arousal.

The Stanford Experiments

• Abrams and his team at Stanford had children (ages 7-12) listen to recordings of nonsense words read by their mothers as well as strangers, while undergoing fMRI scans:
  • For a stranger’s voice: little brain activity.
  • For mother’s voice: reward centers "firing like crazy."

"The moment [the child’s] mom spoke, all these regions...would start firing like crazy. The sex, drugs, and rock and roll part of your brain. And mom."
— Lulu Miller [35:52]

• In adolescence, however, this flips: teens' brains found unfamiliar voices more rewarding than their mother's.

Quotes & Memorable Moments

"It validates something I experience in my life—anytime you say something [to your teenager], you get this negative kind of reaction. Everything becomes this big internal eye roll."
— Matt Kilty’s Mom, Beth McKeown [44:05]

• Both mothers and scientists note this is a healthy part of development—a process of separation needed for autonomy.

The Trajectory of Voice Relationships

• Early on, the mother’s voice is a child’s whole world; adolescence means turning toward other voices, finding one’s own.

3. The Power Voice Gives (and Takes)

[52:26 – 1:33:55]

Key Points

• The deeply personal story of Alice Wong, activist, author, and disabled rights champion, who loses her speaking voice due to muscular dystrophy and a tracheostomy.

Alice’s Voice(s):

• Alice’s wit and personality once shone through her “distinct” ventilator-aided voice; after losing it, she uses a computer-generated text-to-speech voice, which she describes as, “robotic, clinical, and white” [1:00:52].

"I just tolerate [the computer voice], and I bet she tolerates me. Hahaha...[but] it feels robotic and hollow to me. I miss laughing and all the sounds I can make that make people laugh."
— Alice Wong [1:03:00]

• She tries the Passy-Muir valve—a device invented by disabled engineer David Muir that could potentially restore her voice, but repeated attempts fail.

Dignity Through Speech

• Alice wrestles with the phrase “dignity through speech,” found on information about the valve’s inventor; she contends that dignity is not bound to having a speaking voice.

"Silence does not mean a person is voiceless, as there are millions of non-speaking people who use gestures, sign language, writing technology, and other means to communicate with the world. I live in a world of silence that is not lesser or devoid of richness. My reality is just different."
— Alice Wong [1:10:32]

The Story of David Muir, Inventor of the Passy-Muir Valve

• Through interviews with David Muir’s parents, the show recounts his life: diagnosis with muscular dystrophy, love of communication, losing his ability to speak after a tracheostomy, and inventing the valve that let him and others speak again.

• The device’s origins are described with vivid emotional detail—David’s father jury-rigging a prototype with duct tape and a ventilator valve.

"I thought I was just doing it for me, but there were all these other people out there waiting to have that."
— David Muir (archive audio) [1:22:51]

Reflections

• Alice is moved by David’s story but stands by her view: “If he hadn’t regained his speech, he would still have dignity.”
• She experiments with AI-generated voices based on her past speech, but ultimately decides they no longer represent her.

"The more I thought about it, I realized it’s no longer who I am...I am still me to some extent from the before times, but I miss the old me. I am changing. We all are changing."
— Alice Wong [1:29:33]

• She closes by describing new modes of perception and connection in her silent world, showing that meaning and presence go beyond spoken sound.

"It’s also a more perceptible, gentle world. I am sensing and seeing and feeling more now that I am in the solitude of this silent world. I am absorbing things more than before."
— Alice Wong [1:31:06]

Notable Quotes

• On Evolutionary Humility:

  "The first sounds heard on Earth were very fart-like." — John Colapinto [10:45]

• On the Brain’s Reward Circuit:

  "It’s the sex, drugs, and rock and roll part of your brain. And mom." — Lulu Miller [35:52]

• On Adolescent Independence:

  "The rejection of the mom's voice is the beginning of finding your own." — Annie McEwen [48:03]

• On Technological Voice Replacement:

  "This is something I don’t really need to live, but it makes me feel a bit better about myself. But…the more I thought about it, I realized it's no longer who I am." — Alice Wong [1:28:18, 1:29:33]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:01 – 24:50]: The evolutionary story of voice, from fish to mammals to human speech.
• [24:51 – 52:25]: How our brains respond to voices—childhood attachment, the power of a mother’s voice, and adolescent rebellion.
• [52:26 – 1:33:55]: Alice Wong’s story: losing and redefining the voice; the Passy-Muir Valve and its inventor; voice, dignity, and new modes of communication.

Engaging and Memorable Moments

• The surprising, humorous link between the evolutionary beginnings of voice and fart sounds [10:45].
• Hosts and guests attempt to imitate prehistoric fish “voices” and joke about the “layered lasagna” analogy for voice [06:20, 11:05].
• Personal, poignant reflection from Alice Wong on what it means to lose her speaking voice, and what it means to communicate beyond words [1:03:00, 1:29:33].
• The emotional resonance of David Muir’s family recalling his drive to communicate—and how his invention literally gave others a “voice.”
• The subtle but powerful commentary on inclusivity, technology, and the evolving meaning of selfhood and dignity as new communication tools emerge.

Final Thoughts

Radiolab’s “Voice” is a rich meditation on the biology, psychology, and social meaning of this “symphonic” human faculty. From the comic roots of the vocal system to the intimacy of motherly sound, and finally to the reimagination of self for those whose voices change or disappear, the episode is at once entertaining, thought-provoking, and moving. Its layered structure mirrors the “lasagna” of voice itself—a marvel millions of years in the making.

Further Listening/Reading:

• Alice Wong’s website: disabilityvisibilityproject.com
• Alice Wong's books: Disability Intimacy, Year of the Tiger
• John Colapinto, This is the Voice