Podcast Summary: Decoder Ring | The White Noise Boom

Slow Burn by Slate Podcasts
Host: Willa Paskin | Date: July 2, 2025

Overview

This episode of Decoder Ring explores the rise of white noise and sound-masking tracks as both a widespread aid for sleep and focus—and a booming business. Host Willa Paskin delves into the personal stories of creators, the science behind noise, its historical context, and its abrupt eruption into the algorithm-driven economies of Spotify, YouTube, and the app ecosystem. The episode digs into how—and why—we are drawn to control our sound environments, and what this reveals about contemporary anxieties, technological shifts, and the commercialization (and possible commoditization) of "quiet."

Key Discussion Points

1. Parenting Desperation and the Turn to White Noise

• [00:37–04:21]
  • Elon Uhlendorf's personal struggle to get his newborn to sleep underscores the appeal and absurdity of white noise solutions.
  • Desperation leads to technology: "We turned to white noise." (Elon Uhlendorf, 01:46)
  • Attempts escalate from voice assistants to absurd homemade recordings: shushing, layering voices, adding a heartbeat—all to lull a baby.
  • Revelatory moment: Spotify Wrapped exposes "Shh. Peaceful Shushing Mother's voice (Loopable)" as Elon's top song.

2. Explosion and Repetition of Noise Tracks Online

• [04:21–06:11]
  • The overwhelming number and near-indistinguishability of available noise tracks on platforms like Spotify and YouTube.
  • Question arises: Is this endless duplication wasteful—or does it serve a real need?
  • “It’s both how many options there are and how little I can tell the difference between those options.” (Elon Uhlendorf, 04:21)

3. Who Makes the Sound of Quiet? Artisans and Algorithms

• [06:11–13:49]
  • Introduction to Dr. Stefan Pigeon (mynoise.net), a sound engineer passionate about the art and science of noise.
  • Exploration of what "white noise" technically is:
    • “White noise is a signal that includes all the frequencies in equal intensity that humans are able to hear.” (Stefan Pigeon, 11:33)
  • Differences between white, pink, and brown noise; practical applications beyond sleep.

4. The Listener-Turned-Entrepreneur: Brandon Reed

• [13:49–17:47]
  • Brandon Reed’s story—initially making brown noise for his newborn, stumbling into viral success on Spotify.
  • Spotify’s podcast library’s algorithm doesn’t distinguish noise tracks, fueling explosive growth in “noise podcasts.”
  • “I just remember grabbing that EQ bar and … that is pleasing to my ear.” (Brandon Reed, 15:04)

5. The Business of Noise: Discovery to Boom

• [17:47–29:56]
  • Mac Haygood (Miami University professor) explains the ancient roots behind fighting sound with sound for control and agency.
  • History of noise-masking devices:
    • 1960s: James Buckwalter invents the Sleepmate, marketing noise as a sleep aid.
    • Late 1960s: Irv Teibel sells “Environments” LPs, positioning nature sounds not just for masking but for psychological utility.
  • Analog devices give way to white noise apps on smartphones, vastly multiplying noise access.

6. Noise as a Job and Art Form

• [29:56–35:55]
  • Stefan Pigeon leverages his expertise to launch myNoise, offering customizable soundscapes.
  • Reed’s Spotify podcast balloons into a company (Dwellspring) and sustains a full-time job.
  • “I'm so grateful to devote a full time on creating noises, which is a crazy but so passionate job.” (Stefan Pigeon, 33:12)

7. The Passive Income Gold Rush—and the Slop

• [35:55–38:32]
  • Noise podcasting attracts copycats and aspiring passive-income seekers, leading to an explosion of both creative and low-effort content.
  • “It's not just happening on Spotify…YouTube is full of white noise videos too, and full of tutorials…” (Willa Paskin, 36:20)
  • Yet, the need for specific, often deeply personal sounds (e.g., laundromat hum, hospital beeps) shows a human side to the demand.

8. The Unsaturated Market and Infinite Demand?

• [38:01–39:06]
  • Despite the abundance, Reed argues the market isn’t close to saturation:
    • “Who sleeps? Everybody. Everybody sleeps. Who is stressed … everybody?” (Brandon Reed, 38:13)
  • Host challenges the notion, wondering if desire for more noise will ever be satisfied.

9. AI: The Future of Noise Creation?

• [39:06–41:41]
  • Contemplates the possibility and implications of AI-generated noise supplanting human creators.
  • Elon experiments: Prompted an AI to create a shushing track, only to get eerie, unsettling results.
  • “What I described as Foley artist B roll for a horror film… like monsters.” (Elon Uhlendorf, 41:12)

10. When White Noise Is… Just Noise

• [41:41–43:24]
  • Elon Uhlendorf finds himself converted, but his partner now can’t stand white noise—highlighting its subjective impact.

11. Is Our Need for Noise Healthy?

• [43:24–46:57]
  • Mac Haygood raises concern: Are we becoming more sensitive, isolating ourselves by over-managing our soundscapes?
  • “Ironically, the more we try to manage the sounds around us, the more sensitive to sound we become.” (Mac Haygood, 43:57)
  • Reference to ancient myths (Orpheus) as a counterpoint—a reminder to occasionally embrace, rather than filter out, the world’s sounds.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Elon Uhlendorf on desperation:
  “There were some really profound, absurd moments of desperation…one of us had to hold both of her arms down and the other had to shake a shaker in front of her face for like 10 minutes.” ([00:53])

• Stefan Pigeon on noise magic:
  “White noise is a signal that includes all the frequencies in equal intensity that humans are able to hear.” ([11:33])

• Brandon Reed on his origin story:
  “If I had a toggle that was like, make private, I would have done that.” ([15:59])
  —on unintentionally sharing his brown noise track with the world.

• Mac Haygood on noise as agency:
  “We're fighting sound with sound in order to have a kind of agency, in order to have a way to control your own consciousness.” ([20:09])

• Irv Tybel on the power of environmental records:
  “And we actually put out sounds that you can ignore that you just have it on and on and on, and you don't get tired of it because you never really listen.” ([27:30])

• Brandon Reed on market saturation:
  “I would not be where I am...if I didn't believe that we're not even close to saturation in our market. Like, it's not even close.” ([38:13])

• Elon Uhlendorf on AI-generated noise:
  “What I described as Foley artist B roll for a horror film.” ([41:12])

• Mac Haygood on the risk of over-managing sound:
  “The more we try to manage the sounds around us, the more sensitive to sound we become.” ([43:57])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:37–04:21: Parenting, desperation, and discovery of white noise
• 06:11–13:49: Science & artistry of noise (Stefan Pigeon explains frequencies, origins of myNoise)
• 13:56–17:47: Brandon Reed's accidental entrepreneurship and Spotify algorithms
• 20:09–29:22: History—Sleepmate, psychedelic nature LPs, and the boom with smartphones
• 30:01–35:47: Making noise a living (Pigeon, Reed)
• 35:55–39:06: Passive income wave, personal sound requests
• 39:06–41:41: AI’s (currently flawed) attempt at creating soothing noise
• 43:24–46:57: Psychological and social questions about our need to filter our world

Tone & Approach

• Conversational yet investigative: Willa Paskin guides listeners through quirky personal stories, expert interviews, and carefully woven sound design.
• Mixes gentle humor with earnest curiosity, inviting listeners to reflect as much as learn.

Final Reflections

The episode leaves listeners pondering not just how and why we use white noise, but also at what cost—and whether our endless quest to control the sonic world may be making us more sensitive, more isolated, and less open to the unpredictable music of ordinary life. Rather than prescribing easy answers, the show suggests we consider when to filter—and when to listen.

Further Resources & Guest Links

• mynoise.net (Stefan Pigeon’s customizable sound generators)
• Dwellspring.io (Brandon Reed's company)
• Mac Haygood’s “Hush: Media and Sonic Self Control”
• Elon Uhlendorf’s Substack: Escape the Algorithm

End of Summary