Your earbuds and you: What all that listening is doing to us

Many of us wear earbuds for hours at a time, sometimes all day long, and all that listening is taking a toll on our hearing. This episode, host Manoush Zomorodi investigates our headphone habits. She speaks with exposure scientist Rick Neitzel, who has partnered with Apple to create a first-of-its-kind study into how our daily sound exposure and listening patterns are affecting our hearing. Neitzel offers advice on safe listening habits that can help protect our ears in the long term. Later, Manoush takes us into the future of "consumer hearables" and how tech companies want us to never — ever— take our earbuds out. Interested in joining the Apple Hearing Study? Sign up here. Binge the whole Body Electric series here. Sign up for the Body Electric Challenge and our newsletter here. Talk to us on Instagram @ManoushZ, or record a voice memo and email it to us at BodyElectric@npr.org. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy