Soundproofist

Ingrid Buday founded "No More Noise Toronto!" after enduring a consistent and measurable increase in noise since 2019. She collects data by using noise meters and mapping the results from a public survey she calls "Not 311," where anyone can submit noise and location data. In this episode of Soundproofist, she describes some of the community organizing and data-collection strategies that got the attention of municipal government. Dr. Arline Bronzaft in New York City also joined us for this conversation.

Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan has a long and diverse history.  It could be described as an "East Side - West Side" story, because the neighborhood -- divided by Broadway -- is starkly different on each side.  Lucina Chavez-Rosique began measuring and documenting the decibel levels across the neighborhood. She's collecting noise data and resident stories to measure the  impact of noise on the community from a socioeconomic point of view. Her goal is to provide actionable recommendations to New York City leaders, based on a resident-created noise map. Listen here to learn about some of the unique noise issues in this community, the history of the neighborhood, and the challenges that lie ahead.

Topher White uses technology to detect illegal logging in rainforests. You might have seen stories about how he repurposed old cellphones and powered them with solar panels to listen remotely in the forests. While collecting this audio data, he uses AI tools to identify the specific sounds of chainsaws and trucks to send alerts to local officials.

His organization, Rainforest Connection, has been successful in reducing illegal logging in protected areas. Now he has a new project underway, called "Delta." This new tool is geared towards home users. They can deploy it in their backyards or on camping trips and other outdoor excursions. Delta can collect sounds and help users learn more about the local wildlife around them and even build stories about the animals over time.

In this podcast, we'll discuss the evolution of the Rainforest Connection, their first innovative tool (known as "The Guardian"), and the details of their newest tool, Delta. This new product will become available through a Kickstarter campaign starting on June 20, 2023.

Imagine hearing loud gunfire in your home or school all day long. A community in Cranston, Rhode Island has struggled with this issue for the past few years, and they're protesting against it.  Their local police department practices at an outdoor shooting range across the street from a residential neighborhood and a high school. The target practice at that range has increased up to 12 hours per day. Longtime residents are pushing back and asking the department to relocate or to enclose the gun range. 

In this episode, we hear from two residents, a psychiatrist, and a neuropsychologist, who discuss the impact on their Cranston neighborhood and the effects of gunfire noise on humans.

When New York City resident and urban planner Jimin Park found herself surrounded by urban noise, she decided to do something constructive about it. She created an app called "Right Avenues," which residents can use to file noise complaints to 311 and identify the type of noise and the location so that it can be tracked on a map and viewed by the public. Ultimately the app can be used to aggregate noise data for problem-solving, or choose a quieter place to live, or change policy. Learn more about the Right Avenues story in this episode.

In this second episode of the "Ask Arline" series, New York City psychologist and noise expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft answers some questions about urban environmental noise.  We cover cars with exceptionally loud engines to people blasting loudspeakers late at night, and bars and clubs with outdoor noise that keeps people awake. Dr. Bronzaft shares some of the solutions that get used in New York, and which might be applicable to other cities as well. 

New York City psychologist and noise expert Dr. Arline Bronzaft answers some questions about neighbor noise.  In the first episode of this mini-series from Soundproofist, Dr. Bronzaft answers common concerns about how to deal with neighbors who stomp their feet overhead, noise from romping children while you're trying to work from home, how to delicately approach neighbors with loud bedroom activities when you're trying to sleep, what to do if criminal activity is happening in your building with lots of people  coming and going, and neighbors with incessantly barking dogs. Listeners are encouraged to submit their own noise questions to Dr. Bronzaft for future episodes.

During the height of the COVID pandemic, human-generated ocean noise from freight shipping and recreational boating nearly stopped. Because some locales measure oceanic noise with hydrophones, open-source data offered lots of useful raw data. Artash Nath, a student researcher, analyzed some of this data to demonstrate how ocean noise impacts marine mammals and by what measure the noise was reduced when human activity stopped. He shares these findings on his website, Monitor My Ocean.  We spoke with Artash about these insights in episode 26 of Soundproofist.

Residents of India's vibrant and populous cities experience loud noise that can damage their health. We spoke with  Sumaira Abdulali, a leader in environmental and noise issues in the state of Maharashtra. For over 20 years, she's advocated for residents of Mumbai and other cities and helped to implement policy change. As a result, her work has improved the quality of life for millions of people. In this podcast episode, we talk with Sumaira about how she began her work, the challenges along the way, and the successes.

Imagine if 160 helicopters flew over your home every day. That's what many residents of New York City experience. And the noise is disrupting their sleep, parks and recreation, and even pedestrian and bicyclist safety.  Soundproofist talked with representatives from Stop the Chop NY/NJ -- an organization that's working to legislate guidelines to manage a growing number of non-essential helicopter flights over the most densely populated metropolitan area in the U.S.  Join us in an informative conversation with Stop the Chop's Melissa Elstein, Andy Rosenthal, and Adrian Benepe.