The Hearing Matters Podcast: Hearing Aids, Hearing Technology and Tinnitus

Send us Fan Mail What if hearing care felt as welcoming as shopping for your favorite frames—personal, stylish, and on your terms—without losing the steady hand of a clinician? We dive into the origin and design of BLUEMOTH'S hybrid model that merges direct-to-consumer convenience with prescription-grade audiology, built to reduce stigma while preserving quality. We revisit the turning point...

Send us Fan Mail The quietest moments often matter most—like a morning “good day” you can’t hear or a whispered joke that never lands. We sat down with writer and hearing loss advocate,  Gael Hannan , to explore how hearing loss reshapes intimacy and what it takes to bring ease back into everyday connection. From the first minutes of the day to late-night check-ins, she shows why small, intentiona...

Send us Fan Mail What if public sound worked like Wi‑Fi—discoverable, labeled, and just a tap away? We sit down with Dr. Dave Fabry and Dr. Heike Heuermann to explore Auracast, the new Bluetooth broadcast audio that lets a single source stream to many listeners at once, from hearing aids to everyday earbuds. No more chasing the wrong gate call or straining to hear through echoes; you choose your c...

Send us Fan Mail What if the biggest upgrade in your fittings isn’t the chip, but the craft? We sit down with industry veteran Ray Woodworth to unpack why the best results happen when technology, anatomy, and hands-on skill align. From the clinic to the factory floor, Ray shares how working alongside engineers reshaped his approach to ear impressions, venting, receivers, and fine tuning—and why hu...

Send us Fan Mail A high-pitched dental drill and suction shouldn’t drown out the most important sound in the room: a patient’s voice. Blaise Delfino sits down with Dr. Michael Walker (dentist) and Dr. Jamie Hand (audiologist) to unravel how modern hearing protection can quiet drills and suction without muting crucial communication, and why tinnitus may be the first warning sign long before a heari...

Send us Fan Mail What if connecting to the right sound felt as simple as joining Wi‑Fi? We dive into Auracast and Google Fast Pair with Dr. Heike Heuermann, to show how broadcast audio, lower latency, and smarter pairing are about to make hearing aids—and earbuds—far more useful in the real world. We start with Heike’s rare blend of physics and cognitive psychology, the lens that turns decibels in...

Send us Fan Mail The ringing is real...and so is the plan to fix how we manage it. Blaise sits down with Jeffery Reagan, a heart transplant survivor, tinnitus patient, and founder of Tinnitus Learning Health Network, to share a practical blueprint for transforming tinnitus care through a learning health network that centers outcomes, empathy, and shared data. Instead of waiting years for guideline...

Send us Fan Mail A quieter problem carries loud consequences: when hearing loss goes untreated, risks rise for cognitive decline, cardiovascular strain, and falls. We pull that chain into the light and show how one change—adopting hearing technology earlier—can shift the long‑term outlook. With better devices, rising satisfaction, and less stigma, the path to clearer sound and stronger health is g...

Send us Fan Mail Policy shifts, lived experience, and modern tech meet in a conversation that makes hearing health feel urgent, hopeful, and actionable. We sit down with HIA executive director Bridget Dobyan to connect the dots between 2026 advocacy priorities, the real value of professional care, and what the latest MarketTrak 2025 data tells us about adoption, satisfaction, and consumer behavior...

Send us Fan Mail Struggling to catch every word or feeling like voices are loud but still muddy? We unpack the real differences between over-the-counter hearing aids and prescription fittings, focusing on when each path makes sense and how to get results you can actually feel in daily life. Drawing on clinical standards and FDA guidance, we map clear criteria for safe OTC use, the red flags that c...

Send us Fan Mail Buying hearing help shouldn’t feel like guesswork. We break down over-the-counter hearing aids with plain talk: what they are, who they’re designed for, and how to know whether self-fit amplification is a smart starting point or a detour that delays the clarity you want. You’ll hear the critical differences between OTC and prescription devices, from diagnostic testing and individu...

Send us Fan Mail Most tech works instantly. Hearing care doesn’t, and that gap can turn hope into frustration if we don’t name it and guide it. We take you inside the real reasons hearing aids get returned and share a practical playbook for turning the first two weeks into a solid foundation rather than a ticking clock. We start with expectations, showing how “normal hearing now” thinking collides...

Send us Fan Mail The fastest tech in the world can’t outpace human change, and that tension shows up as hearing aid returns. Blaise digs into a process-first approach that keeps patients engaged, supported, and satisfied without chasing the latest hardware. Drawing on years of private practice experience, he unpacks why returns are usually about expectations and support, and how small, deliberate...

Send us Fan Mail Stop treating hearing aids like a scare tactic and start seeing them as tools that support your brain. We unpack how evidence-based counseling replaces fear with clarity, why correlations matter in the hearing–cognition conversation, and how a simple education journey can turn uncertainty into confident action. We share a practical framework that works across clinics: pre-visit ed...

Send us Fan Mail Your brain doesn’t just benefit from hearing well—it depends on it. We sit down with Madison Levine of Levine Hearing to unpack the ear brain connection, the growing body of research linking untreated hearing loss to increased dementia risk, and the practical ways clinics and families can respond without fear or stigma. This is a story about healthy aging, where hearing care sits...

Send us Fan Mail What if your hearing aid could listen to you, read the room, and fix the problem before your next appointment? We explore Omega AI’s newest leap—Telehear AI—and how on‑device intelligence lets people request help in real time when noise, wind, or tricky spaces get in the way. Instead of waiting days for a follow‑up, users can compare new settings with their originals, choose what...

Send us Fan Mail Connect with the Hearing Matters Podcast Team Email: hearingmatterspodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @hearing_matters_podcast Facebook: Hearing Matters Podcast

Send us Fan Mail In this conversation with Dr. Amit Gosalia, we connect the clinic to the Capitol and show how small, consistent actions can unlock direct access, fair recognition, and better outcomes for patients. We start with the spark: early licensure battles in Arizona, the evolving relationship between audiologists and hearing instrument specialists, and the shared commitment to higher stand...

Send us Fan Mail Jill Desjean, Director of Policy Analyss at the NASFAA joins us as we unpack how a legacy definition of professional degrees now shapes graduate loan limits and why that affects the pipeline for licensed clinicians. We map the rulemaking timeline, pinpoint the public comment window, and outline how targeted advocacy can expand recognition for audiology, SLP, and other fields. • th...

Send us Fan Mail Policy just moved the goalposts on graduate borrowing. We invited Jill Desjean, Director of Policy Analysis at NASFAA , to break down the new federal definition of “professional degree,” why it leans on a legacy program list, and what that means for loan limits, affordability, and access to care. We walk through the exact criteria the Department of Education is using, how Congress...

Send us Fan Mail A whisper can change an entire family’s future. When Ally was born with microtia and aural atresia, her parents were told she wasn’t a candidate for a cochlear implant—and they left the hospital thinking that was a good thing. In this Friday audiogram, we open the door that should have been opened on day one: the world of bone conduction hearing devices, how they bypass the outer...

Send us Fan Mail A birth surprise. A scramble for answers. And a mother who refused to accept “good enough” when her daughter’s hearing—and future—were on the line. We sit down with EarCommunity.org founder Melissa Tumblin to unpack microtia, aural atresia, and the real costs of unilateral hearing loss that too often go unseen: delayed speech, safety risks, and the daily strain of listening with o...

Send us Fan Mail What if your hearing tech could tell who you want to hear—even while you’re walking—and lift their voice above the crowd? We dive into Starkey Omega AI's DNN 360, a new approach that blends deep neural network noise management, intelligent directionality, and spatial awareness to make conversations stand out without turning the world into a dull hush. It’s built for real life...

Send us Fan Mail The quiet slide from “Huh?” to “I can hear” is rarely a straight line. Jerry—a veteran, entrepreneur, and university instructor—opens up about years of coping with a high-frequency hearing loss that turned restaurants into noise walls and classrooms into cognitive marathons. He tried to compensate: sitting close, reading lips, taking exhaustive notes to plug gaps. The breakthrough...

Send us Fan Mail Waiting years to get help for hearing loss isn’t a character flaw—it’s a sign the system still feels risky and confusing. Dr. Melanie Hecker set out to change that with a path that honors courage, leverages smart tech, and puts real choice in the hands of patients without sacrificing clinical rigor. Dr. Melanie Hecker, founder of Bluemoth, walks us through a clear journey that sta...