Former host of NPR’s This is Nashville, rapper and musician, emcee, and philosopher Khalil Ekulona joins us to talk about… you guessed it… the voice.

For his whole life, he used his voice not only in the arts and entertainment, but in guiding his life decisions. And he has thoughts on what’s going to happen with the future of AI voices.

Find Khalil https://www.instagram.com/khalilekulona (https://www.instagram.com/khalilekulona)

Email us if you want someone on the show

or find a cool article about the voice! Foreverhumanvoices@gmail.com

You may know him as Brian Hackett from “Wings,” heard his narration of Stephen King’s “It,” or maybe you’re watching him on Chicago Med right now. Steven Weber, audio book narrator, singer, and award winning actor joins Forever Human Voices to discuss his hot take on the root of AI and how it’s reshaping creative work.

From “GET ME A HUMAN ON THE PHONE” to guessing Mel Brooks’ reaction to AI and lauding favorite narrators, we promise it’s not all bleak today. But one thing is clear from this conversation: as creative professionals, we have to have this discussion.

00:00 Episode Two Intro

01:23 Late Night Check In

01:50 Gratitude and Family

02:23 Sons in Music Today

03:03 Career and AI Fears

04:10 Why AI Exists Money

07:03 Audiobooks and AI Narration

09:35 Human Emotion in Voice

11:30 Losing Humans in Service

12:41 Hope and Detaching

14:38 Mediocrity and Addiction

16:07 Always On Culture Shift

21:57 Organic Voices Idea

25:07 AI Everywhere Now

26:23 Humans Only Service

26:57 Capitalism Eats Organics

28:06 Places With Restraint

30:33 Audiobook Work Favorites

31:39 Narrating Stephen King’s It

32:57 Great Narrators List

35:46 Celebrity Memoirs Talk

36:18 Matthew Perry Memories

39:09 AI In Schools Standards

40:52 Town Square Connection

41:48 Fake Memoir Pitch

43:59 Mel Brooks On AI

Sophie Scott on Why Human Voices (and Conversations) Still Matter in an AI World

Neuroscientist Sophie Scott (UCL), whose research focuses on speech perception and vocal communication, discusses how the brain changes through life by rewiring neural connections rather than growing new neurons, and why human voices carry powerful social and emotional meaning from before birth. She explains that babies learn their mother’s voice and the rhythm of language in utero, and that singing uniquely soothes infants and engages specialized brain responses even in adults. Scott describes conversation as a precisely timed, affiliative “joint action” where people align pitch, rhythm, words, and even breathing, producing bonding effects linked to endorphins, akin to primate grooming. The hosts contrast this with text and synthetic/AI voices, arguing AI lacks natural alignment and emotional reactivity, raising concerns about reduced human connection, voice cloning, and growing exposure to automated customer service and AI narration.

00:00 Meet Sophie Scott

00:33 Standup Scientist

01:22 You Only Get One Brain

03:37 Why Voices Matter

03:57 Voices Before Birth

05:46 Singing Bonds Us

08:50 Conversation Alignment

10:17 What Voices Reveal

11:41 Accents And Identity

12:37 Audiobooks Versus AI

15:05 Synthetic Voice Risks

16:24 Voice Cloning Research

19:31 Texting Versus Talking

20:56 Dunbar And Endorphins

25:12 AI Newsreader Backlash

28:37 Wrapping Up And Next Time