The Hearing Matters Podcast: Hearing Aids, Hearing Technology and Tinnitus
Welcome to the #1 Hearing Aid & Hearing Health Podcast with Blaise M. Delfino, M.S. - HIS! We combine education, entertainment, and all things hearing aid-related in one ear-pleasing package!
In each episode, we'll unravel the mysteries of the auditory system, decode the latest advancements in hearing technology, and explore the unique challenges faced by individuals with hearing loss. But don't worry, we promise our discussions won't go in one ear and out the other!
From heartwarming personal stories to mind-blowing research breakthroughs, the Hearing Matters Podcast is your go-to destination for all things related to hearing health. Get ready to laugh, learn, and join a vibrant community that believes that hearing matters - because it truly does!
Episodes
264 episodes
Auditory Fatigue And The Real Reason Speech Sounds Blurry In Noise
Restaurants are the perfect stress test for your ears and your brain. The second you add distance, multiple talkers, and reverberation, conversation stops being “just listening” and becomes constant filtering. We talk through why so many modern...
Why You Struggle to Hear in Noisy Situations | Cognitive Load
You know that feeling when you can hear someone talking, but the words won’t land, especially once you sit down in a loud restaurant? I’m Blaise Delfino, and I’m breaking down why that frustration is real and why it’s usually not about “turning...
Can AirPods Replace Hearing Aids? OTC Hearing Aids & The Future of Hearing
Are OTC hearing aids really the same as prescription hearing aids? If you’ve ever wondered whether buying hearing aids online is basically the same as getting fit in a clinic, this episode draws a clear line between the two.Th...
Do We Even Need Hearing Aids Anymore? AirPods, OTC Hearing Aids & The Future of Hearing
AirPods are getting better, OTC hearing aids are easier to buy than ever, and AI is showing up in every corner of consumer audio. That leads to one of the most important questions in hearing health right now: are we watching hearing aids get re...
Auracast Is Here… And It Changes Everything About Hearing Aids
The biggest hearing aid problems rarely show up in a quiet clinic room. They show up when the phone rings, when the TV gets turned up too loud for everyone else, and when background noise swallows the words you actually need to hear. We dig int...
What Is Auracast? How Bluetooth LE Audio Is Changing Hearing Forever
Bluetooth shows up in our lives so often that it’s easy to miss how radical it has been for hearing aids. I walk you through why Bluetooth hearing aids aren’t just about convenience, but about access: clearer phone calls, easier TV listening, a...
How to Get a 504 Plan for Your Child With Hearing Loss
If your child has hearing loss, good grades do not always mean they have full access at school. In this episode, Dana Ann Hawkins, MS, CCC-SLP, shares her family’s real-life journey navigating a Section 504 plan for her daughter after getting h...
Hearing Aids Are Only The Start
Your child can “pass” a school hearing screening and still miss huge parts of daily life. That gap is where frustration, fatigue, and quiet slipping-behind can start, even when grades look fine on paper.Your Child Has Hearing Loss...
A Real Ear Measurement Workflow For Better Hearing Aid Outcomes
Guessing is easy. Verifying is better, and in hearing aid fittings it can be the difference between “good enough” and genuinely clear speech. We sit down with Madison Levine, BC-HIS and Dr. Dave Fabry to unpack what real ear measurement actuall...
Real ear measurements (REM) and best practices
If you’ve ever wondered why two “good” hearing aid fittings can feel wildly different to a patient, the answer usually isn’t the device, it’s the process. I’m joined by Madison Levine, BC-HIS and owner of Levine Hearing in Charlotte, and Dr. Da...
What Learning Health Networks Are And How They Fix Healthcare Silos
Healthcare creates a paradox: we collect endless clinical data, publish important research, and still watch patients wait years for proven ideas to become routine care. We sit down with Donna Murray, PhD, to explain how Learning Health Networks...
6 Practical Ways To Lower Hearing Aid Return Rates
Hearing aid returns aren’t just a number on a dashboard, they’re a clue about what your patients experienced from the first hello to the first follow-up. We talk through the real reasons people bring devices back and why “return for credit” (RF...
How Learning Health Networks Improve Access, Insight, and Patient Success
The fastest way to improve healthcare is to stop treating clinics like isolated islands. I’m joined by Donna Murray, PhD, speech-language pathologist and quality improvement leader, to unpack learning health networks and why they’re becoming a ...
Could An Audiology Clinic Fit Inside A Tiny House?
A sleepless night turned into a blueprint for change. After catching a segment on Tiny House Nation, we asked a simple question with a complicated answer: could a true audiology clinic fit inside a tiny house and travel safely, complete with a ...
From Family Clinic Roots To A Global Voice For Hearing Health
A quiet decision to start a resource for local patients turned into a milestone worth pausing for: 250 episodes dedicated to the craft and heart of hearing healthcare. We look back at where it began—growing up in a family clinic, falling in lov...
Hearing Care for All Children - World Hearing Day 2026
A child who misses a quarter of classroom words isn’t daydreaming—they’re falling through a gap we can close. We dive into World Hearing Day with a focus on kids, where hearing care intersects with brain development, language growth, and classr...
BLUEMOTH Hearing, Explained
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-...
Intimacy And Hearing Loss: How Couples Stay Connected
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,...
What is Auracast?
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...
Humility, Hands, And The Human Ear
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...
SoundGear Phantoms, Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, and Tinnitus
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 prote...
Auracast: The Next Leap In Hearing Technology
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 earbu...
Building A Tinnitus Learning Health Network (TLHN) To Improve Care
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 transform...
Hearing Loss Affects More Than You Think
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...
Advocacy, Access, And Modern Hearing Tech with Bridget Dobyan
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,...