The Part of My Throat I Never Understood

Until I paid closer attention to RFK Jr.’s voice.

Like most people, I used to think of the vocal cords (now I know — they’re actually folds) as being for one thing: making sound. Talking, singing, shouting. That’s it.

But once I started learning about how the throat really works, I realized something huge:

Those same folds that let you speak are also what protect your lungs every time you swallow.

They’re not just a voicebox. They’re a seal. A valve. A reflex gate that has to snap shut in a split second, over and over, to keep food and liquid from slipping into your windpipe.

That’s when I started thinking about people with voice disorders — like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has spasmodic dysphonia. His vocal folds don’t behave normally. They spasm. They misfire. You can hear it in his speech. But now I wonder — what’s it like for him to eat?

Because if the folds are unstable during speech, they’re probably unstable during swallowing too. That means a simple meal could trigger coughing. A bite of food could brush the airway and start a loop. And since coughing itself irritates the folds, it becomes self-perpetuating.

Even without choking, a weak seal is enough to cause trouble.
If the vocal folds don’t close tight enough, a bit of food or liquid can brush the airway, triggering a cough loop that feeds itself.

I now recognize my vocal folds as a pair of sensitive, reactive gatekeepers — essentially a vibrating curtain split down the middle that needs to shut tight every time I swallow, or else the self-perpetuating coughing cycle begins. I’ve noticed that if they’re fatigued, it doesn’t just make my voice hoarse — it also makes it more likely I’ll end up coughing throughout a meal.

And I now suspect that RFK Jr. has had to master something most people never think about — but probably should:
How to eat without coughing.