this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2023
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Something not high energy, and interesting but not too interesting lol

Examples I've been enjoying include 99% Invisible, Ologies, and Common Descent

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[–] quams69 12 points 1 year ago (4 children)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago

How about you invite OP to a dinner first?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Love scooter! Feels like a super low key barely funny comedy sketch. Helped my sleepless night and mid night waking a lot.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Love Sleep with Me!

It's basically soothing white noise

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I've been listening to Scoot for probably 5 or more years now. Makes me go lights out 20 min top

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If I remember the name correctly, "Sleep With Me" is designed specifically for this purpose.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Yup and they gave a large archive too! Other recommendations: Nothing much happens, and Boring books for bedtime.

[–] sgtsmoke 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Hardcore History is my go to if you're a fan of, well, history.

[–] panggul_mas 6 points 1 year ago

Fall of civilizations too. Only get an episode every 6months or so but it's real good

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

"The British History Podcast" is also really solid for this.

There are also good ones on Japan, The Crusades, Rome, and the Byzantine Empire although I don't remember their names exactly. They're all variations on "The History of [x]" or "[x] History Podcast".

The history of the crusades one is done by an Australian professor and she's really good. I believe she did one on the Normans as well which was excellent, too.

Really, if you're going with History, I would do a bit of research on how they're perceived and make sure you like the narrator's voice. It's almost always one narrator which is perfect for sleep.

Additionally, I will go out and find lectures from "The Great Courses" series which are pretty well vetted for oratory because the speakers are genuine college professors. Just finished one of those on Balkan history which was really solid.

As far as vetting of podcasts goes, most of them are done by well meaning amateurs, but it should become clear whether they actually know what they're talking about. I'd recommend Hardcore History or Great Courses lectures as a jumping off point and then see about podcasts that are similar in respect for the subject matter.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'd recommend the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. It's an audio play that presents itself as a local radio news station for a town called Night Vale, where all sorts of weird and spooky things happen but are all totally normal and mundane to the people there. It's very entertaining, and because all the "bits" are told like very short little news segments. Each story is pretty much self-contained and not intrinsically related to anything else, so it's easy enough to tune in and out while you fall asleep, and you won't really be missing anything "important".

[–] batmanifesto 2 points 1 year ago

The weather always does a good job of waking me up. It's why I stopped "listening" to Night Vale .

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

The History of Rome podcast by Mike Duncan is over a decade of but it's ideal for that. He has an incredibly relaxing voice, and even though I'm legitimately interested in Roman history I would find myself drifting off sometimes. The audio quality in the early episodes aren't great but he gets a better mic later.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Came here to recommend the same thing. Incredibly relaxing, funny, and wholesome.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/playlist?list=PLOg1r3RmAaWkKAJVrVpQYCS2BBmzfX2B5

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

[–] StartledStarling 4 points 1 year ago

Sleepy - American male host reads classic literature

CaseFile - Australian male host tells true crime

The PurrrCast - People talk about their cats

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Episode 1, every episode is the first episode of a podcast. It's like 90% improv. Might be my favorite podcast.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Fall of Civilization. His voice is absolutely soothing and the topics of how certain people found these lost Civilizations and then how they fell into ruin is super interesting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Huge +1 to this. Also North 02 on YouTube.

[–] agissilver 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I really enjoyed Lore for a while until he got involved in his TV series. I feel the quality dipped a bit after that (but not a big issue if you're just falling asleep to them).
other similar ones for falling asleep to:
Criminal and This is Love - Pheobe Judge has a great voice to fall asleep to. The content is interesting enough to have your mind not wander too much but her voice relaxing enough to lull you to sleep. I often end up listening to an episode over several bedtimes to hear it all.
Hidden Brain is another great one to fall asleep to.
The Memory Palace, similar to Roman Mars' narrating.

[–] atrielienz 2 points 1 year ago

I like Roman Mars' voice so 99% invisible is my go to. But I'm still searching for a way to automate listening to British shipping traffic in a podcast like fashion.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Thank you for this post !

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I love Startalk Radio for this. It’s very interesting, funny and they make breaks every couple of minutes with a jingle that triggers me to wake up slightly with enough focus to take my headphones off and then fall asleep

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I usually listen to any podcast with tech bros talking about tech because it is fun enough but completely inconsequential, so I don’t miss anything when I fall asleep. Examples: Accidental Tech Podcast, Upstream, Cortex, Waveform

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Ah yes, the famous Mac Pro segment.

[–] drekly 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I listen to DnD podcasts every single night.

The adventure zone. Dungeons and daddies. Naddpod.

These three have kept my brain occupied and entertained for YEARS.

It's just frustrating to set a 15 minute timer and have no idea where you fell asleep and what you missed the next day when you press play.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I recognize the irony of this, but sometimes I like to fall asleep to the No Sleep podcast.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I subbed just last week, haven't listened to many episodes, but it's been good.

[–] sempwn 2 points 1 year ago

Used to fall asleep to the Unexplained podcast. No idea why as it was intensely creepy and ended up giving me bad dreams!

[–] quinkin 1 points 1 year ago

The Weekly Planet

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I've always found RadioLab cozy, especially episodes from when it was still at its peak.

Also, not a podcast, but old-time radio is great for this. On a similar note, check out Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Any book read by Samuel West, his voice is very relaxing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My kids like Bedtime Explorers and no lie it puts me to sleep.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Last Podcast on the Left. They talk about serial killers, but the subject matter doesn't bother me. It's a topic that I'm ok with not catching all the details after I fall asleep.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Damn, I tried to get into it years ago. It must be good because they still going at it, but couldn't stand the multiple mfs talking at once about random bs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yeah, I sometimes listen during the day and want to scream at the clowns to shut up and let the narrative move ahead. Luckily, I tend to go to sleep with a strong buzz or straight up drunk and then it doesn't bother me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Maybe I should give it another shot after hitting a joint lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Same, I've tried this one a few times, and I'm just annoyed every time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Welcome to nightvale is great but maybe too interesting? It has a plot but I feel like it isn't that important. You can enjoy it without really following it too much

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It usually has a music section which can be a mixed bag in terms of sleep aid. Don't think it would work.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Oh crap, I forgot about that. Haven't listened in a while

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Not a podcast, but it's nice, & it works. https://www.radiotunes.com/guitar