A bedtime playlist (that won’t send you to sleep)
Radiotopia
I produce SleepTalker, ‘the podcast about sleep, dreams, nightmares and what happens in your head after dark’. In the show, I interview people about the idiosyncrasies of their sleeping patterns (and, well, pretty much anything that can happen after we turn out the lights). There have been some great podcast episodes and radio stories about the science of sleep, but that’s not my focus here (or with my podcast). Instead, I want to look at what it feels like to sleep - as well as the frustrations of trying to - so here’s a collection of audio stories that loo...
The worst of both worlds
Before making this episode, I thought people with narcolepsy could fall asleep anywhere. But far from sleeping all the time, people with narcolepsy rarely sleep through the night. In this episode, we restlessly dip into, and out of, and into, and out of, sleep (and everything in between) while Eleanor Wales talks through some of her bedtime intrusions.
The dusty corners of different circadian rhythms
Nocturne is a beautiful, sound-rich podcast about “the dusty corners of the night”. In this episode Vanessa Lowe talks to Amanda Gefter, whose nocturnal lifestyle is shaken up when she falls in love. I’m endlessly fascinated by the ways our sleeping patterns influence (and are influenced by) the people we share beds with, and this episode takes that to a bittersweet extreme.
Snorers think they’re annoying too
Ah, snoring. The classic keeper-upper, the source of many a sleep-deprived and frustrated partner. But what about the guilt of the snorer? Natalie Kestecher is an Australian radio producer who knows how to twist a yarn into a weird angle. Here, she takes a gently funny look at the impact “the nasal serenade” can have on the noisy half of a relationship. (Start listening at 9:38 to hear this story.)
Like a whispered suggestion to lure you into dreams
Serendipity is the gorgeous audio fiction podcast from the Sarah Awards, and one of the best-sounding podcasts going around. This episode, from some of the Snap Judgement team, slows to the pace of a shallow, restful breath and follows a girl as she wakes from a long, long sleep.
Be lured into a collective dream
By this point in the playlist, you should be primed for some semi-real weirdness. Miyuki Jokiranta leads us through the mesmerising, darkened doorways of Motel Dreaming to find out: “What happens when a group of people gather under one roof to sleep, dream and play?”
Can’t get up in the morning? Don’t worry, there’s hope yet
Now you might be starting to drift into some kind of hazy, half-awake, almost-dreamstate. But here comes Here Be Monsters to jolt you awake. In this episode, they hear from “a nice and genuine person with waking up problems” about his morning solution.