Boring Books for Bedtime is a weekly sleep podcast in which we calmly, quietly read something rather boring to silence the brain chatter keeping you awake. Think Aristotle, Thoreau, and whoever wrote the 1897 Sears Catalog—mostly nonfiction, mostly old, a perfect blend of vaguely-but-not-too interesting. If you're on Team Sleepless, lie back, take a deep breath, and let us read you to rest.
Let’s hop in our sleepy wayback machine and relax with more from this remarkable little history of everything. This time, the Roman Empire, Hannibal, and the rise of the emperors. Quiescamus!
Let’s journey to sleep with Henry David Thoreau as he explores the back of beyond in Maine, ponders the fate of forests, visits some barely-there towns, and…gets accosted by politicians? Talk about timing!
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Let’s celebrate the spooky season with more from this history of lycanthropy and a long chapter of wolfish folktales. Bears, hares, and dogs drinking cider are also mentioned. Honestly, the human imagination is so delightfully weird.
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Let’s sail the seas of sleep with more from this marvelous travelogue from the South Seas. This time, we encounter a waterspout and get happily marooned on an idyllic island. Cast away your cares, friends. It’s a lovely tale.
Let’s fall asleep with a new reading from this wonderful look into our universe. This time, we contemplate the phases of the moon, the life and death of the stars, and our position in this vast and whirling universe. The stuff of starry visions indeed!
Let’s fall asleep with a new listener request! This time, we travel back in time to learn the origins of that most pleasant and cozy of places, the country inn. From manors to monasteries and pilgrimage houses, it’s quite a relaxing trip.
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Let’s close out our month of new versions of old episodes with a fresh recording of our very first foray into the 1897 Sears, Roebuck & Co. Consumers Guide. In this episode, we trip through the Drugs Department, and what a trip it is. How anyone survived 19th-century medicine, I cannot say.
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Let’s relax with a new recording of a very old episode from a book I had completely forgotten about! Tonight, we learn what constitutes “thinking,” ...
Let’s relax with another new recording of a very old episode—Part One of a fave on this podcast. In this first episode from Mrs. B, we learn the duties of the mistress of the house, from rising ...
Let’s relax and sleep with a shiny new recording of a very old episode. This time, dreamy sleep awaits our travel and list lovers as we read a schedule of transatlantic steamer sailings from 1925. You may recognize a few famous names if you stay awake long ...
Let’s relax and sleep with the first of some fresh new recordings of very, very old episodes. This time, we learn what architecture covers, what we should study, and why putting buildings in healthy spots is a good idea. Obvious? Apparently not!
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Let’s relax and sleep with more history of the British Isles from the wonderful Bede. This time, we wander through four centuries of Roman influence, build some walls, and learn about Saint Alban, who got a miraculous drink on a hill!
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Let’s continue a month of requests from our Patreon raffle winners with more about the operation of agricultural machinery. This time, some Q&A and a surprisingly excellent scientific explanation of the states of matter. Steamy!
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Let’s continue a month of requests from our Patreon raffle winners with more about the physical characteristics of animal classes. This time, we learn about camels, chameleons, and the totally-not-made-up manticore. Science!
Let’s kick off a month of requests from our Patreon raffle winners with more about the delicious staff of life. This time, bread baking for (19th century) beginners, yeasty science, and the complexities of communion wafers. Tasty!
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Let’s relax and sleep with more about Einstein’s theories of relativity, how geometry gets messy on a sphere, the validity of measuring with eels, and a bit about Pythagoras, who feared beans. Who knew?
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Let’s relax and sleep with more about the origins of that magical medium, movies! This time, we explore motion, mess with gelatin, and call “Action!” on the development of celluloid film thanks to one George Eastman.
Let’s relax and sleep with more from this solo journey by sailboat. This time, we cross the Atlantic, serenade dolphins, and…a seafaring ghost saves our narrator from a cheese-induced fever? Sure, why not. I don’t write them, fri...
Let’s relax and sleep with more from a classic that combines mathematics and social commentary with pointed angularity. This time, our narrator is inducted into that most secret of secrets…three dimensions. Why, it’s madness, I tell you.
Let’s celebrate our 300th episode and 10 MILLION listens with a bit of fireworks! That sounds exciting, but it’s really just a sleepy catalog of firework displays in England up to the 19th century. Flaming dragon battles and “philosophical fireworks” are somewhat mentioned, so that’s fun.
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