According to a survey taken within the last decade, two-thirds of the UK’s adult population struggle with sleep. Be it insomnia, difficult work start times, young children or otherwise, a quarter of the population sleeps less than five hours per night.
The key to healthy sleep is falling asleep on time and staying that way—so people have taken podcasts, a beloved medium, and made them into something you can doze off to.
Quick Picks
- Sleep With Me
- Nothing Much Happens
- Sleep Better With Help From Science
- 99% Invisible
- Slow Radio
- Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep
- You Must Remember This
Best Podcasts For Sleep: Top 7 Picks
1. Sleep With Me
Do you know that old stereotype of being so bored you fall asleep? That’s the goal with Sleep With Me. Starting in 2013 and still thriving now, creator Drew Ackerman aims to put you to sleep through winding stories that don’t go anywhere.
The stories are long, often pointless and dull. They’re difficult to follow, with lots of tangents and asides making it almost a hellish experience. There’s absolutely nothing enticing to keep you awake.
Paired with a monotonous delivery, this is a sure way to fall asleep to the comforting sound of someone’s boring voice. Who knows, maybe the story will end up in your dreams and help you have a dull but enjoyable night.
There are already hundreds of episodes to choose from, so you’re sure to never run out. This podcast is a fantastic listen if you need to hear someone speaking, but don’t care how they’re saying it or what they’re talking about.
Where To Find
You can find Sleep With Me on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
2. Nothing Much Happens
Nothing Much Happens isn’t quite as dull as Sleep With Me, but it’s along those lines. These are bedtime stories for adults, but nothing as thrilling as Cinderella or Superman or the other fun stories you knew as a child.
In Nothing Much Happens, everything is low-stakes. It doesn’t matter if you miss the ending, because the ending doesn’t matter either. One night you have a story where someone is cleaning, another night they’re gardening. The perfect, mundane little tale.
Think of Nothing Much Happens as that uninvited, pointless anecdote that your obscure relative tells you at a family party. The sound is enough to lull you into comfort, but the words just won’t grip you.
Where To Find
Nothing Much Happens is available on Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts.
3. Sleep Better With Help From Science
This podcast isn’t one to listen to while you try to get to sleep. Instead, it’s there to help you learn about sleep. From best practices to the scene behind certain problems, it’s everything you need to know in a neat little package.
Tips include optimizing your sleep routine, cutting out caffeine and more. By the time you finish the podcast, you should be well aware of what it takes to get a great night’s sleep. Plus, nobody said you can’t listen in bed before you doze off.
Where To Find
You can listen to Sleep Better With Help From Science on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
4. 99% Invisible
This is another podcast that isn’t made to fall asleep to, but it’s certainly one you can. It’s fascinating really—something you could listen to while awake. Roman Mars talks about design and how it can influence life each day. He touches on everything from architecture to colours.
But Roman Mars is the key here, not the topic. He has an incredible voice, soothing and relaxing and the kind you can easily fall asleep to.
We recommend this podcast for sleep and wake times. Listen to an episode when you’re alert, learn something fascinating. Later, when you’re ready for bed, play the same episode. You get a slight refresher but since you already know what he’s going to say, you can focus on the voice and drift off to sleep.
Learning and revising before sleeping can help with recall later—so not only is this a sleep helper, it’ll help you memorize what Roman is saying.
Where To Find
You can find Roman Mars’s delightful facts and even more delightful voice on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
5. Slow Radio
Sleep Radio started off as a radio show, but we wouldn’t recommend listening to it while you’re trying to stay awake! It works like a white noise machine only with far superior sound. One minute you’re in the middle of the Caribbean listening to the music of Trinidad. The next, you’re sitting by a lake in the US and listening to the water, the birds, the wind and nature.
It takes the frenzy out of life and puts you into a place you can relax. You learn something and get to hear the sounds of other cultures and unfamiliar landscapes, but if you fall asleep you’re not missing out on anything riveting.
This podcast is definitely one to listen to if you find it difficult to sleep in silence, but words keep you awake regardless of what the speaker says. The variety of sounds played also ensures you won’t get bored, listening to the same thing night after night like white noise.
Where To Find
You can listen to these sounds from around the world on Apple Podcasts or through the BBC website.
6. Snoozecast: Stories for Sleep
Snoozecast is one of the more entrancing ones. It varies considerably, with fiction and non-fiction stories mixed into the three weekly episodes. It’s like those real bedtime stories you may have been read as a child.
The chapters from famous books and peoples’ non-fiction originals may keep you awake and hooked. However, nobody’s saying you have to fall asleep while the podcast is playing. Sometimes listening to a podcast before bed is enough to relax you before you lie down, shut your eyes and strive for that blissful oblivion.
Where To Find
You can find Snoozecast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher.
7. You Must Remember This
This podcast is a combination of calming and intriguing. It involves stories from days of old, talking about legendary Hollywood stars and stories long-forgotten.
You’ll find this is an interesting listen while awake, but can also help put you to sleep. The stories are told in such a calming manner. It’s definitely one we recommend listening to while awake and repeating at bedtime for some familiar comfort.
You could also use this for some pre-bed, screen-free entertainment. The blue light from screens keeps you awake at night, but of course, you’re not always ready for sleep without some fun first. So put this podcast on, place the screen face down, and listen before slumber.
Where To Find
You can find these thrilling tales of old on Apple Podcasts.
Final Thoughts
If you think about it, you can listen to any podcast before bed. However, our recommendations are either tailored to helping you sleep or they’re fantastic to listen to before you doze off.
So long as what you’re listening to doesn’t get you too excited then you’re fine to listen before you enter dreamland.
