I’ve never gotten to sleep easily but the last year of long-covid chronic fatigue has made my nights a real struggle. Not only am I exhausted but not sleepy (because I’m not able to actually do anything tiring) but my ability to control my autistic brain is severely compromised so it spirals as I lie staring into the darkness for hours.

One solution I’ve found is to listen to audio shows that are just interesting enough to hold my attention but monotonous enough to send me to sleep. Men with low voices talking about history are perfect, for example.

So here’s my current go-to sources to sooth the trauma of the wee hours.

Podcasts

All of these are ad-free or have the adverts read in the same voice and style as the rest of the show, so they don’t jolt you awake.

Desert Oracle Radio - I wish I could remember where I came across this. It feels like it just appeared on my phone like magic. Ken Layne rambles quite coherently and passionately about life in the Mojave Desert for half an hour. It’s unique and entrancing and is one of the shows I listen to to fall asleep and then again the next day because I fell asleep and missed the end.

Revolutions - I was recommended this as a good introduction to the history of the Russian Revolution, and it really is a thorough deep dive into how is came to be presented in very accessible episodes. But it’s also wonderfully soporific and has saved me on numerous occasions. He’s currently doing a fictional account of a 23rd century Martian revolution in exactly the same manner and format as his factual historical ones, which is a lot of fun.

Weird Studies - this is often too interesting for me to switch off, but sometimes the subject isn’t quite in my wheelhouse and just becomes another “men talking about stuff” show and sends me right off. Perfect.

Also of note: The Fall of Civilisations, Crash Course Pods: The Universe.

BBC Sounds

The steady extraction of BBC audio production from the constraints of broadcast radio has produced some subtly interesting formats that are much more in tune with my nocturnal needs. Here’s some useful stuff I’ve found.

Dream Time with Zakia reminds me of the late night radio of my youth while being quite distinct and modern, with a slight tinge of something 1970s. The music is broadly in the weird/jazz/global end of ambient (except when it’s not) selected by someone who’s done their time exploring the dusty corners of record shops. It helps that Zakia’s voice is Bob-Harris-level whispering in your ear maintaining a chilled vibe.

BBC Radio 3 Unwind answers the question, what if you stripped all the intellectual content away from Radio 3 and dumped the remains at a mindfulness seminar. Sounds terrible, but it’s actually perfect for my needs. My go-to is the awful sounding Mindful Mix which has no presenter and is like listening to classical music on shuffle. Nothing too challenging, nothing too jarring, but not cheesy or bland.

In Our Time, being a bunch of academics talking about their speciality to Melvin Bragg, seems like a no-brainer as a sleep aid, but one has to be careful as it can be a little too interesting. Also a podcast, of course.

Audiobooks

Books on tape, as we used to call them, are tricky for this purpose as I don’t really want to fall asleep to them - I want to listen to them properly. But I also want to fall asleep and sometimes it’s worth sacrificing a chapter and rewinding it later. I get a book a month with my Libro.fm subscription and have found Werner Herzog’s reading his memoir Every Man for Himself and God against All to be perfect at brain soothing.

I keep hunting and welcome suggestions.