This week of podcast reviews is for the insomniacs out there. You know, the people who’ve tried wearing their lucky pajamas, drinking sleepytime tea, counting sheep/bison/llamas in their head and using weird aromatherapies in their room — all in a fruitless effort to fall asleep.
Among college students, sleep can sometimes be hard to come by: In a survey sampling nearly 2,000 college undergrads by University of Michigan researchers, about 12 percent were at risk of acute insomnia.
Some podcasters claim to be the answer to that bleary-eyed problem. So this week, I called their bluff by actually trying to fall asleep to these pods. I’m not guaranteeing these will lead to slumber, but it doesn’t hurt to turn off the lights and hit play.
"Daily 10 Minute Meditation Podcast"
I’ll admit, I was a bit leery about this one to start. From the podcast description to how the podcast host, Adrian Cooke, talks in a too-reassuring way, it felt like I was being brainwashed into a cult at times.
This podcast’s main purpose isn’t just about sleep per se, but Cooke does claim the podcast helps with sleep. Each 10-minute episode focuses on a variety of topics, ranging from anxiety to loneliness.
Cooke guides the listener through each episode, having them imagine they’re in a relaxing environment. In my case, I was next to a tree with “happiness fruit.” Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy.
While I didn’t fall asleep, if one actually lets themselves relax and take in Cooke’s words, then I could see this podcast actually working. Don’t knock the “happiness fruit” until you try it.
Rating: 4 out of 5 earbuds
“Sleep With Me”
This is probably the best known “sleep podcast” out there, with hour-long podcasts hosted by the lulling voice of Drew Ackerman, known as “Dearest Scooter” among fans. If you can imagine the teacher’s voice from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off but more conversational, one might get close to what Ackerman sounds like.
His podcast consists of him telling bedtime stories — usually stories that get increasingly boring throughout each episode to take the listener deeper into sleep.
This podcast would be very helpful if it wasn’t for the nearly six minutes of advertisements, calls-to-action for donating to the podcast and talking about upcoming episodes. If I’m trying to get to sleep, I want the relaxation process to start immediately.
That doesn’t happen when I’m hearing about Patreon for two minutes straight. I’m not saying every episode of his has that much ad time, and I’m not saying the rest of the podcast wasn’t relaxing. It was, even though I still didn’t fall asleep.
But having that much promotional time is just annoying.
Rating: 3 out of 5 earbuds
"Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast"
This podcast is really, really charming. I don’t use that word lightly. I actually took a nap to this podcast, and I seriously don’t know how the bedtime story I listened to ends.
Each episode is about a half-hour long with Miette, a woman with an English (or maybe Welsh) accent, delivering each story like an expert babysitter.
Miette likes telling James Joyce stories in particular, which are uninteresting enough to keep one disengaged and on one’s way to a good night’s rest. The best part was that I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until I woke up, with the podcast long being done.
Thank you, Miette. I really enjoyed that nap.
Rating: 5 out of 5 earbuds
Liam Niemeyer is a senior studying journalism at Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College. Please note that the views and opinions of the columnists do not reflect those of The Post. What podcast do you listen to for bedtime? Let Liam know by tweeting him @liamniemeyer.
