Boring Books for Bedtime Readings to Help You Sleep

Let’s relax with detailed instructions for the arts of gilding, silvering, and the making of curious inks and secret messages, all of which involve …

Let’s wrap up Listener Request Month with the chronicle of the first solo sailing voyage around the world. Sail to sleep aboard the Spray as our …

Let’s continue Listener Request Month with this delightfully thorough guide to train journeys. From reading a timetable to choosing the right …

Let’s continue Listener Request Month with this guide to country buildings, by which I mean a treatise on the morality of housing, the meaning of beauty, and the art of proportion. Whatever it is, it’s relaxing!

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Let’s kick off Listener Request Month with this classic, our first full “verse” offering. Scheming gods, shipwrecks, and heroic speeches, it’s …

Let’s slip into spooky sleep with more about the origins of the werewolf, including Scandinavian berserkers and greedy nobles. Your brain will …

Let’s relax with more carby goodness as we learn about naughty bakers, how flour is made, and the terrible reputations of millers. Also, charts of chemical percentages, and I mangle some Chaucer. What *can't* bread do?

Let’s continue this sleepy journey through the mountains of France and encounter cantankerous farmers, lovely vistas, and the legendary Beast of Gevaudan, which ends rather anti-climactically, as legends so often do.

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Let’s drift off to more from this classic of politics. If you aren’t backstabbing and being backstabbed, are you even governing? Not in 16th-century …

This week, we pack a trunk and head to Europe to practice art on a budget, learn where to live economically, who to study with, and the importance …

Let’s run away to the country and relax with more from this guide to the simple life, which seems to involve an inordinate amount of weeding. Also, …

Let’s relax with more from Mrs. Emily Post as she advises us on making calls, the art of social climbing, and the niceties of leaving one’s card. …

Let’s relax and sleep with advice on staging a play, including roles behind the curtain, choosing actors, and blocking the action, courtesy of a …

Let's relax with some sleep-inducing science and learn why space-time is neither space nor time, but so much more. If you’re not entirely sure what the “more” is, never mind. You’ll be asleep anyway.

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Let’s continue our relaxing hike through Yellowstone National Park, marvel at geysers and hot springs, imagine prehistoric forests, and appreciate the beauty off the beaten path. Dreamy!

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Let’s learn more from Mrs. Beeton about vegetable soups and their ingredients, all of which will be ruined by hours-long boiling. Also, the Prince of Wales is honored with tiny turnip balls.

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Tonight, let’s relax with more from the fascinating world of bees and learn all about murderous queens, busy workers, growing larvae, and lazy drones. It’s all sweet honey for your sleepy mind.

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Let’s continue our sleepy sojourn to Everest and enjoy the flowers of Tibet, pursue timid gazelles, visit monasteries, endure a mutiny and a tragedy, and fire some drunken cooks. Adventurous!

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Let’s relax with the spread of Christianity in Britain, penned by a saint who was actually there. But first, a preface, an intro, and a biography of the blessed Bede! We do get to the history eventually, but you’ll …

Let’s relax and sleep to more 19th-century know-how, and learn how to set up a cheese factory, get milk to curdle, and appreciate our buddy, lactic acid.

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Let’s take a relaxing shop through some of Sears’ lesser-known offerings—houses! From Craftsmans to cottages or an entire apartment building, it can all be delivered to you, guaranteed.

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Let’s return to Pliny’s relaxing opus and learn about the seasons, planting schedules, and the best time to buy a winter cloak so you don’t get price …

Let’s relax and sleep with quiet thoughts on a loud art, including speculation on Eastern origins, deadly Greek fire, and every mention of fireworks …

By listener request, let’s relax and sleep with this guide to the purchasing, care, and training of horses in Ancient Greece. To sum up, hooves are everything, and kindness counts. Good advice!

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Let’s hear from the world’s greatest showman how to live a wealthy, happy life. Sleepy spoiler alert: do things you’re good at, don’t envy others, and spend less than you make. Talk about boring!

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Let’s continue with this sleepy theory about the Earth and how fish migrations absolutely, positively prove that it must be hollow. What other …

Let’s finish our tour of the sleepy world of spices, learn about grains of paradise (my favorite medieval spice), and reveal the connection between saffron and…crocodiles? Sure, why not.

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Let’s relax and sleep with more about apple history, creating hybrids, and the validity of Van Mons’ theories of propagation. Yeah, I don’t know either, but I guess he was big in Belgium.

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Let's relax with a subject near and dear to your reader’s heart—cats! Drift off to the intelligence of felines, the first cat show, and drama at the Cat Club. Scandalous!

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Let’s return to Aristotle’s classic on the purpose of life. What’s it all for, anyway? No real answers here tonight, alas, but at least he can help us sleep through the confusion.

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Let's return to the flower-filled fields of sleep and learn about insect-charming orchids, blistering buttercups, and pinks of the killing kind. Nature is a cruel mistress!

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In more from this sleepy history, we take a tour of the glories of Greece and Persia, the brief blaze of Alexander, and the intellectual legacy of …

Let’s fall asleep to schooling in the fine art of drawing. We learn how to hold a pencil and draw a line, but only after the kind of lengthy …

Let’s sleep through the stress of Tax Day with more from this capital classic, learn the history of money, how diamonds are dumb, and why a cow’s worth of salt is…really too much salt.

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Let’s take a sleepy browse through this marvelous catalog, just in time for spring. Vegetables, flowers, and novelties for the garden abound from America’s finest purveyor of plants.

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In this remastered episode from the wayback, let’s take a relaxing trip aboard the good ship Bounty, which maybe you’ve heard of? It’s all breadfruit and bad weather (so far). Sleep ahoy!

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Let’s return to the British Museum of the 19th century and complete our sleepy tour of birds of the world, from ducks to dodos. It’s case after case of curiosities for your tired mind!

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Let’s relax into delicious dreams with this guide to confectionery. Learn the correct stripes for stick candy, the construction of “strawberry rock,” and the stages of sugar. Sweet!

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Let's return to more sleepy science and ponder life on the moon, the makeup of meteorites, and the long, strange lives of comets as they wander through our universe. Spacey!

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Let's begin a sleepy trip through the mountains of France, in which our novice author invents a sleeping bag, buys a donkey, and answers the …

Let’s trip back in time two years ago (!!) and relax with this newly remastered paean of praise from one transcendentalist to another. We should all …

Let’s relax and sleep with more from Mrs. Post as she instructs us in the art of conversation, thinking before we speak, and avoiding unforgivable …

Drift to sleep with science as Darwin himself defines natural selection and the interconnectedness of all things. Also, we hear the archaic word “humble-bees,” which is adorable.

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This week let’s be lulled to sleep by deep thoughts about the nature of matter, and whether things exist if we’re not thinking about them. Who knows! …

Let’s return to the sleepy sands of Egypt and learn all about tombs and pyramids. Secret passages, sarcophagi, and ghostly snacks will give your dreams something to feast on.

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Let’s stitch our way to sleep with this handbook to the intricacies of embroidery. We’ll work our way through some basic stitches, learn a bit of history, and admire the art of craft.

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Let’s relax and sleep with more from a foundation of science. This time, we explore fundamentals of water, moisture, and the near-magical properties …

Let’s relax with some aesthetic art ponderings from one of the greats of the late 19th century. It’s all Pre-Raphaelites and poetry, plus a poke at the English, as Wilde was wont.

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Let’s fight off winter’s chill with this relaxing return to the South Pacific. This time, we drift among Polynesian atolls, reflect on solitude, and …

For this week of comfy pants and leftovers, let’s relax with a remastered fave and take a sleepy stroll through wintry woods. It’s a lovely …

Let’s relax and sleep with some shopping for the first Christmas after World War II. From fancy watches to educational toys and gaily wrapped …

Let’s curl up with a sleepy bowl of soup as the inimitable Mrs. Beeton walks us through recipes and the history of vegetables. If you aren’t boiling your carrots for three hours, are you even cooking?

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This week, let’s relax and sleep amidst the snow-covered trees of New England, meditate on the hare, and enjoy the intricate histories written in a …

Let’s relax and sleep with more about the clever parrot family, learn of celebrated chatty birds, and remind ourselves why getting a talking bird from a sailor isn’t always the best idea. Salty!

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Let’s relax and sleep with more from this much-requested guide for engineers. This time, we answer a long list of frequently asked questions and …

This week, by multiple requests, let’s trip back into Flatland, hear about the mighty Circles, and take a confounding journey to Lineland. What is …

Let’s relax and sleep with more mysteries of relativity, like the speed of light, why time isn’t time, and how a fake train robbery reveals that …

Let’s relax and sleep with this totally true and accurate history of werewolves in ancient Greece, Rome, and the Norse sagas. Curiously, few actual …

For our Four-Year Anniversary (wow!), let’s relax and sleep with more from Marcus Aurelius, including some thoughts about smelly armpits. Hey, personal diaries can't all be gems of wisdom.

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Let’s relax with more from one of our most requested books, hear the histories of ginger, mustard, nutmeg, and mace, and learn how to fake them all. Looking at you, naughty Connecticut!

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We’re back from break! Let’s relax with more from a 19th century guide to running away to the country. This time, we buy a farm, fight peach worms, …

In this remastered episode, let's relax and sleep with this intro to science basics from one of the 19th century's greatest science champions. Also, we learn why water is a liquid!

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In this remastered episode, let's relax with practical advice about modern plumbing systems. And by modern, I mean 19th century. Indoor plumbing has come a long way, thank goodness!

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In this newly remastered episode, let's rest beneath the trees with one of the first environmentalists. His relaxed rambles from Indiana to Florida …

In this newly remastered episode, rule over sleep with the pithy prose of Machiavelli. But first, a very long introduction to our author and the …

In this newly remastered episode, let’s journey back to New York City in the early 1900s with one of America’s great writers and his dreamy portrait of the city that never sleeps. Fingers crossed you will!

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Let’s return to this manual of manners, and learn how to pay a check, walk down a theater aisle, and navigate the social complexities of the opera box. Also, just…be nice. Good advice!

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Let’s sink into the fields of sleep with more from this lovely and informative book on the varied beauty of wildflowers. A few may smell of corpses, but they’re no less wonders of nature!

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Let’s relax with a much-requested book and drift off as Mr. Smith defines the division of labor, details the connections of commerce, and takes a swipe at the lie of meritocracy. Economical!

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Let’s rewind to 2020 with a remastered version of this marvelous travelogue from an equally marvelous woman. Experience all the dreamy wonders of South America for a mere $1,000. Or more if you’re fancy and like …

For our 200th episode, let’s get cozy and relax with advice on planning the perfect cottage. Which apparently includes a library, billiard room, and nursery. Sleepy simplicity!

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Let’s return to a sleepy favorite and relax with Mrs. Beeton's thoughts on a cook’s duties, French vocabulary, and asparagus. Also, we learn to make …

Let’s celebrate the JWST with more from one of my favorite sleepy books. We hear about Jupiter’s moons, dissect Saturn’s rings, and consider whether …

Let’s continue with our revolutionary relaxation courtesy of Thomas Paine, who has even more thoughts on breaking up with Britain and replacement …

Let’s relax and sleep with this treatise on human rights and the failure of monarchical systems to reflect or ensure them. Plus, a lot of chatter that ties kings to…original sin? Whew!

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Let’s travel the sands of sleep once again with Herodotus, and learn about flying serpents, fish migration, and the third-cheapest way to embalm your loved ones. It’s balmy bookishness for your weary mind.

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This week let’s relax with information about a revolution in visual entertainment and education. We learn about the persistence of vision and some …

This week, while your reader tussles with a certain virus, let’s revisit a perfectly sleepy combo of ponderous Victorian introduction and ancient Greek philosophy, freshly remastered for your relaxation pleasure.

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This week, while your reader is laid up with a certain virus, let’s revisit one of my favorite sleepy science reads. Enjoy this remastered intro to a …

Let’s sail to sleep with more from this lovely work about the seas. This time, we learn the rigging of a schooner, praise the prowess of Pacific Islanders, and head to Iceland with Vikings.

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Let's relax with more sleepy science from a woman so talented that the word “scientist” was coined to describe her. This time, we learn about all the …

Let’s continue our sleepy stroll through history with the fall of Assyria, the literary bedrock of the Jews, and the birth of philosophy in Greece. …

Let’s take a sleepy tour of the spice cabinet and the origins of allspice, chilies, cinnamon, and cloves, with a pinch of insight into faking spices …

Let’s fly off to relaxation with more from this lovely book about our feathered friends. This time, we learn about the birds of early spring, and marvel at the sleepy songs of the sparrows.

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Let’s conclude a month of relaxing travels with more from this tour of America’s national parks, sleepily agog at the Grand Canyon and the weird grandeur of Yellowstone.

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Our month of relaxing voyages continues as we head to the distant South Seas. We set off first for sleepy Tahiti and meet a man with little history …

Let’s continue our month of relaxing voyages and rejoin Charles Dickens on his sleepy sojourn to Italy. On the way, we visit a dungeon, pass a madhouse, and end up bemused in Genoa.

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Let’s kick off a month of relaxing travelogues with more from the first attempt to map the world’s tallest mountain. This time, we take the road from India to Tibet, marvel at flowered forests, and consider the leech.

Let’s throw off the stress of city cares and head out into the country for a simpler life, which apparently was as much a desire back in the 1850s as it is today.

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Let’s relax with some sleepy physics, as Bertrand Russell unravels the Theory of Relativity. Drugging people and putting them in balloons is somewhat mentioned. Science!

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Let's grab a basket and take a relaxing stroll through the Grocery Department of the Amazon of its day. Coffee beans, cherry phosphate, canned …

Let’s motor to sleep with more from this wonderful manual for the lady driver, written by race car and speedboat champion Dorothy Levitt. Mechanics …

Let’s return to the earliest known work on Western dramatic theory and learn about character, verbs, and why Homer is always right. Also “women can also be good,” which is…something? No worries, it gets a lot better …

Let’s return to the relaxing wonders of science with more from a foundational work of modern chemistry. This time, we finally finish…the introduction! It’s the perfect compound for sleep.

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This week, let’s appreciate the culinary wonders of weeds with this relaxing guide to nature’s bounty by George Washington Carver. Salads have never …

Let’s return to sleepy science with more from Charles Darwin on domestic breeding, pigeon mating, and messy definitions. What is a species anyway? It’s a mystery!

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Sink into tasteful slumber this week with the history of home decor from the Queen of The Gilded Age. Basically, "like Italy and be rich" seems to …

Let’s relax and sleep with more from this bucolic delight, and learn about managing our traction engine, getting out of life’s inevitable ditches, …

Let’s return to the sleepy sands of Egypt and finish our exploration of religious architecture, with symbolic temples, towering obelisks, and shrines …

Let’s return to the heavens and relax with some sleepy stardust about our solar system, learn a bit about our neighbor planets, and consider how they …

Let’s sense our way to sleep with a book I forgot reading from! This time we learn exercises to hone our skills as psychic parlour performers, which was a for-real thing in 1907.

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Let's dive back into one of your sleepy favorites, and learn about the life of the maid-of-all-work, the perfect dairy layout, and some fine advice about stable ventilation.

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Let’s relax into the natural world with two essays by Henry David Thoreau, in which we take a poetic walk by moonlight, and then contemplate the wintry depths of Walden Pond. Transcendental!

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Let’s once again be lulled to sleep by the hum of beautiful, busy bees, learn all about the workings of the queen bee, and hear every permutation of …

Let’s return to the relaxing world of bread and fall asleep to European peasant loaves, the origin of the croissant, and the heraldry of London’s bread guilds. Delish!

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Let’s relax with the second half of this classic of Greek literature, in which the great Theophrastus defines 30 character types found in literature and life. Trust me, you know a few.

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Let’s wander through the wonders of nature, as conservationist John Muir guides us through the wild spaces of the American West and the flower-filled tundra of Alaska. Honestly, friends, this one is just lovely.

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Let's take a relaxing wander through the mind-boggling British Museum, learn a bit about its origins, consider the mullingong, and ponder why our …

In this remastered episode from 2018, we revisit a relaxing work that poses interesting philosophical questions, like "When is a table not a table?" Don't worry, there's no actual answer, so you won't miss anything when …

Tonight, we conclude the mysterious happenings in Sleepy Hollow, which involve a surprising amount of charming detail about autumnal harvests, …

Let's wrap ourselves in the secrets of Sleepy Hollow, which seem a lot less scary than cartoons would have us believe. Irving’s descriptions of …

Let’s sleep among the wildflowers with this relaxing tour through some lovely native American blooms, plus skunk cabbage and the murderous …

Let’s return to this classic of social and political commentary from the 16th century. If you stay awake long enough, you’ll discover how little has …

Let’s sail the high seas of sleep with more from this classic of pirate history. Enjoy a booty chest of boredom, including the story of Henry Avery, King of the Pirates, who was…a bit of a coward, come to find out.

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In this remastered episode, we revisit a perfectly sleepy book that celebrates a symbol of autumn. This 19th century ode to apples includes history, …

Let’s relax and sleep with more studies of the beautiful red planet, including observations of its icy poles, which, unlike that whole “Mars has …

Let’s relax and sleep on a journey with famed author Charles Dickens, as he wends his way to Italy to spend a year in Genoa. We don’t actually get there, but never mind. The journey is still a delight.

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Let's rock to sleep on the waves as we learn all about the workings of tides, currents, climate, and the early history of boats. It’s an ocean of relaxing information, just for your tired mind.

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Tonight, let’s relax and allow thoughts of art appreciation, the perfection of flowers, and the long reach of the tea masters to brew a beautiful …

This week, we relax and sleep with more from this classic guide to manners, and complete our education about proper introductions, handshakes, hat lifting, and the horrors of bundle-carrying.

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For our 150th episode, let’s take a relaxing trip to the South Seas aboard the good ship Bounty, which maybe you’ve heard of? Don’t worry, this bit’s mostly about breadfruit and bad weather. Sleep ahoy!

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This week, let’s relax and sleep to more from this classic of Stoic philosophy, and hear all about the fleeting nature of fame, the foolishness of …

Let’s relax with more sleepy studies of the birds of eastern North America, and discover our author’s surprisingly ardent admiration of the bobwhite, which is admittedly adorable.

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Let’s relax and sleep with more from one of the weirder scientific theories ever conceived, that the Earth is hollow and filled with other inhabited …

Let's return to a sleepy favorite, and a day in the life of an upper and under housemaid. From blacking fire grates to making beds and buffing gilt frames with onions, it…sounds exhausting, if I’m honest.

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This week, we return to the relaxation of night skies, and drift to sleep with the stars of the Southern Hemisphere, the sweep of the Milky Way, and …

Let’s take another relaxing wander through The Federalist Papers, and hear how ancient Greece and Germany are great examples of what not to do. So, no need to pay attention to that, I guess, which is convenient for a …

This week we learn the apiary arts from the Father of American Beekeeping. It’s all about treating your bees with kindness and respect, which is just good advice for life, really.

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Let's continue our journey with Marco Polo along the Silk Road through Persia, and relax with totally, totally true facts about magical fogs, three …

Let's return to a sleepy satirical world of two dimensions, and learn about seeing, irregularity, and the dreaded perils of not being dull.

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Let's take "sawing wood" literally, and find relaxation and sleep with this handy manual of woodworking basics. You'll never look at lumber the same way again.

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Let's relax and sleep to these ruminations on psychic phenomena and the afterlife. It's all about vibrations, etheric bodies and...an argument for returning Gibraltar to the Spanish? Sure, why not.

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Let's drift into the busy micro-world of bacteria. But first, a long and sleepy introduction to the history of bacteriology, so new, it’s barely …

This week, let's continue our sleepy stroll through history's halls and relax with nomadic wanderers, seafarers, and the ever-shifting conquerors of …

Tonight, let’s continue sifting through the sleepy history of the staff of life, including Greek myths, Pompeii’s ruins, Chinese threshing, and …

This week, let's enjoy a renaissance of relaxation with the thoughts on Erasmus. This dense mix of social commentary and satire is the perfect …

This week, let's float away on gentle waves with this exploration of our oceans. It’s a lovely dip into marine science—some good, some…not, and all sleep-inducing.

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Let's relax and sleep with a lengthy paean of praise written after the death of Thoreau by his contemporary, friend and worshipful admirer, Ralph …

Let’s relax with one of the dullest things ever read on this podcast. Like all IRS Publications, it's 50% information, 50% references to other …

Let's relax and sleep with a classic of character conventions. This work may be millennia old, but you will definitely recognize these people. If you …

Let's relax with a browse through the Millinery Department, and marvel at the most beautiful, stylish and economical hats ever offered to the …

Let’s continue our relaxing journey through Scotland with Dr. Johnson, and learn all about cattle, kelp and the customary duties of the laird. Tha mi sgith!

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Let's return to Aristotle's sleep-inducing treatise on the animal world and his very, very detailed description of the human body, plus...elephants!

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Let’s sink into sleepy social niceties with this classic of manners, behavior and good breeding. If you ever wondered how to introduce a bishop at your fancy luncheon, Mrs. Post is here for you.

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Let's drift off into the world of birds and learn all about parrots, the flying monkeys of the avian kingdom. I promise that makes sense if you stay awake long enough. But...unlikely.

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Tonight, let’s journey back to New York City in the early 1900s with one of America’s great writers and his dreamy portrait of the city that never sleeps. Fingers crossed you will!

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Let’s plow back into one of your surprisingly sleepy favorites, and harvest a bushel of instruction about the proper management of a traction steam …

Let’s return to Darwin's revolutionary classic, which sounds like it's going to be much more exciting than this exploration of pigeons, pears and …

Let's continue our relaxing ride through a dream of sleep-inducing detail about handling the newfangled bicycle. The word "knickerbockers" is also used to some effect.

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Tonight, we fall into the rhythm of sleep with a book that works hard to put meaning into music but mostly just makes it boring. So...kind of perfect, really?

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Tonight we journey to our neighbor in the heavens, and begin a sleepy exploration of the "canals" of Mars, proving that even a great scientist can't be right about everything.

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Tonight, let's rejoin our caravan from sand to sandman and explore the ancient Egyptian temples of Karnak and Luxor. It's a dusty dream of a journey.

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Tonight, let's consider the connection of Teaism and Taoism, relax into the refinement of the tea house, and let go of all our worries in something called the Abode of Vacancy. Enjoy!

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Let's take a walk through wintry woods and skate down a frozen stream in this relaxing mix of prose and poetry. Thoreau captures all the beauty of a New England winter, and I hope you enjoy it.

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Let's relax with this browse through the voluminous Musical Goods Department, and discover all the wonders of mandolins, music boxes and banjorines. …

Tonight, we get sleepy with this second half of a philosophy classic, and discuss pleasure, pain and the power of friendship. It's like a cozy set of pajamas for your tired mind.

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Tonight, let's complete our sleepy voyage through the constellations as we learn about the stars seen from August through December, the …

Let's fall asleep with this classic of political philosophy from an executed saint, because what's more relaxing than that. Utopia details …

Tonight, let's relax with the story of one of the world's most basic foods. In this reading, we sleepily sift through the grains of early bread history, from prehistoric mills to matzo-making. Tasty!

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Tonight, we complete Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “skeptical” defense of fairies. Relax to fairy biology, fairy society, and the clairvoyant observations …

Let's flit away to sleep as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle presents sightings to bolster his case that fairies are real, including one from Mrs. Violet …

Tonight, we relax and sleep with politics as poured from the pen of Aristotle 2,300 years ago. Once again, we wade through a very thorough …

Tonight, we finish our 3-part wander through 19th century Edinburgh, side-eye "modern" architecture, climb Calton Hill, and cheat the whisky tax, as …

Let's continue our sleepy sojourn to 19th century Edinburgh through the eyes of Robert Louis Stevenson. In Part 2, we listen to legends, ramble through Greyfriars, and muse on memories of rural places. Lovely.

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This week we start a relaxing, 3-part journey to 19th century Edinburgh with native son Robert Louis Stevenson. Towers and tenements, hills and a Hall of Lost Steps, it's a sleepy trip for your tired mind.

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Tonight, we return to one of your favorite books, and head downstairs into the sleepy realm of service. What are the infinite duties of the lady's maid? How do you pack a trunk? Black a boot? Clean a ribbon with gin? …

Tonight, return to the sleepy halls of science with more from this foundational work on chemistry. The philosopher's stone, phlogiston, and the first periodic table for our list-lovers—this relaxing book has it all.

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Tonight, travel a straight line to sleep with this combination of mathematical musing and social satire. Victorian classism has never had such a …

Tonight let's return to a relaxing travelogue and continue with Robert Peary's detailed account of the search for the North Pole. Trials, triumphs …

Tonight, we relax with The Lost H.G. Wells Episode, which mysteriously vanished six weeks after its release back in 2019. Why? Who knows! But this sleepy history of our marvelous world, from the appearance of birds to …

It's our 100th episode! Let's return to the relaxing words of Thoreau's classic, wander the quiet woods, meet some interesting characters, and fall to sleep with thoughts on civil disobedience. Good times!

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Take a relaxing journey with Greek historian Herodotus as he reveals the wonders of Egypt. Clothing, crocodiles, calculations—all the sleep-inducing …

Relax and sleep with words from the wonderful Margaret Cavendish, and discover why science was once called "natural philosophy". So many ideas, so …

Tonight, let your dreams take wing with this delightfully detailed yet poetic guide to the birds of eastern North America. A chorus of cardinals, …

Just a very quick update on monthly giveaways, our fantastic August prize from Libro.fm, and thoughts on keeping this podcast ad-free through your help. Thanks for listening!

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Rule over insomnia and go to sleep with the pithy prose of Machiavelli. But first, a long introduction to the twisted papal politics of 15th century …

Steam away to dreamland with this travel guide to South America by explorer, archaeologist and record-setting mountaineer Annie S. Peck. If you ever …

Let's relax to more from the not-at-all-exciting world of stuffing boxes and governor balls that make farm engines go. If 30 study questions for a steam engine operator test can't put you to sleep, nothing will.

Keep …

Let's return to the musings of Victorian classicist Benjamin Jowett, his analysis of Plato's Republic, and a lot of sleepy Socratic opinions about the inappropriateness of flutes.

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Tonight, we take another journey into a relaxing science classic, Principles of Geology. Let's erode away our stress, take a sleepy stroll through …

Let Alexander Hamilton and his compatriots spark a revolution of sleep with arguments in favor of ratifying the US Constitution. If these words prove …

Let's cook up a recipe for relaxation with De Re Coquinaria, by Roman author Apicius. It's an hour of honey, pepper, and fermented fish sauce, plus a lengthy rumination on Pompeii. Delish!

Boring Books for Bedtime is …

Climb into the saddle of sleep and pedal to peace with this 1896 volume about the latest fad in exercise, bicycling! If you stay awake long enough, …

Let's cozy up to a hot cup of tea and steep our weary minds in this classic treatise on tea, culture and history. We all deserve a bit of sleep …

Let's return to Conan Doyle's dreamy world of the Wee Folk! Drift into sleep on the observations of a clairvoyant in the fairy glen, which are …

Let anxiety and stress slip away like a bird on the wing as we find sleep with another listener favorite, Cassell's Book of Birds. Orders, anatomy and the "merry-thought" defined? Just what you dreamed of!

Want to …

It's a dreamy return to Samuel Johnson's 18th century tour of Scotland. Tonight, we explore stunning Skye, speculate on ancient fortresses, and …

Tonight, we jump into our sleepytime machine and let H.G. Wells carry us off into the dreamy history of Neolithic man. Agriculture, alphabets and …

Tonight, we continue our caravan from sand to sandman with the Manual of Egyptian Archaeology & Guide to Antiquities from 1895. It's everything …

Get pirated off to sleep with this early chronicle of the buccaneering life. Sounds riveting? Not to worry, me hearties, it was written in 1724. A booty of boring sentences be buried here!

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Tonight we relax to the dulcet words of Stoic philosophy, and learn all about not stressing out over things that are beyond our influence. But …

Harvest a good night's sleep with the agricultural tool offerings of one of our favorites, the 1897 Sears Catalog. Guaranteed to relax you with the …

This evening, relax and sleep with one of the weirder scientific theories ever conceived, that the Earth is hollow and filled with other worlds. But …

Tonight, we return to one of your favorite relaxing books, and take a tour of the spring and summer skies of the northern hemisphere. A calming cosmos bathed in starlight awaits you, sleepy, stressed out friend!

Want …

Tonight, let's find our happy place and sleep with this reading from an introduction to science basics, written by one of the 19th century's greatest science champions. Stay awake long enough, and you'll learn why water …

Let's rest, relax and sleep with this lovely discourse about drawing. Which is mostly about art theory for the entire hour, if I'm honest. Mr. Speed was slow to get to the actual "drawing" part.

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Tonight, we return to the wisdom of Mrs. Beeton, and relax with her discussion of a well-equipped kitchen, the perfection of weights and measures, and...the history of Pompeii? Sure, why not.

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Tonight, let's ride the relaxing waves of history and float through the history of the British Navy. From wee hide coracles to the sea-faring dragons of the Vikings, it's a lovely shanty of sleep.

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This evening, let's relax to the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius, immortalized as both a genius and an unstable imbecile unfit for any duty …

Tonight, let's relax with the second half of one of the world's most influential philosophical texts, the Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu. The journey of a thousand dreams begins with a single snore.

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Tonight let's overcome sleeplessness with Darwin's revolutionary classic of evolutionary theory, which sounds a lot more riveting than this text …

Let's relax to the metrical musings of a great Victorian poet about a great Elizabethan playwright, in a wordy work that is mostly about how other …

Tonight let's fall asleep to this complex recounting of the road to World War I, as told by Sir Winston Churchill. If this book proves anything, it's …

Let Samuel Johnson take you on a relaxing 18th century tour of the beauties of Scotland, where we breakfast on whisky and consider the wonders of...shoes and kale? Aye!

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Let's relax with practical advice about modern plumbing systems. And by modern, I mean 19th century, which was stinkier than you think. Indoor plumbing has come a long way.

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Become a …

Let's kick off a relaxing 2020 with the snooze-inducing wonders of Aristotelian philosophy. To be fair, we never actually finish the ponderous introduction and learn about The Ethics, but I doubt you'll mind.

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As the year draws to a close, let's relax with heady thoughts about time and free will. This reading won't help you understand either, but it will definitely send you to sleep. And isn't that the point?

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Let's return to this holiday-themed book we started last year, and sink into the calming, if laughably classist, vision of a traditional Christmas in …

This evening, let go of stress and relax with this beloved philosophical work by Kahlil Gibran. What better time for his musings on kindness, gratitude, fellow-feeling and love? Enjoy.

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Relax to this work by Mary Somerville, the 19th century's "queen of science." An amazing book by an amazing woman that will...send you off to dreamland, frankly. Because, let's face it, chemistry described in long, …

Let's rest beneath the trees with one of the first environmentalists, John Muir. His relaxed rambles from Indiana to Florida contain quiet caves, …

Relax with random selections, from the nature of gods to the totally-not-at-all-made-up manticore, from Pliny the Elder's remarkable encyclopedia. …

Enter the dreamy world of the Wee Folk as we continue our reading of "The Coming of the Fairies". Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of that great …

Let's quietly celebrate the lengthening nights of autumn with this reading from "American Pomology," a 19th century study on apple-growing in …

Tonight we journey into the mists of history with Marco Polo and his uncles as they journey across the world to the court of Kublai Khan and back …

Let's take a spooky yet ponderous journey back to the 17th century witch craze in New England, as described by one of its prime movers, the Reverend Cotton Mather. If he was cursed with anything, it was a love for …

It's our One Year Anniversary! Let's return to the book that kicked off our boring bedtime journey, and revel in the relaxation of A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses. Thank you to each and every one of you lovely …

Fly away to relaxation on the wings of feathered friends with this week's reading, Cassell's Book of Birds. You'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about bird tongues, if you make it that far.

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Tonight we get dreamy with the utopian urban planning vision of Edgar Chambless in Roadtown. A city a thousand miles long, built in a straight line? …

Let a sea of stardust carry you to sleep as we read "Astronomy for Young Folks" and learn about constellations, planets, and the equinoctial points …

Sink into slumber as we detail the musical miracle of the Victrola, "the world's greatest instrument," and dream of a distant world where music on …

Drift off in a world of snow and silence with Robert Peary's account of his trek to the world's northernmost point. But first, a rather lengthy history of Arctic exploration going back to the 1500s! Bundle up.

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Tonight we find sleep in sport with a detailed history of the game of cricket. This wander through the origins of England's national game is sure to bowl you over with boredom.

Read "The Cricket Field" at Project …

To wrap up a month of Revisiting Relaxation, let's drift back through one of your favorite sleep-inducers, the Sears Catalog. Tonight's selection is …

Tonight we revisit a relaxing science classic, The Principles of Geology, erode away stress with a stroll through the stony halls of geological …

Tonight, we return to the managerial wonder of Mrs. Beeton, and fall asleep to everything one needs to know to be a proper 19th century housekeeper, …

Tonight we revisit one of our most popular books, Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius. His advice for Stoic living continues to be a font of sleepy …

Let's relax to this work about the classification and characteristics of animals, as determined by Aristotle 2,300 years ago. We don't get to the part about spontaneous generation, but he does mention winged snakes and …

Let's drink deep of the relaxing words of Henry David Thoreau's classic "Walden". Wander the woods in sleepy solitude, where sweet dreams await you …

In this episode, we caravan from sand to sandman with the Manual of Egyptian Archaeology & Guide to Antiquities from 1895. It's everything you …

Let's gently hammer away at stress and saw our way into sleep with this manual for the amateur woodworker. In it, we'll learn why a list of tools for …

Let Alexander Hamilton and his compatriots spark a revolution of sleep with arguments in favor of ratifying the US Constitution. If these Federalist …

Flow into the current of sleep on the genius of Nikola Tesla and his experiments in alternating electrical current. It runs our lives, but most of us …

[Apologies, audio now corrected!] Relax to this spectacularly boring book by Mary Wollstonecraft, famed for her ideas about feminism, and not at all …

Lean into languor with "The Advancement of Learning," by great Elizabethan thinker Sir Francis Bacon, one of the originators of the scientific method. This honestly might be the densest thing I've ever read to you. See …

Drift away through the Himalaya with the first major expedition to study Mount Everest, highest of high peaks in the Roof of the World. Why tackle Everest? If you can stay awake long enough, you may find out.

Music: …

Let your thoughts flit away as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the great Sherlock Holmes, tries to prove that actual fairies exist. No, really! …

Drift off on a voyage of relaxation with one of the foundation texts of science fiction and fantasy--"The Blazing World," written by Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle, in 1668. Imaginative worldbuilding and early …

This week we fulfill a listener request, and relax to one of the world's earliest and most influential philosophical texts, the Tao Te Ching, by Lao …

Let's get transcendental with Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Nature" and relax to his musings on beauty, language, and our connection with the perfection of our surroundings.

Music: "Ocean Tapping" by PCIII …

Let's click "I agree" to the mind-numbing powers of legalese with this reading of the Terms and Conditions that accompany every purchase from a rather famous media company. After all, it's not like you were going to …

In this episode, we return to the musings of the great Victorian classicist Benjamin Jowett, his analysis of Plato's "Republic", and a whole lot of …

Let's relax to the history of our marvelous world, from formless matter through the age of mighty dinosaurs, as described by the great H.G. Wells. It's the stuff of dreams.

Music: "Cosmic Tingles" by Lee Rosevere …

Float away on a cloud of Benjamin Franklin's scientific musings about our atmosphere, lightning, waterspouts, magnetic poles, and the wonderful …

Sink into sleep on a philosophical cloud with "How We Think," by renowned education reformer John Dewey. Nothing will get your brain to stop thinking faster than a bunch of talk about thinking. But try not to think …

Space out with a classic of astronomy, Galileo's "The Sidereal Messenger," in which he shares mankind's first observations of the Moon's surface, and heaps a mind-numbing amount of praise on his patron.

Music: …

Let's immerse ourselves in the beauty of Persian poetry with The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, rendered into English verse by Edward Fitzgerald. It's all about living in the moment. And wine. So much wine.

The poetry bit …

Tonight we relax with The Woman and The Car, written in 1909 by racing pioneer Dorothy Levitt. If you stay awake, you, too, will know how to drive a single cylinder, 8 horsepower vehicle . . . with style!

Music: "Gentle …

Tonight we drift off to a self-improvement classic--Meditations, by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Good Stoic advice never gets old, or less …

Let's drift off to Somnium, or The Dream, written in 1608 by Johannes Kepler. Considered the great-granddaddy of all science fiction, it's every bit as riveting as you think a story by a famed astronomer-mathematician …

If you've never, ever wondered how to operate a steam engine boiler, this 1903 book about farm equipment is the perfect way to engineer a good night's sleep.

All Boring Books readings are taken from works in the public …

Let's drift off to a new entry from one of our most popular volumes: The Book of Household Management, by Mrs. Isabella Beeton. Dinner parties, …

Tonight, we relax to a 2,000-year-old classic about architectural design. It's "Ten Books on Architecture," by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio. Let this …

Tonight, let's fall asleep to Charles Darwin's deep thoughts about the formation of dirt through the actions of earthworms, which is just as boring as you think it is. Annoying a worm with a bassoon has never been so …

Tonight we read one of the great foundational works of science, Dmitry Mendeleev's "Principles of Chemistry." So groundbreaking. So informative. So perfectly, mind-numbingly dense in the way that only 19th century …

Tonight, we relax our brains with a tediously detailed description of the not-at-all questionable science of mind-reading. It's all about the ether! No, really, it's science. It says so in this book.

A note of gratitude …

Tonight we sink into slumber with the fundamental structures of dramatic storytelling, as defined in mind-numbing detail by Aristotle in his "Poetics". It's the perfect plot for sleep.

All Boring Books readings are …

Tonight we ring in the new year with a history of Time and Clocks, plus a dash of physics, from H.H. Cunynghame. It's definitely boring, yet we also learned, which is a great way to begin 2019.

All Boring Books readings …

On this eve of Christmas, let's drift off to this charming vision of a 19th century English holiday, complete with warm hearths, jolly company, and …

Tonight, let's take another calming dip into the curious 19th century world of the Sears Catalog. This time, we'll explore the Bicycle Department, and 1897's latest velocipedes, cycling suits, and quality guarantees. …

Tonight, let's fall asleep to the ancient origins of the Irish legal system, the "brehon laws". As we drift off, we'll also pass by some passive …

In this episode, be lulled by "Hand Loom Weaving: A Manual for School and Home", and more early 20th century educational and moral philosophy than …

In this episode, we relax to the musings of the great Victorian classicist Benjamin Jowett, and his thoughts on Plato's "Republic". It's as perfectly ponderous as you imagine.

All Boring Books readings are taken from …

This episode is specially dedicated to those who find lists and repetition relaxing. Instead of a book, we're reading the Joint List of Eastbound Transatlantic Passenger Sailings for December through April 1925. Bon …

In this episode, we venture through some of the 700+ pages of the 1872 Sears Roebuck & Co. Catalog, and discover everything there is to know about freight shipping. We also trip into the Drugs Department, which is …

In this episode, we read the first two chapters of "The Principles of Geology," by famed-but-mildly-ponderous geologist Sir Charles Lyell. Honestly, …

In this episode, we'll ramble through a chapter of "The Loyalists of America and Their Times," written by a Canadian, so that's fun. And really rather boring.

All Boring Books readings are taken from works in the public …

In this episode, we read the first two chapters of “The Problems of Philosophy,” by Bertrand Russell. There's a lot of talk of tables, and more …

In this episode, we'll be bored by some housekeeping basics from "The Book of Household Management," a classic, and spectacularly detailed, guide …

In this episode, we read several chapters from "A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses." It's every bit as mind-numbing as it sounds.

All Boring Books readings are taken from works in the public domain. If you'd like …