Of all the types of media I enjoy, I could make the argument that podcasts are the most impactful on my life. I’ve loved video games my entire life; I’ve been on a board game journey over the past twelve months; I get enough use out of YouTube Premium that it’s a no-brainer for me; I’ve loved multiple sports (in person, on TV and increasingly online). I’ve even read a book or two.

But podcasts help me function.

A quick look at the stats page in my PocketCasts app shows a current count of 11,699 hours so far. That’s over 3% of my entire life spent in headphones listening to people talk, and that’s just the count from the last (almost) nine years. Given the earliest podcast I can remember hearing was an early episode of Arrow Pointing Down (from some time in 2008…?), that figure understates the sheer scale of my poddiction.

However – a disclaimer. I have had issues with occasional insomnia for as long as I can remember, and popping on a quiet podcast (especially one I’ve heard before) became one of the tools in my arsenal to overcome it. This only increased when I started experimenting with headphones designed to be comfortable for sleeping in, including a few generations of the Acoustic Sheep SleepPhones. The elevator pitch review – works great when they work, a little fiddly to get into the right position, sound quality is fine (especially for falling asleep), but audiophile they are not. Both sets I tried lasted a good while, but both ultimately stopped holding enough of a charge to get through a whole night.

Following the Sheep, I found my (so far) perfect headphones for sleep, the Sony WF-500. I wish Sony were as good at naming products as they are at making quality products! I have since switched to the Sony WF-700N buds. In short, the 700s sound better, have noise canceling, and are better headphones overall, but the 500s were more comfortable to sleep in and seemed to have better battery life. If my 700s are lost or die, I’ll probably go back to the 500s.

Anyway, I’ve gotten myself off track. None of the above are affiliate links, all opinions are my own and informed by experience.

There’s a happy end to this story; a little over a year ago, I was diagnosed with severe sleep apnoea and started using a CPAP machine, which has been life-changing. The combination of CPAP nasal pillows, chin strap (so my poor wife isn’t woken up by my mouth opening in my sleep, a phenomenon which results in me speaking in tongues!), Sony buds and a trusty podcast means I can fall asleep, without fail, within about 10 minutes of settling in. Absolutely incredible.

Finally, shout out to the podcasts of choice for falling asleep to – I should stress I listen to both while awake as well! These two just have the added advantage of magical sleep-granting powers…..

• Distractable, by Wood Elf Productions
• Hey Riddle Riddle, a Headgum podcast

Thanks to everyone involved in both in bringing me so much joy and a solid 7-9 hours of blissful, restful sleep every night!

That’s enough for today’s ramble, next time I revisit the podcast topic it will be to talk about my listening lineage and to make some gold-plated recommendations. Stay tuned!