Welcome to Textbook Sleep, the Maximum-Strength Sleep Aid podcast, where we read aloud boring, public-domain textbooks to help you fall asleep.

A listener recently informed us that she “used to read Ralph Waldo Emerson as a sleep aid, while in college.”

It happened that the Textbook Sleep library contained a collection of his essays. One glance made it clear that Emerson’s writing was indeed perfect for our purposes.

These stultifying essays have been putting people to sleep since they were first published in 1841. They are tried-and-true soporifics.

Thomas Carlyle’s wife Jane Welsh Carlyle complained,

“I find him getting affected, stilted… and in short 'a considerable of a bore.'”

A big, sleepy thank you to our listener for the recommendation. We welcome any and all suggestions, the more considerable of a bore the better.

Let us strike the official Textbook Sleep bronze bell, then, with the official Textbook Sleep teaspoon, to signal the end of everyday cares—and the start of a satisfying, long night’s sleep.

This recording will end quietly.

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