Lights Out Library: Sleep Documentaries

For this extra long episode, we put together various of our mystery stories. Secret places, out-of-place artifacts, mysterious events or ghost ships: here are 25 stories that will take you back in time and around the World. The stories are: 00:00:00 Easter Island and Mu  00:41:40 Yonaguni Monument  00:53:01 MV Joyita  01:11:20 Roman Dodecahedrons  01:28:50 Carved Stone Balls  01:39:11 Stone Sphere...

Petra, the capital of the Nabataeans (Jordan), Göreme and Derinkuyu in Cappadocia (Turkey), the Wieliczka Salt Mine (Poland): in this sleep story, I take you to extraordinary troglodyte or subterranean structures, where men projected their ambitions, creativity, dreams, and talent for centuries. As usual, I explain the historical context in a soft spoken voice for your relaxation. #sleep #bedtimes...

In tonight's episode, we will travel from Mercury to Pluto and beyond, in our longest space travel to date. We will thoroughly explore each planet, their main satellites, and discover plenty of scientific laws, theories, or chemical phenomena. I will even tell you about more speculative topics, such as the possibility of life in the Solar System or the possibility of terraforming Mars one day. #sl...

In tonight's sleep-inducing episode, I invite you to an overview of rooms since humankind started to build homes. For much of our history, most people lived in single-room dwellings and multiple-room homes were a privilege for the happy few. This started to change after the 16th Century, and rooms multiplied for almost everyone, often influenced by aristocratic and bourgeois homes. From medieval l...

What is this subjective experience, this awareness of existence, that we call consciousness? In tonight's episode, we will examine some of the aspects of this philosophical, scientific, and spiritual question. Is consciousness a binary thing, or is it a kind of continuum with different "levels"? Do animals experience a degree of consciousness and how can it be inferred or measured? Is it reducible...

In this relaxing sleep story, I invite you to relive the mythical Twelve Labors of Heracles, one of the most enduring legends of Ancient Greece. From Heracles’ birth under the curse of the goddess Hera to his path toward redemption, we embark on a colorful journey across Greece and the Mediterranean Sea, meeting countless characters along the way. Gods like Zeus, Athena, Poseidon, Artemis, and Had...

In this sleep documentary, I take you to the mythical city of Constantinople to explore the history of the Byzantine Empire. As the Western Roman Empire collapsed under invasions, its Eastern counterpart lived on and perpetuated the dream of recreating the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages. I discuss the waves of invaders that Byzantine had to face, from the Huns and the Arabs to the Turks, its...

In this science sleep story, we explore the microcosmos and discover what our bodies and the physical world around us are made of. First, I tell you about tissues and living cells, DNA, molecules, and cellular biochemistry. Then we go smaller and talk about atoms and how they bond into molecules or other forms of grouping such as metallic bonding, and how electrons and electromagnetism are at play...

For tonight's episode, we invite you to delve into European myths from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, as well as the history of the peoples that carried them. We will begin with Celtic stories, taken in particular from Irish mythology. We will then relive the story of the Ring of the Nibelung, as told in the Germanic myths that inspired Wagner to create his famous operas from the Ring cycle. Final...

Tonight's episode takes us on a historical tour of monasticism, especially Catholic monasteries. I get that the topic of monasticism may sound at the same time random and particularly arid. But bear with me: I promise that if you are not familiar with it, you will discover a world of ideas, social experiments, spirituality, or controversies, that you did not realize you needed to know about. Give...

The "pact with the devil" is a cultural motif that keeps coming back in stories. The legend of Faust is a good example, but not the oldest: it took inspiration from other stories, such as the legend of Theophilus. In this episode, I tell you some of these stories. We will also discover the real, historical figures that inspired them (Theophilus, Johann Faust, Pope Sylvester II, Saemundr Sigfússon....

In this episode, I invite you to travel along the Spice Road and discover how these mysterious spices, which were high-luxury goods for centuries, were brought to India, the Middle East, and Europe. From the expansion of Austronesians to the Age of Discovery and Portuguese navigators, we explore what spices are, where they came from, and why they were in such high demand. #sleep #bedtimestory #asm...

In tonight's episode, we take a look at three topics that keep sparking debates in their respective scientific communities:  • The existence of supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies, which are several million times more massive than "regular" black holes born from supernovas. Did these gigantic black holes appear as such, did they become so big by absorbing other bodies for billions o...

This is a softly spoken story about the History of the Roman Empire. In part one, I told you about the origins of Rome, its slow emergence and wars until the 1st Century BC - including the founding of the Republic and the rivalry between the Senate and the plebs, the conquest of Italy, the wars against Carthage, the overseas expansion, figures like Scipio, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Caesar, and al...

Tonight's sleepy episode takes us back to Ancient Egypt, with a compilation of stories that shed light on various aspects of this wonderful civilization. Stories include the biography of Queen Hatshepsut, the story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun, the story of Akhenaten (the "heretic pharaoh") and his new capital, Amarna, an overview of the different periods of Egyptian history, and fi...

In this sleepy mythology episode, I tell you some myths and legends from the Hindu tradition, including the Ramayana and Mahabharata (two legendary epics), and other stories about the creation of the world, Ganesha or goddess Durga. I also tell you about Hinduism and its various denominations, and some of the most well-known gods and heroes, like Rama, Krishna, Hanuman, Vishnu, Shiva, Brahma or Sh...

In this sleepy episode about history and espionage, we explore the lives and times of two famous spies: the extraordinary Josephine Baker, entertainer, war hero, and activist; and Sidney Reilly, the "Ace of Spies," who was involved in multiple events and whose personality and adventurous lifestyle are credited with inspiring the character of James Bond. #sleep #bedtimestory #asmr #sleepstory #spy...

This sleepy story about the History of Ancient Rome is the first of two parts, because there were too many things to say for one single episode. The next part about the end of the Republic and the Empire will be out soon. In this episode, I tell you about the origins of Rome, its slow emergence and wars until the 1st Century BC - including the founding of the Republic and the rivalry between the S...

In this soft-spoken bedtime story, I tell you about the concept of "generation ships": large spacecrafts that would transport dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people to faraway destinations in the galaxy, over several generations. Even though we are nowhere near seeing one, the technical, biological, and social aspects of such a project are fascinating. So, I review them to explain the main...

In these new mystery stories set in New York City, we will travel through time at different periods of the history of the city, from its foundation as New Amsterdam to our days. Stories include:- Captain Kidd's Treasure, which could be hidden somewhere on Manhattan, Long Island or Gardiner's Island;- The wreck of the HMS Hussar in the East River with a big treasure on board during the American Rev...

Tonight, we revisit three Mystery Stories episode from Lights Out Library: - The Lost Roman Legion - Out of Place Artifacts, including the Crystal Skulls, Antikythera Mechanism and Shroud of Turin stories, among others - Oracle of Delphi, Changelings and Grand Duchess Anastasia. I hope you enjoy this collection of sleepy mystery stories as you fall asleep tonight. Welcome to Lights Out Library Joi...

In this sleepy episode, we explore the lives and times of two famous spies: Mata Hari in the world of show-business and courtesans in Paris during the Belle Epoque and WW1; and Richard Sorge, a spy for the Soviet Union who provided Moscow with valuable information about Germany and Japan before and during WW2. I hope you enjoy the mystery and intrigue in the stories of these spies, as you drift of...

For thousands of years, cultures rose and disappeared in Mesoamerica. In tonight's episode, we explore Maya and Aztec mythological tales, and I tell you about the sources we have about their legends, their cosmology, and cultural traits that existed across the entire Mesoamerica, like ball games, advanced astronomical knowledge, and the cult of a feathered serpent (Kukulkan for the Maya, Quetzalco...

This new space journey will take you to the mysterious and gigantic expanse that exists beyond the planet Neptune. We will discover different bodies from the Kuiper Belt, including its most famous resident: Pluto, its satellites like Charon, and other dwarf planets such as Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. I will also tell you about tilted orbits and why they happen, tholins, regolith, the mysterious "P...

This new batch of historical mystery bedtime stories takes us to Easter Island and its enigmatic alignments of statues (the moais). We will also discover how the legend of a lost continent called Mu appeared in the 19th Century, explore the Yonaguni Monument, and I will tell the story of a ghost ship, the MV Joyita. Welcome to Lights Out Library Join me for a sleepy adventure tonight. Sit back, re...