An alternative to falling asleep to audiobooks.

Why it works

An audiobook is a good idea with one flaw. It has a plot, and a plot is a machine for making you want the next part. You either stay awake for it or lose your place and spend ten minutes tomorrow finding the chapter. Neither was the plan.

A Lullable story is written the other way round. The ending is given in the first minute, the material is true and mildly interesting, and no detail matters later. This page starts with the story alone. There is a soft noise under the first two buttons if you would like one.

What you are hearing

• Green noise. Pink noise passed through a wide band centred on 500 Hz. The lows and the hiss are both turned down, leaving the middle, where most outdoor sound lives.
• The voice. The first four minutes of Aristotle, the Greatest Philosopher, a Lullable story, in a synthesised voice. It only plays if you bring it in.
• The ending. The preview lasts four minutes. Its last ten seconds are a straight fade to silence, so it never stops abruptly.

For a real recording that runs forty minutes, the Lullable iPhone app has rain, waves, a campfire and plain noise, with no voice and no music.