An alternative to falling asleep to podcasts.

Why it works

Plenty of people fall asleep to podcasts, and it nearly works. A voice in the dark is good company. The trouble is that podcasts are built to keep you listening: hosts laugh, adverts arrive at full volume, and episodes end on something unresolved. You are leaning on a thing designed to do the opposite.

This is the same idea with the wakeful parts removed. One voice, one level pace, true material, the ending given away at the start, and a volume that falls as it goes. It plays here over pink noise. Take the noise out with the third button and it is just the story.

What you are hearing

• Pink noise. Equal energy in every octave, made with Paul Kellet's pinking filter and rolled off above 2,500 Hz. Brighter than brown, softer than white.
• 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.