''Sleep with Me'' is a twice-weekly

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

that began on October 18, 2013. It is hosted by "Dearest Scooter" as performed by Drew Ackerman. ''Sleep with Me'' joined the

Feral Audio Feral Audio was an independent podcast network and production company, founded in 2012 as a podcasting collective by Dustin Marshall after Dustin left Earwolf. Feral launched from Executive Producer's Shadi Petosky's apartment in Franklin Villag ...

podcast network in February 2017 and moved to

Night Vale Presents Night Vale Presents is a production company and independent podcast network founded in 2015 by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor. The name is derived from its flagship podcast, ''Welcome to Night Vale'', and the network is also known for publishing ...

on March 28, 2018. The podcast's tagline is "The podcast that puts you to sleep".

Premise and influences

''Sleep with Me'' is meant to distract listeners, keeping their minds occupied when they experience insomnia, while gently lulling them to sleep. Ackerman is open about his own struggles with insomnia; he has said that his rambling storytelling style began in childhood, when he told his brothers boring bedtime stories when they could not sleep. He names ''The

Dr. Demento Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograp ...

Show'',

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut ( ; November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American author known for his Satire, satirical and darkly humorous novels. His published work includes fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and five nonfict ...

and the

Beastie Boys The Beastie Boys were an American Hip-hop, hip hop and Rap rock, rap rock group formed in New York City in 1979. They were composed of Ad-Rock, Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar), Adam Yauch, Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Mike D, ...

as some of his influences. Ackerman describes his storytelling style as "the good type of weird but not creepy". He does not claim to have expertise in psychology or sleep science, and he relies on feedback from listeners to shape the podcast.

Format and structure

Each episode begins with Ackerman, in character as "Dearest Scooter", introducing the podcast. He then mentions the episode's sponsors; singer-songwriter Jonathan Mann, also known as the "Mystery Bard", often sings a "lullaby" jingle about one of the sponsoring companies. Scooter continues with a rambling introduction for a few minutes before moving on to the episode's main story. Each episode ends with Scooter individually thanking listeners who have recently donated to the show or contacted him on social media. Ackerman also maintains a separate podcast playlist of older episodes, called ''Sleep to Strange'', that have had the introductions removed so listeners can listen to just the main story.

Reactions and response

''Sleep with Me'' has largely gained listeners through word of mouth and Ackerman's Twitter account. In January 2017, the podcast had reached 2.3 million monthly downloads. Drew Ackerman and ''Sleep with Me'' were featured on the October 20, 2016, episode of '' The Dr. Oz Show'', entitled "Sleep Brain Connection". In 2016, ''Sleep with Me'' won the People's Choice Podcast Award for Best Health Podcast. Both ''Sleep with Me'' and its spinoff ''Game of Drones'' appeared on the ''Mental Floss'' list of "10 Podcasts to Help You Sleep". ''Sleep with Me'' has been ranked as one of the top 50 most popular podcasts. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' named ''Sleep with Me'' one of The 25 Essential Podcasts of 2016.

Recurring stories, characters and themes

* After the Glass Slipper - "The story of Cinderella, her Fairy Godmother and her Stepmother after she became a princess." * Bernie the Butterfly - "Bernie the Butterfly stops by the studio to set the record straight. He has a ton of stuff he needs to get off his chest. Who knew that there was so much repressed rage against humans." * Big Farm P.I. - "This won't be your garden variety investigation, it will have more meanders." * Claude Neon Reports - "Correspondent Claude Neon reports on the whereabouts of the new 'Santa', Roberta Claus." * Game of Drones - Recaps ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American Fantasy television, fantasy Drama (film and television), drama television series created by David Benioff and for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of high fantasy novels by ...

''; also available as a separate podcast feed. * Get Besos - Tells the fictional story of

Richard Warren Sears Richard Warren Sears (December 7, 1863 – September 28, 1914) was an American businessman who co-founded the department store Sears, Roebuck and Company with his partner Alvah Curtis Roebuck. Early life Sears was born in Stewartville, Minnes ...

and

James Cash Penney James Cash Penney Jr. (September 16, 1875 – February 12, 1971) was an American businessman and entrepreneur who founded the JCPenney stores in 1902. Early life and education Penney was born on September 16, 1875, on a farm outside of Hamilto ...

, who return from

limbo The unofficial term Limbo (, or , referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition in medieval Catholic theology, of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. However, it has become the gene ...

to take revenge on internet retailer " Jiff Besos". * Great British Bake You Off to Sleep - Scooter recaps episodes of

The Great British Bake Off ''The Great British Bake Off'' (often abbreviated to ''Bake Off'' or ''GBBO'') is a British television baking competition, produced by Love Productions, in which a group of amateur bakers compete against each other in a series of rounds, atte ...

. * Lady Witchbeard - Recounts the story of Scooter's friend, the pirate witch Lady Witchbeard. * Metastasnooze - Recaps ''

Metástasis ''Metástasis'' is a Colombian telenovela series, a Spanish language remake of the American crime drama ''Breaking Bad'' that transposes the events of the original from the United States to Colombia. It follows the storyline for all five seasons ...

'', the Spanish-language version of ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

''. * Nuns in Space - "An episodic series so you can start anywhere and be taken away to dreamland." * Otter Things - A more family-friendly re-telling of the series

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American television series created by the Duffer brothers, Duffer Brothers for Netflix. Produced by Monkey Massacre Productions and 21 Laps Entertainment, the Stranger Things season 1, first season was released on N ...

set in a swamp in the early 90's, with all the characters re-imagined as "swamp-based beings" such as otters, frogs, beavers, porcupines, and muskrats. Told by the 8th-grader Emma Otter, niece to the famous musician Emmet Otter. * Ray Perkins - "A sweet upbeat old man" who talks about his visits to

Disney parks Disney Experiences, commonly known as Disney Parks, is one of the three major divisions of the Walt Disney Company. It was founded on April 1, 1971, exactly six months before the opening of the Walt Disney World, Walt Disney World Resort. Led ...

and other Florida attractions. * Real Time Recipes - "Fall asleep and learn to cook at the same time." * Sleep with TNG - Recaps '' Star Trek: The Next Generation''. * Superdull - A superhero story. *

The Good Place ''The Good Place'' is an American fantasy-comedy television series created by Michael Schur for NBC. The series premiered on September 19, 2016, and concluded on January 30, 2020, after four seasons consisting of 53 episodes. Although the pl ...

- Scooter goes through each episode in detail. * The Adventures of Dr. Triangle and Isosceles - A post-apocalyptic fantasy series. Set in a "post-math world" under the influence of the dark goddess Discordia, the series stars two heroic, satirical performers and their mule, who wander the Midwest on a crusade to "restore the principles of mathematics" in the name of Seshat, goddess of math. * Trending Tuesdays - Scooter develops a story based on Twitter's trending topics. * Doctor Who - Many episodes feature recaps of

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

stories, sometimes with slightly spoofed titles such a "The Girl in the Franceplace." * Mandaborian on Mandelorian - Recap of

The Mandalorian ''The Mandalorian'' is an American space Western television series created by Jon Favreau for the streaming service Disney+. It is the first live-action series in the ''Star Wars'' franchise and begins five years after the events of the fil ...

References

External links