Drew Ackerman started the Sleep With Me podcast back in 2013, and since then it has grown into one of the most successful independent podcasts and a lifeline for those who struggle with insomnia.
Ackerman says the show is a little hard to describe to new listeners, but the simplest explanation is it’s designed to help adults fall asleep through silly bedtime stories.
Drew Ackerman hopes to tell stories that people don’t want to stay awake for
Unlike most podcasts designed to put adults to sleep, Ackerman doesn’t whisper mindfulness slogans over new age music. Instead he tells the most boring stories imaginable, in a “creaky, dulcet” monotone. While telling these incredibly dull tales, he’ll often get sidetracked down pointless, meandering asides.
“[The goal is to create a show] where the listener feels it is okay not to listen to me, but they could listen to me at any moment, if they feel the need to,” Ackerman says.
“It is a delicate balance to just maintain enough interest that you feel like you’re not going to think about whatever’s keeping you awake, but not be so interesting that you want to stay awake for it either.”
Sleep With Me strikes the balance well. Whenever I need it, the podcast has sent me to sleep in around 20 minutes.
“I’m naturally boring, so I think that helps,” Ackerman says.
“When I was a child, I couldn’t sleep because I was so anxious about school and I’d stay up all night worrying and worrying and worrying, and I started listening to comedy radio, just as a distraction. I would listen in and it would make me laugh and it would make me feel less alone.”
Over the years the podcast has gained a loyal audience; it has a permanent place in the Apple Podcast charts, and the show averages around 3 million listeners a month. Six thousand people support the show on Patreon, and Ackerman constantly gets feedback from those the show has helped over sleepless nights, from ex-soldiers dealing with PTSD, to people grieving over the loss of a loved one.
After years balancing the show with his day job as a librarian, Ackerman now works on the podcast full-time. Amazingly, he’s even recorded a few episodes live.
“I started doing these local shows in a really small space, and people will show up with blankets and pillows and yoga mats. And I’ll just tell a story from the podcast and we’ll turn the lights down low,” he says.
“The funniest part is that most people don’t come alone, so about 40 per cent of the audience are on a date, and they have never heard the podcast before. So their date is sound asleep and they’re just sitting staring at me like, what is wrong with this guy? I cannot believe I’m here listening to this.”
Peter Wells writes about technology and podcasts. He interviews Australia’s best podcasters every week on his podcast, Meta.
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