The Beautiful, Boring Brilliance of Sleep With Me: Primordial Soup for Post X-Mas
There is something deeply paradoxical about a podcast that succeeds only when you stop paying attention to it. Drew Ackerman, better known as Scoots, has spent years perfecting this anti-formula on Sleep With Me. In the recent collection, Primordial Soup for Post X-Mas, we get a concentrated dose of what makes this show a staple for the chronically restless: a series of intros that are as comforting as they are utterly baffling.
Scoots describes himself as your "bore-friend" or "bore-bestie," and it is a title he earns through sheer commitment to the bit. The episode is a curated selection of his signature long-form introductions, designed to act as a landing strip for the day’s anxieties. He doesn't just tell a story; he creates a safe space by sanding down the edges of reality with what he calls "creaky dulcet tones."
The Philosophy of the "Projector Protector"
One of the most insightful moments in this episode involves a strange dialogue Scoots has with himself about the "Projector Protector." It is a classic Scoots tangent, a Freudian slip turned into a character study. He explores how our brains project the past onto the future to "protect" us, usually by keeping us wide awake with worry.
Instead of fighting these "brain bots," Scoots acknowledges them. He treats the hyper-active parts of the mind with a gentle, self-deprecating humor that takes the power away from the panic. It is a masterclass in what he terms "reflective listening"—allowing his words to simply bounce off your eardrums rather than requiring your brain to process them for meaning.
Groundbreaking Advice: The Bed-Book Tent
If you have ever struggled with temperature regulation at 3:00 AM, Scoots offers a solution that is as absurd as it is weirdly logical. He suggests taking a sturdy, hardcover book (preferably a Funk & Wagnalls encyclopedia) and setting it up as an A-frame at the foot of your bed. This creates a "superstructure" to tent your blankets, allowing for optimal toe-airflow and a sense of psychological empowerment over your own bedding.
It is exactly the kind of low-stakes, high-detail nonsense that allows a racing mind to latch onto something harmless until the weight of the day finally drops away.
The Golden Nugget: "This podcast make any sense? It makes so little sense it makes perfect sense, because I’m in the business of nonsense."
Why It Works
What sets this episode apart is the raw honesty hidden beneath the rambling. Scoots openly apologizes for getting distracted by his own thoughts of editing YouTube videos or the "Soda Accords" of his childhood commercials. By showing his own mental foibles, he becomes a peer to the listener. He isn't a sleep expert lecturing you on hygiene; he is a fellow traveler in the deep, dark night who just happens to be a few steps ahead of you, holding a flashlight and talking about boysenberries.
For anyone navigating the post-holiday slump or the typical 2:00 AM ceiling-staring contest, this "Primordial Soup" is the perfect distraction. It is a reminder that you don't have to solve your problems tonight. You just have to listen to a man talk about the pricing of priceless ideas until you eventually, mercifully, drift off.
Would you like me to curate a list of other sleep-aid podcasts that use unconventional storytelling techniques similar to Drew's "bore-friend" style?
Listen to Bedtime Stories to Bore You Asleep from Sleep With Me: https://podranker.com/podcast/sleep-to-strange