Drifting Off with Joe Pera: A Sleep Podcast

Joe Pera already had a reputation for being the most calming person in comedy, thanks to his Adult Swim show Joe Pera Talks With You. So a sleep podcast feels like the most natural extension possible. Drifting Off pairs his signature deadpan mumble with original ambient soundscapes composed by Ryan Dann, and the result is genuinely funny while still doing its job of putting you to sleep. Episodes are a grab bag. Some feature Pera making low-key jokes over immersive audio environments — a rainy cabin, a quiet lakeside. Others are phone conversations with friends and interesting people where the goal seems to be pleasant, aimless chatting. There is even a live show recording from 2025 that somehow works as a sleep aid despite having an audience. The catalog is small — about 20 episodes across two seasons — and new releases come monthly, so this is not the kind of show you can binge through endlessly. But the quality-per-episode ratio is unusually high. The 4.9-star average from over 1,300 ratings on Apple Podcasts is not a fluke. People genuinely love this one. Pera has also released Season 1 on vinyl, which tells you something about the audio design. This is not throwaway background noise. Dann's compositions stand on their own as ambient music. If you appreciate comedy that does not demand your full attention and soundscapes that feel handcrafted rather than algorithmically generated, Drifting Off is worth adding to your nighttime rotation. The Patreon offers 8-hour extended versions for the truly committed.