I'm a fan of these sleep headphones! - NaBloPoMo 10

I went on WireCutter and looked up the best sleep headphones. Then I just bought the top pick, despite the Wire Cutter write up being a little on the lackluster side even as the top pick. 

After that, I went and told Helen I'd seen an article the WireCutter was shutting down. I swear I saw an article that WireCutter was shutting down. Helen became alarmed. She fact-checked me and, yeah, turns out I was misinformed. WireCutter is not shutting down. With that ding tarnishing my reputation as a reliable narrator... let's talk about this headband that plays my music, podcasts, and/or audiobooks while I am falling asleep.

https://amzn.to/49xpn44

Frankly I love it. Or, I love the whole idea of it as I have not tried out any other brands as aforementioned. Not that you can trust me anyway due to my new rap for making shit up and spreading false rumors. But I am really sure I read somewhere that WireCutter was shutting down.

It's amazing what a little audio distraction will do to dampen whirling thoughts that keep me up at night. Now, I've learned a lot since I first got them about what is the absolute best in the boring audio category, because yeah, the audio has to be solidly boring. Otherwise you stay up to listen to it and that defeats the whole purpose.

Here's my checklist for Excellently Boring Night Audio:

• The audio cannot be annoying. Those "Sleep with me" podcasts are annoying. People who talk too slow and don't really make any sense aren't soothing, they're annoying. That's my final word on it, but you do you.
• The audio cannot have more than one person talking. It needs to be one lone individual prattling on about something.
• The one person talking needs a flat, melodic and non-nasally voice. Like a real yoga teacher vibe.
• The topic needs to be slightly interesting, but not really interesting. And you have to tell yourself that you'll listen to it again later in case you miss anything. Of course, you may or may not ever listen to any of it again. Self deception is occasionally well warranted.
• There can be no music breaks. Holy hell, one time I was listening to a Great Courses about Alexander the Great's rise to power (I know, right! Perfectly pretty damn boring, but also ever so slightly intriguing). Suddenly, some very loud interstitial war music blasted in my ear with battle screams and swordplay and it let me tell you I was up for hours after that.
• Max Richter, my fake uncle, has some great sleep music that I like when not in the mood for anybody talking. 
• Audio books read by the author (ie not a professional) are often pretty wonderfully boring. It's my opinion that the real professional audio book readers have too many tricks to jolt you back into paying attention, so that's why I stick with author-read ones... which are often free on audible and about topics that are... perfect even if you miss large chunks of the book. Lots of advantages in other words.