In this bedtime story, I tell you all about Buddhism: the beliefs and culture of Ancient India; the life of Siddartha Gautama, the historical Buddha; how Buddhism spread in Asia; the differences between various Buddhist traditions (Theravada, Mahayana, Vajrayana, Zen, Tibetan or Tantric Buddhism...), and I explain a lot of terms that you might have encountered without knowing their full meanings, like Vedas, Karma, Middle Way, Samsara, Tantra and Mantra.

A concise summary of the text could be: A bedtime story exploring Buddhism, its ancient origins, the life of Gautama Buddha, its spread in Asia, and different traditions and terms.

History Of Buddhism

Tonight I tell you about several creation myths from the Apache and Navajo traditions, including the Kiowa Apache myth of Kuterastan and the Navajo Diné Bahaneʼ ("Story of the People"), in our usual relaxing and ASMR-ish style. We also discuss the historical roots of these peoples in the American Southwest and the north of Mexico, how they used to live, their linguistic connections across North America, and the figure of Geronimo.

Exploring Apache and Navajo creation myths and history, including the Kiowa Apache myth of Kuterastan and the Navajo Diné Bahaneʼ, in a relaxing ASMR style.

Native American Myths and Legends

In this soft-spoken story, I tell you the stories of four ghost towns in America: - North Brother Island, New York, a small uninhabited island that once had a large hospital and kept the infamous Typhoid Mary in quarantine for over two decades. - Bodie, California, a well-preserved mining town that boomed in the 1870s thanks to the discovery of gold deposits. I will tell you a little about the California Gold Rush, Express companies like Wells Fargo, and the decline of this once-thriving town. - Real de Catorce, Mexico, is another mining town that can only be accessed via an underground tunnel. - Villa Epecuén, Argentina, a submerged resort, spent 2 decades under salty water, until the water withdrew and revealed an eerie landscape.

Discover haunting tales of ghost towns like North Brother Island, Bodie, Real de Catorce, and Villa Epecuén in America and Mexico.

Ghost Towns in America

For thousands of years, cultures rose and disappeared in Mesoamerica. In tonight's episode, we explore Maya and Aztec mythological tales, and I tell you about the sources we have about their legends, their cosmology, and cultural traits that existed across the entire Mesoamerica, like ball games, advanced astronomical knowledge, and the cult of a feathered serpent (Kukulkan for the Maya, Quetzalcoatl for the Aztecs...). We also explore the Aztec pantheon, and I tell you about Huitzilopochtli, Tlaloc, and Tezcatlipoca. Under surprising forms, this heritage can sometimes resurface in contemporary culture, for example, with the cult of Santa Muerte.

Exploring Maya and Aztec myths, cosmology, and culture in Mesoamerica, including ball games, astronomical knowledge, and deity worship, with modern influences like Santa Muerte.

Aztec and Maya Mythology

In tonight's story, I discuss the long history of Stonehenge, from the first works on the site by people from the Windmill Hill culture around 3100 BC, to the multiple works and rearrangements that took place until 1600 BC. After this, Stonehenge continued to live a life of its own and was adopted by the druids, became a legendary monument, and revealed extraordinary secrets since the 20th century. After Stonehenge, I also tell you of Skara Brae, a very well-preserved neolithic village in the Orkney Islands (Scotland), and we explore its 5000-year-old houses.

Exploring the history of Stonehenge and Skara Brae, ancient sites revealing secrets from 3100 BC to the present day in Scotland and England.

Stonehenge And Its Ancient Mysteries

In this episode, I tell you about the History of the Great Wall, the "Ten-Thousand Mile Wall" (万里长城). Through it, we will explore the history of Ancient China from the birth of civilization around the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, to the Ming Dynasty, the last one to maintain and expand the Wall.

Explore the history of Ancient China through the Great Wall, from birth of civilization to the Ming Dynasty, in this informative episode.

History Of The Great Wall of China

Tonight we will explore four lost cities together: Pompeii, Angkor, Great Zimbabwe, and Cliff Palace, also known as Mesa Verde. They were buried under volcanic ashes, overwhelmed by the jungle, or just abandoned in a remote region until being rediscovered centuries later. Join me as we reveal their fascinating stories and what these places can still teach us.

Discover four lost cities - Pompeii, Angkor, Great Zimbabwe, and Cliff Palace - and uncover their forgotten tales and timeless lessons.

Lost Cities: Pompeii, Angkor

Tonight, I tell you of several mysterious stories about places and events around the World: the Tunguska Event and the Dyatlov Pass Incident in Russia; the Antikythera Mechanism from Greece; the Roswell crash of 1947 and the D.B. Cooper Hijacking in the USA; and the Nazca Lines in Peru. Can they be described by current scientific knowledge and common sense? How did these events or artifacts challenge what we thought we knew, or reveal social preoccupations? Let's find out what can be said about each of them.

Mysterious global events and artifacts like the Tunguska Event, Dyatlov Pass Incident, Nazca Lines, Roswell crash, and D.B. Cooper Hijacking challenge scientific knowledge and reveal social preoccupations.

Six Historical Mysteries

Tonight's episode takes us on a historical tour of salt. How much is there on Earth? Why did it start to be an important commodity for humans in the Neolithic? How was it extracted and transported in ancient times? We will explore all this, and more: how the taxation of salt helped early states to function, how salt was extracted and transported in medieval times, the history of various food preservation methods using salt, and how it was partially replaced with other techniques such as canning and refrigeration.

Exploring the history and importance of salt in human civilization, from ancient extraction methods to modern food preservation techniques.

History of Salt

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest (and only) survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, as defined by the Greeks in Antiquity. But when, how, and why was such an extravagant structure built, more than four thousand years ago? In tonight's story, we explore a page of the history of Ancient Egypt, discuss the meaning of this work for its builders, discover the construction techniques of the time, and evoke what we know of the life of pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty.

Ancient Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza, last of Seven Wonders, built over 4000 years ago by Pharaoh Khufu's dynasty, reveals ancient construction techniques and historical significance.

Mystery Of The Great Pyramid Of Giza

In this soothing bedtime story about Greek Mythology, join me as I share the story of the Odyssey. I discuss a few historical, cultural, and literary aspects, in this case, the ancient poem by Homer. Learn more about the lotus eaters, the cyclops, the sirens, Aeolus, Circe, Scylla, and Charybdis, Calypso, and rejoice as Odysseus is finally reunited with his wife Penelope and son Telemachus after ten years at war and ten more lost at sea. Relax and enjoy as you gently fall asleep.

A calming bedtime story about Greek Mythology, discussing the adventures of Odysseus in the Odyssey, leading up to his reunion with his family.

The Odyssey: Odysseus' Adventures

This bedtime story contains three different myths from Ancient Greece: - The story of Perseus, how he was conceived by Zeus and Danaë, went on an adventure to cut off the head of Medusa the Gorgon, and rescued Andromeda. - The myth of the Labyrinth, built in Crete by Daedalus for King Minos to contain the Minotaur, and how Theseus slew it with the help of Ariadne. - The myth of Prometheus, who stole the secret of fire to give it to mankind and was punished for it.

Ancient Greek myths of Perseus, the Labyrinth, and Prometheus are retold in this bedtime story of adventure, heroism, and punishment.

Myths of Perseus, Theseus And Prometheus

In this story, we explore the significance attached to various colors throughout history, how pigments and dyes were made and with what surprising ingredients and how the status of colors changed over time in society, consumer goods and art. I focus on three colors in particular, which are global favorites: blue, green and red.

This text explores the historical significance of colors, including blue, green, and red, revealing surprising ingredients used in pigments and dyes.

A Cultural History Of Colors

Tonight, I take you on a journey along the Silk Road. We explore how and why this route from China to the Mediterranean opened at the time of the Han Dynasty and Ancient Rome. Given the distances and costs, long-distance trade was limited to light, expensive, and exotic goods, like silk, glassware, fine crafts, perfumes, and spices. It adapted to changes over centuries: the rise and fall of dynasties in China, the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the struggles of Byzantium, the Muslim conquest, the Mongol invasion, the rise of Italian merchant republics... I also tell you about the rediscovery of land routes to the Far East by European travelers of the Middle Ages, especially Marco Polo.

Explore the ancient Silk Road, a trade route from China to the Mediterranean, known for luxurious goods and its role in history through the ages.

History Of The Silk Road

In this story, I take you through more than 3,000 years of Egyptian History, from the first unification of Egypt to the death of Cleopatra. I talk about history, the gods of Egypt, architecture, art, life along the Nile, the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms, and many other things! I hope you enjoy it.

A journey through 3,000 years of Egyptian history exploring gods, architecture, art, and daily life along the Nile, ending with Cleopatra's death.

History Of Ancient Egypt

In this bedtime story, I tell you about four Greek myths: - Pandora and her jar (or box), which contained countless plagues that she let escape, providing a backstory for the existence of suffering in human life. This myth works as a "theodicy" (a backstory or an argument that explains why evil is part of the human condition when God(s) would have the power to avoid it). It is also connected to the biblical character of Eve. - The tragedy of the Danaïdes, daughters of King Danaus condemned to a futile task forever for the murders of their husbands. - Sisyphus, the king of Corinth, was sentenced to another eternity of useless work for defying Zeus and cheating death. - Icarus, the young man who flew too close to the sun and fell.

Greek myths: Pandora's jar explains human suffering, Danaïdes doomed to eternal task, Sisyphus defies Zeus, Icarus flies too close to sun.

Pandora's Box and Other Greek Myths

In this episode, I take you on a tour of lost Maya cities and to the discovery of the main aspects of their civilization: history, culture, architecture, art, religion, astronomy, and society. We will visit sites like Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal, or Chichen Itza and try to understand how ancient Maya cities thrived in Mesoamerica before and during the First Millenium before they suffered a catastrophic urban collapse and were almost forgotten for centuries.

Explore lost Maya cities and their civilization in Mesoamerica, including Nakbe, El Mirador, Tikal, and Chichen Itza, before their urban collapse.

Lost Cities Of The Maya

In this soothing bedtime science story, I tell you about Earth during the Pleistocene (aka "the Ice Age"). We explore what the planet was like, its geography, its climate, its fauna (especially the megafauna of mammals like mammoths, saber-toothed tigers & mastodons), and the rise of the genus Homo, from the first Hominidae to Australopithecus species and various species of archaic humans (Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Heidelbergensis, Homo Neanderthalis and finally Homo Sapiens). Explore your planet's history & family tree while helping to quiet your mind and sleep.

A soothing bedtime science story explores the Earth's Pleistocene era, including geography, climate, megafauna, and the rise of Homo species.

Exploring The Ice Age

For tonight, I tell you the stories of different "lost treasures" and other legends attached to: 1- The Knights Templar, a religious military order that emerged during the Crusades but became so wealthy and influential that it made powerful enemies; 2- The Cathars, a Christian sect from the 12th to 14th Centuries in Southern France and Northern Italy, which was persecuted until it disappeared; 3- The Fabergé Eggs, exquisite pieces of jewelry that were made for the Romanovs in Saint Petersburg in the decades before the Russian Revolution. Out of more than fifty, six eggs are now missing, but as the story of the "Third Imperial" egg indicates, they could maybe reappear one day.

Discover tales of lost treasures tied to the Knights Templar, Cathars, and Fabergé Eggs, hinting at their potential reappearance.

Lost Treasures

In this bedtime story, I tell you about four different sets of objects that come with their historical mysteries: • The Roman Dodecahedrons, which are bronze objects from the late Roman Empire that do not seem to have any identifiable use. • The Neolithic and Bronze Age Carved Stone Balls from Scotland. • The Stone Spheres of Costa Rica. • The Lewis Chessmen, a set of chess pieces found on the Isle of Lewis.

Historical mysteries of Roman Dodecahedrons, Scottish Stone Balls, Costa Rican Stone Spheres, and Lewis Chessmen are explored in bedtime story.

Enigmatic Historical Artifacts

This bedtime story tells you the Epic of Gilgamesh based on the Standard Babylonian Version. I also tell you about Mesopotamian mythology and the emergence of civilizations in the region, from Sumer and Akkad to Assyria and Babylonia.

Discover the Epic of Gilgamesh and Mesopotamian mythology in this bedtime story, exploring the rise of civilizations in the region.

Epic of Gilgamesh

In this bedtime story for the curious, we explore the history of American railroads. From the opening of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in 1830 to the Transcontinental Railroad, the rise of magnates like Cornelius Vanderbilt or Jay Gould, and the transformations in the way Americans lived and consumed, I invite you to travel with me on this geographical, cultural and economic epic.

Explore the rich history of American railroads, from their beginnings in 1830 to the Transcontinental Railroad and its impact on American life and commerce.

History Of American Railroads

This bedtime story is about medicine and healing since the Neolithic. I will tell you about Ancient Mesopotamia and the first diagnosis and prescriptions, Ancient Egypt and the figure of Imhotep, India, and the principles of Ayurveda, or Chinese Medicine including Moxibustion and Acupuncture. We also take a look at medicine in Ancient Greece and Rome, including important figures like Hippocrates and Galen, and how this legacy passed on and was further developed in the Islamic World, Byzantium, and Medieval Europe. Then we reach the Renaissance and the steps that would lead to an increasingly scientific approach to medicine, the many discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries, and the new approach to nursing.

An overview of the history of medicine from Neolithic times to modern nursing, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, Islamic World, Byzantium, Medieval Europe, Renaissance, and 19th/20th-century discoveries.

History Of Medicine

In this softly spoken bedtime story, I explore with you the mysteries of various "out-of-place artifacts," which is to say, (allegedly) old objects that would challenge conventional chronology and/or the mainstream view of the technical advancement of ancient cultures. Forgeries, hoaxes, and pranks abound. I'll tell you about some of them, like the Michigan Relics or the Crystal Skulls; they were fake, but still are good stories. A small number of objects still retain an element of mystery or invite us to rethink our views of ancient societies, like the Antikythera Mechanism, or we still don't exactly know how they were made, like the Shroud of Turin.

Exploring ancient mysteries of out-of-place artifacts, from forgeries to genuine enigmas like the Antikythera Mechanism and Shroud of Turin.

Crystal Skulls and Other Artifacts

This new batch of historical mystery stories takes us to Easter Island and its enigmatic alignments of statues (the moais). We will also discover how the legend of a lost continent called Mu appeared in the 19th Century, explore the Yonaguni Monument, and I will tell the story of a ghost ship, the MV Joyita.

Historical mystery stories explore Easter Island moais, lost continent of Mu, Yonaguni Monument, and haunted MV Joyita ghost ship.

Mysteries of the Pacific

In this bedtime story, we visit Mercury and Venus, two planets with formidable environments. I will share with you various theories about their formation, what they are composed of, what to expect at their surfaces, and other interesting facts like how orbits form & are maintained, or what a supercritical fluid is. I hope you enjoy this relaxing way to learn more about space while quieting your mind.

A bedtime story exploring the planets Mercury and Venus, revealing their formation, composition, surface conditions, orbital mechanics, and intriguing facts about space.

Mission To Mercury & Venus

Lights Out Library

Sleep Storyteller

AFGHANISTAN

ALAND ISLANDS

ALBANIA

ALGERIA

AMERICAN SAMOA

ANDORRA

ANGOLA

ANGUILLA

ANTARCTICA

ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA

ARGENTINA

ARMENIA

ARUBA

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRIA

AZERBAIJAN

BAHAMAS

BAHRAIN

BANGLADESH

BARBADOS

BELARUS

BELGIUM

BELIZE

BENIN

BERMUDA

BHUTAN

BOLIVIA

BONAIRE, SINT EUSTATIUS AND SABA

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

BOTSWANA

BOUVET ISLAND

BRAZIL

BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY

BRUNEI DARUSSALAM

BULGARIA

BURKINA FASO

BURUNDI

CAMBODIA

CAMEROON

CANADA

CAPE VERDE

CAYMAN ISLANDS

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

CHAD

CHILE

CHINA

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS

COLOMBIA

COMOROS

CONGO

CONGO, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE

COOK ISLANDS

COSTA RICA

COTE D'IVOIRE

CROATIA

CUBA

CURACAO

CYPRUS

CZECHIA

DENMARK

DJIBOUTI

DOMINICA

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ECUADOR

EGYPT

EL SALVADOR

EQUATORIAL GUINEA

ERITREA

ESTONIA

ETHIOPIA

FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS)

FAROE ISLANDS

FIJI

FINLAND

FRANCE

FRENCH GUIANA

FRENCH POLYNESIA

FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES

GABON

GAMBIA

GEORGIA

GERMANY

GHANA

GIBRALTAR

GREECE

GREENLAND

GRENADA

GUADELOUPE

GUAM

GUATEMALA

GUERNSEY

GUINEA

GUINEA-BISSAU

GUYANA

HAITI

HEARD ISLAND AND MCDONALD ISLANDS

HOLY SEE (VATICAN CITY STATE)

HONDURAS

HONG KONG

This new space journey will take you to the mysterious and gigantic expanse that exists beyond the planet Neptune. We will discover different bodies from the Kuiper Belt, including its most famous resident: Pluto, its satellites like Charon, and other dwarf planets such as Haumea, Makemake, and Eris. I will also tell you about tilted orbits and why they happen, tholins, regolith, the mysterious "Planet Nine", the Oort Cloud beyond the Kuiper Belt, and more things...

Explore the mysterious Kuiper Belt, Pluto, and more in a space journey beyond Neptune, including tilted orbits, tholins, and the Oort Cloud.

Mission to Pluto and the Kuiper Belt

En este episodio, te cuento sobre la Historia de la Astrología: cómo apareció como una disciplina que no estaba formalmente separada de la Astronomía en diferentes culturas (Babilonia, China, India, Egipto, Grecia, el Mundo Islámico, los Mayas...), y cómo evolucionó. La astrología occidental, con sus signos del zodíaco, cartas natales, horóscopos y predicciones individualizadas, es una tradición que comenzó a formarse hace más de 2.000 años en el Mediterráneo oriental. A pesar de que las críticas a la práctica son probablemente tan antiguas como la astrología misma, la astrología sobrevivió a su separación de la astronomía e incluso prosperó en Occidente desde el siglo XX.

La historia de la astrología desde sus inicios en diferentes culturas hasta su evolución y supervivencia en Occidente, separada de la astronomía.