Episode Details

Why do we need stories?

Settle into The Story of Stories, a thoughtful sleep story about the tales we tell, the shapes they take, and the way they carry us a little beyond ourselves.

Late at night, a young woman begins a tale by lamplight. Inside her story, another storyteller begins another tale. Shahrazad keeps the king listening, one night after another, while stories travel far beyond the palace.

Tonight we follow them from an ancient painted cave in Sulawesi to fireside conversations in the Kalahari, from Aristotle's thoughts on plot to Murasaki Shikibu's defence of fiction.

We meet the patterns in fairy tales, the shapes Kurt Vonnegut drew on a blackboard, and a few moving shapes that viewers turned into characters.

Along the way, an epic singer makes a story new, the griots of Mali carefully preserve one, and Ananse the spider sets out to bring stories down from the sky.

The journey returns to a quiet room, where the lamp is low and the rest of the tale can wait until tomorrow.

You don't have to hear the end of anything tonight. Let the story keep you company as you settle down to rest.

This sleep story is told slowly and gently for sleep, relaxation and quiet late-night listening.

Explore The Idea of Ideas series:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLd5WzOPdClFY

Listen to more Sleep Stories from the Pioneers:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRypv-XVJDZk

Explore Sleep Stories from the Pioneers:

https://pioneersofhumanbehaviour.com/sleep-stories/

Support the project:

https://ko-fi.com/pioneersofhumanbehaviour

Sleep well. 🌙

Stories to fall asleep to. Ideas worth waking up with.