Home | Calm Bedtime Reading For Sleep

Relax with a calm bedtime reading designed to support sleep and ease insomnia, offering a peaceful bedtime reading that creates space for rest and comfort at the end of the day. In this episode, Benjamin explores the idea of home through a simple, educational reading that lets you learn something new while slowly unwinding, using a steady, soothing cadence with no whispering, just relaxed, fact-filled narration to help your mind settle. This calming experience is ideal for easing insomnia, reducing stress, and soothing anxiety as you prepare for sleep, so press play, get comfortable, and allow yourself to drift off naturally. Happy sleeping!

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep Podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host Benjamin Boster,

And today's episode is about home.

A home or domicile is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants,

And sometimes various companion animals.

Homes provide sheltered spaces,

For instance,

Rooms where domestic activity can be performed,

Such as sleeping,

Preparing food,

Eating,

And hygiene,

As well as providing spaces for work and leisure,

Such as remote working,

Studying,

And playing.

Physical forms of homes can be static,

Such as a house or an apartment,

Mobile,

Such as a houseboat,

Trailer,

Or yurt,

Or digital,

Such as virtual space.

The aspect of home can be considered across scales,

From the micro-scale,

Showcasing the most intimate spaces of the individual dwelling and direct surrounding area,

To the macro-scale of the geographic area,

Such as town,

Village,

City,

Country,

Or planet.

The concept of home has been researched and theorized across disciplines,

Topics ranging from the idea of home,

The interior,

The psyche,

Liminal space,

Contested space,

To gender and politics.

The home as a concept expands beyond residence as contemporary lifestyles and technological advances redefine the way the global population lives and works.

The concept and experience encompasses the likes of exile,

Yearning,

Belonging,

Homesickness,

And homelessness.

The earliest homes humans inhabited were likely naturally occurring features,

Such as caves.

There's numerous evidence for early human species inhabiting caves from at least one million years ago.

In southern Africa,

Early modern humans regularly used sea caves as shelter,

Starting about 180,

000 years ago,

When they learned to exploit the sea for the first time.

The oldest known site is PP13B at Pinnacle Point.

This may have allowed rapid expansion of humans out of Africa and colonization of areas of the world,

Such as Australia,

By 60,

000 to 50,

000 years ago.

Throughout southern Africa,

Australia,

And Europe,

Early modern humans used caves and rock shelters as sites for rock art,

Such as those at Giant's Castle.

Caves such as the Yaodong in China were used for shelter.

Other caves were used for burials,

Such as rock-cut tombs,

Or as religious sites,

Such as Buddhist caves.

Among the known sacred caves are China's Cave of a Thousand Buddhas and the Sacred Caves of Crete.

As technology progressed,

Humans and other hominids began constructing their own dwellings.

Buildings such as huts and longhouses have been used for living since the late Neolithic.

By the Bronze Age,

Communities in Mesopotamia began constructing permanent dwellings of mudbrick.

Excavations at Uruk and Ubaid reveal single-room and multi-room houses organized around small courtyards,

Built with uniform bricks and bitumen mortar.

These early urban homes often clustered along straight streets and shared common wells and ovens.

In ancient Egypt,

From the Old Kingdom onwards,

Known layouts at Amarna and Deir el-Medina display mudbrick houses with flat roofs built in dense rows off narrow lanes.

Typical houses comprised a reception room,

Private chambers,

And a small courtyard used for food preparation and work activities.

The Indus Valley Civilization featured standardized fired bricks and sophisticated urban planning in cities like Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa,

Where two-story houses included private wells,

Indoor bathrooms with drainage,

And south-facing courtyards engineered for ventilation in the hot climate.

On Bronze Age Crete,

The Minon Palace at Knossos incorporated residential quarters with light wells and lustral basins reflecting an emphasis on light and ritual purity in domestic space.

Surrounding settlements adopted similar rectilinear house plans centered on storage magazines and communal courts.

By the first century BC in ancient Rome,

The affluent lived in domus,

Multi-room urban houses built around an atrium and peristyle garden,

While the majority resided in multi-story apartment blocks called insulae,

Often cramped and prone to fire hazards.

After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century,

Domestic architecture in Europe reverted to simple timber-framed or wattle-and-daube huts,

While the elite continued to inhabit stone manor houses with great halls and defensive features.

By the 12th century,

These manor houses commonly featured a central hall,

Private solar chambers,

And adjoining service wings,

Reflecting both social hierarchy and the need for local defense.

In medieval towns,

Multi-story timber-framed hall houses with jetted upper floors lined narrow streets,

Maximizing limited urban plots and providing shelter from street traffic.

Concurrently in the Islamic world from the 8th century onwards,

The inward-facing courtyard house became predominant.

Private residences were organized around shaded central courts with water features,

Mushrabia screens for ventilation and privacy,

And richly decorated plasterwork and tile.

In East Asia,

The Chinese Suheijuan compound,

Standardized during the Yuan and Ming dynasties,

Offered multi-generational living around a north-south axis courtyard with ancillary rooms for servants and extended family.

The Renaissance brought classical ideals into domestic design.

In Florence,

The Palazzo Medici Riccardi introduced rusticated facades,

Symmetrical floor plans,

And internal loggias,

While Venetian villas by Palladio emphasized proportion,

Harmony,

And integration with landscaped gardens.

Advances in glassmaking allowed larger,

Clearer windows,

And masonry chimneys gradually replaced central hearths,

Vastly improving light and air quality within homes.

From the 14th to the 16th century,

Homelessness was perceived of as a vagrancy problem,

And legislative responses to the problem were predicated upon the threat it may pose to the state.

According to Kristen Graham Hansen,

It can be argued that historically and cross-culturally,

There is not always a strong relation between the concept of home and the physical building,

And that this mode of thinking is rooted in the Enlightenment of the 17th century.

Before one's home was more public than private,

Traits such as privacy,

Intimacy,

And familiarity would proceed to achieve greater prominence,

Aligning the concept with the bourgeoisie.

The connection between home and house was reinforced by a case law declaration from Edward Koch.

The house of every man is to him as his castle and fortress,

As well as his defense against injury and violence,

As for his repose.

Colloquially,

This was adapted into the phrase,

The Englishman's home is his castle,

Which popularized the notion of home as house.

A result of the long-standing association between home and women,

18th century English women of upper-class status were scorned for pursuing activities outside the home,

Thus seen to be of undesirable character.

The concept of home took on unprecedented prominence by the 18th century,

Reified by cultural practice.

The concept of a smart home arose in the 19th century,

In turn with electricity having been introduced to homes in a limited capacity.

The distinction between home and work formulated in the 20th century was home acting as sanctuary.

Modern definitions portray home as a site of supreme comfort and familial intimacy,

Operating as a buffer to the greater world.

The concept of home is one with multiple interpretations,

Influenced by one's history and identity.

People of differing ages,

Genders,

Ethnicities,

And classes may have resultingly different meanings of home.

Commonly,

It is associated with various forms of abodes,

Such as wagons,

Cars,

Boats,

Or tents,

Although it is equally considered to extend beyond the space in mind and emotion.

The space of a home need not be significant or fixed,

Though the boundaries of home are often tied to the space.

There have been multiple theories regarding one's choice of home,

With the residential conditions of their childhood often reflected in their later choice of home.

According to Paul Oliver,

The vast majority of abodes are vernacular,

Constructed in accordance with the resident's needs.

A house is a single-unit residential building.

It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood,

Masonry,

Concrete,

Or other material,

Outfitted with plumbing,

Electrical and heating,

Ventilation,

And air conditioning systems.

The social unit that lives in a house is known as a household.

Most commonly,

A household is a family unit of some kind,

Although households may also be other social groups,

Such as roommates,

Or,

In a rooming house,

Unconnected individuals.

Some houses only have a dwelling space for one family,

Or similar-sized group.

Larger houses,

Called townhouses or row houses,

May contain numerous family dwellings in the same structure.

A house may be accompanied by outbuildings,

Such as a garage for vehicles,

Or a shed for gardening equipment and tools.

A house may have a backyard,

Or a front yard,

Or both,

Which serve as additional areas where inhabitants can relax or eat.

Houses may provide certain activities,

Which gradually accumulate meaning until they become homes.

Joseph Rickwert distinguished between home and house in their physicality.

A house requires a building,

Whereas a home does not.

Home and house are often used interchangeably,

Although their connotations may differ.

House being emotionally neutral,

And home evoking personal cognitive aspects.

By the mid-18th century,

The definition of home had extended beyond a house.

Few English words are filled with the emotional meaning of the word home.

Home,

As constitutionally mobile and transient,

Has been contended by anthropologists and sociologists.

A mobile home,

Also known as a house trailer,

Park home,

Trailer,

Or trailer home,

Is a prefabricated structure built in a factory on a permanently attached chassis before being transported to site,

Either by being towed or on a trailer.

Used as permanent homes or for holiday or temporary accommodation,

They are often left permanently or semi-permanently in one place,

But can be moved,

And may be required to move from time to time for legal reasons.

A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home.

Some houseboats are not motorized because they are usually moored,

Kept stationary at a fixed point,

And often tethered to land to provide utilities.

However,

Many are capable of operation under their own power.

Float house is a Canadian and American term for a house on a float or raft.

A rough house may be called a shanty boat.

In Western countries,

Houseboats tend to be either owned privately or rented out to holiday goers,

And some canals in Europe.

People dwell on houseboats all year round.

Examples of this include,

But are not limited to,

Amsterdam,

London,

And Paris.

A traditional yurt or gair is a portable round tent covered with skins or felt,

And used as a dwelling by several distinct nomadic groups in the steppes of Central Asia.

The structure consists of an angled assembly,

Or latticework of wood or bamboo for walls,

A doorframe,

Ribs,

Poles and rafters,

And a wheel,

Crown,

Compression ring,

Possibly steam-bent.

The roof structure is often self-supporting,

But large yurts may have interior posts supporting the crown.

The top of the wall of self-supporting yurts is prevented from spreading by means of a tension band,

Which opposes the force of the roof ribs.

Modern yurts may be permanently built on a wooden platform.

They may use modern materials such as steam-bent wooden framing or metal framing,

Canvas or tarpaulin,

Plexiglass dome,

Wire rope,

Or radian insulation.

A housing cooperative or housing co-op is a legal entity which owns real estate consisting of one or more residential buildings.

The entity is usually a cooperative or a corporation and constitutes a form of housing tenure.

Typically housing cooperatives are owned by shareholders,

But in some cases they can be owned by a non-profit organization.

They are a distinctive form of home ownership that have many characteristics that differ from other residential arrangements,

Such as single-family home ownership,

Condominiums,

And renting.

Housing cooperatives fall into two general tenure categories,

Non-ownership,

Referred to as non-equity or continuing,

And ownership,

Referred to as equity or strata.

In non-equity cooperatives,

Occupancy rights are sometimes granted subject to an occupancy or membership agreement,

Which is similar to a lease.

In equity cooperatives,

Occupancy rights are sometimes granted by way of purchase agreements and legal instruments registered on the title.

The corporation's articles of incorporation and bylaws together with the occupancy agreement specify the cooperative's rules.

Home repair involves the diagnosis and resolution of problems in a home,

And is related to home maintenance to avoid such problems.

Many types of repairs are do-it-yourself,

DIY projects,

While others may be so complicated,

Time-consuming,

Or risky as to require the assistance of a qualified handyperson,

Property manager,

Contractor or builder,

Or other professionals.

Home repair is not the same as renovation,

Although many improvements can result from repairs or maintenance.

Often the costs of larger repairs will justify the alternative of investment in full-scale improvements.

It may make just as much sense to upgrade a home system with an improved one as to repair it or incur ever more frequent and expensive maintenance for an inefficient,

Obsolete,

Or dying system.

Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running and maintaining an organized physical institution occupied or used by people,

Like a house,

Ship,

Hospital or factory,

Such as cleaning,

Tidying or organizing,

Cooking,

Shopping,

And bill payment.

These tasks may be performed by members of the household or by persons hired for the purpose.

This is a more broad role than a cleaner,

Who is focused only on the cleaning aspect.

The term is also used to refer to the money allocated for such use.

By extension,

It may also refer to an office or a corporation,

As well as the maintenance of computer storage systems.

The basic concept can be divided into domestic housekeeping for private households and institutional housekeeping for commercial and other institutions providing shelter or lodging,

Such as hotels,

Resorts,

Inns,

Boarding houses,

Dormitories,

Hospitals,

And prisons.

There are related concepts in industry known as workplace housekeeping and industrial housekeeping,

Which are part of occupational health and safety processes.

A housekeeper is a person employed to manage a household and the domestic staff.

According to the 1861 Victorian era Mrs.

Beaton's Book of Household Management,

The housekeeper is second in command in the house,

And except in large establishments where there is a house steward,

The housekeeper must consider herself as the immediate representative of her mistress.

Housing tenure is a financial arrangement,

An ownership structure under which someone has the right to live in a house or apartment.

The most frequent forms are tenancy,

In which rent is paid by the occupant to a landlord,

And owner occupancy,

Where the occupant owns their own home.

Mixed forms of tenure are also possible.

The basic forms of tenure can be subdivided.

For example,

An owner-occupier may own a house outright,

Or it may be mortgaged.

In the case of tenancy,

The landlord may be a private individual,

A non-profit organization such as a housing association,

Or a government body,

As in public housing.

Surveys used in social science research frequently include questions about housing tenure because it is a useful proxy for income or wealth,

And people are less reluctant to give information about it.

Owner-occupancy,

Or home ownership,

Is a form of housing tenure in which a person,

Called the owner-occupier,

Owner-occupant,

Or homeowner,

Owns the home in which they live.

The home can be a house,

Such as a single family house,

An apartment,

Condominium,

Or a housing cooperative.

In addition to providing housing,

Owner-occupancy also functions as a real estate investment.

Renting,

Also known as hiring or letting,

Is an agreement where a payment is made for the use of a good,

Service,

Or property owned by another over a fixed period of time.

Typically,

A written agreement is signed to establish the roles and expectations of both the tenant and landlord.

There are many different types.

A rental agreement tends to refer to short-term rental,

Whereas lease refers to longer-term rental,

Also known as leasing.

Squatting is the act of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building,

Usually residential,

That the squatter does not own,

Rent,

Or otherwise have lawful permission to use.

The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there were 1 billion slum residents and squatters globally.

Squatting occurs worldwide,

Typically when people find empty buildings or land to occupy for housing.

In developing countries and least-developed countries,

Shanty towns often begin as squatted settlements.

In African cities such as Lagos,

Much of the population lives in slums.

There are pavement dwellers in India and in Hong Kong,

As well as rooftop slums.

Informal settlements in Latin America are known by names such as Villa Miseria,

Argentina,

Pueblos Jóvenes,

Peru,

And Ascentimientos Irregulares,

Guatemala and Uruguay.

In Brazil,

There are favelas in the major cities and land-based movements in rural areas.

In industrial countries,

There are often residential squads and also left-wing squatting movements,

Which can be anarchist,

Autonomous,

Or socialist in nature,

For example in the United States.

Oppositional movements from the 1960s and 1970s created free spaces in Denmark,

The Netherlands,

And the self-managed social centers of Italy.

Each local situation determines the context.

In England and Wales,

There were estimated to be 50,

000 squatters in the late 1970s.

In Athens,

Greece,

There are refugee squads.

In Spain and the U.

S.

,

The 2010s saw many new squads following the 2008 financial crisis.

The connection between humans and dwelling is profound,

Such that the likes of Gaston Bachelard and Martin Heidegger consider it an essential characteristic of humanity.

A home is generally a place that is close to the heart of the owner and can become a prized possession.

It has been argued that psychologically the strongest sense of home commonly coincides geographically with a dwelling.

Usually the sense of home attenuates as one moves away from that point,

But it does not do so in a fixed or regular way.

A person's conception of home can be dependent on congealing conditions,

Such as culture,

Geography,

Or emotion.

A sense of being at home may be contingent upon the presence of multiple emotions,

Such as joy,

Sorrow,

Nostalgia,

And pride.

Further psychological interpretation contends that homes serve the purpose of satisfying identity-based desires and expression,

And that it functions as a symbol of the self bound to the events of one's life.

Emmanuel Levinas wrote of home as where,

Upon seclusion from the greater world,

A sense of self can be regained.

There exist many connotations regarding the concept of a home,

Including of security,

Identity,

Ritual,

And socialization.

Varied definitions and residents may associate their home with meanings,

Emotions,

Experiences,

And relationships.

Home has been described as an essentially contested concept.

Common connotations of home are espoused by both those with or without a home.

It is the sociality and action of homes which,

Some scholars have said,

Conditions the house into a home,

Which is,

According to Graham Hansen,

A phenomenon made by its residents.

Dysfunctional sociality may negate the sense of a residence being a home,

Whereas the physical contents may endow the sense.

Alienated from home,

One may feel metaphorically homeless.

Romantic or nostalgic notions are typically in the conceptions of ideal homes,

At once a cultural and individual concept.

An ideal working-class home in post-war Britain was one of comfort and cleanliness,

Plentiful with food and compassion.

In modern America,

An owned house has greater cachet as a home than other residences.

Debate exists as to if a rooming house can provide a home.

Some housing scholars have contended that a conflation of house and home is a result of popular media and capitalist interest.

Differing cultures may perceive the concept of a home differently.

Ascribing less value to the privacy of a residence or the residence itself,

Although housing issues have been seen as of great concern to immigrants.

The home can render to men and women insignificant differences.

Men conditioned to experience great control and little labor,

And vice versa for women.

Homelessness,

Too,

Can be subject to differences per gender.

Sociologist Shelley Mallett pre-posed the idea of home as abstractions,

Space,

Feeling,

Praxis,

Or a way of being in the world.

Abstract notions of home are present in the proverb,

A house is not a home.

Since it can be said that humans are generally creatures of habit,

The state of a person's home has been known to physiologically influence their behavior,

Emotions,

And overall mental health.

Marianne Gulstad wrote of the home as the center of and as an attempt to amalgamate everyday life.

One's conduct there,

She said,

Can reflect greater culture or social values,

Such as gender roles,

Insinuating the home to be the domain of women.

To be homesick is to desire belonging,

Said Zygmunt Bauman.

Places like homes can trigger self-reflection,

Thoughts about who someone is,

Or used to be,

Or who they might become.

These types of reflections also occur in places where there is a collective historical identity,

Such as Gettysburg or Ground Zero.

The time spent with one's home is a considerable element in establishing one's attachment.

Those without significant time spent of their life in a residence often struggle to consider home as a feature of residences.

The perception of one's home can extend beyond the residence itself,

To their neighborhood,

Family,

Workplace,

Or nation,

And one may feel as though they have multiple homes.

To have felt at home beyond residence can be a significant element in one's appraisal of their life,

A time in which notions of home,

It has been observed,

Are more profound.

The connection between home and family is pertinent,

To the extent that some scholars consider the terms to be synonymous.

Thank you.

Reviews

I think it was good, I will have to listen again because I was out in 2 minutes! 😹😹
Thank you, Benjamin! 😻

Middle of the night, “relisten”. It worked. Soothing subject, helped silence the monkey mind. Thanks, Benjamin. 🙏🏻🏡

Except instead of putting me to sleep, I find the story interesting!😆😆🙂

To me, home is people, not places
Wherever I am, as long as I have my friends and my freedom

This was very nice. I fell asleep before I heard much of it, but I love the concept of home. Thanks!