{"podcast":{"title":"I Can’t Sleep","slug":"i-can-t-sleep-7771740","podcast_index_feed_id":7771740,"rss_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/show/6913380/episodes/feed","website_url":"https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-can-t-sleep--6913380","image_url":"https://d3wo5wojvuv7l.cloudfront.net/t_rss_itunes_square_1400/images.spreaker.com/original/f84190b8f9025174f328d2b0f0cd8a4b.jpg","author":"ju","episode_count":556,"summary":"Trouble sleeping? You could count sheep, or let I Can’t Sleep do the heavy yawning for you. Host Benjamin Boster reads slow-paced, fact-filled content on science, history, and everyday oddities with zero plot twists and even less urgency. It’s calm. It’s consistent. And yes, you might accidentally learn something. So get comfy, press play, and let your brain wander off without you.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-20T04:18:31.435951+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-can-t-sleep-7771740"},"episode":{"title":"Automaton | Can’t Sleep? Learn About Early Robots","slug":"automaton-can-t-sleep-learn-about-early-robots","published_at":"2026-06-05T00:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-can-t-sleep-7771740/automaton-can-t-sleep-learn-about-early-robots","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-can-t-sleep-7771740","url":"https://www.spreaker.com/episode/automaton-can-t-sleep-learn-about-early-robots--72356237","audio_url":"https://api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72356237/glss7679901655.mp3","summary":"Automata have fascinated people for thousands of years. This episode explores the history of self-operating mechanical devices, from ancient myths and early engineering experiments to elaborate clockwork creations that could write, draw, play music, and imitate life itself. Often considered the ancestors of modern robots, these remarkable machines inspired wonder long before the invention of electricity. Along the way, you’ll hear about inventors, royal collections, mechanical birds, programmable machines, and humanity’s long-standing fascination with building objects that appear to move on their own. It’s steady and consistent, with no whispering and no sudden changes, just enough to give your mind something to follow as you wind down. Happy sleeping! Read with permission from Automaton, Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automaton), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. — Ad-free episodes: ⁠icantsleep.supportingcast.fm⁠Have a topic in mind? ⁠Request a topic⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit ⁠megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"Automata have fascinated people for thousands of years. This episode explores the history of self-operating mechanical devices, from ancient myths and ear…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":1958,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/i-can-t-sleep-7771740/episodes/automaton-can-t-sleep-learn-about-early-robots/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/i-can-t-sleep-7771740/automaton-can-t-sleep-learn-about-early-robots.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}