#36 The Inner Life of a Parking Meter

The World's Most Boring Podcast - Bore Me to Sleep, Episode thirty-six: The Inner Life of a Parking Meter. If you are looking for something to help you fall asleep, something calm and unhurried and completely safe to miss if you drift off mid-sentence, you have found the right place. This episode is a long, slow, gently winding exploration of the parking meter - one of the most overlooked and magnificently uninteresting objects in modern urban life - and it will almost certainly put you to sleep before it reaches the end, which is entirely the point. We cover the history of the parking meter, beginning with Carl C. Magee and the world's first Park-O-Meter, installed in Oklahoma City in nineteen thirty-five. We explore the mechanics of coin slots, the philosophy of the gear mechanism, the quiet dignity of the colour grey, and the surprisingly long lifespan of a well-maintained meter. We take several long detours, including a visit to a beach in northern Scotland, a pigeon walking in circles in a car park, a drawer full of unused brown envelopes, and a postcard that was never sent. We also discuss parking wardens, the very specific sprint that everyone has done at least once in a car park, the great parking meter debate of mid-century American cities, and the moment a parking meter appears in the background of a film, uncredited and unbothered. The episode ends with a long, dreamlike finale in which the parking meter, Carl C. Magee, a floating seal, and several envelopes all appear together on a warm and softly lit pavement that operates entirely outside the normal rules of reality. This podcast is ideal for people dealing with insomnia, racing thoughts at bedtime, difficulty winding down after a long day, or anyone who simply enjoys falling asleep to slow, monotone, gently humorous talk about nothing important. It is also suitable for fans of sleep podcasts, bedtime stories for adults, white noise alternatives, and anyone who has ever Googled things like boring podcast to fall asleep, sleep talk down, or best podcast for insomnia. We are proud to say that this episode is not exciting, not gripping, and contains no information you will urgently need in the morning. It is, in the most affectionate sense possible, a complete waste of your time - and we mean that as the highest possible compliment. Time is, after all, what parking meters are all about. If you have a topic suggestion, a question, or simply want to tell us about a parking meter you once stood next to and thought about for longer than expected, write to us at [email protected]. We read everything. We reply slowly. We are, as always, in no particular hurry.