#40 How to Sit in a Chair - A Masterclass

Episode forty of The World's Most Boring Podcast - Bore Me to Sleep is titled How to Sit in a Chair - A Masterclass, and it is exactly as riveting as it sounds. Over the course of this slow, meandering, deeply unhurried episode, host and producer Audun Kvitland Rostad takes you on a tour of five thousand years of chair history, posture advice, furniture philosophy, and the kind of gentle, rambling storytelling that is specifically designed to make your eyelids feel pleasantly heavy. If you are looking for a sleep podcast, a podcast to fall asleep to, or simply something calm and monotone to listen to at the end of the day, this episode delivers on all of those things without ever raising its voice or making you feel like you are missing anything important. This is a podcast for people who enjoy falling asleep to talking, who find background voices soothing, or who simply want something warm and unhurried to accompany the transition from wakeday to dreamtime. It is also, technically, a podcast about chairs. Topics covered include the ancient Egyptian throne and its lion legs, the Greek klismos chair, the Roman sella curulis, the etymology of the word cathedral and its surprising connection to furniture, Victorian posture boards and the moral weight of a straight spine, the Herman Miller Aeron chair and its origins in wartime ergonomics, the rocking chair and its association with John F. Kennedy, the bean bag chair and the impossibility of exiting it with dignity, the Windsor chair and its presence at the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Japanese sitting practice of seiza, the chaise longue and its role in the history of psychoanalysis via Sigmund Freud, and some genuinely practical advice about how to sit that is delivered so calmly you will probably be asleep before it finishes. This podcast is ideal for people who find sleep meditation too intense, who want something to listen to in bed that it is completely fine to miss, who enjoy dry humour and slow storytelling, or who simply need a voice in the room that is not asking anything of them. It is also suitable for people who are curious about the history of furniture, interior design, ergonomics, or the surprisingly rich cultural life of the humble chair. If you have ever wondered why chairs exist, why they cost so much, why some of them are so uncomfortable, or why you cannot get out of a bean bag without losing your dignity, this episode addresses all of those questions in the most roundabout and soporific way possible. We are proud to say that this podcast has been described by no one in particular as the least gripping audio experience currently available, and we consider that high praise. If you would like to suggest a topic for a future episode, ask a question, or simply share something with us, please write to themostboringpod at gmail dot com. We would love to hear from you, and we will read your message in a calm and unhurried way, possibly while sitting in a chair.