From KCRW, this is Nachter.

From KCRW, this is Nachter. When you're up late at night and you're by yourself, you may be savoring that time and

space where you feel like the only person on the planet.

Maybe those are your moments to create or relax or just have your own thoughts.

But if you're working the night shift or otherwise up when you don't want to be,

a voice in the night can feel like a life line a reminder that you're not alone

that the world is in fact still spinning a lot of people find comfort in podcasts in the middle of the night, listening to stories

or conversations, they're comforted by the voices of other humans.

Maybe that's you right now. There's TV and movies and pre-programmed radio,

but there's really nothing else

like a late night call and shows on the radio.

Other humans in real time, just chatting.

You're separated by space, but they're there with you

in your car, your workplace,

anywhere the radio waves can reach you.

And by the way, the radio waves can travel farther at night.

In the US, late night talk shows tend to lean toward the supernatural or conspiracy

minded, like coast-to-coast AM, started by the legendary Art Bell, which broadcasts

on over 600 radio stations around the country.

Shows like these, in my mind, accentuate the foreign quality that the night can take, the parts of the night

that lean toward the strange or the scary. If you're feeling lonely or unsettled in the middle

of the night, listening into these shows may not do much to change that.

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