This ASMR story is an exploration of the history of mining, from prehistory to our times. I tell you about the first extraction sites for stones or pigments in the paleolithic, how mining developped during the Bronze and Iron Ages, through medieval times, and finally how it entered modernity. Mining continues to be vital to modern economies, and also transformed industrialized societies since the Industrial Revolution, as miners developped a new identity and fought for more rights in social conflicts that oftened spilled over to the rest of society.

This ASMR bedtime story is a dive into the wonderful world of bees. I tell you about the most famous social species, the western honey bee, but there are thousands more and not all of them are social. We will also discover solitary species like carpenter bees, mason bees or leafcutter bees. Other species are brood parasitic, like the cuckoo bumblebee. Apart from these, eusocial species live in elaborate societies in which all individuals are specialized by function and only live for and thanks to the nest they belong to. The way they collect pollen and nectar, and their production of beeswax, honey and royal jelly all serve to ensure the survival and development of the hive.

I invite you to a long dive into Egyptian history tonight, with this compilation in four parts: - Part I is about Egyptian Mythology, with various stories and explanations about Egyptian religion; - Part II tells of the discovery of Tutankhamun's Tomb and a supposed curse, which provides a good opportunity to talk about funerary rites; - Part III is about the Great Pyramid of Giza and how it was constructed under pharaoh Khufu (or Cheops) with relatively rudimentary techniques; - Part IV is a biography of Hatshepsut, the most famous and successful among the few women who occupied the throne of Egypt.

For tonight's bedtime story, let's explore the stories of various gods from Antiquity that once were very relevant to the societies that worshipped them, before mostly disappearing from memories: - Sol Invictus, the sun god of the Romans that was propelled from obscure cult to imperial religion in the Third Century AD, and whose festival on December 25th became Christmas; - Mithra, an Iranian deity borrowed from Zoroastrianism by several foreign peoples, especially the Romans, who reinvented this cult completely into a mystery religion for initiates; - Inanna/Ishtar, the Mesopotamian godess of love, procreation, political power and war, that was worshipped for thousands of years by various Mesopotamian civilizations (Sumerians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians) and whose influence reached the Mediterranean; - Pazuzu, the demon god of southwestern winds of the Babylonians, and a popular domestic spirit whose ferocity protected homes, pregnant women and young mothers from even worse evils; - Aten, the sun disk, that pharaoh Ahmenotep IV/Akhenaten tried to impose as the new supreme god of Egypt during the New Kingdom.

Tonight's adventure is a space trip to Saturn, its moons and its rings. We will explore several of Saturn's moons, including Titan, Rhea, Iapetus and Enceladus, and observe their differences. We will review theories about the age and formation of the planet's rings, and finally plunged into the planet itself to see what a "gas giant" is made of.

Tonight I tell you the stories of four different ghost ships, together with their historical context and what happened to them. Two are fictional: the Flying Dutchman, a flute from the Age of Sails that would have traded between Amsterdam and the Spice Islands, and the Caleuche, a legendary ship in the island of Chiloe, Chile. Two are real: the Mary Celeste that mysteriously lost her crew in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Baychimo, that was abandoned but unexpectedly kept wandering for decades in the waters north of Canada and Alaska.

Hatshepsut is one of the most famous pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, and not only because she was a woman. Her reign of more than twenty years was prosperous and saw an intense building activity that can still be admired, especially in Thebes (present-day Luxor). In tonight's story, I tell you about the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt and the Eighteenth Dynasty. We will see how a princess and regent like Hatchepsut could occupy a throne that should have gone to her nephew Thutmose III, and what she achieved during her reign. I will also tell you of a few other queens of Egypt that preceded her and did occupy the throne of the pharaohs, like Sobekneferu, or could have reigned in uncertain circumstances, like Setibohr or Merit-Neith.

For tonight, I retell you the story of Beowulf, the famous Anglo-Saxon epic poem put in writing in Old English at the turn of the Second Millennium but probably older. Beyond the story itself, what does Beowulf tells us of its time, the population of England, the emergence of the English language, or the society that produced it? And what was its influence on modern Fantasy, starting with the work of JRR Tolkien?

This bedtime story takes us along lost trails of the Andes Mountains, to the discovery of several millennia of civilization in this region (Caral-Supe, the Valdivia culture, Chimu, Wari, Tiwanaku...), until the rise of the Inca Empire. I will tell you about the history and culture of the Incas, as well as the development of their empire, from the small Kingdom of Cusco to one of the largest states in the world at the time of its splendor. We will also take a look at how the Spanish conquistadors brought it down so quickly.

This bedtime story is about structures built during the Cold War: bases, silos, bunkers... From America to the Soviet Union, the UK and China, we will explore some of them to discover what motivated their construction and their now eerie atmosphere.

In this science talk for bedtime, I review the periodic table of the elements methodically and explain in simple terms plenty of phenomenons and concepts about chemistry and physics (for example in this episode: metalloids, alpha and beta decay, Xenon poisoning of nuclear reactors...) as well as the industrial and economic relevance of some of these elements. For tonight, we continue with elements 30 to 118, including zinc, arsenic, rhodium, silver, tungsten, platinum, gold, mercury, lead, uranium and plutonium.

In this science talk for bedtime, I review the periodic table of the elements methodically and explain in simple terms plenty of phenomenons and concepts about chemistry and physics (for example in this episode: the timeline of the discovery of elements, why there is quite a lot of iron in the universe, endothermic and exothermic fusions...) as well as the industrial and economic relevance of some of these elements. For tonight, we continue with elements 13 to 29: aluminium, silicon, phosphorus, sulfur, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium, scandium, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel and copper.

In this science talk for bedtime, I review the periodic table of the elements methodically and explain in simple terms plenty of phenomenons and concepts about chemistry and physics (for example in this episode: the structure of atoms, valence and reactivity, isotopes, allotropes, ionic compounds, the definitions of metals...) as well as the industrial and economic relevance of some of these elements. For tonight, we begin with the first twelve elements: hydrogen, helium, lithium, berryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium and magnesium. The rest will follow in ulterior episodes.

In this soft spoken ASMR bedtime story, I tell you about the concept of "generation ships": large spacecrafts that would transport dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of people to faraway destinations in the galaxy, over several generations. Even though we are nowhere near seeing one, the technical, biological and social aspects of such a project are fascinating. So I review them to explain the main challenges and what possible solutions could be found.

In this bedtime story made to help you relax or fall asleep, I tell you the story of the crusades to the Holy Land, from 1096 to 1302. This is a re edition of the story I published in 3 parts. We take a look at medieval politics, societies, diplomacy and warfare, in the Christian and Muslim worlds, and I tell you about the many episodes, twists and historical figures involved (like Godfrey of Bouillon, Saladin, Richard the Lionheart, Frederick II or Saint Louis.

The "pact with the devil" is a cultural motif that keeps coming back in stories. The legend of Faust is a good example, but not the oldest: it took inspiration from other stories, such as the legend of Theophilus. In this episode, I tell you some of these stories. We will also discover the real, historical figures that inspired them (Theophilus, Johann Faust, Pope Sylvester II, Saemundr Sigfússon...), and the firm belief in the existence of such pacts, that were often invoked in witchcraft trials from the Middle Ages to the Seventeenth Century. As an example, I tell you the story of the Loudun Possessions, one of the last and most spectacular witchcraft trials in France.

In this episode, I tell you about the long history of timekeeping devices, from the first sundials and water clocks to mechanical clocks, quartz timers and atomic clocks. Beyond technique, we also explore how the perception and management of time are cultural phenomenons.

The Foundation Series by Isaac Asimov is a monument of Science-Fiction. For tonight's story, I retell you the first novel published, "Foundation". We will discover why the Galactic Empire, that has ruled the galaxy for 12,000 years from its capital Trantor, is predicted to fall in just 300 years by Hari Seldon, the inventor of Psychohistory. Exiled from Trantor for believing in this theory and sent to Terminus, a planet lost at the periphery of the galaxy, a group of pioneers will lay the basis of the Foundation. But will the Foundation survive the threat of its bigger neighbours? What is its true purpose? In a constantly evolving world dominated by politics, technology, religion or trade, will the Foundation find its way and become what it is destined to be?

In this soft spoken ASMR bedtime story, I explore with you the mysteries of various "out-of-place artifacts", that is to say (allegedly) old objects that would challenge conventional chronology and/or the mainstream view of the technical advancement of ancient cultures. Forgeries, hoaxes and pranks abound. I tell you about some of them like the Michigan Relics or the Crystal Skulls; they were fake but still are good stories. A small number of objects really keep a part of mystery or invite us to rethink our views of ancient societies, like the Antikythera Mechanism. Or we still don't exactly know how they were made, like the Shroud of Turin.

In this soft spoken ASMR bedtime story, I tell you about the History of the Norsemen in the Middle Ages. At the end of the Eighth Century, they embarked on raids, explorations and conquests farther and farther from their homelands in Scandinavia. This took them as far east as the Volga River in Russia and Byzantium, and as far west as America, even though they did not stay there for long. They founded colonies such as Iceland or Vineland in Newfoundland, Canada, created new states such as the Kievan Rus', and settled in regions like Yorkshire or Normandy. We explore the reasons why they suddenly became outward looking, what their societies were like, and how things unfolded until christianisation and the formation of larger kingdoms in Scandinavia (in Norway, Sweden and Denmark), that put an end to the Viking Age.