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Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Press Play with Madeleine Brand

Fake YouTube boyfriends lull you to sleep with ASMR

Owen Dennis Riley, 17, has made a career out of role playing the world’s most sensitive, loving boyfriend on YouTube. The idea behind his videos is to lull insomniacs to dreamland with his  sleep-inducing persona.

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KCRW placeholderBy Barbara Bogaev • Oct 10, 2019 • 1 min read

Owen Dennis Riley, 17, has made a career out of role playing the world’s most sensitive, loving boyfriend on YouTube. The idea behind his videos is to lull insomniacs to dreamland with his sleep-inducing persona. He also uses elements of ASMR, or Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, to be extra comforting.

In fact, there’s a whole genre of ASMR boyfriend and girlfriend roleplay on YouTube, not all of it geared towards insomniacs.

  • KCRW placeholder

    Barbara Bogaev

    radio journalist

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    Sarah Sweeney

    Vice President of Talk Programming, KCRW

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    Michell Eloy

    Line Editor, Press Play

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    Alexandra Sif Tryggvadottir

    Associate producer

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    Kaitlyn Wylde

    New York Times

    NewsHealth & Wellness
Back to Press Play with Madeleine Brand