Are You Sleeping?

Sleep paralysis is like when you wake too early from a dream, and your waking and sleeping brains collide. Many see vivid and terrifying visions, and feel unable to move. This is a sleep disorder that more than twenty-percent of us will experience in our lifetime, yet is it not well understood. Meet Dr. Baland Jalal, who went from suffering from sleep paralysis to becoming an expert working on a cure.

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Olympic bobsledder Lauren Gibbs has struggled with sleep her entire life. But as an elite athlete, she knows that sleep can be the difference between winning a key race and losing a spot on Team USA. So, why is sleep so important for performing our best? And what exactly happens when we sleep? We’ll check in with a sleep and athletics expert, and find out how the rest of us can improve our own sleep game. 

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The stress of trying to fall asleep when you know the alarm is going off extra early can be maddening. Listener Suzana calls in to ask how to wind down for an early bakery shift. Host Kate Berlant talks to sleep expert Dr. Shelby Harris about the wider sleep challenges shift work presents in our society. And meet trucker Antoinette, who has adapted her unpredictable sleep schedule to her life on the road.

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How can dreams help unlock our creativity, and put us better in touch with ourselves? Brian’s lucid dreams of flight help him create a comic book superhero, and to process his emotions. Amy composes operas and new musical works while sleeping, dreaming her way through tricky creative challenges. Host Kate Berlant meets dream coach Kim Gillingham for a session examining her own dreams. 

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Sleep gadgets are everywhere. On our wrists. In our pockets. Even built into our beds. Technology today can help us track how much sleep we get and what kind of sleep it is. Great! But listener Elizabeth wants to know… what do we do with all that data? Listen to find out how smart watches and apps can help you get better sleep, and our sleep experts share why some of your daily habits might need changing.

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What would you do if you had no place to sleep tonight? That’s the question Kameron faced every day for two years. As a young college student, he lived out of his car, struggling to get enough rest to function - to stay in class, to find a job, to keep friendships. Kameron’s experience represents some of the struggles too many people face: housing insecurity, safety, and a lack of sleep. Our sleep expert Dr. Shelby Harris joins Kate Berlant to talk about how these sleep struggles play out as an alternative in our country, as more people than ever are forced to live in their vehicles. 

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Sleep Divorce… it sounds serious. But for some, it’s the only way to stay in a relationship. Studies show that when one partner’s snoring or tossing and turning keeps the other person up, the relationship suffers. But breaking up the marital or couples bed can be seen as taboo, and scary. Because, after all, couples are supposed to sleep together and enjoy it, right? But what if sleeping separately is the key to a happy relationship? Before you run for the spare bedroom, listen in to our sleep expert. 

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Jane Evans and Joanne Osmond are sisters with a superpower: they only need about four hours of sleep a night! The sisters each carry a rare genetic mutation that experts like Dr. Ying-Hui Fu say makes them “natural short-sleepers” – people who only need a few hours of sleep to live their best lives. They don't need caffeine to get through their day. They don’t experience jetlag. Many short-sleepers have no health issues. Dr Fu believes Jane and Joanne may hold the key for how to live better: through "optimal" sleep. The future of her research might just revolutionize all of our sleeping and waking lives.

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This week, host Kate Berlant gets a call for help. Listener Dan’s bed is crowded. Since the pandemic hit, his two kids have been afraid to sleep on their own. Dan wants to reclaim his bed and his privacy, and help his kids relearn to sleep on their own. Our sleep experts are here with a strategy to help get them out, and to give some global perspectives on co-sleeping.

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Meet host Kate Berlant, and get ready for a deep dive into the fascinating world of sleep. So… how DID you sleep last night? If your answer is great, terrible, or so-so, welcome! Our society is obsessed with sleep; the best ways to do it, the tech to measure it, and how to hack it. Why? Maybe you want to work, play and live at peak performance with as little sleep as possible. Or maybe you throw money at sound machines, motion pillows and sleeping pills to deepen your rest. Sleep is at the core of our survival. So why aren’t we better at it? What happens when we don’t get enough? And what does our sleep say about us and our culture? We’re pulling back the covers on all of it, with some of the most fascinating sleepers, and our own sleep experts. So snuggle up.

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