Why can't I sleep?

Jalen and Olivia and Liam and Ailany. We look at what makes a name top the popularity charts. This episode was produced by Danielle Hewitt, edited by Jenny Lawton, fact-checked by Sarah Schweppe, engineered by David Tatasciore, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Two babies, just a few ...  Show more

Never mind skin cancer. Summer 2026 is all about tanmaxxing. This episode was produced by Kelli Wessinger, edited by Jenny Lawton, fact-checked by Melissa Hirsch, engineered by Patrick Boyd and Matthew Billy, and hosted by Jonquilyn Hill. Young women sunbathing. Photo by Krisztia ...  Show more

Why do we spend 1/3 of our lives in the strange doppelganger state of sleep? Can we die from a lack of sleep? How long is it possible to keep yourself awake (and why does the Guinness Book of World Records no longer track that)? Why are some people night owls and some morning lar ...  Show more

We’ve been hearing it for-ev-er: Get 8 hours of sleep. It’s been drilled into our heads for so long that we just accept it, right? But maybe we shouldn’t. Like, that’s a 1/3 of our day spent unconscious! Do we really need that much shut-eye? Would it be healthier to get less – or ...  Show more

Some people fall asleep almost as soon as their head touches the pillow, while for others it can take hours of tossing and turning. CrowdScience listener Assia needs at least 45 minutes to get to sleep: it's always taken her a long time to drift off no matter how tired she is, an ...  Show more

Sleeping is frustrating for many of us. So why do we have to do it? Christian reviews several possibilities and reveals all the bad things that can happen if you sleep too much... or not at all.