Why Do We Need To Sleep?

Some questions are so big they’re existential, meaning that they get right to the heart of human existence. These are also sometimes called philosophical questions, so for this episode we called up a professor of philosophy, Scott Hershovitz, who teaches at the University of Mich ...  Show more

Why did the dinosaurs go extinct? Many of you have learned about the meteorite that scientists say hit the earth 66 million years ago and killed off many dinosaur species. But some dinosaurs survived, and the birds you see flying around today are their direct descendants! In this ...  Show more

We have some questions about sleep: It’s ok to stay up late, right? Is it possible to control your dreams? Do all animals sleep? Why do we need to sleep anyway?

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“The more logical you are in your approach to your sleep, the more you’re going to screw it up,” says sleep specialist Rafael Pelayo, MD. Pelayo is a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine and the author of ...  Show more

Ah, sweet sleep. From the quick catnap to the full drool-and-snore session, we humans cherish our sleepy time. But how much sleep is enough? Does everybody need the same amount? Does a person’s amount change as they age? Is it nap time yet? We asked sleep scientist Ketema Paul to ...  Show more

Why do we sleep, how much does it matter, how much sleep do we really need, to what extent do lifestyle factors like coffee, alcohol and technology affect our ability to sleep? Today we’re talking to Matthew Walker, the award winning author of bestseller ‘Why We Sleep’ about slee ...  Show more