The Paradox of Sleep with Matthew Walker & Neil deGrasse Tyson

[@StarTalk]

Are YOU getting good sleep?

[@DeTofuKing]

I have insomnia in reverse. I go to bed between 2000 and 2100, and awake at 0400 every morning. The answer is no.

[@scott-proav]

Matthew Walker's book is fantastic

[@TheGreyLineMatters]

No, anything wakes me, I can hear a cat fart down the alley from my house while sirens wail.

[@akaMopsik]

thankfully its not too bad

[@calicocalthecopperkid7230]

No. Every night I wake up @2am. Every time. 25 plus years. Every night.

[@parintelebaiazid80]

I can honestly say that professor Matt Walker is one of the best guests you ever had on Startalk! His level of knowledge and his way of communicating it is outstanding! I was mesmerized by him and also were Neil and Chuck, because they didn't need to interrupt as often or make funny remarks to keep the conversation going! Ironically, him talking about sleep made me pay more attention than ever! I'm a fan of Matt Walker!

[@BilboCameron]

Great energy, fantastic subjects, great "team" hosting him. All that makes for an amazing session. We all win.

[@karlidomingo]

SAME. I want more!

[@Myria83]

He's obviously very passionate about his work.

[@idh9395]

Yes, that constant interrupting and cracking jokes just for the sake of it winds me up a bit. Unnecessary when trying to learn something worthwhile.

[@taral927]

Remove highly processed foods, no alcohol, no physical, emotional, chemical stressors, no drugs, no mortgage ----- and you don't have to sleep more than 4 hours a night.

[@sirkid4197]

I have been alive on his Earth for 46 years, and I have to say, this is the single most mind-blowing bit information I've ever heard about sleep. I am buying a new bed tomorrow. Thank you.

[@ramos_dt]

He is probably one of the best guests of the show. The questions are answered clearly and direct to the point. What you asked is what you get.

[@Som3thingClever]

Ever.

[@tasos0140]

Brobably due to a good night sleep that helped him keep a clear mind

[@timsanders4621]

As a nearly 70 year old man, I have learned to embrace sleep and the accompanying dreams. The benefits of long,deep sleep are under valued, in my humble opinion.

[@Sfhakrn]

I think it’s the opposite of a waste of time. I embrace as much deep sleep and vivid dreaming as possible per 24 hr period.

[@llllogix]

Because of Matthew Walker and the many podcasts he's been on. I was able to fix my sleep. It took nearly a year to fully gain better sleeping habits. The importance of sleep is extremely underrated in today's society and feeds into the mental health crisis substantially in a negative way.

[@chuck1804]

100%. A good night's sleep is the best thing you can do for your tomorrow. A bad night's sleep is about the worst.

[@doctorf7501]

It’s wonderful that you fixed your sleep. There are sleep psychologists and sleep physicians that share Matt’s knowledge base but are also learned as clinicians and can help with medical sleep issues. Anyone needing help should reach out rather than self-diagnose and treat in most instances :)

[@djbryson]

How exactly do you learn how to sleep better? Besides the obvious, which is going to bed at the same time. Healthy diet. Exercise. Sunlight. Avoid caffeine and alcohol. What else is there? When I do all that, insomnia is very rare. What were you doing wrong? Oh, I know. The alien probing stopped.

[@ayandaskupela4248]

I like how Neil gets sleepy or less interested when he's not the one explaining a concept

[@deanvangreunen6457]

He's glenfatic system is cleansing he's brain 😂

[@helloukw]

I think its related to what he said about him sleeping anytime he gets a chance, anywhere, in any position. That might be related to his life, he seems like the type to learn a lot and that learning needs to be saved with a good sleep.

[@IEA_455]

😆 yeah he’s like ahhh so boring.

[@avye1973]

I guess he just engaged in that napping he was talking about in the end.

[@carmonaragorn]

underrated comment

[@dianacanales2526]

Fascinating discussion! Please have Dr. Matthew Walker on again! Not only is he an expert in his field, but he's extremely engaging and fun to listen to. Plus there are so many more questions I hope you all ask him next time -- Please check all the comments. I saw several questions from other commenters that I wondered, as well: "What happens to the brain of a chronic insomniac?" and "...sleep paralysis and sleep-walking." -- Thanks so much, Neil, Chuck & Gary!❤❤❤

[@samihawasli7408]

Could always hit up his podcast.

[@jacobpardia]

Completely agree!

[@briganja]

This is just an anecdotal example, but my uncle was recently telling me about a coworker (they’re cops/detectives) who went insane from weeks or months of insomnia/sleep deprivation. He ended up going to a public pool and shooting himself in the face (I’m unsure if he was trying to commit suicide or what). My uncle told me this person had no history of mental health issues (their police department regularly requires mental health evaluations) and that it was determined to be momentary insanity related to sleep deprivation (this uncle worked in the office of internal affairs so I assume he was part of or privy to the investigation into the episode). Thankfully no one else was harmed and while he suffered grevious injuries, this person recovered his sanity with a return to a sleep schedule. Off the top of my head I’m unsure but I think this aligns with sleep deprivation studies conducted by russia and the us before stringent medical ethics were applied to human studies.

[@dianacanales2526]

Good to hear he recovered and no one else was harmed. Thank-you for sharing!@@briganja

[@BobbanYT]

You should listen to him on, Lex Fridman, Andrew Huberman and a Diary of a CEO podcasts. Longer form, all similar content but dives deeper from different angles.

[@jfreshh330]

You can tell the guest truly loves sleep just by the way he talks about it. Great episode

[@shadw4701]

Dreaming is the most underrated part of life. It's packed with euphoria and adventure, often feels exactly like real life and can even be useful for everyday life practicality like solving problems, getting rid of fears, improving creativity ect.

[@The_Game_Juggler_ME]

time travel is possible especially if you were able to trigger your past memories when you wanted to

[@stevesstuff1450]

It can also take a very dark turn and throw all sorts of 'stuff' at you that you've never physically encountered in places you've never been, and morph them into some quite horrific things and places in the blink of an eye.....not sure what practical everyday life problem solving that is, but it happens....... I get the impression that dreams are more like memories/thoughts/experiences from life, or films or TV all being jumbled up and you find yourself in the middle of whatever is being manipulated by your sleeping brain at the time, which is how you can be in multiple locations just by walking down a short street; it constantly changes as the stored 'data' is rushing past, and in the dream you 'see' it and 'feel' it. Maybe it's just your brain/mind trying to neatly file things away for future recall, but when I'm asleep it seems my mind keeps dropping the damn things as it's filing them..!! 😂 Whatever, it's a fascinating subject, and this was an absolutely excellent episode of StarTalk, and Matthew Walker was an excellent guest! 👍

[@Guy-z6o]

Maybe the only way we can tell the difference between wake and sleep is the continuity of the waking experience.

[@jamesmazzoni5063]

Horrific turns indeed. My recurring dream is that I killed a coworker and buried her in the yard at my workplace! So she went missing and everyone suspected it was me, and shunned me. Just WTF?

[@AustinaCasey]

I love how Chuck gets so into these discussion!! His humor is refreshing also!

[@Test-ij6os]

How many people watching this after 1 or 2 am ? 😂

[@dinzzz2010]

2:08 AM 😂

[@djseggypaul8009]

1:14 am

[@meekd53]

2:19am central 😂

[@GordonJohnson-vc8sm]

2😂

[@GordonJohnson-vc8sm]

2:51 am

[@Frustratedfool]

I was awoken early when my house alarm malfunctioned. I had to spend a few minutes opening it to disconnect the battery. I tried to get back to sleep and after 10-15 minutes had this moment of sleepy clarity where EVERY memory I chose to recall was instant and vivid. I could remember things clearly from events 30+ years ago. It was blissful.

[@DannyJoh]

Please do a follow-up on this episode. Feels like you could make a whole series on this topic. Would love to hear more about power naps, how sound, temperature and light effect sleep, more about sleep and stress/anxiety/depression, do fitness watches really measure sleep quality well and how to change sleep patterns back to a healthy rhythm.

[@credx2689]

Catch these topics and more on Matt’s own podcast that they mention in this video. The Matt Walker podcast. His episode are brief for those that prefer short format. Larger sleep topics, like insomnia, are covered in multiple episodes

[@edwardisingoma4082]

The level of intelligence and knowledge on this panel is remarkable! Thank you, and please have this gentleman back.

[@noahglymph6104]

Matthew Walker's talk is so soothing its putting Neil to sleep.

[@nanbobbett4608]

Neil looked like he was fighting off sleep the entire episode!

[@emmygee2156]

This is one of my favourite star talks. Dr. Matt Walker is incredible at explaining things at a simple yet educational level. Bring him back.

[@mikestubblefield4978]

As someone with narcolepsy, I’m fascinated by the science of sleep. This was very interesting and fun to watch as well. Thank you.

[@davidclark2271]

So because of the slower brain activity, we run slow in our dreams. I remember learning this. What's fascinating is in my dreams now, If I'm running when I notice it's slow, I simply acknowledge that it's dream running, and that's why it feels slow. I tell myself just go with it. The dream always ends after that, like me acknowledging it being a dream somehow stops the dream. I wish I could stop that happening and have lucid dreams, but it seems that I can't, or don't remember.

[@InsaneMetalSoldier]

This is one of those episodes that when you see the title you're like "Meh, I'll pass and wait for the next physics / astronomy episode" but if you click it you get so hooked and you discover that you would have missed pure gold!

[@conniebabcock4045]

So true ❤😊

[@ShiftyGeeza]

I routinely sleep with earphones on every night as I find it impossible to fall asleep in silence. It is astounding how the brain seamlessly incorporates the sounds from my headphones into my dreams. Listen to a rainforest and I'll often find myself in a dream in the middle of one. I sometimes listen to sci-fi drama as I drift off and as long as the story is long enough eventually when I'm dreaming either the narration or sound effects are brought to life in my dreams. Its like my brain just listens to the audio and adds its own special effects to a movie I'm taking part in.

[@rudzanitshivhula1120]

I experience this as well

[@petebyrdie4799]

I was utterly unprepared for how fascinating this would be.

[@ELCHAMBERINO]

Matt walker 10 seconds into his flow of explaining sleep just radiates intelligence. What a guest.

[@filiperibeiro86fr]

Love to dive in the sleep topic, could listen Dr. Matthew talk for hours, because it shows that he knows hes stuff and shows the great passion he has for the subject and for brain matters

[@nomadicagent6311]

After only 45 minutes of running, I get the feeling of desire to listen to Matthew Walker longer. Hopefully, he will be back for more on the sleep topic! Such a good topic to learn!

[@barbaralachance5836]

His book has completely changed my life, i used to neglect sleep and now it's one of my top 3 priorities in life and i feel so much better.

[@randomguy365]

Neglect sleep? Sleep is life! Then water and food.

[@RaheelPervaiz123]

Being a terestrial animal reaally does put crazy stress on the body.

[@DonPochoZ]

what's the name of the book? im interested

[@barbaralachance5836]

@Pocho_cuadrado it's called "Why we sleep" 🙃

[@cubanstly]

WHY WE SLEEP​@@DonPochoZ

[@TravisJansma]

I'm so envious of people who can sleep. I suffer from chronic insomnia. I've gone 10 days without sleep. Plus never feel rested even when I do sleep.

[@mzmscoyote]

Fascinating. One time I decided to find out my circadian rhythm. It was the end of the semester and I had papers. I stayed up working until I got sleepy. I fell asleep and slept 8 hours and then did it again. I discovered that I have 5 Me Days in 7 Earth Days. Always feeling off and tired in a 24 hour world suddenly made sense.

[@Automotib]

Once I started putting my phone in another room at night before bed, I started sleeping so much better. Was hard at first but you get used to it. Your brain gives itself permission to sleep, whereas it your phone is still in the room, you might just want to binge Startalk segments till past midnight.

[@solidstream13]

As a retired firefighter. I feel one of the most underestimated downsides of the job is lack of sleep. Interrupted sleep multiple times a night cannot be healthy. I remember having two babies at home and working at a busy firehouse. I did not have a full night sleep for 6 months.

[@noamfinnegan8663]

Much love from Ireland 🇮🇪💙🇺🇸

[@morbidmanmusic]

That's why you can retire early with a great pension. You can catch up later.

[@sachinbhagat1483]

10 years for me, still figuring out

[@nedflanders3769]

Sleep is so fascinating and important, but there’s so much we still don’t understand about it. I’m glad smart people like Mr. Walker are studying and researching it! 😊

[@ArtSurvivesArtist]

I've never seen Neil, Gary and Chuck all sit so silently for the guest. Amazing!

[@kimnabi3988]

Almost polite for the observer…almost

[@servetyucelisli6992]

The way Matt talks sounds like a poem. It’s incredible. I am a linguist. Almost never a speaker impresses me this much. What a delight

[@metalicrat7612]

I always find it fascinating that something like an external sound can appear to so seamlessly integrate into your dream.

[@damyr]

Actually, sometimes it seems that the whole dream is set up to lead to that external sound, which during the dream still didn't happen, but will happen at the end of it. I had a few such experiences in my dreams. I was flabbergasted. Tho, it's probably that at the subconscious level I was already expecting that external sound to happen, and my brain calculated it into the dream, in advance.

[@patola2292]

@@damyr Or maybe your ears perceived the sound, but on the electric impulse way in, before it reaches you and you became "aware" of it, the brain was able to fit in a whole dream, which, in turn, ends with you (finally) perceiving" that very sound. Does this make any sense? xD

[@HarambeJawn]

​@patola2292 I have had this happen and thought maybe it was that time does not exist in your dream so you create a past to what is happening in real time. The dream didn't lead up to the sound ut instead made a past that includes the sound.

[@InnerLuminosity]

​@@damyrplot twist. Life is a dream

[@stevesstuff1450]

It's why I never use the radio as an alarm to wake me up anymore..... There've been some some very weird, confusing dreams years ago when I used to that!! 😂

[@nanbobbett4608]

If you like Dr. Walker, he did six episodes on the science of sleep (approx. 3 hrs each) on the Huberman Lab Podcast. Amazing series!

[@kelvinlee7506]

18:28 Matt is giving his energetic speech and Neil looks like he's falling asleep 😂

[@johnroznovsky212]

Many times!

[@adamajs3836]

He was testing the theory 😂😂

[@MikkelKBH1990]

I noticed the exact same thing, then went to the comment section to see if anyone else had... Damn my man looking tired AF!

[@buzzkillington1719]

😂😂😂😂😂😂 So true though Be never ever seen Neil on this state before

[@TheHellnfire]

OMFG! went to your timestamp, LOL'd so hard I actually couldn't re watch it! TYVM for the Epic comment 🙂

[@nahyanmirza]

This is probably one of the few episodes where Tyson is actually asking questions and not interrupting the guest and 'Neilsplaining' on every point. In any case, great episode and love you guys Team Star Talk Neil, Chuck and everyone behind the scenes.

[@d.e.7467]

My dad could fall asleep any time, anywhere. My mother would either talk or nudge him when he drove. He never wrecked. Once, after dinner he poked his cheek with a toothpick, obviously missing his mouth, because he'd fallen asleep. My wife had never seen such a thing and thought it was the funniest. Dad was always good-natured about the incredible ease of his ability to fall asleep. After I learned about sleep apnea through a company I worked for, I encouraged him to get a sleep study. He never did.

[@CarbinKid]

He didn't need it.

[@adamcuttler9665]

My father did that to

[@murrayhayes1780]

Centre is the correct English spelling. Only you Yankees spell it "er".

[@elongatedmusk3132]

...the end?? 🤔

[@d.e.7467]

@elongatedmusk3132 He passed away. Sorry, thought it was obvious.

[@amarkooner9589]

I would say we have forgotten or we never learned and listened to our body and we never follow what our body says. We have just become personalities and we can even die for our beliefs,likes & dislikes ✌️✌️. Our body is our host as we drive cars. Driver and car both are different but we do pay attention what our car needs for example service, brakes, engine fix etc etc etc. the only solution is just listen non verbally what our bodies are trying to tell and just cooperate. Thanks to you Neil. You are so open for every aspect of life and earth. I bow down to you. 🙏

[@laylahame]

I find comedians fascinating, especially Lord Nice here. It never fails to amaze me how these ppl can take somethin complicated n express them in simple terms so that everyone can understand

[@DaVizzle_Bro]

I'm listening to this as I go to bed I just hope I don't sleep until I get every last nugget of knowledge from these gentlemen

[@kadijahs]

Dr. Walker has hypnotist qualities.....This is the first Star Talk ever that Neil, Chuck, and Gary look like students in class on Zoom....😂 Wonderful explanation

[@EricK-bw2mj]

Unsurprisingly, I am sure that this is how they look on a daily basis because their curiousity has no bounds

[@yodaddy2619]

😂😂dont let neil hear u say that. U know that's gonna hurt his feelings

[@Sniffy1975]

I found this to be very fascination and I hope you can get Matt back on for a follow up talk, heck, make it into a whole startalk series, there are so many more questions on sleep that could be covered and you can tell how knowledgeable and passionate Matt is of the topic.

[@Taboo-II]

Dr. Matt I'm in my 60ds but I would thoroughly enjoy going back to university to sit in on your lectures.

[@earthjustice01]

Great podcast! I've wanted to write a philosophical paper on sleep for some time now, and I was re-inspired by reading Matt Walker's book. From a philosophical point of view sleep is a very interesting subject because Philosophy tends to over-emphasize the importance of consciousness. The fact that we go to sleep every 24 hours demonstrates not only our body's connection to the earth's rotation but also our connection to life's primordial beginnings. The fact that we sleep for about eight hours every day means that one third of our lives is spent in unconsciousness. This implies that there are some necessary bodily processes that cannot work if we are conscious, or to put it another way, consciousness gets in the way of certain bodily functions. What are these functions? Probably resetting of our circadian rhythm, master regulation of our hormones, muscular skeletal growth, tissue repair, immune system regulation, and the making of permanent memory. This takes consciousness down a notch - it ain't the be all and end all if it needs to be shut off for one third of the time we are alive on this earth.

[@MrCWoodhouse]

Time compression in sleep: as a youth, on several occasions, if I fell out of bed, in the 2 seconds it took me to fall from the mattress to the floor, I would have an intricate dream about sitting on a fence post watching something in a horse ring and getting knocked off by a horse, falling, and hitting the dirt. Has anyone else had an experience like that?

[@dsharpness]

yep...waiting to catch a fly ball, suddenly the out field grass was pulled out from under me like a rug-woke up on the floor!

[@k.a-baptiste4143]

Yes!

[@swaslaukinonome]

As someone with narcolepsy, I'm glad more people are talking about this. We might identify as our waking selves, but it's still the same organism when you are sleeping. If we want to understand the whole being, we have to account for sleep.

[@David-gi8ei]

Be thankful you don't have RLS. I'd trade in a sec. Blessings to you.

[@alinionutz8]

So sad that you didn't ask about sleep paralysis and sleep walking. It would have been so nice to hear from Matthew about this two topics. Anyway, very insightful and good interview overall.

[@pogosmama1]

As a lifelong sleepwalker, I wish they had talked about it also. Sleepwalking became less frequent when I reached my late 20’s, but I still do it. It freaks out my partner, and I’m always freaked out the next morning if anything weird happened. It is very disconcerting, but at least it isn’t very frequent now, but it can be scary. I never remember what happens when I sleepwalk. Not a nanosecond. That is the most disturbing part, because I have zero awareness and zero control, as a result. I wish we knew how to make it stop.

[@finnical9718]

Sleep paralysis is a common symptom of sleep apnea, but apnea isn't required to have it. If you are overweight and snore loudly, apnea is possible, and your paralysis may be correctable.

[@agustinabelengarrote9607]

I would have loved to hear about somniloquy!

[@xperiencenlifencraft]

@@finnical9718I’ve only had sleep paralysis once, and I was young and in the best shape of my life. I’ve never snored or had trouble breathing except if I’m sick.

[@finnical9718]

@@xperiencenlifencraft Sleep paralysis can be caused by apnea, but apnea isn't required to have it.

[@HaleyStaleySeattle]

I have an aunt who actually consistently has extremely detailed and specific predictive dreams and as someone who always tries to think of everything from a scientific perspective, it boggles my mind

[@Gabe_05]

I honestly like both chuck and Gary as co hosts

[@GirlyGamer-BoardGameGran]

What a GREAT guest, so charismatic and fun. Really loved this and he spoke in a manner anyone could understand. PLEASE have him back!

[@syedarmaghanhassan4652]

Guys this was one of the most interestung episodes i have ever seen. It was far from enough. There should be like 50 more full,length episodes on this topic Please invite again We didnt even tojch the tip of dreams 😅😅😅

[@jymmyvisnel6924]

I lucid dream almost every time I sleep and have became extremely good at controlling it. I have written poems and stories while sleeping and woke up and remembered them and typed them up. When sleeping I'm still self aware of my body and where I'm sleeping and who is around me. I have started to try and communicate with people while asleep. "Talking in my sleep" but being self aware of me doing in an attempt to have a conversation with someone who is awake. I have been able to make noise but have not been able to make any words.

[@erudolph]

Neil was obviously in dire need of sleep during this episode! 😂

[@marianagyorgyfalvi3659]

😂I also noted it, the fault is that the guest spoke so calmly and rhythmically, I almost fell asleep too!

[@CherrysJubileeJoyfully]

I had a sleep attack as well but I do have narcolepsy. And I am wondering if NDT does as well.

[@Ozark-nq9uu]

I always thought Neil just looks super high.

[@Artemis_F0wl]

well he's just too up-close to the camera as well, it's weirding me out watching this on a 65 inch TV 😂 there's really no need for him to lean in like that

[@briganja]

Ya that kind of lends credence to the need to monitor quality of sleep that dr walker talked about 😂

[@Timberstuff]

I believe that when you sleep, you are backing up to the main frame. Connect to your other dimensions, everywhere else your sole is alive. I am confident that I have been alive in all of the other dimensions of time including the future.

[@mzmscoyote]

In anthropology we hypothesize that there is an evolutionary advantage to the diversity in circadian rhythms. Within a hunter-gather band, which lives outside all the time, having different sleep cycles allows the band to sleep with someone on alert and on guard throughout the dangerous night and, thus, improves survivability of the band.

[@Myria83]

Makes sense...

[@davidevans3227]

that's interesting

[@rosameryrojas-delcerro1059]

Like prairie dogs and meerkats...

[@kevincronk7981]

I've gone 11 days without sleep before (which I later learned is tied for the no longer kept guiness world record of going without sleep) and fail to fall asleep way too often, I can confirm sleep deprivation screws up your perception of time. And also everything else.

[@macysondheim]

Lol and you expect anyone to believe you? 2, 3 days maybe. 4 tops. You didn’t go 11 days without sleeping kid…

[@CebisoMhlanga]

Thought I'd fall asleep during this. Didn't even blink. Mat you're the definition of an expert.

[@danielandrews7561]

In the past 5 years, I remember exactly only two dreams. Am I missing out on important segments of my life? Am I missing out on valuable experiences? These are the kinds of questions that keep me up at night! TY! ;-)

[@FreeRiderFMX]

I'm listening to this instead of sleeping

[@kennethflorek8532]

Too much to think over when I went to bed afterwards. I couldn't sleep.

[@Sherrilynn27]

I suffered from clinical sleep deprivation a number of years ago. Scary af! Sleep is SO important. 😴

[@zanebarrett23]

I don't understand why people have a negative view of sleep. It's one of my favorite things to do. It seems my natural wake up time (no matter how early I go to bed) is about 10:30am. Waking up for work every morning is an absolute misery for me no matter how much sleep I have gotten. At work I'm fairly miserable until about 9-10ish.

[@razzbazle1582]

I'm exactly the same

[@gretcynlopez]

for people who wanted to do so much things, sleeping is a waste of time.

[@Nicola_Harvey]

Same here too. I love bed, sleep, staying in and not gonna lie.... eating crap 😅

[@MarceloLaraM]

I love understanding myself a bit more. Thank you guys, you are amazing

[@bolajiolure8391]

One of the most personal star talk episodes for me. I’ve learnt so much today. Thank you all

[@sekaramochi]

Seriously you woke us up to tell us how important sleep is x

[@microchip5673]

Lol

[@patriceodell4079]

Thanks!

[@asfallleaves]

Dr. Walker was absolutely fascinating to listen to!!!

[@lanszoominternet]

My natural circadian rhythm is on the early side. I spent 35 years of my life working a chaotic schedule of day, evening and night shifts. I always found the night shifts to be excruciatingly difficult. In the past 15 years I have been able to revert to my natural cycle. Looking back I really wonder how I survived those 35 years.

[@gbowers]

If you’re new to Matt and this is the first you’ve seen or heard of him, definitely watch the full episode of him on Joe Rogan a few years back as well. It’s much longer and more in depth than this and will likely blow your mind. I cannot get enough of Matt and his wonderful mission to educate people on the absolute vitalness of sleep and the amazing science of sleep itself. Utterly fascinating. This was a great conversation as well, though. Matt is a phenomenal communicator and so very knowledgeable on sleep. He seems to have a ready answer for literally anything you could ask about sleep.

[@ramonarobot]

His hairstyle has definitely changed 😅

[@gbowers]

@@ramonarobot Yes. I couldn’t help but notice that as well. I thought maybe I had mentioned his hair in my comment but upon re-reading it, I didn’t. I guess you noticed it as well. Let it not distract from his vital communication of sleep knowledge! He’s also rocking the Max Airpods. Nice!

[@dancooper8551]

This was an absolutely fascinating episode! I’ve always had weird sleep patterns - a definite night owl and require only around 6 1/2 hours of sleep a night.

[@chutcentral]

Apparently you haven't read any of Dr. Walker's research. Just because you think you feel fine on 6.5 hours of sleep a night doesn't mean you're ACTUALLY fine with getting that amount. Anything less than 8-9hours is wreaking havoc on iust about every aspect of your biology, including putting you at a SERIOUSLY elevated risk for strokes, cancer, heart attacks etc. The people who claim they only need 4 or 6 hours a night are going to find out the hard way just how wrong they are...

[@Quinoezi]

I retired at 45, 3 years ago so I don't have to get up for work. Therefore I sleep like people use to sleep before electric light. I go to sleep about 8 or 9 o'clock wake at 2 / 3 am for a few hours and go back to sleep for another 4 hours until 8 or 9 am. I love it my 2nd sleep I dream wonderful dreams if I want they are lucid. I don't always choose to have lucid dreams because they can tire me out if they get out of control and I have to wake myself up. Anyway I love to sleep and dream.

[@willmo1725]

That was a good one. I have two observations. One the dream doctor, has a voice that could put a lion to sleep. Very deep baritone, i nearly crashed twice. Second im not the only one. Dr. Tyson almost face planted on his key board. Loved the show today thanks.

[@johnwythe1409]

Always good for laughs. Enjoy the subject matter very much. The good natured ribbing, and jokes. Neil you have a very infectious laugh, love it. Keep up the good work, my personal Astrophysicist. I keep looking up, both at the stars, and at life. Thanks for all you and your co-hosts do. You all bring so much good information and laughter into the world.

[@ffaubert1]

Fantastic video folks. I am kinda disappointed that no one asked about what happens to the brain when someone has chronic insomnia but maybe in another StarTalk. Matt was an incredible, knowledgeable and fun guest I also see Lord Knight is really upping his science game. Way to go Chris! You had some really solid and thought provoking questions.

[@alafayette112]

Yes I wanted to know about the effects of insomnia and why it even happens. Would have been interesting.

[@heldercosta6556]

Why we dream :)

[@saeedshahbazian9889]

I've always been fascinated by sleep. Thanks for this episode I think one of the more formative experiences is sleep. The fact that to ourselves, we somehow die and then wake the next morning is the basis for many beliefs that we wake up after death

[@Callitout-kl1uq]

I’ve listened to sooo many hours of Matt Walker. He never says how to get more deep sleep.

[@XMegaJuni]

My dad is like Neil, anytime and anywhere he can shut off. It's crazy powerful.

[@matteoespert5009]

I have the power to and I can use it no whether what is surround me and how loud it is in a second..I always say it's miracle and a course at the same time

[@ajqueen31]

This was really fascinating! I love sleep, though i have much less of it since birthing a baby. I used to sleep, easily, 10-12 hours at a time. My friend knew i had a rule to not bother me until it was "double digits". I definitely lean towards being a neutral-late person, often feeling a second wind around 8-9pm, though not so much lately lol. I have fantastical dreams- very vivid. When i was in HS i would write them down because i thought i could sell them as a movie script and become the next Steven Spielberg with Sci-Fi films... BUT i struggled with articulating what i dreamt of, and writing isn't my strong suit, so i gave up on keeping track. I feel like this podcast could have gone in so many subcategories and I'd be willing to watch each one

[@Kattakam]

I was able to compress sleep a few times by sleep association to a external tone of sound training during lucid dream

[@finnical9718]

Neil, I worked in a sleep lab for 10 years as a sleep technician. The ability to fall asleep at any time very quickly IS unusual, I would only see that in patients with some form of pathology. That doesn't mean you have a condition, but it is suspicious. If your guest is willing to give you a free sleep study, I say take it. It would be interesting if nothing else, and potentially could improve your life if they found something. My sleep apnea patients in particular had very short sleep latencies, which is typical of apnea. Do you snore? Loudly? Might be worth considering.

[@gregorykeating4195]

I read Matt’s book - it influenced me so much that I bought a copy and sent to each of my adult children - hoping it would do the same for them.

[@MysterySemicolon]

I'm clearly a night person. All my life I've been more active right up until the wee hours of the morning and sleepy or lethargic in the mornings and even early afternoons. The irony is that I have to wake up at 5:30am for work now, so I go through this enormous shift on the weekends when I can stay up and then get 3 or 4 hours sleep Sunday night before work on Monday again.

[@DIAMINEO]

this podcast is a gem.. i wish there are much more contents like this on youtube.. which means this channel should do more vids😊

[@cimbakahn]

Excuse me! In French center is spelled centre, and theater is spelled theatre. Sleep is extremely important, because when you are sleeping your brain takes that time to repair/restore your body. If you don't get enough sleep your heart and your eyes will suffer because of it. I believe the movie he was thinking about is Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

[@marki7661]

I think we could be looking at it backwards, pondering, why do living things sleep?…perhaps we were all meant to sleep through our whole lives but evolved with this inconvenient task of waking up once and a while to consume the necessary calories

[@brucepreston3927]

Very interesting way to look at it!

[@shadw4701]

I think this is an actual hypothesis

[@GameTime-yj6qv]

Love it😂

[@epik8353]

Yeah our dreams at times are better than our lives

[@blakebunch4485]

This comment is worth the time to consider. At least for me.

[@qwazse4]

My first gig as a statistician included plotting the latency and amplitude of sleep cycles in two populations. The variability was large, but the underlying trends were striking.

[@weedpuff]

And what were the results?

[@morpheus6749]

You mean a thing that Matlab can do in seconds?

[@ThadGuardi]

Matt has a great sense of humor! I'm loving it! :)

[@ShadowBMe]

I would love to see what Doctor Matthew Walker could learn and explain about my sleep patterns because I have learned that I am an oddity. I have always been considered to be an insomniac. I have extreme difficulties getting to sleep. I am easily disrupted from my sleep. In fact, I often don't need a disruption from my sleep because I seldom lose consciousness during my sleep. I tend to know that I am dreaming, can recall my dreams, can alter my dreams, and can keep track of and listen to those in my environment around me while I sleep and dream. Although, I do sometimes have to respond to those communicating with me during my sleep several times because I respond to them in my dream state, but then have to do so again as my response occurs within my brain and I realize that my body has not produced that response for them to hear.

[@DRob70]

Great guest. His deeper explanation of dreaming being equated to be psychotic is fascinating.

[@EattheApple666]

This was a very enlightening episode.

[@truthseek3017]

Demon

[@briganja]

Wild to hear sleep called a waste of time: sleep is one of my favorite things because dreaming is just absolutely amazing. Dreaming and lucid dreaming are where some of my favorite, most magical memories are made❤❤❤ I didn’t realize lucid dreaming wasn’t common until I was older (at least half of my remembered dreams are lucid dreams); I thought everyone’s parental figure had taught them to lucid dream so they could stop the reoccurring nightmares that plagued my early childhood. My mom taught me how to recognize you’re dreaming and control your dream because she was so tired of waking up to me screaming, and she told me her mom had taught her the same, her grandmother had taught her mother, etc etc. The problem with having such vivid dreams is that when they are mundane I can’t differentiate them from waking memories. Thanks for this episode!

[@marleyjanim5033]

Any tips on how to control one’s dreams

[@Itsallfun3000]

Great episode thanks guys. I would suggest that an ability to relax and sleep is the sign of a healthy nervous system free of trauma as well. Many folks can't switch off and there can be reasons such as trauma and abuse sitting behind that from earlier years.

[@mdrakic]

One of the best talks I've seen on this channel. Period.

[@sapelesteve]

Very interesting and informative video Neil, Chuck, Gary & Matt! In fact, I think that I might just need to get some extra sleep tonight after listening to all of you! 😉😉👍👍

[@aclasscali]

Love your new hairstyle Dr. Walker, thanks for keep enlightening us on benefits of sleep, your doing gods work.

[@rocioiribe5841]

He's looking like an elder emo. I'm here for it. 😅🤘

[@TheoTheTimeTravelingMagician]

Wow! You are the most entertaining, educational, and all around wonderful person out there, Neil. Any scientist who plays a talking pig in a cartoon show is amazing! I hope you have a great week ❤

[@theoteddy9665]

untill he talks about genders😢or covid vaccine😢😢

[@nabormendonca5742]

❄️❄️❄️

[@Renatus_Eruditus]

😮😮Matt Walker is unrecognizable next to his TED Talk days. Man's looking younger and healthier than ever. Def gonna work on my sleep issues. - ca. 5 AM

[@epbarrera]

One of the best episodes of Star Talk 👏😁

[@MisterPersuasion]

So REM sleep takes the "edge" off of things the brain as experienced during the day, etc. I'd like to know what happens to that process when someone has been in a traumatic event like a horrible car crash, front line war battles, or attacked by a swarm of wasps, etc. They don't seem to get better over time, they develop PTSD instead.

[@gregft1979]

Crazy this pace of KZbin uploads... Almost one per day. I wonder if it became almost a full time job for Neil?

[@KC-nd7nt]

4 or 5 done one day . Check his clothes and backdrop / location . Not too different than most creators