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Two Percent with Michael Easter · Thursday · 52 min

#57: Stop Trying to Sleep Perfectly | David Samson

Up to half of Americans say their sleep is bad, and the rules for fixing it keep piling up. Michael speaks with David Samson, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Toronto and author of The Sleepless Ape, about why modern people sleep longer and better than hunter-gatherers yet worry about it far more, why our body clocks are the real mismatch, top sleep myths, and which sleep advice is worth following. They discuss: (00:00) Cold open (01:19) What is sleep? (08:30) Is there an epidemic of bad sleep? (15:50) Why study hunter-gatherer sleep (18:40) How the Hadza tribe sleeps (25:45) Bad sleep, happy sleepers (28:44) Evolutionary mismatch of sleep (32:40) Sleep is fine, the clock isn't (38:49) Does sleep anxiety matter? (43:02) Rapid fire: melatonin to curtains (47:08) What he does to sleep better Get David's book, The Sleepless Ape: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691259734/the-sleepless-ape Sponsors: Vuori: Get 20% off your first order at vuori.com/TWOPCT. Exclusions apply. MacroFactor: Download the MacroFactor app and use code TWOPCT for 14 days free. Visit Two Percent, the #1 health and wellness Substack newsletter: https://www.twopct.com Follow Michael: https://twitter.com/Michael_Easter https://instagram.com/michael_easter/ https://linkedin.com/in/michael-easter-b208848/ https://www.facebook.com/twopct https://tiktok.com/@michael_easter6 Host: Michael Easter Executive Producer: Robbie Hiser Music: The Heater Manager Graphics: Jackie Philips Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Up to half of Americans say their sleep is bad, and the rules for fixing it keep piling up. Michael speaks with David Samson, an evolutionary anthropologist at the University of Toronto and author of The Sleepless Ape, about why modern people sleep longer and better than hunter-gatherers yet worry about it far more, why our body clocks are the real mismatch, top sleep myths, and which sleep advice is worth following. They discuss:

(00:00) Cold open
(01:19) What is sleep?
(08:30) Is there an epidemic of bad sleep?
(15:50) Why study hunter-gatherer sleep
(18:40) How the Hadza tribe sleeps
(25:45) Bad sleep, happy sleepers
(28:44) Evolutionary mismatch of sleep
(32:40) Sleep is fine, the clock isn't
(38:49) Does sleep anxiety matter?
(43:02) Rapid fire: melatonin to curtains
(47:08) What he does to sleep better

Get David's book, The Sleepless Ape: https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691259734/the-sleepless-ape

Sponsors:
Vuori: Get 20% off your first order at vuori.com/TWOPCT. Exclusions apply.
MacroFactor: Download the MacroFactor app and use code TWOPCT for 14 days free.

Visit Two Percent, the #1 health and wellness Substack newsletter: https://www.twopct.com

Follow Michael:
https://twitter.com/Michael_Easter
https://instagram.com/michael_easter/
https://linkedin.com/in/michael-easter-b208848/
https://www.facebook.com/twopct
https://tiktok.com/@michael_easter6

Host: Michael Easter
Executive Producer: Robbie Hiser
Music: The Heater Manager
Graphics: Jackie Philips

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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