Link Roundup!: Sleep You Need vs Sleep You Get; Podcast Love

+ Another way we are unequal in this paltry excuse for a civilization? The number of hours of sleep we get a night, on average, varies based on how much money we have. The effects are real, lasting, and frightening:

McCalman’s life reveals a particularly sorry side of America’s sleep-deprived culture. Though we often praise white-collar “superwomen” who “never sleep” and juggle legendary careers with busy families, it’s actually people who have the least money who get the least sleep.

Though Americans across the economic spectrum are sleeping less these days, people in the lowest income quintile, and people who never finished high school, are far more likely to get less than seven hours of shut-eye per night. About half of people in households making less than $30,000 sleep six or fewer hours per night, while only a third of those making $75,000 or more do. …

A later study on 147 adult humans found that the sleep deprived among them had actively shrinking brains. This suggests that no amount of “catch up” sleep can ever reverse the effects of sleep loss on the body.

“How do you sleep at night?” “On top of a pile of money with many beautiful ladies.”

+ The ‘Fold got some love on the newish Slate parenting podcast “Mom and Dad Are Fighting!” This feels especially appropriate during #MikeDangWeek, when we are basically a mommyblog over here.

I had dropped babygirl off at daycare this morning and was walking home to start work when I heard the site mentioned in the context of a discussion about whether family dinners and feminism can coexist. (Spoiler alert: we argue that they can.) I may or may not have punched the air in triumph like a total doof. Also NYT’s Op-Talk recently got in on this conversation too. I guess people like to talk about dinner.

Let’s trade podcast recs! Other money-related audio I’m enjoying and learning from these days: Death Sex and Money, Anna Sale’s good-humored, interview-based exploration of under-discussed topics; and Hear StartUp, Alex Blumburg’s documentary in real time about his somewhat bumbling but earnest and energetic attempts to start his first business. What about you?

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