Sleep Unplugged with Dr. Chris Winter

“What do you think about peptides?” is one of the most common questions in the sleep clinic right now, and it’s about as answerable as “What do you think about sandwiches?” Insulin, Zepbound and a gray-market vial of BPC-157 are all peptides, but the word tells you nothing about what a molecule does or how well it’s been tested. In this episode we put the most popular “sleep peptides” to the test, including the one named after deep sleep that an FDA advisory panel rejected this summer while backing nearly everything else. In this episode we will:

Last November on Episode 178, we talked about three companies racing to bring orexin agonists to people with narcolepsy. In less than a year, one of those drugs has been approved, another company has been bought for billions, and the race now runs from the lab to the insurance company. In this episode we will:

Imagine a sleep study where picturing yourself diving in a submarine boosted deep sleep by 81%, yet nobody slept a minute longer. It's a real result, and it points to an uncomfortable idea: with the right design, almost anything can be shown to "improve sleep." From free habits to FDA-approved pills to neurotech headbands, every claim has a study behind it, and how that study was built often matters more than the product being sold. In this episode we will

Dr. Valerie Cacho (@drvalsleepgal) joins me for another countdown of the Top 10 Sleep Threats, and her list asks a question we should all be asking more often: Have we actually figured out what is disrupting someone’s sleep? From peptides marketed as cures to the assumption that a woman’s fatigue is simply part of being a working mom, Valerie takes aim at the shortcuts that can delay an accurate diagnosis. In this episode we will:

A courtroom, an insurance formula, and a supermarket receipt don't usually belong in the same sentence — but together they answer the question this episode is built around: what does a bad night's sleep actually cost, in dollars, tonight? Not the economy. You. We take the number everyone quotes and can't act on — sleep deprivation costs the U.S. $411 billion a year — and rebuild it from the ground up using the data that was actually measured on individuals, not GDP models. In this episode we will:

A few days ago, we did an experiment to see how well AI could interview me about sleep. In this bonus episode, I reveal the original attempt which was a bit all over the place. The interview was much more personal and strange which we corrected by adjusting the prompt in the "official" episode, but I thought it might be funny to share the trial run. In this episode we will:

-Debate how much of my career success can reasonably be attributed to my looks
-Discuss my questionable resemblance to Tom Hiddleston
-Ask which voices i...

What happens when the interviewer knows nearly everything you have said publicly and has zero fear of challenging or offending you? In this unusual episode of Sleep Unplugged, I turn over all control of the podcast to AI and let it ask the questions and dictate the program. The result is a surprisingly candid conversation about certainty, contradiction, expertise, and what an algorithm might see when it examines a career devoted to sleep. In this episode I (or we?) will:

A Massachusetts courtroom just produced something that almost never survives into public record: a near-complete paper trail of one woman's psychiatric care in the three months before catastrophe. Her diary, her phone notes, and the testimony of every provider who tried to help her sleep all lead to a central question: what actually happens when insomnia and psychiatric illness feed each other, and how thin is the system supposed to catch it before it breaks? In this episode we will:

Dr. Alison Kole is taking on sleepmaxxing, ChatGPT, and the sleep-industrial complex in her Top 10 Sleep Threat list. In this episode we will:

To find out more about this week's podcast sponsor Fitnexa and their SomniPods 3...

Nobody blinks when a doctor says you'll be on blood pressure medication for the rest of your life. Say the same sentence about an antidepressant, or Zepbound, and responses are quite different. This episode digs into deprescribing, the fast-growing clinical movement around when and how to stop medications, and asks why some "forever drugs" get a cultural pass while others get moralized. In this episode we will:

Our current gig economy did not just create new jobs, it expanded a whole new category of night worker, from rideshare drivers to online freelancers to overnight fulfillment teams. Today (or tonight rather), our bodies are struggling to make the switch. In this episode we dig into what that circadian resistance actually costs your heart and metabolism long-term, and the handful of interventions that can actually shift it. In this episode we will:

Nasal strips have been a fixture in pharmacy aisles and on athletes' faces for decades, sold on the promise of easier breathing, but the peer-reviewed evidence often tells a different story than the packaging does. We put nasal strips and internal dilators through the RCT wringer and sort out what these devices can and can't actually do, from your bedroom to the finish line. In this episode we will:

Ten million prescriptions a year, and most of them aren't for what the drug was built to treat. Seroquel started life as an antipsychotic — engineered to quiet psychosis, not close your eyes. Somewhere along the way it became one of the most common "off the record" sleep aids in America, riding on a side effect nobody set out to sell. The evidence behind that shift is thinner than most people assume — and Seroquel isn't the only drug doing this. In this episode we will:

Most "top sleep threats" lists stick to one lane — pediatric or adult, clinical or cultural. Dr. Funke Afolabi-Brown's list refuses to. It jumps from kids' airways to menopause to AI chatbots, and by the end a pattern emerges: the same symptom, in different bodies, keeps getting waved off as normal. In this episode we will:

Every June, thousands of sleep researchers descend on one city and quietly rewrite what we think we know about a third of our lives. This year it was Baltimore's turn, for the 40th annual SLEEP meeting — and the data that came out of it hits closer to home than usual: blood pressure, diabetes, teenage phones, and why "night owl" might really mean "lonely." Here are my Top 10 studies from SLEEP 2026 most likely to actually change how you sleep. In this episode we will:

Deep sleep and REM sleep get lumped together as "good sleep," but they're almost opposite states — one is the quietest your brain gets all night, the other is nearly as active as being awake. In this episode we pull the two apart: how we stumbled onto each of them, what's happening chemically while they run, and why one of them quietly shrinks as we age while the other holds steadier. In this episode we will:

We tend to think of insomnia and sleep apnea as two completely different sleep disorders. One means you can't sleep. The other means you stop breathing. Simple, right? Not so fast. In reality, many people with sleep apnea don't complain about snoring or excessive daytime sleepiness. Instead, they complain that they wake up repeatedly throughout the night and can't stay asleep. In this episode we will:

This week marks the 12th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Upneet Chawla, MD (@sleeping.beauty_md). Upneet is an internist and board-certified sleep specialist.  In this episode, she has graciously provided us her list. In this episode we will:

Original intro music Vigilanteology by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

Original outro music Vigilanteology (reprise) by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

P...

Sleep duration has always been the headline number in sleep science, but mounting research is pushing the conversation toward something less obvious: how consistent your timing is from night to night. In this episode we dig into a debate that's far from settled, and into a statistical trap that may be quietly distorting it. WIn this episode we will:

Menopause has always been linked to sleep disruption, but the story has changed dramatically since we last covered it in episode 3. Hot flashes and night sweats still matter, but newer research is pushing us to think more broadly about brain temperature regulation, insomnia, mood, sleep apnea, cardiometabolic risk, and a new generation of nonhormonal medications that directly target vasomotor biology. In this episode we will:

Narcolepsy is often described as a disorder of excessive daytime sleepiness, but that description only tells part of the story. Many people living with narcolepsy also struggle with fragmented, restless, and unrefreshing sleep at night; and these symptoms that can look a lot like insomnia. In recent years, researchers have increasingly viewed narcolepsy as a disorder of sleep-wake instability, where the boundaries between wakefulness, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep become less secure. Understanding narcolepsy through this lens helps explain why someone can be profoundly sleepy during the day and still feel like they "can't sleep" at night. In this...

Sleep trackers have become one of the fastest-growing trends in modern health culture. Rings, watches, apps, and mattress sensors now promise to measure everything about your sleep, but are these devices actually helping us sleep better…or simply giving us one more thing to worry about? In this episode, we will: 

People tend to have surprisingly strong opinions about wearing socks in bed. Some people swear by them, claiming they fall asleep faster and sleep more deeply. Others find them uncomfortable, claustrophobic, or far too warm. But beneath this oddly polarizing sleep habit lies some genuinely fascinating science involving thermoregulation, circulation, and the body’s preparation for sleep. In this episode, we will:

Restless Legs Syndrome has long been treated as a medication problem. But what if one of the most important clues was hidden in the thing patients already know: movement helps. Nidra, a prescription neuromodulation device using tonic motor activation, attempts to borrow the benefit of movement without requiring patients to pace the bedroom at 2:00 AM. In this episode we will:

What’s on your bedside table? A lamp? A phone? A book? A bottle of melatonin gummies? A tangled charging cable? In this episode we explore what our bedside environments reveal about our relationship with sleep itself. Using real listener-submitted nightstands and bedside drawers — including my own — we introduce the Sleep Sanctuary Index (SSI™), a playful but evidence-informed scoring system designed to determine whether the things beside our bed are helping or hurting sleep. Along the way we discuss insomnia psychology, sensory regulation, sleep consumerism, clutter, nighttime rituals, and why some bedside tables feel like sanctuaries while others feel like tac...

Artificial intelligence is quietly moving into one of the most human spaces we have: therapy. Chatbots now deliver cognitive behavioral strategies, respond with empathy, and are available 24/7 at a fraction of the cost of traditional care. But does that mean the therapist is on the verge of extinction? Or are we misunderstanding what therapy actually is? In this episode, we explore the science, the promise, and the limits of AI in mental health, and ask a deeper question about connection, loneliness, and what it really means to be “seen.” In this episode we will:

This week marks the 11th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Ellen Wermter FNP-BC. Ellen is a nurse practitioner and board-certified behavioral sleep specialist.  In this episode, Ellen has graciously provided us her list. In this episode we will:

Original intro music V...

Sleep has never been more visible...or more complicated. In a world of sleep scores, optimization strategies, and endless advice, the pursuit of better sleep has quietly shifted into something more rigid, and for many, more stressful. At the same time, the science of sleep has never been stronger, and the opportunity to reshape how we think about insomnia and restoration has never been greater. Now, we step back and take stock. We examine the unintended consequences of modern sleep culture while looking ahead to what a healthier, more grounded sleep could look like by episode 400. In this episode...

Sleep fixes are everywhere—magnesium, melatonin, mouth taping, CPAP, turmeric, even that glass of wine before bed. And the truth is, most of them work. But what often gets left out is the fine print: the dosing, the timing, the patient selection, and the unintended consequences that can quietly turn a good idea into a bad outcome. In this episode we will:

Insomnia is often framed as a nighttime disorder—but what if, for many patients, it’s also a daytime problem of disconnection? As loneliness emerges as a major public health issue, a growing body of research suggests that social isolation and poor sleep may be deeply intertwined, each reinforcing the other in a self-sustaining cycle. Drawing on the work of Vivek Murthy and current sleep science, this episode explores how loneliness affects insomnia, how insomnia may worsen social disconnection, and what interventions actually help. In this episode we will:

This week marks the 10th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Vanderbilt Professor of Neurology and Sleep Medicine Dr. Beth Malow. In addition to promoting her new book Beyond the Politics of Contempt—Practical Steps to Build Positive Relationships in Divided Times, Dr. Malow has graciously provided us her list. In this episode we will:

Red light therapy has moved well beyond the world of skincare and into something far more biologically intriguing. From mitochondrial function to retinal aging to chronic tendon pain, specific wavelengths of light, particularly in the 630 to 670 nm range, are being studied for their ability to influence how our cells produce energy, respond to stress, and recover from injury. While the science is promising, it is also uneven, with strong signals in some areas and much thinner evidence in others. In this episode we will:

It's NCAA Selection Sunday, and that means the Pillow Fight is back. This year we've assembled 16 new pillows, each full of hope that they will be the last pillow standing and hoist the SideSleeperZ Cup. In this episode, we will:

Waking up with a headache can feel ominous. Is it stress? Sinus pressure? Something neurological? In this episode of Sleep Unplugged, we break down nocturnal headaches in a practical, clinically grounded way. In this episode we will:

Success looks good in the daylight, but at night, it often looks very different. In this episode we explore why insomnia is so common in driven, high-achieving, Type-A personalities. Is it stress? Hyperarousal? The Zeigarnik effect? We unpack the science, the psychology, and the cultural narrative that may be quietly rewarding sleeplessness. In this episode, we will:

This week marks the 10th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Dr. Margaret Park. In this episode we will:

Original intro music Vigilanteology by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

Original outro music Vigilanteology (reprise) by Abhinav Singh (copyright 2026)

Produced by: Maeve...

Creatine has been a staple in the gym bag for decades. But is it just for bodybuilders chasing one more rep, or does it have something to say about sleep, brain energy, and resilience in a sleep deprived world? In this episode we will:

Restless legs syndrome used to feel simple. If the legs were jumping, we reached for a dopamine agonist, the safer alternative to older meds. Over time, we learned that the very medication calming symptoms could make the condition worse. But just as guidelines changed in favor of gabapentin and related medications, new research raised concerns about the medications link to cognitive decline and dementia. So where does that leave patients? In this episode, we will:

This month’s insomnia episode explores a provocative idea: can certain electronics actually help insomnia rather than harm it? While screens and devices are often blamed for poor sleep, some technologies aim to calm the nervous system, teach self-regulation, or reduce the anxiety that keeps insomnia going. In this episode we will:

• Revisit the parasympathetic nervous system, the vagus nerve, and why the “wandering nerve” has fascinated medicine for centuries
 • Review the data for non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation and devices like Truvaga: what the research shows, what remains unclear, and whether stimulation truly reaches the vagus nerve
 ...

This week marks the 9th month we have put out the Top 10 Sleep Threats Power Rankings, and this week, we have a special guest assessor, Dr. Seem Khosla. In this episode we will:

Produced by: Maeve Winter

Music by: Dr. Abhinav Singh (@sleep_vigilante), all rights reserved

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