Many of us are anxious about sleep. Talk of it is everywhere. But are we always really talking about sleep when we talk about sleep? Our podcast is a series of conversations about how cultural preoccupation with sleep is also about masculinity, femininity, sexuality, work, leisure, and time. It approaches sleep as a necessary and valuable part of human life, as well as a proxy for thinking about other things.
The sleep crisis! Is there one? What is it? Why do we insist on talking about it?! Find out in this first episode of Season 2, in which Cressida and Joshua talk to literature scholar Diletta De Cristofaro.
10 Feb 2026
Episode 10: Good night!
When the sun goes down, the rules change. From who has the right to sleep and when, to why kings can’t afford to nod off, in the last episode of season 1 Joshua and Cressida talk to political and legal theorist Jon Goldberg-Hiller about his book, Law By Night.
27 Jan 2026
Episode 9: Sleepy stereotypes
Who is represented sleeping, where, and why? In this episode we start from the “Asians sleeping in public” memes of the 20-teens. How do these goofy Tumblrs connect to techno-orientalism, information capitalism, model minorities, and histories of anti-Asian racism? Join us with guest Danielle Wong to get the full story.
13 Jan 2026
Episode 8: Dead to the world
The 2024 Pelicot case in France is only one in a long string of sexual assaults against women who are unconscious. Joshua and Cressida talk with Megan Burke about why these are not isolated incidents, and how to think about the eroticization of vulnerable sleepers.
23 Dec 2025
Bonus: 'Twas the night before Christmas...
Join the Sleep is the New Sex team for a short holiday bonus episode in which we discuss winter spirits and Santa figures, invisible labour, and the night as a time of lawlessness and transformation.
16 Dec 2025
Episode 7: Money never sleeps
Money never sleeps. The ways we talk about sleep and money invite conversations about productivity, debt, capital, and morality. Join Cressida and Joshua as they talk with Rob Aitken, scholar of global financialization, about sleep debt, debt forgiveness, and whether there is any rest for the wicked.
2 Dec 2025
Episode 6: The art of sleep
Cressida and Joshua talk about sleep in art with Danielle Drees. From art about sleep, to watching actors and celebrities sleep, to sleeping audiences, why does something so seemingly dull feature in so much feminist performance art of the last fifty years?
18 Nov 2025
Episode 5: Fast asleep?
We always hear that the world is speeding up. We need Slow culture as an antidote! But these claims misrepresent the interconnectedness of “temporal infrastructures” that make some people’s time (and sleep) dependent on others. Join Joshua and Cressida in conversation with Sarah Sharma about Liquid Man, goblin mode, and selfie-care.
4 Nov 2025
Episode 4: Working from bed
During the COVID-19 pandemic many people worked not only from home but from bed. In this episode Cressida and Joshua talk with guest Hannah Haugen about that experience, as well as the history of the bed, celebrities, and how the private becomes public.
21 Oct 2025
Episode 3: Sleep coaching
For many people the first time they will experience acute sleep deprivation is when they have a baby. Can sleep coaches help? We talk with Jeanique Tucker about the first study of infant sleep coaches in Canada.
7 Oct 2025
Episode 2: Beauty sleep
Getting your zzz’s helps you stay youthful and refreshed! Join hosts Cressida and Joshua in conversation with Meredith Jones on the politics of sleeping beauties, makeover culture, and corpse chic.
6 Oct 2025
Episode 1: Sleep stories
Sleep is hard to narrate. But it nonetheless appears everywhere in film, novels, and advertising. We talk with Paul Huebener about his book Restless in Sleep Country: Imagination and the Cultural Politics of Sleep. Oh, Canada!
6 Oct 2025
Trailer
Welcome to Sleep is the New Sex: The Podcast! Your hosts Cressida Heyes and Joshua Ayer join with special guests to lead you through a series of conversations about the cultural politics of sleep. In our trailer we explain what it’s all about.
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