Sleep is My Waking Passion

Эпизоды

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  Always Tired With COPD? It Might Not Be Your Lungs 30.09.2026 38мин

  Doing everything right for your COPD and still exhausted, foggy and short of breath? It might not be your lungs. In honor of World Oxygen Day (October 2, also my birthday!), I'm joined by fellow pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine physician Dr. Saema Tahir, the NYC Sleep Doctor. We talk about what happens when COPD and obstructive sleep apnea overlap, why it's so often missed, and what you can do about it. Oxygen therapy is life-changing when you need it. But if sleep apnea is part of...
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  19 Years Tired. It Was Narcolepsy. | Lindsay Scola 24.09.2026 39мин

  Ever been told your exhaustion is "just stress"? Lindsay Scola spent 20 years at the center of politics and entertainment, advancing events for President Obama and working the Emmys, while secretly fighting to stay awake. It took 19 years, two "normal" sleep studies, and a meltdown in her doctor's office to finally hear the words: narcolepsy type 1. Dr. Alison Kole and Lindsay talk about the narcolepsy symptoms that hide in plain sight, why home sleep tests can miss what's really going on, ...
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  Your Skin Knows You Didn't Sleep: Sleep, Skin Aging & the Truth About Korean Skincare with Dr. HeeJin Kim 16.09.2026 41мин

  Have you ever looked in the mirror after a bad night and thought, my face did not sign up for this? You're not imagining it. That dullness, the sunken eyes, the fine lines that look a little deeper than they did yesterday — that's your skin talking. And when a few bad nights turn into a few bad months, it stops being about looking tired and starts being about accelerated aging. In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. HeeJin Kim — a physician trained in Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Geriatric Med...
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  Fix Your Circadian Rhythm | Dr. Olivia Walch, PhD 09.09.2026 35мин

  If you've ever typed "why can't I sleep" or "how do I fix my circadian rhythm" into a search bar at 2 a.m., this episode is for you. Most of us have been taught to think about sleep in one dimension: how many hours did I get? But there's a second dimension almost nobody talks about — rhythm. And when your rhythm is off, more hours in bed won't save you. This week I'm joined by Dr. Olivia Walch, PhD, a mathematician and sleep scientist, author of Sleep Groove, and CEO of Arcascope, the compa...
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  National Sleep Foundation Talks Kids Sleep 02.09.2026 30мин

  Your kid is bouncing off the walls at 7 p.m., melting down over the wrong-colored cup, and you're standing there thinking: how are they not tired? Here's what nobody tells you. When adults are sleep-deprived, we run out of battery — slow, foggy, flat. When kids are sleep-deprived, the system doesn't drain. It glitches. They speed up. Which means the child who looks least tired is often the one who needs sleep most. New data says this is happening in almost half of American homes. I'm joine...
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  Back To School Sleep Reset featuring Dr. Sujay Kansagra 26.08.2026 28мин

  The Back-to-School Sleep Reset Every Family Needs Right Now Summer let everyone drift. Later bedtimes, slower mornings, no alarms. Then the school calendar shows up and suddenly you're asking a kid whose body clock is set to midnight to be alert at 7 a.m. You are not alone, and you are not a bad parent. This is biology. This week Dr. Alison Kole sits down with Dr. Sujay Kansagra — pediatric neurologist and sleep medicine specialist at Duke, the voice behind @thatsleepdoc, and the inventor ...
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  Sleep Like a Pro: Stealing the Elite Athlete Playbook with Dr. Abhinav Singh, "The Sleep Vigilante" 29.07.2026 32мин

  What if waking up refreshed wasn't luck — but strategy? Elite athletes don't leave sleep to chance. They treat it like training, nutrition, and recovery — because at the pro level, the margins are a game of inches. This week, Dr. Alison Kole is joined by Dr. Abhinav Singh — better known as "The Sleep Vigilante" — sleep physician for the Indiana Pacers and WNBA Indiana Fever, Medical Director of the Franciscan Sleep Disorders Program, Associate Clinical Professor at Marian University, and auth...
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  What if your political stress is quietly wrecking your sleep — and your relationships? 22.07.2026 40мин

  In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Beth Ann Malow — neurologist, sleep medicine specialist, and 2026 AASM Sleep Health Advocate Award recipient — to discuss her bold new book, Beyond the Politics of Contempt. We explore how outrage-driven culture, social media algorithms, and the 24-hour news cycle are affecting our mental health, cardiovascular risk, and sleep quality. From "doomscrolling insomnia" to fractured family relationships, we dig into the real consequences of living in constant ...
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  How Your Gut Controls Your Sleep featuring Marissa Sharkey 08.07.2026 37мин

  Registered dietitian Marissa Sharkey — aka the Gutsy Dietitian — returns to unpack the gut-sleep connection and why so many busy adults feel exhausted, bloated, and stuck. From simple meal-prep swaps to the daily habits quietly sabotaging your rest, this is a practical playbook for feeling better from the inside out. In this episode, you'll learn: How gut health and sleep quality feed each other — and where most people go wrongRealistic meal-prep strategies for busy schedules (no all-day Sund...
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  PTSD Is Treatable — Even 65 Years Later 01.07.2026 44мин

  Most people think trauma is something you just have to live with. It isn't. In Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Courtney Worley — board-certified clinical psychologist and diplomate in behavioral sleep medicine — we break down the evidence-based therapies that actually treat PTSD and the sleep it steals. If you or someone you love struggles with nightmares, insomnia, or trauma, this one's for you. What you will learn: It's never too early — and never too late. PTSD is a problem in ...
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  Nightmares in Narcolepsy Are Way Worse Than You Think (And We Can Rewrite Them) 24.06.2026 30мин

  Narcolepsy isn’t just about “falling asleep at the wrong time.” For many patients, the scariest part is what happens inside their sleep—long, vivid, emotionally intense nightmares that can blur into sleep paralysis, hallucinations, and even waking life. In this episode of Sleep Is My Waking Passion, Dr. Alison Kole sits down with clinical psychologist and sleep researcher Dr. Jennifer Mundt (University of Utah) to unpack a symptom almost no one is talking about: nightmares in narcolepsy—and h...
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  Yes, Nightmares Are Treatable featuring Dr. Courtney Worley, PhD. 17.06.2026 26мин

  Nightmares aren’t just “bad dreams”—and you don’t have to live with them. In this episode, Dr. Alison Kole sits down with behavioral sleep medicine expert Dr. Courtney Worley to break down what actually defines a nightmare disorder, why nightmares happen (far beyond trauma), and—most importantly—how to treat them. They dive into the gold-standard, evidence-based therapy you’ve probably never been offered (imagery rehearsal therapy), how your brain can be retrained to stop recurring nightmares...
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  Live from London with ENT Sleep Apnea Surgeon Dr. Ryan Cheong 10.06.2026 41мин

  Live from London, Sleep Is My Waking Passion joins forces with multi‑award‑winning ENT and specialist sleep surgeon Dr. Ryan Chin Taw Cheong to break down how obstructive sleep apnea is managed in the UK versus the USA. From earlier ENT involvement and airway‑focused surgery in the NHS to faster access to sleep testing and PAP in many American settings, we highlight what each system gets right—and where patients still fall through the cracks. We cover recognition gaps, long wait times (up to ...
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  On The Fringe: Sleep Apnea Treatment You Haven’t Heard Of featuring Dr. Audrey Yoon, DDS, MS 27.05.2026 40мин

  What if treating sleep apnea isn’t just about machines, mouthguards, or surgery—but actually changing the structure of your airway? In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Alison Kole sits down with Stanford sleep expert and orthodontist Dr. Audrey Yoon to explore a rapidly emerging—and often overlooked—approach to sleep-disordered breathing: airway expansion. You’ll hear how techniques like MARPE (miniscrew-assisted palatal expansion) are reshaping the future of sleep medicine. From children with s...
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  Can Women Have Sleep Apnea Without Snoring? A Sleep Doctor's Story | REM OSA & Heart Risk 13.05.2026 38мин

  What if a sleep doctor didn't recognize her own sleep apnea? Dr. Valerie Cacho shares her personal journey from diagnosing patients to becoming one—revealing how women's sleep apnea symptoms look nothing like the textbook. In this episode, Dr. Cacho and Dr. Alison Kole dive into why women with "mild" sleep apnea may face serious cardiovascular risks, the unique phenomenon of REM-related sleep apnea in women, and why Asian populations are at higher risk despite normal BMI. Skool community: htt...
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  Talking Women’s Sleep in Atlanta and Beyond: An Interview with Sleep Legend Dr. Nancy Collop 06.05.2026 27мин

  When does “crappy sleep” in women stop being a normal part of aging and start being a dangerous, underdiagnosed sleep apnea? In this episode, living legend Dr. Nancy Collop, MD—former AASM president and former director of the Emory Sleep Center in Atlanta—joins Dr. Alison Kole to unpack how menopause, hormones, and REM‑related apnea uniquely raise women’s cardiovascular risk. You’ll learn why “mild” sleep apnea numbers can be misleading, which red‑flag symptoms should trigger testing, and how...
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  Sleep Apnea Nearly Killed Me: ‘Out of Breath’ Documentary (with NJ Sleep Doctor Dr. Alison Kole & George Nierenberg) 29.04.2026 23мин

  What if the thing quietly stealing your energy, memory, and even your life was happening while you sleep? In this powerful episode of Sleep Is My Waking Passion, Dr. Alison Kole sits down with legendary documentary filmmaker George T. Nierenberg to explore his deeply personal sleep apnea journey and his new film, Out of Breath—the first feature documentary to put the human cost of sleep apnea front and center. You’ll hear raw, intimate stories from patients and families who filmed their own l...
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  Is Your Child’s Snoring Dangerous? Red-Flag Signs of Pediatric Sleep Apnea with Sleep Doctor Chris 22.04.2026 26мин

  Every child deserves more than “they’ll grow out of it.” In this comeback episode, Dr. Alison sits down with viral pediatric sleep specialist Sleep Doctor Chris to unpack why so many kids are snoring, melting down at bedtime, and dragging through the day—and when it’s actually a red flag, not “normal kid stuff.” You’ll hear Dr. Chris’s deeply personal journey from exhausted, snoring kid to double board-certified sleep doctor and author of the new children’s book Sweet Dreams, a story that hel...
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  Better Questions, Better Sleep: Why Smarter OSA Conversations Could Be the Data We’re Missing featuring Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg 18.03.2026 25мин

  Starting CPAP, an oral appliance, or an implant but still not feeling heard? In this episode, Dr. Alison Kole and Dr. Fariha Abbasi-Feinberg unpack PLATO—the Patient-reported Longitudinal Assessment Tool for OSA—and the 11 questions your doctor should ask to truly understand how you feel, personalize your treatment, and finally put you back at the center of your sleep apnea care.
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  Kratom, Alcohol & Sleep: A Near‑Death Wake‑Up Call featuring Xavier Schumann 11.03.2026 28мин

  In this episode of Sleep Is My Waking Passion, Dr. Alison Kole sits down with 25‑year‑old Xavier Schuman, who went from “just partying,” working night shifts, and using a kratom pill to help him sleep… to turning blue, going into cardiac arrest, and waking up days later in the ICU. Together, they unpack how alcohol, kratom, and untreated sleep apnea collided to create a perfect storm: terrifying gasping and choking during sleep, the moment his dad started CPR, and the real physiology behind h...