Library’s Podcast Club Focuses on Sleep in September


The Podcast Club at Fort Bend County Libraries’ University Branch Library will focus on “Sleep” in September. Since the library buildings are currently not open to the public, the Podcast Club meeting will take place online via Zoom/WebEx, so listeners throughout the area can participate from the comfort and safety of home.

Similar to a book club, the Podcast Club provides an opportunity for podcast listeners to get together to discuss podcast selections from a themed podcast-listening list and share their opinions on trending topics. Each month features a different theme, along with a short list of podcast episodes.

The next meeting of the University Branch Library Podcast Club will take place on Thursday, September 24th, beginning at 7 pm. A link to the Zoom/WebEx meeting will be emailed to all who register.

A direct link to the podcasts can be found on Fort Bend County Libraries’ online calendar on the FBCL website. The playlist of podcasts from which to choose includes:

  • “Somnology (SLEEP), Part 1 with W. Chris Winter” – Ologies with Alie Ward (1 hour, 13 minutes). Called “The Sleep Whisperer,” neurologist and sleep specialist Dr. W. Chris Winter joins Alie for a thrilling episode about why we need sleep, the ideal amount of it, what sleep does to the brain, insomnia, sleep stages, ideal bedtime conditions and even the historical lore around sleep paralysis.
  • “Dream Your Way to a Better You” – Every Little Thing (23 minutes). Listener Natalie had a dreamy question: Can you change something in your waking life by dreaming about it? Every Little Thing talked to a lucid-dream expert to find out if it is possible to optimize our snooze time. Guest: Daniel Erlacher, sports scientist at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
  • “The Science of Dreams & Dreaming” – Sleep Junkies (52 minutes). From the earliest civilizations to the present day, humans have been fascinated by the many mysteries of dreams and dreaming. In the 20th century, however, the discovery of REM sleep kick-started a new era of scientific inquiry in dream research. Sleep and dream researcher Dr. Antonio Zadra talks about the history of dream research, from ancient ideas to the leading modern theories of the function of dreams.
  • “The Science of Sleep and the Economics of Sleeplessness” – Trust Me, I’m an Expert (23 minutes). Sleep expert Melinda Jackson, Senior Research Fellow in the School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT University, talks about what the evidence shows about how people used to sleep in pre-industrial times and what promising research is on the horizon.
  • “Sleep Better with These Bedtime Rituals” – Life Kit: Health (22 minutes). How does one get a good night’s sleep? Many people have routines they use to try and reach that blissful state of slumber — from meditation to melatonin to putting on a pair of socks. Sleep scientists weigh in on what sleep rituals actually work.

The Podcast Club is free and open to the public. Registration is required; a link to the Zoom/WebEx meeting will be emailed to all who register. To register online at the library’s website (www.fortbend.lib.tx.us), click on “Classes & Events,” select “Virtual Programs” and find the program. Participants may also register by calling 281-633-5100.