Mike Carruthers

Ah, the Regency era.

You might know it as the time when Bridgerton takes place, or as the time when Jane Austen wrote her books.

The Regency era was also an explosive time of social change, sex scandals, and maybe the worst king in British history.

Vulgar History's new season is all about the Regency era, the balls, the gowns, and all the scandal.

Listen to Vulgar History, Regency era, wherever you get podcasts.

If you've ever felt guilty about how you sleep, you know, like falling asleep in front of the TV or sleeping in on the weekends, you need to hear this first segment.

Hi and welcome to Something You Should Know.

I'm Mike Carruthers, your host today.

I'm your host every day.

So a lot of conventional advice about sleep turns out to be false, according to sleep researchers.

For example, you've probably heard the advice that you should not fall asleep in front of the TV.

Well, why not?

A lot of people simply can't turn off their brains, and watching TV helps them.

If you can put a timer on your TV so it turns off after you fall asleep, well, there's nothing wrong with that.

And it's pretty commonly accepted that you need eight hours of sleep, but the latest research shows that the right amount of sleep is very personal.

If you feel energized the next day, well, then you've got the right amount of sleep.

you can catch up on your sleep on the weekends.

Yeah, no, that turns out to be not so true.

A Harvard study found that those extra hours don't really improve your reaction times or your ability to focus.

And I know people, I've actually tended to be one of these people, who really doesn't think that caffeine affects my sleep, but according to research, it does.