The Morning: Obsessed with sleep

Plus, the 2024 election, the U.S. Open and a coup at Disney.

View in browser|nytimes.com September 8, 2024 Good morning. Today, my colleague Maxwell Strachan writes about the extreme lengths we go to improve our sleep. We're also covering the 2024 election, the U.S. Open and a coup at Disney. —David Leonhardt Illustration by Petra Eriksson Zonked out By Maxwell Strachan I'm an editor on Well, The Times's personal health section. Americans used to say we'd sleep when we were dead. We viewed sleep as a waste of time — something prized by the lazy, and minimized by the industrious. How times have changed. These days, getting in bed early is cool. People, especially those in younger generations, have come to better understand the benefits of a good night's rest, and many now make sleep a central part of their personal health routines. Experts say this is a good thing: Consistently solid sleep can benefit your heart, brain, immune system and mental health. But our newfound love of sleep is also leading us to strange places. On social media, you can find some people mixing concoctions meant to induce sleep — called "sleepy girl mocktails" — and others trying on sleep aids like mouth tape, nose tape and jaw straps, sometimes all at once. For many, sleep has become something to be optimized, even perfected. Kate Lindsay has a fascinating new story in The Times today that explores this growing fixation — specifically, the large number of people for whom good sleep is not good enough. They are sometimes called "sleepmaxxers." Kate's story raises a question I've been wondering myself: After so many years of worrying too little about sleep, is it possible some of us have started worrying too much? In today's newsletter, I'll walk you through the science behind some popular methods for improving sleep, and the possible downsides of caring too much about it. A "sleepy girl mocktail." Molly Matalon for The New York Times Sleep, Inc. A few lucky people can fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. For the rest of us, a multibillion-dollar industry offers a boundless supply of products that promise to help. There are best-selling guidebooks, smartwatches, smart rings, temperature-changing mattresses, straps, plugs, masks, glasses and even mists. And that's to say nothing of the enormous variety of sleep-inducing pills and gummies. People routinely get millions of views on TikTok and Instagram testing out sleep hacks and accessories, including by filming themselves taking off all the accouterment, a trend known as "morning shed." Is this all a case of consumerism gone wild, or does any of this stuff actually help? The Times's Well desk has looked into the science behind a few of these products. Here's what we found: Mouth tape: A few small studies have found people with mild sleep apnea snored a bit less (or less severely) when they taped their lips closed. The effects for people without sleep apnea are less clear. But experts say you should probably steer clear of mouth tape if you struggle to breathe through your nose, whether because of a deviated septum, allergies, chronic congestion or something else entirely. Magnesium: This common sleep supplement is one part of the viral "sleepy girl mocktail." And while some observational studies have linked magnesium to better sleep quality, several other, more rigorous trials have found that it has no effect for most people. That said, it's not harmful, so if it works for you, feel free to keep taking it — you may benefit from a placebo effect. Melatonin: One of the most common sleep-related supplements is also one of the most misused. Many people who take melatonin do so right before they get in bed. But, as the Well team has explained, melatonin is more like a sunset than a light switch. It is best taken hours before bed, so that it can aid your body in the process of winding down. So what works? There's good news: Sleep experts say the most reliable hacks are often the cheapest and most simple. Get in and out of bed at the same time every day, no matter how well you sleep. Lower the temperature in your room to between 65 and 68 degrees. Limit alcohol and caffeine in the hours before bed. Exercise! Experts also recommend a wind-down period every night. It's better if that time doesn't include screens, but if television relaxes you, consider something light that you've already seen. (I like to watch "Veep," "The Office" or "30 Rock" before bed.) And if all else fails, you can stick your head in a freezer. Yes, really. So long as a gadget or product isn't making your sleep worse, or harming you, there's no real problem with it. Maybe sipping a "sleepy girl mocktail" or spraying magnesium on your feet helps you relax. But watch out for signs that you are becoming fixated on sleep. In 2017, a few researchers came up with the word "orthosomnia" to describe a phenomenon in which people who wear sleep trackers on a "perfectionistic quest for the ideal sleep" actually have their sleep become worse. If that sounds like you, it might be time to take a step back. "Sleep is a passive process," one doctor told Kate. "It is to be protected, not forced — or 'maximized.'" In short, winding down before sleep: good. Winding yourself up about sleep? Not so much. For more: Read Kate's story on the quest for sleep perfection. THE LATEST NEWS 2024 Election Donald Trump Jamie Kelter Davis for The New York Times Donald Trump narrowly leads Kamala Harris by 48 percent to 47 percent among likely voters, according to a national poll by The Times and Siena College. While it's worth being cautious about the poll's findings, Nate Cohn writes, it's plausible that the poll would be the first to capture a shift back toward Trump. At a rally in Wisconsin, Trump pledged to ultimately eliminate the Education Department. Method acting and tough questions: Read how Harris and Trump are prepping for their debate on Tuesday. Middle East A gunman killed three Israelis at a border crossing between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said. The Israeli military struck two school compounds turned shelters in Gaza. The military said that Hamas was using them as a base. The family of an American killed at a protest in the West Bank demanded an independent investigation, saying that Israel could not investigate her death impartially. Iran has sent short-range missiles to Russia, according to U.S. and European officials. Iran denied providing the weapons. More International News Edmundo González, center, at a rally in May. Lexi Parra for The New York Times Edmundo González — the Venezuelan opposition candidate who is widely considered to have won July's disputed presidential election — has fled the country. He was facing an arrest warrant. In rural China, women are challenging a custom that denies them land rights if they marry outside their village. Cow vigilantism — violence related to the slaughter or smuggling of cows, or the suspicion of such acts — is unnerving some Muslims in India. Other Big Stories Aryna Sabalenka Graham Dickie/The New York Times Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defeated Jessica Pegula, an American, in the U.S. Open women's final. The mother of a boy charged with fatally shooting four people at his Georgia high school told relatives she had called to warn the school of an emergency on the morning of the attack, her sister said. A palace coup: Bob Iger outmaneuvered his chosen successor to return to power as Disney's chief executive. Here's how it happened. THE SUNDAY DEBATE Which candidate has the advantage heading into the presidential debate on Tuesday? Harris. She is skilled at finding weaknesses in her opponent's arguments, and she can goad Trump into making weak personal attacks. "Harris can also be deft in flashing anger, turning attempts by opponents to paint her as weak into opportunities to show strength," The Economist writes. Trump. He can zero in on Harris's shifting policy stances and subpar tenure as vice president. "With one disciplined debate performance, Trump helped knock Biden out of the race. On Tuesday night, he has a chance to do the same to Harris," The Washington Post's Marc Thiessen writes. FROM OPINION Heat waves can often be deadly. Naming them, as we do with hurricanes, could help people take them more seriously, Eric Klinenberg writes. Here are columns by Nicholas Kristof on hiking and Jamelle Bouie on Trump and abortion. The Times Sale starts now: Our best rate for readers of The Morning. Save now with our best offer on unlimited news and analysis as part of the complete Times experience: $1/week for your first year. MORNING READS In Brooklyn, N.Y. Dave Sanders for The New York Times Gowanus Canal: A real estate boom has come to a polluted corner of Brooklyn. Housing: A family fled violence and poverty in El Salvador to build a better life in San Francisco. The city often wasn't what they thought it would be. Routine: How a celebrity hairstylist spends his Sundays. Vows: From hostel bunk mates to life partners. Lives Lived: Lloyd Ziff designed some of the most visually exciting magazines of the 1970s and '80s. But his real love, and eventually his focus, was photography. He died at 81. BOOK OF THE WEEK Today, we introduce a new feature to the Sunday edition of The Morning: a book recommendation from Elisabeth Egan, a Times books editor. Each week, Elisabeth will highlight one book she thinks you should consider reading. By Elisabeth Egan "Colored Television," by Danzy Senna: Take one frustrated biracial novelist. Add an abstract painter husband and two demanding, complicated children (are there any other kind?). Fold in a dwindling bank account, the price of real estate in Los Angeles and an oleaginous TV producer dangling charming, multicultural neighborhood money and you have the ingredients for Danzy Senna's book-clubbable novel, "Colored Television." Perfect for fans of "The Plot," "Leave the World Behind" and "Erasure" (which happens to be written by Senna's husband, Percival Everett), this modern fable begs the question: What would you sell for the life of your dreams? Read our review of the book here. More on books For almost 30 years, Senna has written about characters who happen to be multiracial — "the country I come from," as she put it. You know from the opening paragraphs of "Creation Lake" by Rachel Kushner, that "you are in the hands of a major writer," our critic writes. THE INTERVIEW Devin Oktar Yalkin for The New York Times By David Marchese This week's subjects of The Interview are the comedian Will Ferrell and Harper Steele, his best friend and frequent collaborator. Their upcoming documentary, "Will & Harper," which opens in select theaters on Sept. 13 and streams on Netflix starting Sept. 27, is about a cross-country road trip the two took after Steele transitioned. Do you have a goal for the movie? Steele: There's a process of normalizing queer people for America, and this movie does that. It makes the trans experience more understandable. However, I'm not that interested in normalizing for people who have hated me for centuries. I want the movie to make other people be gentler and softer and caring, and maybe if you're a father who loved "Anchorman" and you've got a trans kid now, maybe you're going to open yourself up. Ferrell: You're willing to sit down and have a conversation. Steele: That's the work I want the movie to do. But I don't particularly care about making myself normal to people who don't like me. How are you feeling now about being out in the world as a woman? Steele: There are still anxieties. But I basically wake up every morning happy, which is something I didn't do for, mostly, 59 years. I feel amazing. Was there any apprehension on your part, Will, about making your personal life into a documentary? You're not a confessional comedian, and I don't think of your comedy as you working out your personal stuff. Ferrell: I've had a long enough career that I'm very secure in exploring the subject matter with my friend. We'll see what the reaction is toward me. It's going to be some positive, some negative or whatever, but I'm at a place where I can take any of it. Read more of the interview here. THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE Photograph by Jamie Chung for The New York Times Click the cover image above to read this week's magazine. THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Go "wild swimming" in these European cities. Tackle back-seat messes with a car vacuum. Get a quality hammer. MEAL PLAN David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews In this week's Five Weeknight Dishes newsletter, Emily Weinstein highlights recipes from her list of 100 easy weeknight dinners, including a 30-minute spiced roast chicken, a dumpling noodle soup and a cheesy baked pasta with sausage and ricotta. NOW TIME TO PLAY Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangrams were abomination and ambition. Can you put eight historical events — including the creation of the compass, the debut of the "The Wizard of Oz," and the theory of continental drift — in chronological order? Take this week's Flashback quiz. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: David Leonhardt Deputy Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Sean Kawasaki-Culligan, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. 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