Ask in Claude
Ask in ChatGPT
- Podcasts
- Social Sciences
- The Matt Walker Podcast
19 episodes
The Matt Walker Podcast
by Dr. Matt Walker · English
The Matt Walker Podcast is all about sleep, the brain, and the body. Matt is a Professor of Neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of the book, Why We Sleep and has given a few TED talks. Matt is an awkward British nerd who adores science and the communication of science to the public.
Latest episodes
All episodes
#159 - Why Thinking Makes You Tired
Why mentally demanding work makes people feel “tired,” arguing that it’s not simply brain energy depletion.
9 Nov 2026 · 30m · 15 chapters
#158 - 10 Small Brain Quirks
The episode explains 10 “small brain quirks” that are usually normal, grouped into prediction, filtering, body wiring, and memory/feeling.
2 Nov 2026 · 26m · 8 chapters
#157 - Sleep Walking and Talking
Sleepwalking and sleep talking as non-REM “disorders of arousal,” where parts of the brain wake while others stay asleep; how common they are, what triggers them, what brain studies show, and…
26 Oct 2026 · 28m · 10 chapters
#156 - Smell and Memory
How smell triggers older, more emotional autobiographical memories than sight, sound, or touch, including the “Proust phenomenon” and related “muted sense” effects; plus practical implications for…
19 Oct 2026 · 29m · 6 chapters
#155 - Sleep & Nature's Call
Nocturia (waking to urinate) and how it affects sleep; defines normal vs abnormal frequency, explores causes (too much urine, nighttime urine overproduction, small bladder capacity, or sleep…
12 Oct 2026 · 28m · 10 chapters
#154 - Sleep and Cortisol
Cortisol and sleep—whether cortisol is “bad,” how it functions in the HPA stress system, how its daily rhythm relates to waking, and what insomnia, light timing, and sleep loss do to cortisol…
5 Oct 2026 · 29m · 9 chapters
#153- Sleeping in an MRI Machine
How researchers get people to fall asleep inside an MRI (up to 103–111 dB) and what sleep looks like in the scanner, including how sleep onset works and how noise affects sleep.
28 Sep 2026 · 25m · 9 chapters
#152 - The Brain on Music
Why music exists and what it does to the awake brain—especially as a social, emotional, and therapeutic tool—supported by archaeology, neuroscience, and clinical trials.
21 Sep 2026 · 28m · 8 chapters
#151 - The Geography of Sleep
How geography and human-made timekeeping shape sleep via two competing clocks: the body’s melatonin/circadian system and the wall clock set by time zones and artificial light.
14 Sep 2026 · 24m · 9 chapters
#150 - The Neuroscience of Déjà Vu
Déjà vu as a neuroscience “error check” in memory, not a past-life or simulation glitch; how familiarity without recollection can be triggered by spatial similarity, divided attention, and…
7 Sep 2026 · 32m · 11 chapters
The Night Ferryman: A Sleep Story Read by Matt Walker
A sleep story about Marcus, a ferryman who pilots a small night ferry across a quiet lake after the commuter ferry stops.
31 Aug 2026 · 35m · 6 chapters
#149 - The 11 largest Sleep Myths
The episode debunks 11 common sleep myths using sleep-medicine and research evidence, arguing sleep is active physiology and that timing, duration, and conditions (snoring, alcohol, temperature,…
24 Aug 2026 · 27m · 14 chapters
#148 - Psychedelics for Mental Health
Psychedelics and related drugs for mental health, focusing on psilocybin, LSD, DMT/ayahuasca, 5-MeO-DMT, ketamine, and MDMA; includes brain-imaging findings, clinical trial results, risks, and the…
17 Aug 2026 · 32m · 9 chapters
#147 - Does Sleep Really Clean Your Brain?
The glymphatic system—how the brain clears metabolic waste via fluid movement during sleep—plus disputes about whether sleep speeds clearance and how aquaporin-4, anesthesia, and norepinephrine…
10 Aug 2026 · 25m · 7 chapters
#146 - How Sleep Changes Across the Human Lifespan
How sleep architecture and timing change across the lifespan—newborns, puberty/teens, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause/menopause, grief/trauma, and retirement—emphasizing that patterns vary by…
3 Aug 2026 · 21m · 6 chapters
#145 - How to get More Deep Sleep
How to increase deep (non-REM) sleep by improving sleep pressure, circadian timing, temperature, light, food timing, and pre-sleep wind-down; also which substances and conditions sabotage deep sleep.
27 Jul 2026 · 33m · 11 chapters
#144 - Face Blindness Explained
Explains prosopagnosia (face blindness) and uses it to argue that perception is built from multiple separate brain processes, not a single unified act.
20 Jul 2026 · 28m · 9 chapters
#143 - The Science of Love, Desire, and Sex
The episode explains the brain science of love, desire, and sex, arguing that “love” is not one emotion but three semi-independent systems: lust (sex drive), attraction (dopamine-based romantic…
13 Jul 2026 · 33m · 9 chapters
#142 - How Memory Affects Sleep
How memories formed during the day shape the biology and quality of sleep at night, including deep sleep depth, sleep spindles, REM dreaming, sleep continuity, and waking/fragmentation—especially…
6 Jul 2026 · 29m · 7 chaptersWe use cookies.They keep VO running smoothly and help us improve it. Privacy policy