Built out of conversations with the public and encompassing work by scientists, artists, and philosophers, this podcast explores how dreaming serves as an integral psychological process that helps us work through the struggles we face in our waking lives. The show takes its title from Sigmund Freud, who described dreams as the “guardians of sleep and not its disturbers.”
In partnership with the Museum of London (UK) and the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, the first season of The Guardians of Sleep investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the dream-life of people living in the British capital.
The Guardians of Sleep is hosted by Sharon Sliwinski and edited by Erin MacIndoe Sproule with music by Andrew Braun
In this final episode of our first season, we present some of our concluding thoughts about how dreaming served as a mental resource during the Covid-19 pandemic. Topics include how dreams return us to early childhood memories, how they draw on shared cultural material, and symbolically shape new experiences.
Read MoreIn this episode we hear from Ruby who dreams of aliens and tunnels as a way to represent her experience of the pandemic. The focus also turns to the interaction between Ruby and her interviewer: What kind of listening is required to attune to a stranger’s dream life? How is the skill of listening to the other intertwined with the ability to listen to oneself? And what new kinds of conversation can be made from this form of attunement?
Read MoreIn this episode we hear from Pinny, a documentary filmmaker, and her 9-year-old daughter, Iris. Mother and daughter share the ability to lucid dream.
Read MoreIn this episode we hear from Peter, a retired commodities trader who has an interest in the neuroscience of dreaming.
Read MoreIn this episode we hear from Kavita, a self-described free-spirit, born and raised in London. In one of her dreams, she visits a funeral for a Black man and spots Princess Diana in a garden.
Read MoreIn this episode we hear from Dr. Ishani Rao, a London-based doctor who has been working on the COVID wards since March of 2020.
Read MoreIn partnership with the Museum of London (UK) and the Department of Psychosocial Studies at Birkbeck, University of London, the first season of The Guardians of Sleep investigates how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the dream-life of people living in the British capital.
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