Governing Drunk: Sleep & Power, with Lindsay Scola
What happens when the people making decisions on your behalf are running on fumes? In this episode, I talk with Lindsay Scola — former advance person for Barack Obama, Hill staffer, and now sleep health educator — about the always-on culture of American political life, and what it actually costs us. From the Celsius cans visible in every Capitol hallway walk-and-talk, to the pharmacy hand-delivering Alzheimer's medications to sitting members of Congress, to a president who prowls Air Force One checking who's asleep: the evidence that our leaders aren't getting enough rest is hiding in plain sight. Lindsay brings both the insider perspective and the science — and the result is a conversation that reframes sleep not as a personal wellness choice, but as a matter of democratic consequence.
About Our Guest
Lindsay Scola began her career in politics the way a lot of people do: convinced it was a calling. Her first job was on the Hill, working for a congressman. From there, she joined the Obama campaign in 2007 as an advance person — one of the people responsible for building events from scratch ahead of the candidate, managing crowds of up to 75,000 people, then getting on a plane and doing it all over again somewhere new. She went on to work in the Obama administration and in entertainment before a diagnosis at age 35 changed the direction of her work entirely. After 19 years of symptoms being dismissed by doctors, Lindsay was diagnosed with narcolepsy — and spent the years since becoming an expert in what sleep actually does, and what we lose without it. She now works as a sleep health educator, offering one-on-one coaching, corporate talks, and an online course designed to help people understand their own sleep on their own terms. She is also the author of AI for ADHD: A Practical Guide for Starting and Actually Finishing the Things That Matter.
References
On the caffeine culture of Capitol Hill:
- The U.S. government runs on Celsius — The Washington Post
On the pharmacy that hand-delivers prescriptions to Congress — including Alzheimer's medications:
- An old-school pharmacy hand-delivers drugs to Congress — Stat News / PBS NewsHour
- DC pharmacist provides Alzheimer's drugs for members of Congress — Metro US
On cognitive decline among senior officials as a national security concern:
- Pentagon-Funded Study Warns Dementia Among U.S. Officials Poses National Security Threat — The Intercept
On President Trump's sleep habits and their effect on staff:
- ‘The Superhuman President’ A good-faith attempt to ascertain the truth about Donald Trump’s health — New York Magazine
- As Signs of Aging Emerge, Trump Responds With Defiance — The Wall Street Journal
- Inside Trump’s Air Force One: ‘It’s like being held captive’ — CNN.com
On the White House Medical Unit's distribution of stimulants and sleep aids:
- Trump's White House Was 'Awash in Speed' — and Xanax — Rolling Stone
- White House Medical Unit's 'severe and systemic' drug problems detailed — The Washington Post
- White House clinic improperly distributed controlled substances — NBC News
Stay in Touch
📬 Subscribe to our newsletter at crosstabspodcast.com for new episodes, insights, and behind-the-scenes content.
📹 Watch video episodes on YouTube @CrosstabsPodcast
💬 Follow us on BlueSky: @crosstabspod.bsky.social and @farrahbostic.bsky.social
📍 Produced by The Difference Engine
📨 You can also email me directly at farrah@crosstabspodcast.com
