Today’s Big Story

We’re Sleeping Even Less Now

Americans are sleeping less and are more stressed than ever … but you knew that, right?

This might not be news, but Americans are underslept and overstressed. But … it’s actually way worse than you might’ve guessed. The latest Gallup poll is bleak. It shows a sharp decline in sleep duration across America, with significant stress increases reported, especially among women under age 50.

As depressing as it is, it’s also oddly reassuring that we’re not alone, right? The new poll, out Monday, highlights that a significant majority of American adults report not getting enough sleep—a first in the survey’s history. Though there are likely several reasons for this, many struggling with sleep also report feeling frequently stressed.

Gallup has been asking Americans about the quality of their sleep since 2001. Back then, about 54% of Americans said that they got as much sleep as they needed regularly, while 45% said that they would feel better if they got more sleep. But with this latest poll, conducted in December 2023, the situation is basically reversed. Now 57% of Americans say they need more sleep, while 42% say they’re doing fine sleep-wise.

Women have consistently been less likely than men to report getting enough sleep. In 2023, 48% of men and 36% of women said they get sufficient sleep. In 2013, 60% of men and 52% of women reported the same. The poll also asked respondents to report how many hours of sleep they usually get per night: Only 26% said they got eight or more hours, which is around the amount that sleep experts say is recommended for health and mental well-being. Just over half, 53%, reported getting six to seven hours. And 20% said they got five hours or less, a jump from the 14% who reported getting the least amount of sleep in 2013.

The poll doesn’t get into reasons why Americans aren’t getting the sleep they need, and since Gallup last asked the question in 2013, there’s no data breaking down the particular impact of the last four years and the pandemic era. But what’s notable, says Sarah Fioroni, senior researcher at Gallup, is the shift in the last decade toward more Americans thinking they would benefit from more sleep and particularly the jump in the number of those saying they get five or less hours. I knew I should’ve went to bed earlier last night.

Day One of Trump’s Hush Money Trial

Takeaways from the start of the historic criminal trial

The first day of the first-ever criminal trial of a former president has officially concluded. Defendant and former President Donald Trump was present and called the proceeding an “assault on America.” According to the Washington Post, lawyers spent hours arguing about how much of Trump’s tabloid-fueled sex life should be described to the jury. The case, of course, is centered around hush money payments to an adult film star.

New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan made clear he wanted the lawyers to show restraint, and at one point when things started to get tense, the judge urged lawyers to “sit down, relax.” Jury selection began by midafternoon. More than half of the first batch of 96 prospective jurors were promptly dismissed after they said—by a show of hands—they didn’t think they could be impartial when it came to judging Trump. Not a single juror was selected on Monday and the selection process will continue later today.

Trump did little talking inside the courtroom so far. But his infamous rhetoric was already an issue, with a hearing set for next week over the prosecution's request that he be held in contempt for violating the judge’s gag order. Trump has said that going to jail for violating the gag order would be his “great honor.” According to several media outlets, Trump didn’t seem very worried—in fact, he was so relaxed that he appeared to doze off before jolting back awake. Then again, maybe he’s not sleeping enough these days either.

Big Moves for the WNBA

Draft winners and losers, plus the league expands

Just eight days after completing one of the greatest collegiate basketball careers ever recorded, Caitlin Clark was selected with the No. 1 pick in Monday’s WNBA Draft by the Indiana Fever. Clark is poised to not only help the Fever return to the postseason for the first time since 2016, but also use her star power to jolt the WNBA at a critical juncture in its history.

According to The Athletic, Clark often performed in front of sellout crowds and her games shattered television viewing records. South Carolina’s win over Iowa in the 2024 national championship was seen on ABC by 18.9 million viewers, with a peak audience of 24.1 million—a 90% increase from the 2023 title game and a 289% increase from 2022. Even Monday’s draft at the Brooklyn Academy of Music was expected to break the event’s ratings record.

Yahoo! Sports points out that some teams, of course, did better than others. The Los Angeles Sparks selected Stanford’s Cameron Brink at No. 2 and Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson at No. 4, two players who have the potential to be mainstays in the league for the next decade. However, the New York Liberty and Atlanta Dream didn’t do as well. But soon there will be even more teams as the league intends to reach 16 teams by 2028, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said before the draft kickoff.

Fool’s Gold Might Actually Become Valuable

Pyrite can contain an in-demand element

Turns out, pyrite, the yellow metal better known as “fool’s gold”, has another trick up its sleeve: it can often contain lithium, a crucial element in the world’s quest for greener energy, according to a team of researchers that studied rock deposits in the eastern United States.

Lithium is a key element in batteries—used to power everything from computers and phones to electric vehicles (hence the name, lithium ion batteries). Due to this, demand for lithium is soaring, reports Newsweek. The presence of lithium in this material is "unheard of," sedimentary geochemist and doctoral student Shailee Bhattacharya said in a statement. There is not a great deal of information on how the sulfur rich mineral and lithium are linked, however it has already been noted that lithium–sulfur batteries could one day replace lithium-ion batteries.

This wasn’t the first suprise from pyrite. Gizmodo recalls how in 2021, a team of researchers found that fool’s gold can, in fact, contain a little real gold. But Bhattacharya cautions that the research is “well-specific,” meaning making general conclusions on a connection between lithium abundance alongside pyrite would be a mistake at this point. The findings are a hint, or at least a hope, that coveted lithium could be hiding in plain sight, allowing the resource to be extracted without the need for new mines or drilling sites.

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