The Sandman's Sleepy Sickness: The Real Epidemic Behind the Netflix Series | The Tipsy Exchange

The Sandman is finally on Netflix! LA is still making her way through it, and Berly has one complaint: not enough Stephen Fry. He's in it! There just needs to be more of him. Otherwise, we're here for all of it: Tom Sturridge's brooding Dream, Gwendoline Christie as Lucifer, a Corinthian we know we shouldn't want, and a Desire we can't wait for LA to meet. But did you know the mysterious sleeping sickness in the show is based on a real epidemic? In The Sandman, when Dream is captured, people around the world fall into a strange, endless sleep. In real life, right after World War I, a bizarre brain illness swept across the globe at the same time as the Spanish flu. Some people fell into a deep sleep they couldn't wake from. Others froze in place, trapped inside their own bodies for decades. And then, just as suddenly as it appeared, it vanished. Berly walks us through what doctors discovered, the scientist who gave it its name (we would not want a disease named after us), and the modern theory about what might have caused it. There's also one prediction about its return that is not great news. Along the way, you'll hear a Neil Gaiman tangent (including the time he wrote to us to tell us we were wrong), a George R.R. Martin world-building appreciation moment, a debate about phenomenon vs. phenomena (and alumni vs. alumnus vs. alumna), and a callback to our dancing plague episode. Plus, we have some pointed advice for the Pentagon's new UFO office. Just open it up already. This week's toast: From Dream in The Sandman: "It is sometimes a mistake to climb. It is always a mistake never even to make the attempt." Cheers! And we close with some wisdom from Mindy Kaling that every tired person can relate to: "There is no sunrise so beautiful that it is worth waking me up to see it." Tell us what you think! Are you watching The Sandman? Who's your favorite of the Endless? Had you heard of the real sleepy sickness before? Tell us in the comments! Please drink responsibly. Miss Berly and LA? Catch them on Denim-wrapped Nightmares, their Supernatural rewatch podcast with 200+ episodes of Sam, Dean, lore deep dives, and bestie banter. Listen at denimwrappednightmares.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Cheers! Support the show The Tipsy Exchange is a comedy podcast where besties Berly and LA pour a drink, raise a toast, and dive into true crime, mysteries, the paranormal, and pop culture, with plenty of tangents along the way. It's like happy hour with your funniest friends. The show is currently on hiatus, but you can find previous episodes at thetipsyexchange.com. If you are a Supernatural fan, you can find Berly and LA's latest project at denimwrappednightmares.com. Special thanks to Fesliyan Studios. Cheers!