Strange Fruit #221: Addressing America's Racial 'Sleep Gap'

Strange Fruit

We know being black in America affects lots of aspects of life. You're likely to make less money than a white person doing the same job. Your kids are more likely to get a harsher punishment at school than a white kid who misbehaved the same way. But a new op-ed by Emory University Professor Benjamin Reiss says there's a disparity at play that you might not even have thought about: sleep. Turns out, race shapes our sleep - and the reasons stretch deep into our country's history. Reiss joins us this week to explain why, and what we can do about it. We also check in with Minneapolis City Council member Andrea Jenkins. Her election victory last month made her the first openly transgender woman of color to be elected to public office. And we'll check in with Jessica Bellamy from Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. They're having a black trivia fundraiser on December 7, and Jessica stopped by to try to stump us with some sample questions!