Erin Davis and Drift: The Sleepy Side of the Pillow
32m | Nov 9, 2021In this episode
- How Erin Davis went from morning-radio wakeups to bedtime stories
- Why she calls retirement “rewirement”
- How Drift was conceived and launched in 2021
- The original Drift format: breathing, story and waves
- Why bedtime narration requires a different broadcasting voice
- Public-domain stories, original stories and choosing material that will not keep listeners awake
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, Oscar Wilde, Edith Nesbit and why Edgar Allan Poe is risky bedtime material
- What current research says about slow breathing before sleep
- Why turning the bed into an office runs against stimulus-control therapy for chronic insomnia
- Erin’s experience with L-tryptophan — and what the evidence actually says
- Why alcohol’s effect on REM and deep sleep is more nuanced than the original conversation suggests
- Neil’s complaint about the very blue Anderson Cooper 360 set
- Evening screens, circadian light and why “blue light costs two hours” is too simple
- Mourning Has Broken, Lauren, grief and nighttime awakenings
- Lucid dreaming and the limited evidence for treating nightmares
- Decades of broken-up sleep around Canadian morning radio
- Why Drift is still publishing weekly in 2026
About Erin Davis
Erin Davis is a Canadian broadcaster, author and podcaster best known for nearly three decades on the morning show at Toronto’s 98.1 CHFI. She was named a 2020 inductee into the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame. Her memoir, Mourning Has Broken: Love, Loss & Reclaiming Joy, was published by HarperCollins in 2019. After leaving daily morning radio, she moved to Vancouver Island and continued broadcasting through podcasting and voice work. In 2026 she remains the host of the weekly sleep-story podcast Drift with Erin Davis and co-hosts Gracefully & Frankly with Lisa Brandt.
MENTIONED
Drift with Erin Davis
Davis’s weekly sleep-story podcast, launched in 2021 and still active in 2026.
Erin Davis — official site
Current biography, journal and links to Davis’s projects.
Mourning Has Broken: Love, Loss & Reclaiming Joy
Davis’s 2019 memoir about Lauren, grief and rebuilding a life after loss.
Google Books — Mourning Has Broken
AASM behavioral and psychological treatment guideline for chronic insomnia
Current evidence for CBT-I, stimulus control, sleep restriction and relaxation therapy.
Slow breathing before bedtime — 2026 systematic review
Nine studies involving 457 participants; subjective sleep measures improved more consistently than objective measures.
L-tryptophan and insomnia — AASM pharmacologic guideline
The guideline suggests clinicians not use tryptophan as a treatment for chronic sleep-onset or sleep-maintenance insomnia based on the evidence it reviewed.
L-tryptophan and sleep quality — 2022 meta-analysis
Later evidence suggesting a possible reduction in wake after sleep onset, particularly at doses of at least 1 gram, without improvements across all measured sleep outcomes.
Alcohol and sleep — 2025 systematic review and meta-analysis
Twenty-seven studies examining dose, timing and changes in sleep architecture after alcohol.
Electronic screen use and adult sleep — 2025
A study of more than 122,000 adults examining pre-bed screen use, sleep duration, timing and self-reported quality.
Lucid dreaming therapy for nightmares — 2023 systematic review
Encouraging but limited evidence in adults; no included pediatric treatment studies.
World Sleep Society endorsement on nightmare disorder — 2025
Supports lucid dreaming therapy as an option that may be used while noting the limited evidence base and stronger support for imagery rehearsal therapy.
Earlier Snooze Button conversations
Erin Davis & Mike Cooper — Waking Up With The Country’s #1 Morning Radio Show
