Daily life

What keeps you awake at night?

196 answers answered between 2008 and 2026 one of 25 in The Q&A

Originally asked

The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A

A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.

You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.

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On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

Joan Bakewell English journalist, television presenter and politician
Wondering if I've turned the gas off.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 19 October 2013 source ↗
Edward Fox British actor
If you have a nice drink before going to bed, you don’t stay awake at night. I like almost anything in a bottle.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 15 April 2017 source ↗
Edwina Currie Former British politician, broadcaster and writer
Anxiety. Usually the best response is to think hard about things, work up some solutions and then go to sleep.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 June 2017 source ↗
Ronnie Wood English rock musician
My metabolism. Ever since I was a little kid, I was always up halfway through the night.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 16 September 2017 source ↗
Ian McEwan British novelist and screenwriter
The BBC World Service followed by the dawn chorus.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 August 2018 source ↗
Katharine Hamnett English fashion designer
Threat of nuclear war, Iran/US situation, Syria, everything. I take sleeping pills.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 14 September 2019 source ↗
David Jason English actor
Dreaming that I am about to go on stage or set but haven’t got the right script.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 May 2021 source ↗
Fran Lebowitz American author and public speaker
I’ve been awake almost my entire life. I have had insomnia since I was a child.
Recorded The Guardian, The Q&A, The Guardian, 18 June 2022 source ↗

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