The Weekend Is Less Than 100 Years Old
Why do we work five days a week? Why is Saturday our day of play or chores and Sunday our day of rest? The modern weekend isn’t natural or ancient — it’s a 20th-century invention shaped by religion, labor unions, factory owners, and federal laws.
In this episode of Hold That Thought we explore the construction of the weekend and how it came to be, from its roots in the Jewish and Christian Sabbath through labor movements and factories, to Henry Ford’s decision to give his workers two days off. Finally, we discuss how our modern-day work culture shapes our understanding of rest and leisure and how we’re both looking to create more space in our weeks.
This is the start of our new mini-series “Reality, By Agreement,” where we’re looking at the rules, systems, and social arrangements that feel inevitable, but exist only because enough of us agree to live by them.
Themes: Weekend, schedule, time, history, culture, society, leisure, community, organizing, sabbath
Resources:
The modern phenomenon of the weekend
10 Countries Experimenting With a 4-Day Work Week
Greece introduces ‘growth-oriented’ six-day working week
What Americans Actually Do All Weekend, In 2 Graphics
Why You Don't Feel as Fulfilled From Your Job as You Think You Should
Where did the weekend go? How work stole our Saturdays and Sundays
Triathlons, ultramarathons and ambitious baking: why is modern leisure so competitive?
Let’s bring back the Sabbath as a radical act against ‘total work’
7 Sabbath Tips from 15 Years of Practice
Is Sabbath Really About Rest — or Resistance?
The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are by David M. Henkin
Work Won't Love You Back: How Devotion to Our Jobs Keeps Us Exploited, Exhausted, and Alone by Sarah Jaffe
