40 Hours to Freedom: The Invention of the Weekend
Conflicted: A History Podcast
The Two-Day Weekend
The weekend, and the 40-hour work week that precedes it, are so seamlessly woven into our cultural DNA we don't even think about it. Less than 150 years ago, if you had told someone that you were excited for the weekend, you would have received a blank stare in return. The word itself, week-end, did not even exist until the 1870s. But the weekend did not just spring into existence fully formed without resistance or debate. It had to be fought for, bargained for, killed for. All to secure a little sliver of time when we are free from bosses and clocks and punch cards a little time to call our own.
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