Wednesday

A century since its inception, Phil Tinline charts the progression of the Mon-Fri working week over five days.

Wednesday is hump day...and so Phil is thinking about the weekend.

He looks into how the weekend became formally separated from the Monday to Friday, and what different versions of the weekend have looked like across history. This includes a tradition of 'Saint Monday' among workers who not show up at the beginning of the week after a heavy Sunday off.

Moving to the present day, he considers the modern relationship between work, rest and the responsibilities of life. He considers what the modern weekend is for and why we seem to value the freedom of leisure less today than we used to.

Contributors:
Prof Juliet Schor, Boston College
Prof Ben Hunnicutt, University of Iowa
Clare McNeil, Chief Exectuive of Timewise
Prof David Henkin, author of 'The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are'.
Staff at the Ford Engine Plant, Dagenham

Presenter: Phil Tinline
Producer: Sam Peach
Readings by Ben Crowe
Production Coordinator: Dan Marchini
Production Manager: Debbie Waddell