About this episode

This episode explores the evolution of timekeeping and its impact on modern capitalism.

What even is time? Physicists still can’t fully agree. Einstein showed that time bends and warps. Theoretical physicist Carlo Rovelli argues it may not fundamentally exist at all. And yet modern life is ruled by clocks, schedules, deadlines and timestamps measured down to fractions of a second. Across ancient civilizations, humans developed ways to make the invisible movements of the sky measurable - first through monuments, then sundials, water clocks and eventually mechanical timekeeping. Featuring interviews with science communicator Finn Burridge from Royal Observatory Greenwich and author Jonathan Martineau, Bianca Nobilo examines how time evolved from a natural experience into a system that structures modern life itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Bianca Nobilo

Guests: Finn Burridge, Jonathan Martineau

Topics covered

• time
• capitalism
• mechanical timekeeping
• ancient civilizations
• modern life
• schedules
• clocks

Keywords

• time
• capitalism
• clocks
• sundials
• mechanical timekeeping
• schedules
• Einstein
• Carlo Rovelli
• ancient civilizations

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Observatory Greenwich

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