WEBVTT - What’s the Best Day of the Week? 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:01.880 Guess what, Mango, what's that? Well, so, I know I've 0:00:01.920 --> 0:00:03.720 told you about this before, but when I was six 0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:06.280 or seven, I used to sneak into my sister's room 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:08.920 and listen to her latest albums on her fancy double 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:11.360 cassette playing Boom boss It. I have told you about 0:00:11.360 --> 0:00:13.880 this definitely, and she was in high school at the time, 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.919 so I was introduced to all the important stuff this way. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.279 It was Michael Jackson's Thriller. I think that was my 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:22.080 favorite that we did come out a few years earlier. 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.920 We were talking nineteen eighties six and some of the 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:28.880 biggest hits there was Madonna's Papa Don't Preach, Janet Jackson's 0:00:28.880 --> 0:00:31.720 what Have You Done for Me Lately? Bon Jovis you 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.239 give love a bad name, Cyndi Lauper's True Colors. I mean, 0:00:35.240 --> 0:00:37.600 the list goes on and on, and you're playing to 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.080 name them all. I'm guessing I could. I could. And 0:00:40.120 --> 0:00:42.360 we're not talking about any of that Lionel Richie stuff 0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.559 that I had to listen to in my mom's Toyota Cressida. 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.000 This was the good stuff. That's so much revolutionary music 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:50.240 at such a young age. I know, I know, well, 0:00:50.280 --> 0:00:52.640 one of them that I haven't mentioned yet is the 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.320 Bengals manic Monday, And if you remember, Susanna Hass was 0:00:56.360 --> 0:01:00.000 clearly frustrated because she was having this dream about Kiss 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:03.880 Valentino and then her stupid alarm goes off and of 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:06.840 course it's just another man Monday. I mean, she she 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:10.120 wished it was Sunday because as as you know, that 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.760 that's her fun day. But no, it was. It was Monday. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:16.839 It was Monday. Tragic. I mean, I learned so much 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.200 from my sister's music collection. We might even have to 0:01:19.200 --> 0:01:21.440 do an episode on this at some point, but the 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.880 lesson was clear. She did not like Monday. She wasn't alone. 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:27.880 I mean, they're obviously days that we learned to like 0:01:28.120 --> 0:01:30.920 and just like pretty much universally. And when one of 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:34.200 our brilliant researchers, Autumn Whitefield Madrono, asked the question a 0:01:34.200 --> 0:01:36.959 few weeks ago, what are the best and worst days 0:01:37.000 --> 0:01:39.080 of the week, I thought, well, I know what the 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.760 Bengals would say, but what does science say? And how 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.640 did the whole seven day week come to be in 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.959 the first place. So these are just a couple of 0:01:46.000 --> 0:02:06.560 the things we're going to talk about today. Hei Their 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.720 podcast listeners, Welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson, 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:11.639 and as always I'm joined by my good friend man guest, 0:02:12.560 --> 0:02:14.600 and on the other side of that soundproof glasses, our 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.600 friend and producer Tristan McNeil. Not today, we're asking the 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:20.160 question what's the best day of the week, you know, 0:02:20.200 --> 0:02:22.280 according to science? And maybe we'll throw in a few 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:24.440 opinions here and there as well. Yeah, this one could 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.919 turn into a heated debate. Well, we'll see. But before 0:02:26.919 --> 0:02:29.160 we get started, I wanted to recognize a few winners 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.960 from our Weirdest College Courses episode, you know, where we 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.040 ask listeners to tell us the weirdest college classes they've taken. 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:38.040 You remember this all right? Here the top three, all 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:40.680 of whom will be getting Part Time Genius t shirts. 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:44.880 The first one comes from Alicio Martinez. Uh. The class 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:48.200 was called Math in Square Dancing. Yeah, I thought this 0:02:48.280 --> 0:02:51.520 is awesome. It's taught at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:53.640 And I don't know how anyone hadn't really thought about 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.639 how to combine to universally love things, you know, math 0:02:56.720 --> 0:02:59.840 and square dancing. It's pretty great, all right, I like that, 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.560 So you'll be getting one Alicio. Now Yvonne Jones a 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:08.040 class called Goldberg's Cannon Making Whoopee at Baits College. This 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.840 is great. It's about all about the lifetime work of 0:03:10.919 --> 0:03:14.639 Whoopee Goldberg. That's such a good class, alright. And then 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:17.959 the third one from Rachel Shine, a class called snow 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.480 Skiing at Texas A and M. Now, that doesn't seem 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:22.959 that weird of a class, right, but as she explained, 0:03:22.960 --> 0:03:25.440 there was no snow and there were no mountains or hills. 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.400 It was taught on astro turf and it was usually hot, 0:03:28.760 --> 0:03:34.680 so they wore shirts and T shirts and shorts. Yeah. Great, alright, 0:03:34.720 --> 0:03:36.960 So those are our top three. It's so much fun 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:39.200 to hear from you guys. Congrats to our winners. Remember 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:41.600 to keep the interesting facts coming to part time Genius 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:43.760 at how stuff works dot com or find us on 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:47.160 Facebook or Twitter. You can also call our seven fact 0:03:47.200 --> 0:03:51.760 hotline one eight four four pt Genius. All right, let's 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:53.800 dive in. You know, I think we need to start 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:57.040 by acknowledging what a strange thing a week is. So 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:58.800 what do you mean by that? I mean, well, it's 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:00.760 one of those things that, honestly I hadn't thought that 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:04.000 much about. Before one of our terrific researchers, Autumn, pointed 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:05.680 it out. And that's the fact that a week is 0:04:05.720 --> 0:04:09.080 this imperfect human created unit of time that falls in 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:12.520 between two units of time that nature dictates. So you 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.720 have the day dictated by Earth's rotation on the shorter side, 0:04:16.160 --> 0:04:18.800 and then you've got the month that's roughly dictated by 0:04:18.800 --> 0:04:21.040 the lunar cycle on the longer end. Yeah, it's definitely 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.039 weird and doesn't pretty much the whole world us a 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.960 seven day week now. Yeah, even in places that don't 0:04:26.040 --> 0:04:28.919 use the Gregorian calendar, you find that they're using this too, 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:30.839 and and it's something that we'll talk about in a bit. 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:34.240 And that's how contemporary weeks are built around pivotal days. 0:04:34.320 --> 0:04:36.760 And even though you might find the pivotal days being 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:39.960 different from one society to another, there's still some peak 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:42.320 that's constant and the rest of the week is built 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:44.800 around that. Well, we should definitely talk about why the 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.360 world settled on a seven day week, but first can 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.320 we look at why creating a unit of time that 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:52.200 functions between a day and a month is so problematic? 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.600 I mean, the fact is there's no way to divide 0:04:54.640 --> 0:04:57.479 up that time evenly in a way that it recurs regularly. 0:04:57.960 --> 0:05:00.839 A lunar cycle is twenty nine point five days long, 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:04.359 meaning that if we made all months thirty days leading 0:05:04.400 --> 0:05:07.400 to you know, ten day weeks, we'd still be off. 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:10.080 It's just such a strange thing. No matter what you 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.360 propose as a replacement for the seven day week, there's 0:05:12.360 --> 0:05:15.000 gonna be some irregularity. Yeah, and the ten day week 0:05:15.000 --> 0:05:17.480 thing has definitely been tried plenty of times. Yeah, it 0:05:17.520 --> 0:05:19.400 was interesting to get a refresh on this during our 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:22.120 research and to see how earlier societies tried to address 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:25.280 the irregularities. In some they just solve the issue, kind 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:27.320 of how we do with leap ears, Like the ancient 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.039 Greeks had these ten day periods and occasionally they just 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:32.839 be nine days long to make the adjustments. Yeah, and 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:35.240 at first glance, you think that using a ten day 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:37.800 or a five day week could more closely pull off 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:39.880 an even division of the lunar month, you know, more 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.320 so than our seven day weeks. And and that's true, 0:05:42.360 --> 0:05:45.279 but then you have another problem. Oh yeah, this is fascinating. 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.560 You're talking about temporal regularity. Yeah, exactly, so. Evianta Zerobabel 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:52.039 he's the author of a book called The Seven Day Circle, 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:54.960 and he talks about how temporal regularity is such an 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.800 important part of the development of human race. And as 0:05:57.880 --> 0:06:01.520 he puts it, quote, imagine, for example, having to cancel 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.560 regular Sunday family gatherings or Tuesday classes every month or 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:07.920 so due to the lack of a Sunday or a 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.880 Tuesday on that particular week. I guess it's kind of 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:12.919 similar to what leaplings have to deal with, you know, 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.360 those people who are born on February twenty nine, except 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.320 it would happen far more regularly, and it also be 0:06:18.440 --> 0:06:21.000 so much more inconvenient. Oh definitely. I mean, imagine how 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:23.640 difficult it would be to coordinate activities that should happen 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:26.640 more than monthly, but less than daily. I mean, right now, 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:28.840 it's just so easy to remember something like, you know, 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:32.000 I've got soccer practice on Tuesdays or something like that. 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:34.680 I mean, there'd be some clear adjusting there. But as 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.440 Zara Babo points out, it's one thing to think about 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.320 the weekdays tethered disport or hobby, but it gets even 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:42.719 more important when you're thinking about it for basic survival. 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:44.919 Like let's say you have to ride to town A 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:46.960 couple of times a month just to get provisions from 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:49.440 the farmer's market. If it takes you two hours to 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.760 get to town, you definitely want to be sure that 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.120 when you get there the market's open. So knowing that 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.919 the markets on Wednesdays takes care of that and and 0:06:56.960 --> 0:06:58.839 allows you to make plans. Yeah, I mean it makes 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:00.600 a lot of sense, and it's weird that we don't 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.280 often stop to think about it. I mean, the week 0:07:03.400 --> 0:07:05.640 is the longest unit of time that's not at all 0:07:05.720 --> 0:07:08.800 dependent on nature. So it's pretty significant as far as 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.800 a philosophical shift in our development. And in a way, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:13.800 it's like our way of saying that we're ready to 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:17.520 stop solely depending on nature and instead begin to establish 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.520 our temporar rhythms around a unit that we created. And 0:07:20.560 --> 0:07:22.920 it is worth noting that there's no compelling evidence of 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.920 any major seven day biological processes in nature. I mean, 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:28.920 there does appear to be a form of algae that's 0:07:29.000 --> 0:07:32.720 used to study circadian rhythm because it has exhibited signs 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.920 of some seven day biological rhythms, but it's a bit 0:07:35.960 --> 0:07:37.640 of a stretch to think that it's played into how 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.040 we think about time in any real way. Yeah, that 0:07:40.120 --> 0:07:42.080 definitely sounds like a stretch. Al Right, well, let's talk 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.560 about the creation of the seven day week. I know 0:07:44.640 --> 0:07:46.600 you did some digging into this with a ton of 0:07:46.600 --> 0:07:48.840 great help from our research or autumn, So tell us 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.160 what you know. Sure, well, this can actually be its 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:53.760 own episode because it's an interesting history. But to boil 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.240 it down, it was really the result of early Jewish 0:07:56.240 --> 0:08:00.280 cultures and Babylonian astronomy thinking up. So let me plane. 0:08:00.560 --> 0:08:03.559 As you know, Judaism was focused on a seven day cycle, 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.080 as depicted in the Torah, you know, seventh day of 0:08:06.120 --> 0:08:08.400 rest and all that, and and the other six days 0:08:08.400 --> 0:08:11.120 were really just days leading up to the Sabbath. Then 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:12.840 you have the Babylonians, who had come up with the 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:16.200 idea that the seven celestial bodies that moved across the sky, 0:08:16.280 --> 0:08:19.000 that they had certain effects on everything humans did. Five 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:21.040 of these were planets as we know them now, and 0:08:21.040 --> 0:08:22.680 and the other two were the sun in the moon, 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.000 but still seven. So the Babylonians they also had a 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.400 seven day cycle. No, I mean, at least there's no 0:08:28.440 --> 0:08:31.040 evidence of that. But here's how they came together. In 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.360 the second century b C. The Alexandrians brought together three 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.959 beliefs that were pretty firm at that point. The first 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:39.720 was you've got these seven planets which came into particular order, 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.079 and then you had the twenty four hour day. And 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:45.439 third there's this idea that the planet that ruled the 0:08:45.480 --> 0:08:48.240 first hour of each day ruled the entire day. It 0:08:48.280 --> 0:08:50.200 didn't take too long for the set of beliefs to 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:53.120 run smack dab into Judaism, and the two sets of 0:08:53.160 --> 0:08:55.679 beliefs sanked up by the end of the first century 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.840 see the Sabbath again, the only day that really mattered 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.679 to the Jewish cycle, and the day of Saturn, just 0:09:01.760 --> 0:09:04.800 one of the seven planets in Babylonian astrology, were one 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.680 and the same, And by the third centuries the week 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.600 was pretty widespread. Yeah, and the and the seven day 0:09:10.640 --> 0:09:13.959 cycle stuck and was gradually adopted by pretty much everyone. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.000 Though this isn't to say that there weren't a couple 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:19.120 of pretty big attempts to implement different systems. I was 0:09:19.160 --> 0:09:21.200 actually curious to see who tried to come up with 0:09:21.280 --> 0:09:23.720 better systems over time, and found a couple of good 0:09:23.720 --> 0:09:26.080 stories that, to be honest, I had actually forgotten about 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.559 from history class, Like what, all right, well, let's start. 0:09:29.679 --> 0:09:32.439 Let's start with the French Republicans after the French Revolution. 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:35.640 During the revolution, assembly members decided to come up with 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:38.920 a new calendar, still with twelve months, but they wanted 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:41.439 to make the other time units as close to metric 0:09:41.480 --> 0:09:45.360 as they could. So each month had three ten day weeks. 0:09:45.400 --> 0:09:48.360 Each day would have ten hours divided into a hundred 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.640 minutes each, and each minute would have a hundred seconds. 0:09:51.640 --> 0:09:53.920 I mean, it's actually so confusing to think about this. 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:56.200 Then there would be five or six days left at 0:09:56.200 --> 0:09:57.920 the end of the year that would be reserved for 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.640 a celebration. It is interest thing to note that this 0:10:00.679 --> 0:10:03.320 system is very similar to what the Egyptians had created 0:10:03.320 --> 0:10:06.360 when they became the first civilization to create weeks, which 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:08.679 is all super interesting and I so want to get 0:10:08.720 --> 0:10:11.920 into time machine and witnessed the celebrations. It sounds really fun. 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:14.080 But you can see how that structure it could make 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:16.120 sense if it's what people have been used to. But 0:10:16.200 --> 0:10:18.120 given that they were used to a seven day calendar 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:20.680 with twenty four hours per day, it was probably pretty 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:23.040 confusing why they even attempt this. But there were a 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.000 couple of reasons. I mean that the Biggie beyond just 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.320 being a more rational system. As they saw it, it it 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:30.599 was that they wanted this very real new beginning, you know, 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.439 kind of a break from the past. And obviously that 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.840 didn't last forever. So how long did it last? Round 0:10:36.360 --> 0:10:38.679 honestly find it surprising that it lasted as long as 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:41.120 it did. It was around twelve years, and it was 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:44.560 just too confusing for everyone, especially because so many refused 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.040 to stop keeping track of the old calendar. Even find 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.880 reports that when newspapers were required by a lot equipped 0:10:50.880 --> 0:10:53.880 publishing the old date alongside the new one, people were 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:56.400 still using the old calendar to keep track of certain 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:59.480 important dates, and of course to observe their holy days, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:02.120 and many of them would take that day of rest 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:05.200 along with the scheduled day of rest, and ultimately there 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:08.160 were just too many days with little significance in between 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:11.679 these anchor days, and so finally it was scrapped. I 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.560 still confused that I lasted over a decade, and it 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:16.360 makes me think about the attempts over the years to 0:11:16.360 --> 0:11:19.040 get Americans to convert to the metric system, like a 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:21.320 system that actually makes a lot of sense, but it's 0:11:21.360 --> 0:11:23.160 just way too hard to get people to move from 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:25.240 something they're used to especially if they don't see it 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.720 as broken. And obviously that change was like politically loaded. 0:11:28.800 --> 0:11:30.920 But um, you were talking about the French, but you 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:33.120 said there was another attempt. Yeah, that's right. So they 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.160 were also the Soviets, and they tried to change things 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.920 up in nineteen nine. And this was really more of 0:11:37.960 --> 0:11:41.160 an effort to increase production from the workforce. I don't 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.440 know if you know this, but the Soviets were kind 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:45.079 of big on this idea of getting more out of 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:47.600 the workfloor. I heard that. And as they saw at 0:11:47.640 --> 0:11:51.160 the regular seven day week left machines and workers idle 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:54.000 for two out of every seven days. And that's just 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:57.160 not efficient as they saw it. I'll warn you it 0:11:57.280 --> 0:11:59.880 is pretty crazy what they tried to do. I'm ready 0:11:59.880 --> 0:12:02.800 for all right. So they created these five day weeks 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.320 and sets of six to get these thirty day months 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:07.760 and months that had thirty one days. Well, they just 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:10.439 made that another work day, which is so Soviet, and 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:14.199 that part so far you can follow. But the workers 0:12:14.280 --> 0:12:16.800 would have one out of every five days off. And 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:19.240 here's where it gets a little crazy, all right. So 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.920 instead of having some big anchor day like the sabbath 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.760 or a weekend, they just assigned one of the five 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:28.320 days to each person as their personal day off. Each 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:30.960 day was then assigned a color, and then people were 0:12:30.960 --> 0:12:34.000 assigned a color and a number, and the corresponding color 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:38.840 was your That sounds so confused. I told you it's crazy. 0:12:39.120 --> 0:12:41.679 So did uh? Families are groups of friends, like, did 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:43.480 they all get the same day off? No? And that 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.319 was a big problem. If you look at people's address books, 0:12:46.320 --> 0:12:48.079 you'd see people having to keep up with when their 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.760 loved ones days off were, and they have to write 0:12:50.760 --> 0:12:53.240 their colors next to each of their names. It was 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:56.760 just so, so so confusing. Yeah, I'm not that organized, 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:59.680 and it's not surprising. Why why this wouldn't have lasted? 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.600 I mean people couldn't have their worship days together, which 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:05.400 I guess matters less to the Soviets, but also you 0:13:05.440 --> 0:13:08.560 know what about just getting your family together and playing sports? Yeah, 0:13:08.559 --> 0:13:10.400 you're right, it was. It was a big problem. So 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.439 even though a year after it launched, the state was 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:15.120 claiming that nearly three fourths of the workers were on 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.720 this continual production week, it still didn't sit well with 0:13:18.760 --> 0:13:21.959 people because their families and social circles they were being 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:24.200 broken up. But did it meet their goal like, did 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.839 it increase production? Well, that was one of the nails 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:30.000 in the coffin to it. It actually didn't really increase production, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.760 or at least not by much. Machines were wearing out 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.360 and they couldn't be fixed because they didn't have off days, 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:38.880 and it was tough on workers. So Stalin then decided 0:13:38.920 --> 0:13:41.160 to put the plan on hold until all the issues 0:13:41.160 --> 0:13:43.360 could be worked out. And you know, you think they 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.000 would just go back to the seven day week, but nope, 0:13:46.040 --> 0:13:48.720 not the Soviets. They they couldn't accept the idea of 0:13:48.720 --> 0:13:51.040 going back to that, so they decided on a sixth 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.400 day week instead, and everyone had the same day off 0:13:54.440 --> 0:13:56.960 at least, but it was still nearly impossible to get 0:13:57.000 --> 0:14:00.240 everyone in rule areas to follow this new calendar. So 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:03.600 by around nineteen or so, the Soviets were back to 0:14:03.640 --> 0:14:07.160 the seven day week, which sounds exhausting and try explaining 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.199 and I actually think I need a break for a quiz. 0:14:13.080 --> 0:14:15.040 But we decided to do this episode on the best 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:17.080 day of the week. We were both reminded of this 0:14:17.240 --> 0:14:20.200 terrific book by Melissa Hecksher. It was called Be Safe, 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:23.800 Simple Strategies for Death Free Living, and we were fortunate 0:14:23.840 --> 0:14:25.440 enough to get Melissa on the line to answer a 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.280 few questions about our favorite parts of her book. Melissa, 0:14:28.320 --> 0:14:33.040 Welcome to Part Time Genius. Hi, thanks for having me on. Awesome. So, Melissa, 0:14:33.080 --> 0:14:35.880 before we dive into specifics, I was curious, how did 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:37.720 the book idea come to you? Were you always just 0:14:37.720 --> 0:14:42.400 worried about the possible ways you could die? Actually kind of, 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:45.280 I'm sort of one of those people that worries about everything, So, 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:47.520 you know, when when it came to me, I was 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.120 living in New York City at the time and doing 0:14:50.160 --> 0:14:53.400 a lot of driving and traveling by train and subway, 0:14:53.520 --> 0:14:55.680 and I just was always wondering every time I got 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:58.560 on the subway what car I should get onto. Should 0:14:58.560 --> 0:15:00.320 I be in the back of the subway or middle 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:02.720 of the subway, you know? Or when I was driving 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:06.440 to and from Philadelphia, where my parents live, I always 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:08.080 wondered whether I should be in the middle lane or 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.440 the right lane, or these small choices that we make 0:15:10.480 --> 0:15:13.560 every day to stay safe. And I was always thinking 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.000 about it. So I wanted to do a little more 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.480 research to find out the answers to those questions. And 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:20.920 wasn't it Salvador Dolly that used to like to ride 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.200 in the front car so that he would get there earlier, 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:28.760 get there first. The front car actually is the safest 0:15:28.760 --> 0:15:31.200 because it's where usually the conductor is. All right, well, 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:33.880 you know this episode is on the best day of 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.080 the week, or asking the question what is the best 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:37.760 day of the week. And of course we thought about 0:15:37.800 --> 0:15:40.400 you because several of your your entries in this great 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.400 book have to do, you know, with the best day 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.040 of doing certain things, so we thought we'd ask you 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.320 about a few of those. So, I know you mentioned 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:50.080 in the book the safest time to go to the bank, 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:53.720 So tell us when that is. The safest time to 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:58.720 go to the bank? Is really between Tuesday and Thursday, um, 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:03.240 in the afternoon, because historically bank robberies seem to happen 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:06.840 on Fridays, and people think that's because that's pay day. 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:09.280 So I guess the bank robbers assumed the bank is 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:11.320 going to have so much more money on Friday. That's 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.480 that's just when most bank robberies happen. So if you 0:16:14.480 --> 0:16:16.280 want to avoid them, to stay away from the bank 0:16:16.360 --> 0:16:20.760 on Friday morning because they also usually happen in the morning. Yeah, 0:16:21.680 --> 0:16:24.240 how about the best day to order sushi? I love sushi, 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:27.160 so this one was important to me, especially because I 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:29.440 around when I was writing the book is when I 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.160 got pregnant, so I was extra careful with things like sushi. 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:36.800 Um So, the best time to get sushi is on Friday, 0:16:37.120 --> 0:16:40.920 and that's because most fish markets are closed on Sundays. 0:16:40.960 --> 0:16:42.720 So you definitely don't want to get sushi on a 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:46.840 Monday because the chances are that it hasn't it's not 0:16:46.880 --> 0:16:49.320 a fresh delivery, so you're not getting the freshest fish 0:16:49.360 --> 0:16:51.200 that way, which means that you have a greater chance 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:54.320 of possibly getting sick from that fish. Oh that's interesting. 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.800 It makes a lot of sense though when you say that. Well, 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.320 here's one that wasn't on a specific day, but you 0:16:59.400 --> 0:17:03.360 addressed in a book the safest month to get elective surgery, 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.920 and I thought this one was super interesting. It is interesting, 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:11.520 um the safest most most residents graduate in June, and 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:14.040 so they start at their new positions at a hospital 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.520 in July. Um So, the safest month is actually June 0:17:18.600 --> 0:17:21.080 because the older residents that have been there all year 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:23.320 and they know the system, they know the routine, they 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:27.960 know their peers, they've been there all year. Whereas in July. Um. 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.240 They're new and so not to say that they can't 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:33.000 do their jobs, but they maybe don't know that they're 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.080 not used to working together. There might be a few 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.040 more mistakes or errors that happened in July than than 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.920 happen in June. So if you can help it, schedule 0:17:40.960 --> 0:17:43.960 your surgery closer to you know, maybe May or June 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:46.760 and not July or August. There are a few parts 0:17:46.760 --> 0:17:48.840 of the book that weren't related to specific days, but 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:51.080 we're just so fun that we want to ask you 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:54.440 about them. So he tells what's the safest room in 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:57.040 a hotel? This one was a personal one for me too, 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.120 because I did a lot of traveling by myself, so 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:01.159 I always was a little bit worried. Is to the 0:18:01.200 --> 0:18:04.280 safest place to stay, especially as a woman alone, And 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:06.439 the answer to that question is between the fourth and 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:08.359 seventh floors, if you have a choice, if it's a 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.520 high rise hotel, and in no matter what kind of 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.200 a hotel, near the elevator. And that's just because there's 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.760 more foot traffic and so you're safer being around a 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:19.880 lot of people, because if someone's going to break into 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.760 your hotel room or approach you as you're entering your room. 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:26.000 It's less likely to happen where there's a lot of traffic. 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:30.000 And then as far as the floors, most fire ladders 0:18:30.000 --> 0:18:33.119 don't reach above seven floors, So if you had to 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:35.920 be evacuated in the case of emergency, if you're on 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.280 a really high floor. First, it's obviously it's going to 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.639 take you longer to get down if you're doing stairs. 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:43.119 But um, if you had to be evacuated by fire ladder, 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:46.240 be harder because the ladders don't always go that high. 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:50.320 So fourth and seven floors near the elevator, and that's 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.480 pretty much the safest place you can be. I think 0:18:52.480 --> 0:18:54.480 I need to change my strategy. Actually, when I get 0:18:54.480 --> 0:18:57.119