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Daylight Saving and the Politics of Time

Why we “fall back” and “spring forward”—and the surprisingly controversial history of clock time.

Alex Dalenberg

Read when you’ve got time to spare.

The bleary-eyed debate over “falling back” and “springing forward” is about a lot more than disrupted sleep schedules. Read on to explore the origin and impact of daylight saving time and how it fits into the broader human story of who gets to decide what time it is.

Image by Carol Yepes/Getty Images

Daylight Saving Ends Sunday. Why That Extra Hour of Sleep Isn’t All It’s Cracked up to Be

Yes, that’s right, daylight saving is ending and darkness is coming.

Everyone Seems to Hate Daylight Saving Time. Do We Even Need It, and Why Is It So Hard to Get Rid Of?

Shifting the clocks messes with people’s circadian rhythms — making everyone groggy, cranky and sometimes dangerously off their game.

More Than 100 Years Later, the Madness of Daylight Saving Time Endures

Despite its name, daylight saving has never saved anyone anything. But it has proven to be a fantastically effective driver of retail spending.

What Happened the Last Time the U.S. Tried to Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

A 1974 switch to year-round DST proved unpopular, with Americans expressing “distaste” for the long, dark winter mornings.

Why Daylight Saving Time Is Worse for Your Body Than Standard Time

An animated story of what science says about changing our clocks in the fall and spring.

Learning to Love Daylight Saving Time

Springing forward and falling back is disruptive, and maybe even deadly, but our current system of time-keeping still can’t be beat.

Why We Should Be Watching the Sun, Not the Clock

Between daylight saving and obligatory early starts, we live at the mercy of ‘official’ time – and many of us feel permanently out of sync.

Time Lords

A history of authoritarian time changes.

Meet the People Who Live Outside of Time

As much as we’d like to think of time as a constant to live our lives by, the way we record it is subjective.

The Family That Always Lives on Daylight Saving Time

A new bill proposes making daylight saving time permanent. But for one family, it already is.

The Wait of the World

What would happen if clock time no longer tracked the Sun?

The Tyranny Of Time

The clock is a useful social tool, but it is also deeply political. It benefits some, marginalizes others and blinds us from a true understanding of our own bodies and the world around us.

Daylight Saving Time Ends Next Weekend. This Is How to Prepare for the Potential Health Effects

Sunday is the time to move clocks back in the U.S. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. local time, which means setting your clock back an hour.

What Even Is Time? An Explainer

Our perception of time is changing constantly. Here’s why—and how to harness the power for good.