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August 17, 2026

The hidden politics of time: How clocks, calendars — and now-contentious time zones — came to be

  • While we often think of it as universal, timekeeping has been shaped by politics, religion, and economics.
    • By DEEPTI HAJELA
    Associated Press

    NEW YORK — It flies. It heals all wounds. It can be of the essence, and it can be money. We thrill in the best of it, lament the worst. We're warned not to waste it, since we can't turn it back — even as we try to make up for when it's lost.

    And probably more than anything when it comes to time, most of us try to manage it — in our everyday lives and on a global scale, from the biology of our circadian rhythms to what constitutes a work day. Clocks. Calendars. Pendulums. Hourglasses. Sundials. Time zones.


     
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