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Something You Should Know

The Surprising History of the 7-Day Week & How and Why Cats Evolved into Pets - SYSK Choice

Something You Should Know

Mike Carruthers | OmniCastMedia

Science, Social Sciences, Self-improvement, Education, Health & Fitness

4.64K Ratings

🗓️ 31 May 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How does tickling work? You can’t tickle yourself. But if you are the ticklish type, you’ll start laughing if you know someone is about to tickle you even though they haven’t touched you yet. This episode begins with the weird ways tickling works. http://www.livescience.com/3882-tickle.html You know what is interesting about our 7-day week? It is totally artificial. In other words, the other ways we measure time - such as days, hours, months and years – those are based on the sun, the moon, the rotation of the earth and other things – but the week is just made up. Still, it seems to work very well. Imagine life without the week. Keeping a schedule would be extremely difficult. Here to discuss where the 7-day week came from and why it is so important is David Henkin, a professor of history at the University of California at Berkley and author of book The Week: A History of the Unnatural Rhythms That Made Us Who We Are (https://amzn.to/3InCDwl) There are a lot of cat lovers in the world. So, how did cats become household pets in the first place? They haven’t always been. In fact, having an indoor cat didn’t become a normal thing until the 1930s. There is an interesting story here and here to tell it is Jonathan B. Losos an evolutionary biologist at Washington University and author of the book The Cat’s Meow: How Cats Evolved from The Savanna to Your Sofa (https://amzn.to/41PpAe1). If you have valuables in your home, where do you put them, so a burglar won’t find them? Maybe in the freezer? In the closet? Well, you could but there’s a place burglars almost never look. Listen and I will tell you where that is. https://www.rd.com/list/where-do-burglars-look/ PLEASE SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS!!! MINT MOBILE: Ditch overpriced wireless and get 3 months of premium wireless service from Mint Mobile for 15 bucks a month at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://MintMobile.com/something⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ! FACTOR: Eat smart with Factor! Get 50% off at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://FactorMeals.com/something50off⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TIMELINE: Get 10% off your order of Mitopure!  Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Timeline.com/SOMETHING⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ROCKET MONEY: Cancel your unwanted subscriptions and reach your financial goals faster! Go to ⁠⁠⁠https://RocketMoney.com/SOMETHING⁠⁠⁠ QUINCE: Elevate your shopping with Quince! Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Quince.com/sysk⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns! INDEED: Get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Indeed.com/SOMETHING⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ right now! DELL: The power of Dell AI with Intel inside is transforming the world of pro sports! For the players and the fans who are there for every game. See how Dell Technologies with Intel inside can help find your advantage, and power your wins at ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://Dell.com/Wins⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

I'm Amy Nicholson, the film critic for the LA Times.

0:03.7

And I'm Paul Shear, an actor, writer, and director.

0:06.0

You might know me from The League, Veep, or my non-eligible for Academy Award role in Twisters.

0:12.1

We come together to host Unspooled, a podcast where we talk about good movies, critical hits.

0:16.6

Fan favorites, must-season, and case you miss them.

0:18.7

We're talking Parasite the Home Alone.

0:20.6

From Greece to the Dark Night.

0:22.1

So if you love movies like we do, come along on our cinematic adventure.

0:25.3

Listen to Unspooled wherever you get your podcast.

0:27.7

And don't forget to hit the follow button.

0:33.1

Today on something you should know, why you can't tickle yourself no matter how hard you try.

0:39.5

Then the seven-day week.

0:41.6

It's totally arbitrary, yet imagine life without the week.

0:45.5

It's impossible, and it's universal.

0:48.3

Yeah, at this point, it's a global timekeeping system.

0:51.8

There are no major societies that I know about that don't count

0:56.0

regular continuous cycles of seven days. But that wouldn't have been true if you'd ask me

1:00.5

this question 200 years ago or even 100 years ago. Also, where's the best place in your home to

1:06.0

hide your valuables from burglars? And how cats and humans became so close.

1:11.6

It's a fascinating story.

1:13.6

A key development and the interaction of people in cats was the development of kitty litter,

1:18.6

which was only invented in the 1940s.

...

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