Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

Outside/In

NHPR

Society & Culture, Documentary, Natural Sciences, Nature, Science

4.7 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

According to our unscientific office poll, the annual changing of the clocks has all the popularity of a root canal. With few exceptions, people described the shift to and from Daylight Saving Time as disorienting, arbitrary, and unwelcome. On a more existential level, winding the clocks back and forth reminds us that no matter how concrete minutes and hours may feel, the way we perceive time is fluid. Time flies when you’re having fun. A watched pot never boils. So to celebrate (or perhaps protest) another year setting back the clocks, the Outside/In team has uncovered four mini-stories that will poke at, stretch, or even obliterate your perception of time. From “time expansion experiences”, to time-space synaesthesia, to the slow-motion life of a fly, prepare for a totally different type of time warp. Featuring Steve Taylor, Rhitu Chatterjee, Kevin Healy, Katherine Akey, and Patricia Lynne Duffy. This episode was produced by Felix Poon. For full credits and transcript, visit outsideinradio.org. SUPPORT Outside/In is made possible with listener support. Click here to become a sustaining member of Outside/In. Follow Outside/In on Instagram or join our private discussion group on Facebook. LINKS “To reignite the joy of childhood, learn to live on ‘toddler time’,” by Rhitu Chatterjee, is part of NPR’s special series “Finding Time.” “Can you see time?” (BBC News), by Victoria Gill, includes a drawing depicting an example of what a year might look like to a synesthete. Research reveals which animals perceive time the fastest (ScienceDirect) “When Seconds Turn Into Minutes: Time Expansion Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness,” by Steve Taylor (ResearchGate) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I think this will work now. Justine, give me a one-two.
0:04.0	One-two-two-two. Amazing.
0:06.3	This microphone smells like coffee.
0:08.7	That's gross because I don't think anybody's used it for a very long time.
0:15.1	Zat-In. I'm Nate Hedgy, and I'm going to do a roll call because we've got a whole bunch of us right now.
0:20.3	So, roll call Felix Poon, present? Present. Taylor Quimby, present? Here. Justine, Peridy, present? This is bringing me back to middle school and I'm not liking it. You'd have to mispronounce our names to really bring us back, though. Felix, I'm going to give you the reins. All right. So do you all remember what's going to be happening on November 2nd?
0:43.2	Do I have like a haircut appointment?
0:47.9	No, okay.
0:49.1	As has something to do with our clocks?
0:51.5	Yes.
0:52.4	So that is the day we have to set our clocks back by one hour because it's the end of
0:57.7	daylight saving time. And I recently asked our colleagues about their thoughts on this annual
1:02.9	ritual. And what I found was that people detest changing the clocks. I hate daylight savings. I cannot
1:10.3	wait till it's gone forever. I find it so irritating. I hate this. I hate it. I hate it. Single issue voter on that. That was like four hates in one sentence. But on the other hand, some people are actually really into it. So I love daylight saving time. I like it. It's exciting. I don't know why I am so excited about that. Wow, Mara, betrayer.
1:29.3	What's going on, Mara? You know, even though we do this every year, a lot of folks just can't
1:35.0	remember how it works. I'm confused. I was confused about what we're talking about. Everybody
1:38.9	was confused. What happens in the spring? What happens in the fall?
1:44.8	I think.
1:46.4	I'm totally guessing right now.
1:51.8	I have to remember every year to reset the clock on my car.
1:53.1	And some years I just don't do it.
1:56.5	And I just like operate on the wrong time for six months.
	...

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