Culture on My Mind
The Quest for Sunshine Preservation
(Autumn 2025 Edition)
November 3, 2025

It’s that time once again.

Daylight saving time is the practice of advancing clocks by one hour in warmer seasons to make darkness fall at a later clock time. It is utilized in several countries around the world and the concept has caused controversy since the earliest proposals. To this day it affects the sleep patterns and productivity of those who practice it.

Many countries and territories abolished the practice after years of practice. The European Union conducted a survey in 2018 and determined that 84 percent of respondents did not want to adjust clocks twice a year. The EU was supposed to stop daylight saving time in 2021 but later asked for a more detailed assessment first.

The United States cannot abolish daylight saving time without federal approval. The practice was established in 1918 with the Standard Time Act and modified in 1966 with the Uniform Time Act (which itself has been revised several times). The government has attempted to abolish routine time changes several times, most recently with the Sunshine Protection Act. The legislation has been introduced multiple times and has died before being passed each time.

For more information (and some humor to brighten your day), check out this 2011 video from CGP Grey.

 

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Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

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