What Blacksmith Life in Ancient Japan Looked Like | Boring History

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,300
My tired potatoes. 
Welcome back to the best sleep 

2
00:00:03,300 --> 00:00:05,900
aid around. 
Pull the blanket in a little 

3
00:00:05,908 --> 00:00:09,200
closer and let the noise of the 
day fall somewhere behind you. 

4
00:00:09,900 --> 00:00:13,600
Tonight with soft rain. 
Moving in the background, we're 

5
00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:16,200
stepping into the life of a 
blacksmith in ancient Japan 

6
00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,700
where heat iron patience and 
repetition shaped every working 

7
00:00:20,700 --> 00:00:23,300
hour. 
This is a carefully researched 

8
00:00:23,300 --> 00:00:26,900
and thoughtfully written sleep 
Story made to feel steady 

9
00:00:26,900 --> 00:00:28,900
grounded and easy to drift 
through. 

10
00:00:29,700 --> 00:00:33,100
We'll follow the quiet Rhythm of
the forge, the tools, the craft 

11
00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:36,800
and the hands that turned raw 
metal into something useful, 

12
00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:42,100
beautiful and Lasting I just 
want to give a huge shout out to

13
00:00:42,100 --> 00:00:45,700
our growing sleep community and 
a special someone named Talia. 

14
00:00:45,700 --> 00:00:49,400
Thank you guys, for always 
showing up if the slow stories 

15
00:00:49,400 --> 00:00:53,200
from the past help, you unwind 
feel free to follow, leave a 

16
00:00:53,200 --> 00:00:55,700
like and let me know where 
you're listening from and what 

17
00:00:55,700 --> 00:00:58,700
time it is tonight. 
Now dim the lights, get 

18
00:00:58,700 --> 00:01:01,600
comfortable. 
Let your breathing slow and 

19
00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,500
allow the rain to carry us 
gently into the story together 

20
00:01:04,500 --> 00:01:10,100
slowly. 
The darkness Before Dawn in a 

21
00:01:10,100 --> 00:01:13,100
Japanese farming Village is not 
the absolute dark of a sealed 

22
00:01:13,100 --> 00:01:15,700
room or the bottom of a. 
Well, it is a Darkness with 

23
00:01:15,700 --> 00:01:19,300
texture, the shapes of trees and
rooftops separate themselves 

24
00:01:19,300 --> 00:01:22,400
from the surrounding Knight by 
weight, rather than by any real 

25
00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,500
light pressing themselves. 
Into the sky as slightly dense, 

26
00:01:25,500 --> 00:01:26,900
a version of the dark around 
them. 

27
00:01:26,900 --> 00:01:30,500
You know, this Darkness. 
Well, you've been living inside 

28
00:01:30,500 --> 00:01:34,300
it morning after morning for so 
long now that it has become 

29
00:01:34,300 --> 00:01:35,900
something close to an old 
companion. 

30
00:01:36,700 --> 00:01:39,400
You're already awake. 
This no longer surprises. 

31
00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:43,200
You your body simply learned at 
some point in the years behind 

32
00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,000
you, that the forge has its own 
schedule and let's schedule does

33
00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:48,400
not account for personal 
preference. 

34
00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:51,700
You sit upright on your sleeping
mat with your hands resting on 

35
00:01:51,700 --> 00:01:55,800
your knees and you listen. 
Outside the village is still. 

36
00:01:55,800 --> 00:01:59,500
There are no cartwheels, no 
voices, no sounds of water being

37
00:01:59,500 --> 00:02:02,300
carried or fires being laid in 
neighboring kitchens. 

38
00:02:02,300 --> 00:02:05,300
The only movement in the world 
as far as you can tell from the 

39
00:02:05,300 --> 00:02:07,800
slow room with his paper screens
and its smell of old. 

40
00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,300
Seeder is the very slight 
stirring of cool air through the

41
00:02:11,300 --> 00:02:14,700
gaps around the door frame. 
You sit with this for a moment 

42
00:02:14,700 --> 00:02:18,500
before reaching for your clothes
They are folded and placed in a 

43
00:02:18,500 --> 00:02:22,000
specific spot beside your mat as
they are every night, because 

44
00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:24,400
there is genuinely no good 
reason to spend time. 

45
00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:27,500
Locating your trousers in the 
dark, You have thought this 

46
00:02:27,500 --> 00:02:30,300
through, with the same logic, 
you apply to tool storage and 

47
00:02:30,300 --> 00:02:32,200
the conclusion was the same in 
both cases. 

48
00:02:33,100 --> 00:02:36,300
A thing placed with intention 
stays useful, a thing left, 

49
00:02:36,300 --> 00:02:38,500
where it happened to land 
becomes a small problem. 

50
00:02:38,500 --> 00:02:41,900
You do not have time for the 
working clothes, go on in their 

51
00:02:41,900 --> 00:02:46,000
established order, the inner 
layer first soft and close, then

52
00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,600
the thick cotton outer jacket 
that you have patched twice at 

53
00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,700
the left elbow, using a slightly
different shade of fabric each 

54
00:02:51,700 --> 00:02:54,800
time, which gives the repair a 
layered quality that you're not 

55
00:02:54,808 --> 00:02:58,300
displeased with The trousers are
heavy and worn in a map of your 

56
00:02:58,300 --> 00:03:01,400
movements darkened at the knee's
where you crouch at the half 

57
00:03:01,400 --> 00:03:04,400
lightened at the thighs, where 
the scale and Ash have their 

58
00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,600
preferred Landing places. 
They are not clothes for looking

59
00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,900
at their clothes for working in 
and they know the difference. 

60
00:03:10,900 --> 00:03:14,300
You feel a small clay cup from 
the earth and where jug beside 

61
00:03:14,300 --> 00:03:17,500
the door and drink its standing.
The water is cold enough to be 

62
00:03:17,500 --> 00:03:20,100
useful. 
He set the cup down, pick up 

63
00:03:20,100 --> 00:03:22,100
your sandals from their position
near the threshold. 

64
00:03:22,100 --> 00:03:25,700
And step outside the air is a 
different thing entirely from 

65
00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:28,500
what is Insight. 
It carries the smell of wet 

66
00:03:28,500 --> 00:03:32,500
rice, Straw from the paddies to 
the South, the faint of pine, 

67
00:03:32,500 --> 00:03:34,000
from the hillside behind the 
village. 

68
00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:37,600
And underneath both of those, 
the mineral suggestion of stone 

69
00:03:37,600 --> 00:03:40,500
and running water from the 
narrow irrigation channel that 

70
00:03:40,500 --> 00:03:42,000
cuts across the edge of your 
property. 

71
00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:47,000
You stand in it for a moment and
breathe Above the ridge of 

72
00:03:47,008 --> 00:03:50,400
mountains to the east. 
The sky is beginning its slow 

73
00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,200
argument with the night. 
There is no dramatic 

74
00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,600
announcement, no sudden, blush 
of color. 

75
00:03:56,500 --> 00:03:59,000
It is more a gradual shift in 
the quality of Darkness. 

76
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:02,100
A bruised, charcoal dissolving 
into something cooler and 

77
00:04:02,100 --> 00:04:05,900
thinner at the Horizon with the 
very first suggestion of warmth.

78
00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,700
Pressing up from behind the 
mountain line, a painter would 

79
00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:14,200
call it understated, you call it
morning, the forge stands, 

80
00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:16,100
perhaps 30 Paces from where you 
sleep. 

81
00:04:16,100 --> 00:04:19,800
It is a low Wide building with 
Walls of Clay coated Timber 

82
00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,300
framing. 
Stained darker near the base 

83
00:04:22,300 --> 00:04:25,700
where the damp of decades as 
worked up wood and lighter near 

84
00:04:25,700 --> 00:04:27,800
the roofline where the thatching
overhangs. 

85
00:04:27,800 --> 00:04:31,900
The roof is deep and heavy 
layered, that has absorbed so 

86
00:04:31,900 --> 00:04:35,100
many years of smoke that its 
original color has become a kind

87
00:04:35,100 --> 00:04:38,000
of theoretical question rather 
than an observable fact. 

88
00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:41,900
The ground around the building 
is hard-packed, Earth swept 

89
00:04:41,900 --> 00:04:45,500
Smooth by long habit, and daily 
use with the worn grooves of 

90
00:04:45,500 --> 00:04:48,100
regular foot traffic running 
from the door to the charcoal 

91
00:04:48,100 --> 00:04:50,400
store and from the charcoal 
store to the water source. 

92
00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:54,700
You lift the latch and push the 
wide front door in, would the 

93
00:04:54,700 --> 00:04:57,200
interior holds the particular 
smell of a forge that has been 

94
00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,200
working for many years. 
It is not an unpleasant smell, 

95
00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:02,000
though. 
It takes someone new to the 

96
00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:05,500
craft to fall season to stop 
noticing it iron and old Ash, 

97
00:05:05,500 --> 00:05:08,200
and the specific kind of smoke 
that has been exhaled by the 

98
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:10,900
walls themselves. 
Absorbed over time until the 

99
00:05:10,900 --> 00:05:13,000
Timber, and the clay and the 
packed Earth floral. 

100
00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:15,700
Hold it. 
The morning air from outside 

101
00:05:15,700 --> 00:05:18,500
moves in through the open door 
and the smell shifts slightly 

102
00:05:18,500 --> 00:05:20,900
the way a familiar piece of 
music changes. 

103
00:05:20,900 --> 00:05:24,700
When someone opens a window in 
the Next Room, The main half 

104
00:05:24,700 --> 00:05:27,100
sits at the center of the floor,
a shallow. 

105
00:05:27,100 --> 00:05:30,500
Rectangular depression lined 
with fire, hardened stone that 

106
00:05:30,500 --> 00:05:34,000
you reset and repair three 
summers ago at this hour, it is 

107
00:05:34,008 --> 00:05:37,900
gray and cold, a shallow Basin 
of pale Ash with a few dark 

108
00:05:37,900 --> 00:05:42,100
pieces of spent charcoal resting
in it like small, patient facts,

109
00:05:42,100 --> 00:05:45,400
you crouched beside the stone 
lining and press your fingers 

110
00:05:45,400 --> 00:05:48,400
along the mortar joints, reading
the edges, the way someone else 

111
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:49,700
might check The Binding of a 
book. 

112
00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:52,900
They care about you're looking 
for any sign of cracking or 

113
00:05:52,900 --> 00:05:56,800
shifting from yesterday's heat. 
The mortar is holding you begin 

114
00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,900
laying the fire with the same 
methodical attention. 

115
00:05:58,900 --> 00:06:01,700
You have brought to this tasks 
in your earliest days as an 

116
00:06:01,700 --> 00:06:03,900
apprentice The kindling goes 
down. 

117
00:06:03,900 --> 00:06:07,700
First thin strips of split dry 
Pines that you prepare yourself 

118
00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:11,300
from the woodpile each week 
arrange, not in an enthusiastic 

119
00:06:11,300 --> 00:06:14,300
pile, but in a loose considered 
structure that gives are 

120
00:06:14,300 --> 00:06:18,300
somewhere to travel. over these 
go, the larger splits then, the 

121
00:06:18,300 --> 00:06:22,000
first careful layer of charcoal 
The charcoal you use comes from 

122
00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:24,600
kills, managed by families in 
the hills of the valley. 

123
00:06:25,300 --> 00:06:27,000
When you knock too good pieces 
together. 

124
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:31,700
The sound is almost metallic. 
A brief clean ring the way Iron 

125
00:06:31,700 --> 00:06:33,600
sounds when two pieces tap at an
angle. 

126
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:37,600
Bad charcoal thuds and produces 
a great deal of smoke relative 

127
00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,900
to its heat. 
Yours Rings. 

128
00:06:39,900 --> 00:06:43,400
A single spark from the fire 
starting ion catches, the 

129
00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:45,900
prepared Tinder of dried moss 
and fine fiber. 

130
00:06:45,900 --> 00:06:48,900
That you keep ready, each 
morning, you breathe across the 

131
00:06:48,900 --> 00:06:52,600
small flame with the gentleness 
of long experience because you 

132
00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:55,000
learned early that enthusiasm is
counterproductive. 

133
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:59,200
In this particular situation, 
the flame decides to live, you 

134
00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,700
give it time to reach the 
kindling before adding anything 

135
00:07:01,700 --> 00:07:04,500
else. 
Then you step back While the 

136
00:07:04,500 --> 00:07:07,700
fire introduces itself to the, 
would you move along the tool 

137
00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:10,400
wall on your right? 
The Hammers hang in order of 

138
00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,300
Mass from the wide flat face of 
the largest driving hammer down 

139
00:07:14,300 --> 00:07:16,500
to the narrow pin of the 
lightest finishing tool. 

140
00:07:16,500 --> 00:07:19,600
The handles are shaped from 
seasoned White Oak and worn 

141
00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:22,500
smooth at the grip positions by 
your own hand over years of use.

142
00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:26,400
You made each handle yourself 
which means, you know, their 

143
00:07:26,400 --> 00:07:28,700
eccentricities the way, you 
know, the specific Tendencies of

144
00:07:28,700 --> 00:07:31,600
familiar roads. 
The heaviest Hammer has a handle

145
00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:34,400
with a grain that runs 
fractionally off true, giving it

146
00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:37,200
a slight tendency to pull at the
end of a stroke that you 

147
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,100
compensated for long ago, and 
now used deliberately on certain

148
00:07:40,100 --> 00:07:42,600
types of work. 
Whether this counts as a floor 

149
00:07:42,600 --> 00:07:45,400
or a feature depends on the day.
The tongs come next. 

150
00:07:45,400 --> 00:07:49,600
Eight pairs in regular rotation.
Each checked, in sequence by 

151
00:07:49,600 --> 00:07:52,300
opening and closing the jaws and
feeling for the spring in the 

152
00:07:52,300 --> 00:07:54,800
alignment. 
A tongue that wander slightly 

153
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,300
when hot metal is gripped, will 
release that metal at the 

154
00:07:57,300 --> 00:07:59,100
specific moment when releasing 
it is. 

155
00:07:59,100 --> 00:08:01,500
Most inconvenient. 
You check them. 

156
00:08:01,500 --> 00:08:04,700
Anyway, every morning because 
the alternative is finding out 

157
00:08:04,700 --> 00:08:08,900
the hard way. the Bellows, the 
large box and valve assembly 

158
00:08:08,900 --> 00:08:11,500
that drives are through a clay 
to air into the base of the 

159
00:08:11,508 --> 00:08:16,200
firebird gets a slow tests pull 
You move the handle through its 

160
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,400
full range, listening for the 
Deep even breath of good 

161
00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:21,800
leather, seals feeling for the 
resistance. 

162
00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:23,300
That tells you the valves are 
working. 

163
00:08:24,300 --> 00:08:26,900
Last month you replace to 
section of the Bellows hide that

164
00:08:26,900 --> 00:08:30,600
had to slowly and the repair has
held with quiet competence. 

165
00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,100
By the time, the full inspection
is complete. 

166
00:08:33,100 --> 00:08:35,400
The fire in the half has 
established itself with some 

167
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,299
confidence. 
The light inside the forge, has 

168
00:08:38,299 --> 00:08:40,299
shifted from pre-dawn Gray to 
the moving. 

169
00:08:40,299 --> 00:08:44,300
Amber that a real wood. 
Fire produces warm and unsteady.

170
00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,600
Kind of light that gives even 
black and walls a quality of 

171
00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,400
life. 
The smoke Rises steadily toward 

172
00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,500
the Gap, at the roofline, which 
serves as the forges primary 

173
00:08:53,500 --> 00:08:56,500
ventilation and the chill in the
room as pulled back from the 

174
00:08:56,508 --> 00:08:59,500
half outward. 
Your first Apprentice will 

175
00:08:59,508 --> 00:09:02,500
arrive within the hour. 
You fill, a small clay cup from 

176
00:09:02,500 --> 00:09:05,300
the teapot you bring each 
morning, settle onto the low 

177
00:09:05,300 --> 00:09:08,300
stool, you keep beside the half 
and spend the remaining minutes 

178
00:09:08,300 --> 00:09:11,700
watching the fire grow. 
There is a quality to this 

179
00:09:11,700 --> 00:09:14,400
specific window of time after 
the preparation. 

180
00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,500
And before the working day 
begins that you have grown 

181
00:09:17,500 --> 00:09:21,200
protective of over the years. 
It does not exactly peaceful in 

182
00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,800
the sense of being empty. 
It is full actually full of the 

183
00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:28,100
sounds of the fire and the smell
of warming iron and the texture 

184
00:09:28,100 --> 00:09:31,600
of the light on the tool wall. 
But it belongs entirely to you 

185
00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:34,500
and there is nothing in the 
world just now that requires 

186
00:09:34,500 --> 00:09:37,600
your response. 
The forge makes its own sound. 

187
00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,800
In these early minutes the small
tick of heating Stone as the 

188
00:09:40,808 --> 00:09:44,200
half lining. 
Expands unevenly the low almost 

189
00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:47,800
musical sound of the fire 
finding its upper registers as 

190
00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:49,600
the charcoal reaches full 
temperature. 

191
00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:53,800
The faint Creek of the roof 
Timbers Contracting in the 

192
00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,300
warmth that rises from the half 
and collects near the thatch. 

193
00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,200
These sounds are the forges 
version of waking up. 

194
00:10:00,200 --> 00:10:02,300
Its own equivalent of your 
hands. 

195
00:10:02,300 --> 00:10:05,200
Pressing against your knees and 
your eyes adjusting to the 

196
00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:07,800
morning. 
You have been listening to this 

197
00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:11,000
particular combination for a 
very long time and could not 

198
00:10:11,000 --> 00:10:12,700
describe it to someone who had 
not heard it. 

199
00:10:12,700 --> 00:10:15,800
Because it is the kind of thing 
that lives in the body rather 

200
00:10:15,800 --> 00:10:18,000
than in language. 
The smell of the morning. 

201
00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:21,200
Forge is layered in a way that 
changes as the fire matures. 

202
00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:24,300
In the first minutes after 
lighting, the smell is mostly 

203
00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:27,900
kindling and dry wood, the 
cleanest smell of pine resin 

204
00:10:27,900 --> 00:10:31,000
releasing in heat. 
As the charcoal takes over in 

205
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,000
the temperature, climbs the 
smell shifts, to the deeper 

206
00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,300
head-on of high temperature 
carbon combustion richer, and 

207
00:10:37,300 --> 00:10:40,300
heavier than would smoke. 
When the first piece of iron 

208
00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:43,600
goes into the fire, there is a 
brief additional note metallic 

209
00:10:43,600 --> 00:10:46,500
and faintly sweet. 
That is the surface of the metal

210
00:10:46,500 --> 00:10:50,100
beginning to interact with the 
heat This last smell is the one 

211
00:10:50,100 --> 00:10:53,700
you associate most directly with
the work itself and catching it 

212
00:10:53,700 --> 00:10:57,200
in the air outside of forge, on 
the street of a town or drifting

213
00:10:57,200 --> 00:10:59,200
across a market, still produces 
in you. 

214
00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,500
After all these years, a small 
and involuntary sense of 

215
00:11:02,500 --> 00:11:05,200
readiness. 
The mountains, outside the door 

216
00:11:05,200 --> 00:11:06,800
are turning gold along their 
ridges. 

217
00:11:06,800 --> 00:11:09,800
You drink your tea to understand
what you work with. 

218
00:11:09,800 --> 00:11:12,500
You need to follow the iron 
further back than your own 

219
00:11:12,500 --> 00:11:15,900
Forge, back to the rivers and 
valleys of the chugoku mountains

220
00:11:15,900 --> 00:11:19,300
where the raw material for 
Japanese steel begins, its long 

221
00:11:19,300 --> 00:11:23,200
journey toward the Anvil. 
The iron you use, most days 

222
00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,200
arrives at your Workshop already
shaped into bars carried by 

223
00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,900
Merchants along the network of 
roads and River paths, that 

224
00:11:28,900 --> 00:11:33,200
connect, the provinces it looks 
at that stage like something, 

225
00:11:33,200 --> 00:11:36,600
finished, something 
authoritative and complete. 

226
00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:40,700
In a practical sense. 
It is neither, it is the 

227
00:11:40,700 --> 00:11:43,500
beginning of your involvement 
and your involvement is the 

228
00:11:43,500 --> 00:11:46,800
whole point. 
But the story behind those bars 

229
00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:50,400
stretches back much further to 
teams of workers waiting through

230
00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,000
Cold Mountain. 
Rivers with broad shallow pairs,

231
00:11:53,000 --> 00:11:56,700
scooping the dark sand that 
settles in the slow water Eddies

232
00:11:56,700 --> 00:11:59,800
along certain stretches of 
streambed, this material is 

233
00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:04,400
called setsu iron sad and it is 
the specific foundation on which

234
00:12:04,400 --> 00:12:07,700
Japanese metal working was built
across more than 1,000 years of 

235
00:12:07,700 --> 00:12:11,000
continuous practice. 
The appearance of cetu is 

236
00:12:11,008 --> 00:12:13,800
unremarkable. 
It looks like dark sediment 

237
00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:17,200
gritty between the fingers 
slightly heavier than ordinary 

238
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:18,800
sand in a way. 
You would only notice by 

239
00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,600
comparison. 
There is nothing about it that 

240
00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,700
announces its nature. 
But place it in the right fire, 

241
00:12:24,700 --> 00:12:27,000
with the right amount of carbon 
and the right quality of 

242
00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:29,600
sustained heat and it will 
become something that is 

243
00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:32,300
occupied the hands and the 
aspirations of crafts people 

244
00:12:32,300 --> 00:12:36,800
across every generation that 
followed The process for turning

245
00:12:36,800 --> 00:12:38,700
iron. 
Sand into usable steel is called

246
00:12:38,708 --> 00:12:41,900
tatara Buche and it takes place 
in a furnace structure called 

247
00:12:41,900 --> 00:12:44,700
the tatara. 
These are not small undertaking.

248
00:12:44,700 --> 00:12:47,700
A tetera furnace is a clay 
walled structure. 

249
00:12:47,700 --> 00:12:51,200
Roughly the size of a large 
table, but considerably taller 

250
00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:54,100
positioned over a prepared, clay
hath bed. 

251
00:12:54,100 --> 00:12:57,400
The walls are built from a mixed
of local, clay and rice straw 

252
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,100
layered and dried over days of 
careful construction. 

253
00:13:00,100 --> 00:13:04,700
The Bellow system, for a full to
Tara operation involves multiple

254
00:13:04,700 --> 00:13:08,000
workers in rotating shifts 
because the physical demand of 

255
00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:10,100
maintaining continuous air 
pressure for three days. 

256
00:13:10,100 --> 00:13:13,600
And three nights is well beyond 
what any individual can sustain 

257
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,300
three days and three nights 
without interruption you let 

258
00:13:17,300 --> 00:13:20,000
that settle. 
The operation begins with 

259
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,500
alternating loads of charcoal 
and setsu. 

260
00:13:22,500 --> 00:13:24,800
Dropped into the top of the 
Furnace at measured intervals. 

261
00:13:24,800 --> 00:13:28,500
The charcoal serves as both Fuel
and as the source of the carbon,

262
00:13:28,500 --> 00:13:31,200
that will determine the 
character of the final steel. 

263
00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,500
As the process continues and the
temperature, climbs the iron in 

264
00:13:35,500 --> 00:13:38,400
the sand, reduces from, its 
oxidized State into metallic, 

265
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:42,000
iron absorbing varying amounts 
of carbon depending on where it 

266
00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,400
sits within the furnace and how 
long it remains there, the clay 

267
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:48,700
walls of the tatara subjected to
extreme and sustained heat, 

268
00:13:48,700 --> 00:13:51,100
begin to partially vitrify and 
glow. 

269
00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:53,400
With a light that can be seen 
from a distance, on Dark 

270
00:13:53,400 --> 00:13:56,900
Knights, a blue white brightness
that the old records sometimes 

271
00:13:56,900 --> 00:14:00,500
described as other worldly. 
At the end of the 3-day smell 

272
00:14:00,500 --> 00:14:03,200
the workers break, open the base
of the cooled, furnace with 

273
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:06,200
heavy tools. 
What they find inside is a mass 

274
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:10,000
called the Kira a rough and a 
regular Bloom of Iron and Steel,

275
00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:12,300
that weighs several tons and 
looks nothing. 

276
00:14:12,300 --> 00:14:15,200
Like the refine material, it 
will eventually become the 

277
00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,300
surface is dark porous and 
uneven. 

278
00:14:17,300 --> 00:14:20,800
It does not announce its 
qualities from the outside, the 

279
00:14:20,800 --> 00:14:23,300
knowledge of what is inside 
lives in the hands and eyes of 

280
00:14:23,300 --> 00:14:27,000
the specialist who directs the 
Sorting The Keira is broken into

281
00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:28,600
sections with hammers and 
chisels. 

282
00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,100
And each section is assessed by 
the fracture pattern and the 

283
00:14:32,100 --> 00:14:35,500
grain of the broken face. 
Different parts of the bloom 

284
00:14:35,500 --> 00:14:38,100
have absorbed different amounts 
of carbon during the smelt. 

285
00:14:38,100 --> 00:14:41,500
The sections with the right 
carbon content for hard fine, 

286
00:14:41,500 --> 00:14:44,500
steel typically found toward the
center and certain edges of the 

287
00:14:44,508 --> 00:14:48,900
mass are set aside carefully. 
These pieces are the tamaha gun.

288
00:14:48,900 --> 00:14:51,700
The material that does not meet 
the tamaha gun threshold. 

289
00:14:51,700 --> 00:14:55,400
Still has its uses the lower 
carbon sections of the Keira, 

290
00:14:55,400 --> 00:14:58,600
softer and more malleable a 
worked into the raw time. 

291
00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:02,200
That becomes the bodies of 
blades, the cores of tools, the 

292
00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:05,400
barstock that ends up in 
workshops like yours. nothing 

293
00:15:05,400 --> 00:15:09,100
from a well-managed to Tara 
operation, goes to waste the men

294
00:15:09,100 --> 00:15:11,800
who direct the Sorting a 
reading, the whole Bloom, not 

295
00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,600
just the best of it and they 
know what every grade of the 

296
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:18,100
material is suited for This 
comprehensive understanding of 

297
00:15:18,100 --> 00:15:20,700
Iron's range of possibilities, 
is one of the things that made 

298
00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:24,400
Japanese metal work at every 
level from tamaha Gane blades, 

299
00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,400
to agricultural tools and 
usually coherent in its quality,

300
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,600
the bastok travels from the 
tatara operations through a 

301
00:15:31,600 --> 00:15:34,600
chain of merchants and 
intermediaries packed onto 

302
00:15:34,600 --> 00:15:38,200
horses or carried by river on 
flatbottom boats wrapped against

303
00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:40,500
moisture that would begin the 
oxidation process. 

304
00:15:40,500 --> 00:15:43,900
You spend your days working 
against the merchants who bring 

305
00:15:43,908 --> 00:15:46,200
it to your region, know their 
product well enough to Warrant 

306
00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:49,300
questions and you have spent 
many a market morning asking 

307
00:15:49,300 --> 00:15:52,400
them about the source of a 
particular batch noting which 

308
00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,700
suppliers produce stock the heat
evenly and which ones 

309
00:15:55,700 --> 00:15:58,500
occasionally deliver material 
that behaves inconsistently 

310
00:15:58,500 --> 00:16:01,700
under the hammer in ways that 
suggest something irregular 

311
00:16:01,700 --> 00:16:05,500
happened during the original 
smelting, Most batches are good.

312
00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:09,100
Some are excellent. 
A few of have been disappointing

313
00:16:09,100 --> 00:16:11,700
in ways, you documented 
carefully in your memory and 

314
00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:15,000
adjusted for in your pricing. 
The word itself is worth 

315
00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:17,800
sitting, with Tama means Jewel 
or pressure. 

316
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:21,900
Thing again means steal to 
gather they describe not the 

317
00:16:21,900 --> 00:16:24,700
appearance of the material which
at this stage is rough and 

318
00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:27,400
heterogeneous and would not 
impress a jeweler but its 

319
00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:30,700
potential. 
The jewel is inside latent in 

320
00:16:30,700 --> 00:16:32,800
the structure of the metal 
waiting for the further work 

321
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:35,700
that will reveal. 
It tamaha gain is not uniform, 

322
00:16:35,700 --> 00:16:37,900
and this is the point rather 
than the problem. 

323
00:16:37,900 --> 00:16:42,400
Its carbon content varies across
any given piece sometimes 

324
00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,200
dramatically over a short 
distance, this inconsistency, 

325
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:50,100
which would be a defect in a 
homogeneous Industrial Steel is 

326
00:16:50,100 --> 00:16:52,800
precisely what gives tamaha and 
its working character. 

327
00:16:53,500 --> 00:16:56,600
As the Smith repeatedly Heats 
and folds and hammers, the 

328
00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,600
material, the carbon 
redistributes, and the layers 

329
00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,300
weld together, eliminating, the 
voids and slag inclusions, that 

330
00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:04,800
remain from the smelting 
process. 

331
00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:09,000
The finished steel emerges from 
this repeated working with a 

332
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:12,200
layered internal structure that 
shows itself in the surface of a

333
00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,800
polished and etched blade as a 
subtle clouded pattern called 

334
00:17:16,800 --> 00:17:20,099
the Hadar which translates 
roughly as the grain of skin. 

335
00:17:21,300 --> 00:17:23,900
Your own daily work, does not 
often involve tamaha gun 

336
00:17:23,900 --> 00:17:26,200
directly. 
The material is expensive 

337
00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:29,800
reserved primarily for Blades of
the highest quality and the 

338
00:17:29,808 --> 00:17:32,500
merchants who carry it do. 
So with a degree of attentive 

339
00:17:32,500 --> 00:17:35,600
care, that suggests, they are 
aware of exactly what they are 

340
00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:38,100
transporting. 
You have handled it, perhaps a 

341
00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:40,800
handful of times over your 
working years, felt its 

342
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,800
particular weight noted the way 
its surface holds the light 

343
00:17:43,800 --> 00:17:45,600
differently from ordinary ions 
stock. 

344
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:49,600
It is not a mystical substance, 
it is a well-made won, the 

345
00:17:49,600 --> 00:17:52,700
distinction matters to you. 
What you work with every day is 

346
00:17:52,700 --> 00:17:55,300
good workable, Iron. 
And Steel sourced from 

347
00:17:55,308 --> 00:17:58,500
established suppliers consistent
enough in its properties. 

348
00:17:58,500 --> 00:18:00,800
That, you know, how to read it 
in the fire and under the 

349
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:02,700
hammer. 
But the principles that govern 

350
00:18:02,700 --> 00:18:07,100
Everything You Touch. 
The same relationship between 

351
00:18:07,100 --> 00:18:11,000
heat and carbon between working 
and structure between patient, 

352
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:14,700
repeated effort and eventual 
quality applies at every level 

353
00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:17,400
of the craft. 
The oldest Japanese texts that 

354
00:18:17,400 --> 00:18:21,000
mention metalworking at all do. 
So in passing, as a given fact 

355
00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:24,800
of the world rather than a 
subject requiring explanation by

356
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,700
the time of the Nara period, 
Smiths were already established 

357
00:18:27,700 --> 00:18:30,500
figures, whose work shaped the 
tools and weapons, and fittings 

358
00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:34,000
of society at every level, The 
tradition attributed to a 

359
00:18:34,008 --> 00:18:37,900
swordsmith named a makuni from 
the early 800s describes the 

360
00:18:37,908 --> 00:18:40,300
development of the curved 
single-edge blade. 

361
00:18:40,300 --> 00:18:42,700
That would eventually Define 
Japanese metal work, in 

362
00:18:42,708 --> 00:18:45,500
international. 
What the stories about amakuni 

363
00:18:45,500 --> 00:18:47,200
actually? 
Transmit is the understanding 

364
00:18:47,200 --> 00:18:49,900
that a blade. 
Must be for a specific purpose. 

365
00:18:50,700 --> 00:18:53,600
That the steel must be chosen 
and worked in response to what 

366
00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,900
it will be asked to do this. 
Principal did not begin or end 

367
00:18:56,900 --> 00:19:00,000
with swords this afternoon, you 
were making an agricultural 

368
00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:03,300
Cutting Edge and a set of hinges
for a gate, the iron in your 

369
00:19:03,300 --> 00:19:05,900
half-right, now is a piece of 
standard stock, about three 

370
00:19:05,900 --> 00:19:08,900
fingers wide. 
And as long as your forearm, it 

371
00:19:08,900 --> 00:19:11,400
has been sitting in the coals at
the right, depth for the right 

372
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,600
amount of time and the color it 
is currently showing tells you 

373
00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:17,500
it is nearly ready. 
You reach for your tongs. 

374
00:19:17,500 --> 00:19:20,700
You did not walk into your forge
on the first morning and begin 

375
00:19:20,700 --> 00:19:23,600
shaping iron. 
This is the fact that people who

376
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:25,800
have not lived inside, the craft
tend to misunderstand. 

377
00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,200
When they imagined it from the 
outside, they picture the hammer

378
00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:32,400
and the fire, and the dramatic 
shower of Sparks, and they skip 

379
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:34,900
over the years of careful 
preparation, that made all of 

380
00:19:34,900 --> 00:19:37,500
that possible. 
Your apprenticeship began when 

381
00:19:37,500 --> 00:19:40,600
you were around 12 years old, 
the arrangement was made between

382
00:19:40,600 --> 00:19:43,400
your father and your master 
through a conversation, you were

383
00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,700
not quite invited to participate
in though. 

384
00:19:45,700 --> 00:19:47,800
You were present for the formal 
conclusion of it. 

385
00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:50,900
Your master was a lean man of 
middle-aged who spoke in 

386
00:19:50,900 --> 00:19:54,500
frequently and in short 
sentences, and he had a habit of

387
00:19:54,500 --> 00:19:57,100
looking at things for slightly 
longer than most people did 

388
00:19:57,100 --> 00:19:58,600
before he said anything about 
them. 

389
00:19:59,700 --> 00:20:02,400
This habit, turned out to be 
directly connected to how he 

390
00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:05,300
taught. 
First thing he told you, after 

391
00:20:05,300 --> 00:20:08,400
your father, departed was to 
sweep the floor, you swept the 

392
00:20:08,400 --> 00:20:11,100
floor, you swept at the 
following morning and the 

393
00:20:11,100 --> 00:20:14,100
morning after that, and for a 
considerable number of mornings 

394
00:20:14,100 --> 00:20:18,000
beyond that stretch as well. 
This was not as you eventually 

395
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:21,200
came to understand purely a test
of humility or obedience though.

396
00:20:21,200 --> 00:20:22,500
It was partly both of those 
things. 

397
00:20:23,500 --> 00:20:26,400
The floor of an active forges 
are genuine maintenance concern?

398
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:30,100
Scale, flakes, off, heated 
metal, under the hammer and 

399
00:20:30,100 --> 00:20:32,300
accumulates on the earth and 
floor in fine. 

400
00:20:32,300 --> 00:20:34,800
Sharp layers, charcoal dust 
settles everywhere. 

401
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,800
Ash migrate outward from the 
Hearth with the air movement. 

402
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:41,200
A floor that is not swept 
becomes a floor that contributes

403
00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,700
to small accidents and to the 
slow degradation of tools left 

404
00:20:44,700 --> 00:20:48,200
in contact with gritty surfaces.
You are learning the logic of 

405
00:20:48,208 --> 00:20:49,900
The Craft through its lowest 
entry point. 

406
00:20:49,900 --> 00:20:53,700
Alongside the floor sweeping 
came the water carrying the 

407
00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:57,100
charcoal management, the basic 
organization of the tool wall 

408
00:20:57,100 --> 00:21:00,200
each of these tasks had a 
correct way of doing it that 

409
00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,600
your master demonstrated once 
and expected you to replicate. 

410
00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:07,400
He did not explain the reasons 
behind each specific requirement

411
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:09,600
at the time. 
The reasons are arrived later 

412
00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:13,000
through your own observation and
a few instructive mistakes, 

413
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:15,700
which is the most efficient 
possible delivery mechanism. 

414
00:21:16,700 --> 00:21:18,800
The watching was the most 
demanding part of the early. 

415
00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:21,800
Period, your master did not 
narrate his work for your 

416
00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:24,500
benefit. 
He simply worked and you stood 

417
00:21:24,500 --> 00:21:27,200
at the appropriate distance and 
observed with whatever attention

418
00:21:27,200 --> 00:21:29,800
you could bring. 
He watched the tilt of his head 

419
00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:32,500
as he assessed the temperature 
of a heated piece through color 

420
00:21:32,500 --> 00:21:36,300
and behavior, rather than any 
measuring tool, you watch the 

421
00:21:36,300 --> 00:21:39,400
specific Arc of his hammer, and 
the way, his weight shifted, 

422
00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:42,400
through the balls of his feet 
rather than his heels. 

423
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,700
During a long sequence of blows 
you watched, how he read the 

424
00:21:45,700 --> 00:21:49,500
fire feeding it, not by formula,
but by the kind of judgment that

425
00:21:49,500 --> 00:21:52,300
had been trained over decades 
until it operated faster than 

426
00:21:52,300 --> 00:21:56,100
conscious thought you watched 
and you tried to understand what

427
00:21:56,100 --> 00:21:58,900
you were watching and some of it
made sense immediately and some 

428
00:21:58,908 --> 00:22:00,400
of it did not make sense for 
years. 

429
00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,200
After several months of working 
in the margins of the forge, you

430
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,400
will give them the Bellows to 
manage during active heating. 

431
00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,600
Session's, this step carries 
more responsibility than it 

432
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:12,800
appears from the outside. 
The Air Supply to a working fire

433
00:22:12,800 --> 00:22:15,700
must be matched to what the fire
and the metal require in each 

434
00:22:15,700 --> 00:22:19,500
moment. to aggressive and the 
metal oxidizes at the surface 

435
00:22:19,500 --> 00:22:23,500
forming, a thick iron scale 
crossed that the hammer then has

436
00:22:23,500 --> 00:22:27,000
to drive off wasting material 
and obscuring, the actual 

437
00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,400
surface of the work Too gentle 
and the heat rises slowly 

438
00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:35,400
unevenly and the piece reaches 
the Anvil with a temperature 

439
00:22:35,400 --> 00:22:36,800
differential through its 
thickness. 

440
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:39,800
That makes the top layer behave 
differently, from the interior, 

441
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,000
the right. 
Airflow is a conversation. 

442
00:22:42,000 --> 00:22:45,000
You are learning how to 
participate in it with your arms

443
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:47,300
and your attention and your 
sense of rhythm. 

444
00:22:48,100 --> 00:22:50,800
Your master would occasionally 
make the smallest possible 

445
00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:53,300
adjustment to the Bellows rate, 
by placing his hand, briefly 

446
00:22:53,300 --> 00:22:56,400
over yours on the handle, 
increasing or decreasing the 

447
00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:58,800
pace by a fraction, then 
removing it again. 

448
00:22:59,500 --> 00:23:01,100
He never explained what he had 
done. 

449
00:23:01,100 --> 00:23:03,400
He simply did it and returned to
the half. 

450
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:06,200
You learned to notice the 
difference in the fires response

451
00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:08,100
and to file the information 
somewhere useful. 

452
00:23:08,100 --> 00:23:11,200
The first time, a hammer was 
placed in your hand, there was 

453
00:23:11,208 --> 00:23:14,500
no ceremony around it, your 
master set, a piece of scrap 

454
00:23:14,500 --> 00:23:17,500
iron on the Anvil, press the 
handle into your palm and told 

455
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:20,300
you to drive it flat. 
You did what someone who has 

456
00:23:20,300 --> 00:23:23,600
never held a hammer at a forge 
naturally does, which is to grip

457
00:23:23,608 --> 00:23:26,200
it near the head for control and
strike with the kind of 

458
00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:29,000
tentative care. 
That feels careful and looks 

459
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,900
uncertain. 
Your master watched for Pat's 30

460
00:23:32,900 --> 00:23:35,800
seconds, then adjusted the 
position of your right elbow 

461
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:39,000
with two fingers, barely a touch
and walked away. 

462
00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,100
That small adjustment changed 
the geometry of every Hammer 

463
00:23:43,100 --> 00:23:45,100
stroke. 
You took afterward the knowledge

464
00:23:45,100 --> 00:23:47,800
that flows through a craft. 
Like this one is not primarily 

465
00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:51,000
housed in text though. 
Records certainly existed. 

466
00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:54,200
Established smithing families, 
kept careful notes on 

467
00:23:54,200 --> 00:23:57,900
proportions, timings specific 
techniques for particular types 

468
00:23:57,900 --> 00:23:59,900
of work, but the essential 
information. 

469
00:23:59,900 --> 00:24:03,100
The part that determines the 
difference between a competent 

470
00:24:03,100 --> 00:24:06,300
piece and a genuinely good. 
One lives in the body of the 

471
00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:10,000
practitioner and moves from one 
body to another through direct 

472
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,600
physical transmission. 
Cannot be fully described in 

473
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:17,200
writing because it is at its 
core a set of calibrated, 

474
00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:21,500
physical habits, the exact grip,
the precise angle, the moment. 

475
00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:24,100
When the pressure in the tongue 
hand tells you that the piece is

476
00:24:24,100 --> 00:24:26,100
cooling faster on one side than 
the other. 

477
00:24:26,100 --> 00:24:29,800
You received 11, corrections to 
your Hammer grip before the grip

478
00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:33,100
stopped needing. 
Correction you counted because 

479
00:24:33,100 --> 00:24:34,600
counting was how you paid 
attention? 

480
00:24:35,500 --> 00:24:37,700
The years of formal 
apprenticeship passed with the 

481
00:24:37,700 --> 00:24:41,300
quality of long, seasonal 
changes accumulative and steady 

482
00:24:41,300 --> 00:24:44,700
each month adding a small layer 
to the understanding you were 

483
00:24:44,700 --> 00:24:47,200
building. 
The progression was not linear 

484
00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,500
in a tidy sense. 
Some skills came quickly and 

485
00:24:50,500 --> 00:24:53,900
some resisted for a long time, 
working a ring to consistent 

486
00:24:53,900 --> 00:24:56,400
diameter, took you the better 
part of two seasons to do. 

487
00:24:56,400 --> 00:24:59,700
Reliably edged geometry on 
agricultural tools. 

488
00:24:59,700 --> 00:25:03,000
Came more naturally, your fire 
management was strong from early

489
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,400
in the second year your patients
with slow heating thick stock 

490
00:25:06,400 --> 00:25:09,500
was according to your Master's 
measured assessment in need of 

491
00:25:09,500 --> 00:25:12,200
development. 
The day, he stepped back and let

492
00:25:12,200 --> 00:25:15,400
you complete a piece from first 
heat to finish form. 

493
00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:18,100
Without intervening was not 
marked by anything. 

494
00:25:18,100 --> 00:25:21,500
He said He observed from the 
back corner of the forge with 

495
00:25:21,500 --> 00:25:24,800
his arms Loosely crossed and his
expression, its usual neutral 

496
00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,700
assessment and when you held up 
the finished piece, he looked at

497
00:25:28,700 --> 00:25:31,100
it for the length of time, he 
always took to look at things 

498
00:25:31,100 --> 00:25:33,800
and nodded once and turned back 
to his own work. 

499
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,900
He placed the piece on the 
cooling rack and allowed 

500
00:25:36,900 --> 00:25:39,200
yourself a very small private 
satisfaction. 

501
00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:42,800
When you eventually came to run 
your own Forge, whether through 

502
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,400
a chain of inheritance or 
through the establishment of a 

503
00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:49,100
new workshop, in a location that
needed one, you brought with you

504
00:25:49,100 --> 00:25:51,700
a body of knowledge that had 
been continuously worked, and 

505
00:25:51,700 --> 00:25:54,200
refined across more Generations 
than you could count. 

506
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,200
You are not the end of anything.
You were the present working 

507
00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:01,200
edge of something old and 
ongoing and you felt the weight 

508
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:04,300
of the lineage behind you not as
a burden, but as a kind of 

509
00:26:04,308 --> 00:26:06,700
ballast that kept you level on 
difficult days. 

510
00:26:06,700 --> 00:26:10,600
Some mornings when the work is 
flowing and the fire is behaving

511
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:13,500
and your own current, Apprentice
catches a correction before you 

512
00:26:13,500 --> 00:26:15,700
offer it. 
You feel the full stretch of 

513
00:26:15,708 --> 00:26:18,100
that chain that you're back 
running through your master and 

514
00:26:18,100 --> 00:26:20,500
his master and the quiet 
Generations. 

515
00:26:20,500 --> 00:26:22,800
Before them all the way back to 
the river. 

516
00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:26,400
Valleys and the iron sand. 
It is a good feeling, your 

517
00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:28,500
Apprentice arrives. 
Just as the forge has reached 

518
00:26:28,500 --> 00:26:30,200
the first usable working 
temperature. 

519
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:34,300
He is 14 years old and trying 
very hard to appear calm with 

520
00:26:34,300 --> 00:26:37,000
the specific and slightly 
transparent effort of a young 

521
00:26:37,008 --> 00:26:40,500
person who is aware that 
composure is expected and has 

522
00:26:40,500 --> 00:26:44,400
not yet stopped finding the 
expectation stressful. he greets

523
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:47,900
you with a bow of rather formal 
depth in the morning which you 

524
00:26:47,900 --> 00:26:51,300
find privately endearing You 
sent him to check the charcoal 

525
00:26:51,300 --> 00:26:54,200
Supply immediately, not because 
you need the information with 

526
00:26:54,200 --> 00:26:57,900
any urgency, but because a task 
with a clear purpose is a 

527
00:26:57,900 --> 00:27:00,300
reasonable gift to give someone 
who has too much energy and know

528
00:27:00,300 --> 00:27:04,600
where to put it yet. you hear 
the lid of the charcoal lift a 

529
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:08,100
brief, pause footsteps, 
returning, He reports that the 

530
00:27:08,100 --> 00:27:11,100
supply is adequate for a full 
day's work with some to spare. 

531
00:27:11,100 --> 00:27:13,600
Good. 
You tell him bring in enough for

532
00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,000
two, full Heating and stack it 
beside the left side of the 

533
00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:17,600
half. 
He does this, with the 

534
00:27:17,608 --> 00:27:20,500
particular carefulness of a 
person who understands that how 

535
00:27:20,500 --> 00:27:23,700
they handle material is being 
observed, and who would rather 

536
00:27:23,700 --> 00:27:27,000
not be corrected you note the 
way he grips. 

537
00:27:27,000 --> 00:27:30,400
The carrying bucket with his 
full hand rather than his 

538
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,100
fingers, which is the right 
Instinct for a heavy load. 

539
00:27:33,100 --> 00:27:36,500
You also know that he sets each 
piece of charcoal down rather 

540
00:27:36,500 --> 00:27:38,800
than dropping it, which suggests
he has already. 

541
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,800
Picked up from somewhere, the 
basic principle, that loose, 

542
00:27:41,800 --> 00:27:44,700
charcoal fragments into dust and
dust is wasted charcoal. 

543
00:27:44,700 --> 00:27:48,600
You do not comment on either of 
these observations approval, 

544
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,400
when it is given constantly 
loses its weight. 

545
00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,000
As guidance, he will know when 
he has done something. 

546
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,700
Well by the absence of 
Correction, the first piece of 

547
00:27:56,708 --> 00:27:59,300
work today, is the plow 
component for a farmer on the 

548
00:27:59,300 --> 00:28:01,800
lower Terrace who has been 
managing with a cracked and 

549
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:04,600
poorly fitting Cutting Edge 
since the Autumn, which means 

550
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,900
the soil preparation for the 
current growing season. 

551
00:28:07,300 --> 00:28:09,400
Has been slightly harder than it
needed to be. 

552
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:12,600
The Cutting Edge of a wooden 
plow frame is the piece that 

553
00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:15,800
actually meets the earth and the
quality of the ground contact. 

554
00:28:15,800 --> 00:28:19,900
Depends directly on its geometry
and hardness A well-made Cutting

555
00:28:19,900 --> 00:28:21,600
Edge. 
Can be resent over several 

556
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,200
seasons before it needs 
replacement. 

557
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,400
A poorly made one, is a small 
tax on every hour. 

558
00:28:26,400 --> 00:28:29,500
The farmer Works behind the 
plow, you take the bar stock 

559
00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:33,000
from the rack grip, it in your 
longest tongs and position it in

560
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:35,800
the fire at the depth and angle.
You have established over years 

561
00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:38,100
of learning, where this 
particular half Heats most 

562
00:28:38,100 --> 00:28:40,900
evenly. 
Then you stand back and tell 

563
00:28:40,900 --> 00:28:43,500
your Apprentice to work. 
The Bellows at a pace of roughly

564
00:28:43,500 --> 00:28:46,400
one full stroke. 
Every two heartbeats he begins 

565
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:50,400
his rhythm is fast for the first
30 seconds then corrects itself 

566
00:28:50,400 --> 00:28:53,800
without any instruction. 
You notice this and file it away

567
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:56,400
beside the bucket grip, and the 
careful charcoal placement. 

568
00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,900
While the iron Heats you check 
the face of your Anvil. 

569
00:28:59,900 --> 00:29:04,000
The Anvil is old harder to date 
the most anything else in the 

570
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,400
Ford. 
The iron of its face has been 

571
00:29:06,408 --> 00:29:10,100
worn by Decades of hammer work 
until the center holds a shallow

572
00:29:10,100 --> 00:29:12,800
can cavity a gentle downward 
curve. 

573
00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:16,000
That theory would describe as a 
defect and practice as long 

574
00:29:16,000 --> 00:29:17,800
since converted into a useful 
feature. 

575
00:29:18,700 --> 00:29:20,700
Round stock laid across a 
perfectly flat. 

576
00:29:20,700 --> 00:29:24,600
Handled face Will Roll under the
Hammer's pressure round stock 

577
00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:26,800
laid across a subtly curved one 
seats itself. 

578
00:29:27,700 --> 00:29:30,400
You have considered having the 
face dressed flat on three 

579
00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:32,600
separate occasions and decided 
against it each time. 

580
00:29:32,600 --> 00:29:35,500
The Anvil has made its own 
argument and won it. 

581
00:29:35,500 --> 00:29:38,700
The iron in the fire is 
beginning to show color, you 

582
00:29:38,700 --> 00:29:41,200
watch the progression from the 
gray, black of cold metal 

583
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,800
through the first dark cherry 
warmth at around 3 or 400 

584
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,400
Degrees, deepening into full 
cherry red, then brightening 

585
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,800
steadily toward orange as the 
temperature climbs. 

586
00:29:51,600 --> 00:29:54,000
The color to temperature 
relationship is not a rough 

587
00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,800
estimate. 
It is a precise reading 

588
00:29:55,800 --> 00:29:58,600
calibrated by practice into 
something that functions as 

589
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:02,000
reliably as any instrument. 
And it is specific to your 

590
00:30:02,000 --> 00:30:05,900
heart, your fuel, the angle of 
your line of sight, and the 

591
00:30:05,900 --> 00:30:08,400
ambient light conditions of the 
forge at this hour of the 

592
00:30:08,400 --> 00:30:12,000
morning, A different Smith in a 
different Forge, would calibrate

593
00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:15,200
slightly differently. 
This is one of the reasons craft

594
00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:18,800
knowledge is personal even when 
it is shared the piece reaches 

595
00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,200
bright, orange approaching the 
yellow Edge. 

596
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:24,700
That signals full working heat. 
You pull it with the tongs and 

597
00:30:24,700 --> 00:30:26,700
move to the Anvil in the 
deliberate unhurried. 

598
00:30:26,700 --> 00:30:28,900
Way of someone who has learned 
that rushing, the distance 

599
00:30:28,900 --> 00:30:31,700
between the fire and the Anvil 
is the same as cooling. 

600
00:30:31,700 --> 00:30:33,100
The work before it has been 
touched. 

601
00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:37,000
The first strike's abroad, and 
orienting turning the piece of 

602
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,300
quarter rotation after every two
or three blows to work it evenly

603
00:30:40,300 --> 00:30:43,100
across All Phases, rather than 
concentrating. 

604
00:30:43,100 --> 00:30:44,500
The displacement in One 
Direction. 

605
00:30:45,500 --> 00:30:48,300
The hammer Rises and falls with 
a rhythm, your body knows the 

606
00:30:48,300 --> 00:30:50,200
way. 
It knows walking, not thought 

607
00:30:50,200 --> 00:30:53,800
through, but felt through the 
kind of motor memory that is 

608
00:30:53,800 --> 00:30:56,400
only available to people who 
have done a particular thing, a 

609
00:30:56,400 --> 00:31:00,200
very large number of times. 
Sound fills, the forge and moves

610
00:31:00,200 --> 00:31:03,400
out through the open door into 
the morning air and you are 

611
00:31:03,400 --> 00:31:05,900
peripherally aware that it has 
been waking people up at this 

612
00:31:05,900 --> 00:31:09,000
hour for as long as you've been 
working here and that no one has

613
00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:11,600
complained about this to your 
face, which you choose to 

614
00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,300
interpret shower to play. 
The piece goes back into the 

615
00:31:14,300 --> 00:31:17,600
fire after the first working 
sequence, it needs to recover 

616
00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,500
heat and you use the interval to
study what the hammer has 

617
00:31:20,500 --> 00:31:24,500
produced so far the taper from 
the blunt back Edge to The 

618
00:31:24,500 --> 00:31:26,700
Cutting Edge is developing 
evenly. 

619
00:31:26,700 --> 00:31:30,600
The witch is deliberately 
generous at this stage, because 

620
00:31:30,600 --> 00:31:33,400
the next series of working 
passes will draw the materials 

621
00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:36,600
slightly, lengthwise your 
building in room for the shape 

622
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,800
to arrive correctly, rather than
trying to force it from a 

623
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:43,100
tightest starting point. 
Your Apprentice is maintaining 

624
00:31:43,100 --> 00:31:46,000
his Bellows Rhythm. 
Steadily you tell him to ease 

625
00:31:46,000 --> 00:31:49,000
off slightly because the fire 
has reached the temperature you 

626
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:52,400
want to hold rather than climb. 
He adjusts within three, 

627
00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,100
stroke's, the morning proceeds 
in this repeating cycle of fire 

628
00:31:56,100 --> 00:31:59,400
Hammer. 
Fire study fire again each 

629
00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:02,000
passed through the sequence, 
moves the peace incrementally 

630
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:05,200
closer to its finished form. 
There is nothing sudden about 

631
00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:07,000
it. 
The transformation happens 

632
00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:09,900
gradually an entirely through 
the accumulation of individual 

633
00:32:09,900 --> 00:32:13,000
deliberate actions. 
Each one, small relative to the 

634
00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,600
whole and each one necessary. 
This is the aspect of the work 

635
00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,400
that people outside the craft. 
Consistently misread when they 

636
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:21,900
imagine it. 
They expect the single dramatic 

637
00:32:21,900 --> 00:32:25,100
blow. 
What actually happens is closer 

638
00:32:25,100 --> 00:32:28,300
to the way a coastline is shaped
by water through repeated 

639
00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:31,800
contact applied patiently in a 
consistent Direction, the whole 

640
00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:34,600
arriving only after the 
individual instances of done 

641
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:38,300
their quiet, accumulative work. 
By mid-morning, The Cutting Edge

642
00:32:38,300 --> 00:32:41,500
component, has been worked to 
its final shape and is cooling 

643
00:32:41,500 --> 00:32:44,200
on the stone ledge. 
Ready for the grinding work, 

644
00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:47,200
that will set the edge properly.
You hand this phase to your 

645
00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:49,800
Apprentice with Specific 
Instructions, about the angle 

646
00:32:49,800 --> 00:32:52,000
and the pressure. 
And you watch the set of his 

647
00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,500
hands on the grinding stone with
the same patient. 

648
00:32:54,500 --> 00:32:57,500
Attention, your master wants 
gave to your grip on a hammer 

649
00:32:57,500 --> 00:32:59,800
handle. 
He's not yet consistent in the 

650
00:32:59,800 --> 00:33:02,800
angle, drifting slightly after 
each stroke and correcting 

651
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,500
drifting and correcting. 
This is normal for his stage. 

652
00:33:06,500 --> 00:33:10,100
The correction will eventually 
stop being conscious and become 

653
00:33:10,100 --> 00:33:12,500
a virtual. 
And at that point, he will be 

654
00:33:12,500 --> 00:33:14,800
competent. 
The path. 

655
00:33:14,800 --> 00:33:18,500
There is simply this repetition,
this drift and returned, his 

656
00:33:18,500 --> 00:33:20,900
daily conversation between 
intention and execution. 

657
00:33:22,100 --> 00:33:24,500
The gate fastenings for your 
neighbor, Follow The Cutting 

658
00:33:24,500 --> 00:33:28,800
Edge in the afternoon sequence 
rings and hooks functional iron 

659
00:33:28,800 --> 00:33:31,700
in proportions calibrated to the
weight in the swing of a wooden 

660
00:33:31,708 --> 00:33:34,200
gate that has been held shut by 
a ropes. 

661
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,700
Since early spring. 
Your neighbor is a patient 

662
00:33:36,700 --> 00:33:39,700
person, which is fortunate, but 
even patient. 

663
00:33:39,700 --> 00:33:42,300
People, appreciate having a 
properly closing gate before the

664
00:33:42,300 --> 00:33:45,100
wet season arrives. 
You work through the afternoon 

665
00:33:45,100 --> 00:33:47,400
hours with the particular Focus 
that settles in. 

666
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:51,200
When the fire is cooperative and
the material is responding and 

667
00:33:51,200 --> 00:33:54,300
the body has found its working 
Rhythm for the day, the light 

668
00:33:54,300 --> 00:33:57,200
through the open door moves 
across the floor in its slow Arc

669
00:33:57,200 --> 00:33:59,400
marking time without measuring 
it. 

670
00:34:00,800 --> 00:34:03,300
The Ring Of The Hammer carries 
out into the village and comes 

671
00:34:03,300 --> 00:34:07,700
back from nowhere absorbed by 
walls and Earth and the specific

672
00:34:07,700 --> 00:34:10,500
acoustic dampening of a 
settlement built from organic 

673
00:34:10,500 --> 00:34:13,900
materials in a mountain valley. 
There is a quality to the 

674
00:34:13,900 --> 00:34:17,199
afternoon work that differs from
the morning and ways that are 

675
00:34:17,199 --> 00:34:18,500
real, but difficult to 
articulate. 

676
00:34:19,500 --> 00:34:23,100
By midday, the forges reached a 
steady thermal equilibrium that 

677
00:34:23,100 --> 00:34:24,900
it will hold for the remainder 
of the working hours. 

678
00:34:24,900 --> 00:34:29,100
The stone of the half lining 
fully saturated with heat, the 

679
00:34:29,100 --> 00:34:31,800
walls themselves contributing a 
warmth that the morning never 

680
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:36,000
quite provide Your body has 
passed the early stiffness of 

681
00:34:36,007 --> 00:34:39,699
the first hour and into the full
range of its working capability.

682
00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,000
Your Apprentice is settled from 
the morning's careful 

683
00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:47,400
self-consciousness into a more 
natural working State responding

684
00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:50,000
to the rhythm of the fire rather
than thinking about responding 

685
00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:51,699
to it. 
The Rings for the gate 

686
00:34:51,699 --> 00:34:54,300
fastenings are made from a 
shorter length of round stock 

687
00:34:54,300 --> 00:34:57,800
worked, first into an open Ark 
by bending it around the curved 

688
00:34:57,800 --> 00:35:01,100
Horn of the Anvil, then closed 
at the join with a welding Heat.

689
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:04,800
Forge weld requires the metal to
reach a temperature, close to 

690
00:35:04,808 --> 00:35:07,400
its upper working. 
Limit, a white yellow heat, 

691
00:35:07,400 --> 00:35:10,800
where the surface takes on a 
slightly wet bright quality that

692
00:35:10,800 --> 00:35:13,200
experience Smith's call the 
welding range. 

693
00:35:14,100 --> 00:35:16,900
In this narrow band of 
temperature, the surface is of 

694
00:35:16,900 --> 00:35:19,500
two pieces of iron pressed 
together and struck will 

695
00:35:19,500 --> 00:35:22,200
actually fuse. 
There are atomic structures into

696
00:35:22,200 --> 00:35:24,500
mixing at the interface under 
the pressure of the hammer. 

697
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:28,500
Below this range, the piece is 
merely deform without joining. 

698
00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:33,000
Above it, the metal approaches, 
its liquid state and begins to 

699
00:35:33,000 --> 00:35:36,600
collapse under its own weight. 
You have made this judgment of 

700
00:35:36,600 --> 00:35:39,300
very large number of times, you 
make it again. 

701
00:35:39,300 --> 00:35:41,800
Now, pulling the open Ark from 
the fire reading. 

702
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:44,300
The surface color in the 
specific way of long, practice, 

703
00:35:44,300 --> 00:35:47,600
and placing the join across the 
horn with a sequence of quick 

704
00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,300
decisive, blows that close and 
fuse the ring in one continuous 

705
00:35:51,300 --> 00:35:54,000
motion. 
You turn it to check the join 

706
00:35:54,000 --> 00:35:58,200
for any visible void or offset. 
Find it clean and set it on the 

707
00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:00,400
cooling ledge. 
Your Apprentice has been 

708
00:36:00,408 --> 00:36:03,100
watching this operation with the
concentrated attention of 

709
00:36:03,100 --> 00:36:04,800
someone, who knows they are 
seeing something. 

710
00:36:04,800 --> 00:36:07,600
They need to understand and have
not fully understood yet. 

711
00:36:08,300 --> 00:36:10,100
You let him watch without 
commentary. 

712
00:36:10,100 --> 00:36:13,400
The world will appear in his 
assigned, work in about six 

713
00:36:13,400 --> 00:36:15,200
months. 
And by then he will have watched

714
00:36:15,200 --> 00:36:17,700
enough of them that his hands 
will have already begun forming 

715
00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:20,900
opinions about the temperature 
and the timing It is a good 

716
00:36:20,908 --> 00:36:23,100
afternoon, you're not a 
swordsmith. 

717
00:36:23,100 --> 00:36:26,400
And you want to be clear about 
this, at least in the quiet 

718
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:30,100
space of your own understanding.
The lineage of Blade making that

719
00:36:30,100 --> 00:36:32,300
runs through the most 
prestigious workshops in the 

720
00:36:32,300 --> 00:36:35,200
country exists in a different 
atmosphere from yours. 

721
00:36:36,100 --> 00:36:39,200
Those Smiths work with rare 
materials for powerful patrons 

722
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:43,400
and produce objects that are 
simultaneously tools, heirlooms 

723
00:36:43,400 --> 00:36:46,200
and philosophical statements 
about the relationship between 

724
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:49,300
craft and intention. 
You have deep respect for this 

725
00:36:49,300 --> 00:36:52,000
tradition. 
You simply do not participate in

726
00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:54,000
it. 
What you are, is the personal 

727
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:57,200
functioning Village? 
Cannot do without consider on 

728
00:36:57,200 --> 00:36:59,400
any given week what moves 
through your Forge. 

729
00:37:00,100 --> 00:37:03,300
Sickle for the rice Harvest 
brought in by a farm wife who 

730
00:37:03,300 --> 00:37:06,500
noted the first sign of cracking
the blade and brought it before,

731
00:37:06,500 --> 00:37:09,200
it became a larger problem, 
which is exactly the right 

732
00:37:09,200 --> 00:37:10,800
approach. 
And the one, you wish everyone 

733
00:37:10,800 --> 00:37:14,100
took a set of nails ordered by 
the carpenter for a new storage 

734
00:37:14,100 --> 00:37:17,800
building, 200 of them in two 
standard sizes, which is not 

735
00:37:17,800 --> 00:37:20,800
glamorous work, but which took 
the better part of a day and 

736
00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,000
required consistent judgment 
throughout to produce nails that

737
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,400
were straight properly headed 
and correct in taper. 

738
00:37:27,000 --> 00:37:29,700
A fish trap frame for one of the
fishermen who works the River 

739
00:37:29,700 --> 00:37:32,300
North of the village with the 
specific proportion. 

740
00:37:32,300 --> 00:37:35,700
He gave you drawn on a piece of 
cedar bark and interpreted by 

741
00:37:35,700 --> 00:37:39,300
you into functional iron. a 
cooking pot hook for a household

742
00:37:39,300 --> 00:37:42,400
that lost theirs in an 
unexplained incident involving a

743
00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,500
fire and a dispute about the 
cause of the fire that you are 

744
00:37:45,500 --> 00:37:49,300
wise, not present for All of 
this is the substance of your 

745
00:37:49,300 --> 00:37:51,500
days. 
None of it will appear in any 

746
00:37:51,500 --> 00:37:54,500
record of artistic achievement. 
All of it makes the village 

747
00:37:54,500 --> 00:37:58,500
function The relationship. 
You hold with each household is 

748
00:37:58,500 --> 00:38:01,800
woven through their material 
needs in a way that accumulates 

749
00:38:01,800 --> 00:38:04,300
slowly into something. 
Resembling genuine knowledge of 

750
00:38:04,308 --> 00:38:07,100
their lives, you know, which 
families maintain their tools 

751
00:38:07,100 --> 00:38:10,100
carefully and which ones bring 
things to you at the last 

752
00:38:10,100 --> 00:38:12,900
possible moment with an 
expression that suggests, they 

753
00:38:12,900 --> 00:38:16,400
have been meaning to come in for
some time, you know, whose half 

754
00:38:16,400 --> 00:38:18,700
forfeiting or original 
construction, from before your 

755
00:38:18,700 --> 00:38:21,500
own time here and are probably 
overdue for replacement. 

756
00:38:22,500 --> 00:38:25,200
You know whose fishing gear 
lives in the kind of environment

757
00:38:25,200 --> 00:38:28,600
that requires more durable iron 
than standard stock and you have

758
00:38:28,608 --> 00:38:30,500
adjusted your approach to their 
commissions. 

759
00:38:30,500 --> 00:38:33,900
Accordingly over the years, the 
carpenter Tanaka brings his 

760
00:38:33,900 --> 00:38:37,800
aides for sharpening at regular 
intervals that are without fail 

761
00:38:37,800 --> 00:38:40,000
slightly later than the ideal 
intervals. 

762
00:38:40,000 --> 00:38:43,500
By the time, they arrived, they 
require noticeably more work 

763
00:38:43,500 --> 00:38:45,000
than they would have needed a 
week earlier. 

764
00:38:45,000 --> 00:38:49,600
You do not mention this, he 
knows The expression on his face

765
00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:51,900
when he hands over the tools, 
does the commentary for him 

766
00:38:51,900 --> 00:38:55,700
Market Days arrive on a cycle. 
Tied to the lunar calendar and 

767
00:38:55,700 --> 00:38:58,800
fill the village with a quality 
of movement and noise that feels

768
00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:02,100
genuinely festive. 
After the quieter rhythms of the

769
00:39:02,100 --> 00:39:06,800
ordinary week, Merchants come 
with cloth, paper saltfish 

770
00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:10,800
Ceramics, occasional small, 
luxuries from City workshops. 

771
00:39:11,500 --> 00:39:14,400
Farmers from surrounding 
settlements, bring produce news 

772
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,600
in roughly equal measure. 
The noise level climbs steadily 

773
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:20,400
through the morning hours and 
reaches a peak around midday 

774
00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:23,200
that you experience a 
stimulating from inside the 

775
00:39:23,208 --> 00:39:26,600
forge and slightly overwhelming.
If you step outside for too 

776
00:39:26,600 --> 00:39:29,400
long, you keep a small selection
of finished pieces. 

777
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:33,500
Near the front of your property 
on Market Days, A well-made Hoe,

778
00:39:33,500 --> 00:39:38,100
balanced and cleanly finished. 
Set of kitchen knives laid out 

779
00:39:38,100 --> 00:39:40,600
on a cloth. 
The most reliably admired 

780
00:39:40,600 --> 00:39:44,000
objects, you produce Perhaps a 
specialty item from a slower 

781
00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:46,800
period, something that 
demonstrates a capability Beyond

782
00:39:46,800 --> 00:39:49,100
daily. 
Utility the display is not 

783
00:39:49,108 --> 00:39:52,300
primarily for your existing 
customers who know you already. 

784
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,400
It is for visitors who might 
need a local Smith or who are 

785
00:39:56,400 --> 00:39:59,300
comparing what different 
workshops produce, the kitchen 

786
00:39:59,300 --> 00:40:01,000
knives. 
Draw the most sustained 

787
00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:02,900
attention. 
There is something in the 

788
00:40:02,908 --> 00:40:05,500
proportions of a good kitchen 
knife that communicates its 

789
00:40:05,500 --> 00:40:08,400
quality directly to the hands of
anyone who has spent years 

790
00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:11,600
working with one the weight 
distribution as you hold it by 

791
00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:14,500
the handle, the way, the blade 
tapers from the spine to the 

792
00:40:14,508 --> 00:40:16,700
edge, the finish of The Cutting 
face. 

793
00:40:17,600 --> 00:40:19,800
Farm women and Fisherman's 
Partners, pick them up with 

794
00:40:19,800 --> 00:40:23,600
immediate familiarity, feel the 
balance shift across the fingers

795
00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:26,400
and make a sound that sits 
somewhere between professional 

796
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:29,000
assessment and suppress desire 
to own the thing. 

797
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:32,000
You have never found a better 
description for this sound. 

798
00:40:32,000 --> 00:40:35,800
It is its own category. 
Your social position in the 

799
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:38,200
village is interesting in a way 
that you rarely think about 

800
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:42,400
directly but would recognize, if
pressed the formal social order 

801
00:40:42,400 --> 00:40:46,200
of this era shaped by Confucian.
Influenced hierarchy places 

802
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:49,100
Crafts People in a respectable 
bracket below the farmer class 

803
00:40:49,100 --> 00:40:52,800
on the logic that farmers 
produce food, and Crafts, People

804
00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:55,100
convert food produced, wealth 
into objects. 

805
00:40:55,800 --> 00:40:57,600
In the actual daily life of the 
village. 

806
00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:00,300
This theoretical positioning 
sits alongside the Practical 

807
00:41:00,300 --> 00:41:02,400
reality. 
That the people who make the 

808
00:41:02,400 --> 00:41:05,300
tools that make the farming 
possible are regarded with 

809
00:41:05,300 --> 00:41:08,000
something considerably warmer 
than secondary status. 

810
00:41:08,000 --> 00:41:11,300
You're not concerned with the 
formal hierarchy, you are busy. 

811
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:14,500
But you are aware that the 
particular nature of your work, 

812
00:41:14,500 --> 00:41:17,700
gives you a kind of knowledge of
the villages in a life that does

813
00:41:17,700 --> 00:41:21,300
not come with most other roles. 
When you forge the fittings, for

814
00:41:21,300 --> 00:41:24,000
a new household, your present at
the beginning of something. 

815
00:41:24,900 --> 00:41:27,300
When you repair a tool that has 
been in a family for two 

816
00:41:27,300 --> 00:41:30,500
generations, you are touching 
that history with your hands. 

817
00:41:30,500 --> 00:41:33,200
When the temple asks you to make
fittings for a new gate or 

818
00:41:33,208 --> 00:41:36,000
brackets for lantern. 
Stand your participating in the 

819
00:41:36,008 --> 00:41:39,700
public face of the communities, 
religious life None of this is 

820
00:41:39,700 --> 00:41:43,400
power in any formal sense. 
It is closer to a form of being 

821
00:41:43,400 --> 00:41:45,300
threaded through the fabric of 
the place. 

822
00:41:45,300 --> 00:41:48,700
So deeply woven into the 
Practical requirements of daily 

823
00:41:48,700 --> 00:41:51,600
life, that your absence would 
leave specific gaps. 

824
00:41:51,600 --> 00:41:54,500
That could not be easily filled.
You carry this? 

825
00:41:54,500 --> 00:41:57,600
Not as Pride, exactly. 
But as a quiet sense of 

826
00:41:57,600 --> 00:42:01,000
obligation that operates below 
the level of daily thought, it 

827
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:04,800
shows up as care in the work, it
shows up as the extra attention,

828
00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:07,500
you give to a tool, you know, 
will be used in difficult 

829
00:42:07,500 --> 00:42:09,900
conditions. 
It shows up as the fact that 

830
00:42:09,900 --> 00:42:13,000
when farmer gotoh came to 
collect his plow Edge this 

831
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,000
afternoon, he turned it over in 
his hands with the expression of

832
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:19,000
someone, doing a genuine 
assessment, rather than a 

833
00:42:19,000 --> 00:42:21,100
polite. 
One and what passed across his 

834
00:42:21,100 --> 00:42:22,600
face. 
When he ran his thumb along, the

835
00:42:22,600 --> 00:42:24,500
edge was exactly what you were 
aiming for. 

836
00:42:24,500 --> 00:42:27,800
He left you a parcel of dried 
Persimmons in addition to the 

837
00:42:27,800 --> 00:42:30,300
coin, which is not part of any 
formal Arrangement. 

838
00:42:30,300 --> 00:42:33,500
It is The Village's way of 
saying something, it does not 

839
00:42:33,500 --> 00:42:37,000
have a specific word for you. 
Put the Persimmons on the Shelf 

840
00:42:37,000 --> 00:42:39,200
of the tool wall. 
There is a moment at the 

841
00:42:39,200 --> 00:42:41,900
beginning of each working 
morning after the tools have 

842
00:42:41,900 --> 00:42:43,500
been checked. 
But before the first piece of 

843
00:42:43,500 --> 00:42:46,600
iron goes into the fire that 
sits slightly apart from the 

844
00:42:46,600 --> 00:42:50,200
routine surrounding it, you 
stand at the half to the left of

845
00:42:50,200 --> 00:42:51,800
where you work, mounted on the 
wall. 

846
00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:54,500
At roughly shoulder height is a 
small wooden shelf. 

847
00:42:54,500 --> 00:42:58,000
You build and fitted yourself 
some years ago on it you place 

848
00:42:58,000 --> 00:43:01,300
each morning. 
Two offerings, a pinch of coarse

849
00:43:01,300 --> 00:43:03,400
salt folded into a small piece 
of paper. 

850
00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:06,100
A few grains of raw rice in a 
shallow. 

851
00:43:06,100 --> 00:43:08,300
Ceramic dish. 
That has held this same purpose.

852
00:43:08,300 --> 00:43:11,100
Since before you remember you, 
press your hands together. 

853
00:43:11,100 --> 00:43:14,200
Bow your head and hold the 
position for the length of a 

854
00:43:14,200 --> 00:43:16,000
slow breath. 
Then you begin. 

855
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:18,700
This takes less time than 
checking the Bellows. 

856
00:43:18,700 --> 00:43:22,700
It is not a long ceremony but it
is not something you abbreviate 

857
00:43:22,700 --> 00:43:25,400
when you're running late and it 
is not something you can 

858
00:43:25,400 --> 00:43:27,000
consider doing. 
Without when the morning is 

859
00:43:27,000 --> 00:43:29,600
difficult or the day ahead, 
looks complicated. 

860
00:43:29,600 --> 00:43:33,600
If anything, the complicated 
mornings, make it more necessary

861
00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,300
rather than less. 
The relationship between the 

862
00:43:36,300 --> 00:43:38,700
forge and Shinto. 
Belief is old in the way that 

863
00:43:38,700 --> 00:43:42,000
the oldest relationships always 
are, which is to say, layered 

864
00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:45,800
not entirely tied and resistant 
to the kind of simple summary 

865
00:43:45,800 --> 00:43:48,300
that satisfies people who were 
not raised inside it. 

866
00:43:49,100 --> 00:43:52,200
Fire in the Shinto understanding
of the world is not simply a 

867
00:43:52,200 --> 00:43:55,500
chemical reaction. 
It is inhabited, it carries 

868
00:43:55,500 --> 00:43:57,900
within it. 
The presence of a commie a 

869
00:43:57,900 --> 00:44:00,600
Divine animating Spirit whose 
nature is not separate from the 

870
00:44:00,600 --> 00:44:04,600
fire but expressed through it. 
The same is true of iron of 

871
00:44:04,600 --> 00:44:07,900
water of the wind moving through
the valley outside your door. 

872
00:44:07,900 --> 00:44:11,000
The world of the Shinto 
practitioner is not a world of 

873
00:44:11,000 --> 00:44:14,100
dead matter occasionally 
influenced by Divine beings from

874
00:44:14,100 --> 00:44:16,500
a separate realm. 
It is a world in which the 

875
00:44:16,500 --> 00:44:19,300
sacred and the material of the 
same substance in different 

876
00:44:19,300 --> 00:44:22,900
Arrangements, approaching the 
forge requires preparation that 

877
00:44:22,900 --> 00:44:26,000
goes beyond the physical This is
the reasoning behind the 

878
00:44:26,000 --> 00:44:29,100
purification practices that 
govern metal working Traditions 

879
00:44:29,100 --> 00:44:32,100
across the archipelago. 
The restrictions around, certain

880
00:44:32,100 --> 00:44:36,000
foods that are required state of
bodily cleanliness, the 

881
00:44:36,000 --> 00:44:38,600
protocols around, who enters the
forge space during significant 

882
00:44:38,600 --> 00:44:41,100
work. 
These are not arbitrary rules 

883
00:44:41,100 --> 00:44:42,600
imposed from outside the 
practice. 

884
00:44:42,600 --> 00:44:45,000
They are the practical 
consequence of taking. 

885
00:44:45,000 --> 00:44:47,900
Seriously, the idea that your 
interior state is continuous 

886
00:44:47,900 --> 00:44:50,800
with the quality of your work. 
The Kami, most closely 

887
00:44:50,800 --> 00:44:54,400
associated with the forge and 
with metalworking crafting, Argo

888
00:44:54,400 --> 00:44:57,500
whose attributes and gender vary
somewhat, depending on the 

889
00:44:57,500 --> 00:45:00,700
regional tradition, telling the 
story but who is consistently 

890
00:45:00,700 --> 00:45:03,600
understood as present in the 
Ford particular about the 

891
00:45:03,600 --> 00:45:06,400
conditions of the work and 
directly connected to whether 

892
00:45:06,400 --> 00:45:10,900
things go well or go badly. in 
some Regional variations can he 

893
00:45:10,900 --> 00:45:14,900
Argo is understood to be sent to
pollution in a ritual sense and 

894
00:45:14,900 --> 00:45:17,600
certain behaviors or states are 
considered incompatible with 

895
00:45:17,600 --> 00:45:21,900
good work under her attention In
the tradition, you erased in the

896
00:45:21,900 --> 00:45:25,600
emphasis Falls primarily on 
sincerity of purpose and Clarity

897
00:45:25,600 --> 00:45:28,400
of attention. 
Come to the forge in the right 

898
00:45:28,400 --> 00:45:31,100
frame of mind with the right 
intention and without the 

899
00:45:31,100 --> 00:45:34,300
residue of unresolved anger or 
distraction on clouding, your 

900
00:45:34,300 --> 00:45:38,000
focus and the work will benefit 
your own experience is 

901
00:45:38,000 --> 00:45:41,300
consistent with this principle 
with the full admission that you

902
00:45:41,308 --> 00:45:43,900
cannot prove whether the 
mechanism is divine Assistance 

903
00:45:43,900 --> 00:45:47,500
or simply the physics of what 
happens when a crafts person 

904
00:45:47,500 --> 00:45:50,800
Works in a state of full 
attention versus divided 

905
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:53,800
attention. 
What you can say with confidence

906
00:45:53,800 --> 00:45:56,000
is that on the mornings. 
When you arrive at the half 

907
00:45:56,000 --> 00:45:58,500
carrying some unfinished, 
argument from the previous 

908
00:45:58,500 --> 00:46:01,800
evening or some anxiety about a 
commission that is not going as 

909
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:04,200
planned. 
The fire does not behave 

910
00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:06,600
differently. 
The iron does not change its 

911
00:46:06,600 --> 00:46:10,500
properties but the work that 
emerges is notably less than the

912
00:46:10,500 --> 00:46:13,800
work that comes from a morning 
when your mind is settled and 

913
00:46:13,800 --> 00:46:17,200
your hands are ready. 
The distinction between these 

914
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,900
two outcomes is real and 
observable whether it is Connie 

915
00:46:20,900 --> 00:46:23,300
with drawing her Assistance or a
distracted crafts. 

916
00:46:23,300 --> 00:46:26,600
Person producing distracted work
is in terms of the Practical 

917
00:46:26,600 --> 00:46:29,900
effect on the finished piece. 
Not a distinction that changes 

918
00:46:29,900 --> 00:46:32,300
what you need to do. 
You need to arrive with your 

919
00:46:32,300 --> 00:46:34,900
attention in order. 
The morning, ritual is one of 

920
00:46:34,908 --> 00:46:38,400
the ways you ensure that you do 
the records associated, with the

921
00:46:38,400 --> 00:46:41,900
highest tier of Japanese craft 
particularly the swordsmith, 

922
00:46:41,900 --> 00:46:44,500
Traditions describe elaborate 
proprietary. 

923
00:46:44,500 --> 00:46:47,500
Protocols, that extend this 
basic principle to its fullest 

924
00:46:47,500 --> 00:46:50,500
expression. 
Periods of ritual purification 

925
00:46:50,500 --> 00:46:53,800
before major work, sacred rope 
and paper offerings. 

926
00:46:53,800 --> 00:46:56,800
Hung at the entrance to the 
forge space prayer at the 

927
00:46:56,800 --> 00:46:59,400
lighting of the fire. 
The understanding that a 

928
00:46:59,408 --> 00:47:01,100
finished blade carries within 
it. 

929
00:47:01,100 --> 00:47:04,600
The inner state of the person 
who made it not a Superstition 

930
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:08,100
but as the natural result of 
sustained focused crossed, 

931
00:47:08,700 --> 00:47:11,700
You're making agricultural tools
and gate fittings, not 

932
00:47:11,700 --> 00:47:14,800
ceremonial blades. 
But you find this understanding 

933
00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:17,100
applies at every level if you 
are willing to take it 

934
00:47:17,100 --> 00:47:20,900
seriously, the plow Edge that 
farmer gotoh collected today 

935
00:47:20,900 --> 00:47:24,600
will be used in the fields for 
several seasons, it will meet 

936
00:47:24,600 --> 00:47:26,300
the earth, a thousand times or 
more. 

937
00:47:26,300 --> 00:47:29,700
The quality of attention you 
brought to its making is present

938
00:47:29,700 --> 00:47:32,300
in it in ways that will Express 
themselves through its working 

939
00:47:32,300 --> 00:47:36,100
life in how cleanly, it meets 
the ground and whether it holds 

940
00:47:36,100 --> 00:47:39,000
its Edge under difficult 
conditions and whether it can be

941
00:47:39,000 --> 00:47:41,700
sharp and evenly. 
When the time comes, the god of 

942
00:47:41,708 --> 00:47:45,000
fire in the oldest creation 
accounts, kagutsuchi, whose 

943
00:47:45,000 --> 00:47:48,300
birth cause such grief in the 
world of the Army is understood 

944
00:47:48,300 --> 00:47:51,800
as both the force that destroys 
and the force, that makes new 

945
00:47:51,800 --> 00:47:54,500
things possible. 
The Duality is not a 

946
00:47:54,500 --> 00:47:57,600
contradiction but a description 
of what fire actually does. 

947
00:47:57,600 --> 00:48:01,400
It consumes what was and creates
the conditions for what comes 

948
00:48:01,400 --> 00:48:05,500
next? 
The forge is in this sense, a 

949
00:48:05,500 --> 00:48:08,000
place of transformation 
appointed in the world. 

950
00:48:08,000 --> 00:48:11,400
Where one state of matter is 
converted into another, through 

951
00:48:11,400 --> 00:48:13,200
the agency of heat and human 
skill. 

952
00:48:13,200 --> 00:48:16,200
And in the understanding of the 
tradition, that shape your 

953
00:48:16,200 --> 00:48:19,400
approach to the craft, the 
presence of the divine, within 

954
00:48:19,400 --> 00:48:22,900
the material itself, your second
Apprentice who works with you 

955
00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:25,100
several days each week when the 
commission load demands. 

956
00:48:25,100 --> 00:48:27,900
It asked, you want what the 
morning offerings were actually 

957
00:48:27,900 --> 00:48:30,600
Four. 
He was genuinely curious rather 

958
00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:33,200
than skeptical, which made the 
question worth answering 

959
00:48:33,200 --> 00:48:35,900
carefully. 
You told him that the offerings 

960
00:48:35,900 --> 00:48:38,500
were a way of beginning 
correctly, a way of 

961
00:48:38,500 --> 00:48:40,800
acknowledging that you are 
asking the fire to do something 

962
00:48:40,800 --> 00:48:44,000
on your behalf and that this 
asking was worth a moment of 

963
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:47,700
formal recognition. 
He sat with this answer for a 

964
00:48:47,700 --> 00:48:50,800
moment, turning it over with the
same expression he uses when 

965
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:52,800
reading a new piece of iron for 
the first time. 

966
00:48:53,900 --> 00:48:56,800
Then he nodded and you could 
tell that the answer had found 

967
00:48:56,800 --> 00:48:59,900
something in him that was 
already half-formed and waiting.

968
00:49:01,400 --> 00:49:04,300
The light inside the forge in 
the late afternoon is different 

969
00:49:04,300 --> 00:49:06,500
from the morning, light, in a 
way that you have observed for 

970
00:49:06,500 --> 00:49:08,800
years without quite reaching the
end of what it means. 

971
00:49:08,800 --> 00:49:12,100
The morning light comes in low 
and direct through the open door

972
00:49:12,100 --> 00:49:15,100
lying across the floor. 
In a narrow bar that gradually 

973
00:49:15,100 --> 00:49:18,400
widened as the sun. 
Climbs the afternoon like comes 

974
00:49:18,400 --> 00:49:22,300
in at a longer angle wider and 
more golden flying across a 

975
00:49:22,300 --> 00:49:25,000
greater area of the floor with 
less intensity and more warmth. 

976
00:49:25,700 --> 00:49:28,400
By late after noon, it reaches 
almost to the base of the half 

977
00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:31,300
and the whole interior of the 
forge takes on a color. 

978
00:49:31,300 --> 00:49:34,000
That makes the old Swift on the 
walls look almost Amber rather 

979
00:49:34,000 --> 00:49:37,200
than black the gate fastening 
for your neighbor, a cooling in 

980
00:49:37,200 --> 00:49:40,000
their role on the ledge. 
They are not remarkable objects.

981
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:43,500
A person could walk past them 
without a Second Glance and be 

982
00:49:43,500 --> 00:49:47,100
entirely right to do so. 
But you pick one up and turn it 

983
00:49:47,100 --> 00:49:49,700
in your hands. 
And what you see is a ring that 

984
00:49:49,700 --> 00:49:53,000
closes cleanly, a hook with a 
proportional, Curve, Your Eye 

985
00:49:53,000 --> 00:49:56,100
approves of a surface that is 
even and properly finished. 

986
00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:00,300
These are the marks of work done
with attention and care and that

987
00:50:00,300 --> 00:50:01,700
is precisely what they should 
be. 

988
00:50:01,700 --> 00:50:05,200
You set it back down. 
The fire does not go out all at 

989
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:07,300
once. 
This is a plain fact about the 

990
00:50:07,300 --> 00:50:10,400
physics of combustion and the 
thermal mass of a well-built 

991
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,000
forge half. 
And yet, it is worth sitting 

992
00:50:13,000 --> 00:50:15,500
with rather than simply 
accepting as background 

993
00:50:15,500 --> 00:50:18,800
information. 
The transition from Full working

994
00:50:18,800 --> 00:50:22,100
heat to cold. 
Ash is a long gradual process, a

995
00:50:22,100 --> 00:50:24,700
slow relinquishment of energy 
that takes most of the evening 

996
00:50:24,700 --> 00:50:27,900
to complete. 
On most working days, your 

997
00:50:27,900 --> 00:50:29,500
present for a good portion of 
it. 

998
00:50:29,500 --> 00:50:32,600
The last piece of finished work 
left the forge before the 

999
00:50:32,600 --> 00:50:34,400
afternoon light reached its 
lowest angle. 

1000
00:50:35,300 --> 00:50:38,600
Farmer gotoh came himself for 
the plow Edge arriving, with the

1001
00:50:38,608 --> 00:50:41,500
Quiet, purposefulness of someone
who has been thinking about this

1002
00:50:41,500 --> 00:50:44,600
era and all day, and is now in 
the satisfying business of 

1003
00:50:44,600 --> 00:50:47,600
completing it. 
He assessed the piece with 

1004
00:50:47,600 --> 00:50:51,100
genuine attention, ran his thumb
Along The Cutting Edge in the 

1005
00:50:51,100 --> 00:50:54,000
careful way of someone who has 
spent decades judging the 

1006
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:56,700
quality of blades against the 
resistance of Earth and Route 

1007
00:50:56,700 --> 00:50:59,100
and stone. 
His expression shifted through 

1008
00:50:59,100 --> 00:51:02,800
several stages of evaluation 
arriving eventually at something

1009
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:05,900
that required no commentary. 
He handed you the dried 

1010
00:51:05,900 --> 00:51:09,200
Persimmons in addition to the 
agreed payment set, a brief 

1011
00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:12,100
farewell and walked back down 
the path toward the River 

1012
00:51:12,100 --> 00:51:14,100
Terrace. 
We put the Persimmons on the 

1013
00:51:14,100 --> 00:51:17,000
Shelf. 
The closing sequence of the day,

1014
00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:20,300
has its own established logic, 
mirroring the opening in the way

1015
00:51:20,300 --> 00:51:23,000
that the end of any well 
considered system mirrors its 

1016
00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:25,400
beginning. 
The tools that were inactive 

1017
00:51:25,400 --> 00:51:28,000
used during working hours, come 
down, from their positions and 

1018
00:51:28,000 --> 00:51:29,600
go back to their stored 
positions. 

1019
00:51:30,300 --> 00:51:33,000
The Hammers get wiped clean of 
the scale that accumulates on 

1020
00:51:33,000 --> 00:51:37,200
the face during the Working Day.
Thin layer of iron oxide that 

1021
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:40,600
flakes off the heated metal 
during hammering and lands on 

1022
00:51:40,600 --> 00:51:43,700
every nearby surface with 
Democratic impartiality. 

1023
00:51:43,700 --> 00:51:46,900
The tong Jaws are checked once 
more, not because they are 

1024
00:51:46,900 --> 00:51:49,600
likely to have changed since 
morning, but because the habit 

1025
00:51:49,600 --> 00:51:53,300
of checking done, consistently 
is what keeps small problems 

1026
00:51:53,300 --> 00:51:57,200
from becoming large ones. 
Your Apprentice swept the floor 

1027
00:51:57,200 --> 00:52:00,000
before he left for the evening, 
doing it with the particular 

1028
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:02,600
thoroughness of a person who was
aware that the quality of his 

1029
00:52:02,600 --> 00:52:05,300
sweet will still be visible 
tomorrow morning, when someone 

1030
00:52:05,300 --> 00:52:08,700
capable of assessing it arrives,
this is good Instinct. 

1031
00:52:08,700 --> 00:52:12,700
You said nothing about it to him
directly that the fact that he 

1032
00:52:12,700 --> 00:52:15,600
has moved from doing the floor 
sweep quickly and carelessly in 

1033
00:52:15,600 --> 00:52:17,000
his first weeks to doing it 
well. 

1034
00:52:17,000 --> 00:52:20,400
And without needing to be 
reminded represents a trajectory

1035
00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:23,000
that is heading in exactly the 
right direction. 

1036
00:52:23,900 --> 00:52:26,800
He left with a bow that was 
noticeably less formal than his 

1037
00:52:26,800 --> 00:52:30,000
morning arrival, which you 
interpret as a sign that the day

1038
00:52:30,000 --> 00:52:32,900
spent working actually worked. 
He was still performing 

1039
00:52:32,900 --> 00:52:36,000
composure at eight in the 
morning by five in the afternoon

1040
00:52:36,000 --> 00:52:38,400
he was simply present which is 
much more useful. 

1041
00:52:38,400 --> 00:52:41,900
You carry both water buckets to 
the well in the last of the good

1042
00:52:41,900 --> 00:52:45,200
light The well, is on the east 
side of your property, close to 

1043
00:52:45,208 --> 00:52:47,500
the Garden, your neighbor 
maintains along the shared 

1044
00:52:47,500 --> 00:52:49,200
boundary line and the walk 
there. 

1045
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:52,100
And back, gives you a few 
minutes of open air and the view

1046
00:52:52,100 --> 00:52:55,000
across the lower paddies to the 
tree line on the opposite side 

1047
00:52:55,000 --> 00:52:58,200
of the valley. 
The paddies at this time of year

1048
00:52:58,200 --> 00:53:00,900
are a particular shade of green 
that exists for only a few 

1049
00:53:00,908 --> 00:53:03,400
weeks, a bright saturated 
growth. 

1050
00:53:04,100 --> 00:53:06,800
Green that catches whatever 
remains of the afternoon, light 

1051
00:53:06,800 --> 00:53:09,100
and holds it. 
Like it intends to keep it. 

1052
00:53:09,900 --> 00:53:12,900
You look at it while you wait 
for the bucket to fill the water

1053
00:53:12,900 --> 00:53:16,300
goes into the barrel. 
You replace the wooden lid, your

1054
00:53:16,300 --> 00:53:19,500
evening meal is eaten outside. 
On the low step beside the 4G 

1055
00:53:19,500 --> 00:53:23,200
entrance in what has become over
the years, one of your preferred

1056
00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,800
times of day, Rice with pickled 
and burdock root. 

1057
00:53:26,800 --> 00:53:28,600
A piece of dried fish called 
tea. 

1058
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:31,900
Nothing elaborate The 
combination of physical 

1059
00:53:31,900 --> 00:53:33,900
tiredness and clear, mental 
quiet. 

1060
00:53:33,900 --> 00:53:36,200
That characterizes the end of a 
well-spent day. 

1061
00:53:36,200 --> 00:53:39,700
Makes plain food tastes like 
exactly what it is, which is 

1062
00:53:39,700 --> 00:53:42,600
sufficient. 
You eat without haste without 

1063
00:53:42,600 --> 00:53:45,900
particular, thought watching the
smoke from the covered Hearth 

1064
00:53:45,900 --> 00:53:49,500
rise in a thin steady column 
above the roofline, The Village 

1065
00:53:49,500 --> 00:53:52,700
settles into evening around, you
cooking, fires in the 

1066
00:53:52,700 --> 00:53:56,100
neighboring houses produce their
own threads of smoke that rise 

1067
00:53:56,100 --> 00:53:59,600
and drift in the still air. 
The smell of the mixes with the 

1068
00:53:59,600 --> 00:54:03,200
cool iron and Ash of your own 
Forge into the specific 

1069
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:06,600
olfactory texture of this hour. 
In this place that has been 

1070
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:09,000
continuous in your life for as 
long as you can. 

1071
00:54:09,000 --> 00:54:13,700
Clearly remember, Voices carry 
from the nearby households and 

1072
00:54:13,700 --> 00:54:16,300
the way that voices do, when the
general noise of the day as 

1073
00:54:16,300 --> 00:54:20,500
dropped away, not their words, 
but their tones, the relaxed and

1074
00:54:20,500 --> 00:54:23,500
unguarded quality of people who 
have finished their public 

1075
00:54:23,500 --> 00:54:25,200
duties and return to the 
themselves. 

1076
00:54:25,200 --> 00:54:27,100
Somewhere a child is being 
called. 

1077
00:54:27,100 --> 00:54:29,900
In from somewhere, they would 
rather remain, you finish your 

1078
00:54:29,900 --> 00:54:32,900
meal, set the bowl down on the 
step and sit, for a moment, with

1079
00:54:32,900 --> 00:54:34,300
your hands, Loosely on your 
knees. 

1080
00:54:35,300 --> 00:54:38,300
The quality of tiredness you 
carry right now is not the Halo 

1081
00:54:38,300 --> 00:54:40,800
depleted. 
Tiredness of a day spent without

1082
00:54:40,800 --> 00:54:43,700
purpose. 
It is the specific weight of a 

1083
00:54:43,700 --> 00:54:46,500
body that has done real physical
work in service of real 

1084
00:54:46,500 --> 00:54:49,000
outcomes. 
And there is a satisfaction in 

1085
00:54:49,000 --> 00:54:52,300
this that sits quietly alongside
the tiredness rather than being 

1086
00:54:52,300 --> 00:54:55,500
obscured by it. 
You go back into the forge for 

1087
00:54:55,500 --> 00:54:58,700
the last inspection. 
The Hearthfire has dropped to a 

1088
00:54:58,700 --> 00:55:02,600
deep orange bed of coals glowing
without visible flame producing 

1089
00:55:02,600 --> 00:55:04,400
heat. 
That still radiates outward, 

1090
00:55:04,400 --> 00:55:07,600
clearly enough to feel on your 
extended Palm from three hand 

1091
00:55:07,600 --> 00:55:10,400
lengths away. 
You do not extinguish the coals 

1092
00:55:10,400 --> 00:55:12,700
entirely. 
The covered fire that retains 

1093
00:55:12,700 --> 00:55:16,300
its heat overnight requires far 
less Fuel and far less time to 

1094
00:55:16,300 --> 00:55:19,000
reach working temperature. 
The next morning, then a cold 

1095
00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:22,300
half started from nothing and 
the stone lining endures. 

1096
00:55:22,300 --> 00:55:24,700
The gradual cycle of retained 
warmth and early morning 

1097
00:55:24,700 --> 00:55:28,100
rebuilding better than the sharp
thermal shock of a cold start. 

1098
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:31,100
You cover the coals with a layer
of ash from the edge of the 

1099
00:55:31,100 --> 00:55:33,200
half. 
Using the long handle Dash. 

1100
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:36,600
Rake reducing the airflow enough
to slow the burning to an end as

1101
00:55:36,608 --> 00:55:38,800
Pace without stopping it 
tomorrow morning. 

1102
00:55:38,800 --> 00:55:40,800
Three pumps of the Bellows will 
bring it back. 

1103
00:55:40,800 --> 00:55:44,200
You disconnect the Bells from 
the two year and hang the 

1104
00:55:44,200 --> 00:55:45,600
assembly in its storage 
position. 

1105
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:49,100
The leather holds better with 
air circulation overnight than 

1106
00:55:49,100 --> 00:55:51,900
with the nozzle still attached, 
which you learned through a 

1107
00:55:51,900 --> 00:55:55,200
cracked and prematurely aging 
seals some years ago and have 

1108
00:55:55,200 --> 00:55:58,600
not repeated since you strike 
them, the charcoal stack, your 

1109
00:55:58,600 --> 00:56:01,400
Apprentice brought in the 
morning, pulling the a regular 

1110
00:56:01,400 --> 00:56:03,100
pieces back into their orderly 
arrangement. 

1111
00:56:03,100 --> 00:56:06,500
So that tomorrow's selection is 
quick and deliberate rather than

1112
00:56:06,500 --> 00:56:10,900
exploratory You check the tool 
wall of final time running your 

1113
00:56:10,900 --> 00:56:12,700
eye. 
Along the Hammers, the tongs, 

1114
00:56:12,700 --> 00:56:15,200
The Specialist tools hanging at 
the far end. 

1115
00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:18,700
Everything is where it belongs. 
Everything is ready. 

1116
00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:23,300
You step back and look at the 
forge, the light from the 

1117
00:56:23,300 --> 00:56:26,300
covered coals is the only light 
in the building now, lower Amber

1118
00:56:26,300 --> 00:56:29,200
moving slightly with the small 
shifts in the coals. 

1119
00:56:29,200 --> 00:56:32,500
Beneath the ash The anvils worn 
face holds the glow on its 

1120
00:56:32,500 --> 00:56:36,600
surface in the way that iron 
holds light absorbing it and 

1121
00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:39,400
releasing it warmed. 
The Hamas on their hooks are 

1122
00:56:39,408 --> 00:56:42,200
dark. 
Outlines the swept floor, still 

1123
00:56:42,200 --> 00:56:44,400
faintly warm from the days heat,
reflects nothing. 

1124
00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:48,000
The whole Space has the quality 
of something that has completed 

1125
00:56:48,000 --> 00:56:51,300
its purpose and settled into a 
patient version of itself. 

1126
00:56:51,300 --> 00:56:55,700
Not a band and not empty, but 
finished for the day and resting

1127
00:56:55,700 --> 00:56:59,000
in that completion. 
You closed the wide door and 

1128
00:56:59,000 --> 00:57:02,200
latch it from outside. 
The 30 Paces back to your 

1129
00:57:02,200 --> 00:57:04,400
sleeping quarters field 
different at night than they do.

1130
00:57:04,400 --> 00:57:07,800
It Dawn. 
The path is familiar enough that

1131
00:57:07,800 --> 00:57:09,300
your feet. 
Find it without the Need For 

1132
00:57:09,300 --> 00:57:12,600
Thought, leaving your attention,
free to go where it wants to go.

1133
00:57:13,700 --> 00:57:16,400
The air has cooled substantially
and carries the distinct 

1134
00:57:16,400 --> 00:57:19,300
nighttime version of the valley,
smell the rice paddies more 

1135
00:57:19,300 --> 00:57:21,600
pronounced. 
The pine from the Hillside Mall,

1136
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:24,800
resonance the garden along the 
neighboring, boundary releasing 

1137
00:57:24,800 --> 00:57:27,800
the particular fragrance that 
some plants save specifically 

1138
00:57:27,800 --> 00:57:30,500
for Darkness. 
You stop in the open ground 

1139
00:57:30,500 --> 00:57:34,000
between the forge and your door 
and look up the sky above a 

1140
00:57:34,000 --> 00:57:36,400
village without artificial. 
Light is not something that 

1141
00:57:36,400 --> 00:57:38,300
translates easily into 
description. 

1142
00:57:38,300 --> 00:57:42,200
It is simply there in full the 
complete weight of a clear night

1143
00:57:42,200 --> 00:57:45,400
sky with no competition. 
The Stars present in their 

1144
00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:48,300
actual numbers rather than the 
reduced and Faded version that 

1145
00:57:48,300 --> 00:57:52,300
lives above cities and towns. 
Familiar shapes the River of 

1146
00:57:52,300 --> 00:57:55,600
Light asking from Horizon, to 
Horizon the Clusters, and 

1147
00:57:55,600 --> 00:57:58,000
formations your grandmother 
pointed out to you by name. 

1148
00:57:58,000 --> 00:58:00,800
When you were too young to 
appreciate the gift and old 

1149
00:58:00,800 --> 00:58:02,700
enough now to be quietly 
grateful for it. 

1150
00:58:02,700 --> 00:58:06,300
None of this particular sky has 
any interest in whether the gate

1151
00:58:06,300 --> 00:58:09,800
fastening was completed today. 
The distance between those 

1152
00:58:09,800 --> 00:58:13,200
burning points of light and the 
finished ironing on a Ledge. 

1153
00:58:13,200 --> 00:58:16,400
In a provincial Village Forge is
the kind of distance that makes 

1154
00:58:16,400 --> 00:58:19,300
categories like important and 
unimportant feel like the small 

1155
00:58:19,300 --> 00:58:22,200
local Arrangements, they 
actually are All of it. 

1156
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:26,800
Every moment of this day was 
only here only yours only the 

1157
00:58:26,800 --> 00:58:29,000
iron and The Fire And The 
Apprentice correcting. 

1158
00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:31,700
His Bellows Rhythm and the 
farmer running, his thumb along 

1159
00:58:31,700 --> 00:58:33,900
the edge of a piece you made 
with the full attention, you had

1160
00:58:33,900 --> 00:58:37,400
to give that is the complete 
list of what happened today. 

1161
00:58:37,400 --> 00:58:42,300
It is as good list inside the 
matters waiting, the room is 

1162
00:58:42,308 --> 00:58:45,700
dark and cool and smells of 
Cedar and old cloth, and the 

1163
00:58:45,700 --> 00:58:47,600
faint trace of forged smoke. 
That has worked. 

1164
00:58:47,608 --> 00:58:50,300
Its way permanently into the 
fabric of everything, you own 

1165
00:58:50,300 --> 00:58:53,400
and everything. 
You are, you ease yourself down 

1166
00:58:53,400 --> 00:58:56,100
onto the mat with the unhurried,
deliberateness of a body that 

1167
00:58:56,100 --> 00:58:59,400
knows it to turned, its rest, 
and is not in a hurry to waste 

1168
00:58:59,400 --> 00:59:02,300
the experience. 
Outside, the village makes its 

1169
00:59:02,300 --> 00:59:05,500
night sound the tree frogs along
the irrigation Channel. 

1170
00:59:06,300 --> 00:59:09,600
Occasional shift of a horse. 
In a nearby stable, the steady 

1171
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:12,800
quiet of a community that has 
finished its day and released 

1172
00:59:12,800 --> 00:59:16,100
itself from the particular 
effort of being awake in the 

1173
00:59:16,100 --> 00:59:18,900
Forge, the coals under their 
blanket of Asher sleeping. 

1174
00:59:18,900 --> 00:59:22,000
The tools are hanging in their 
places patient and ready. 

1175
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:25,300
And you do the thing that all 
tired body is to eventually when

1176
00:59:25,300 --> 00:59:28,200
the work is done and the fire is
covered and the dark outside is 

1177
00:59:28,200 --> 00:59:32,400
the full dark of genuine Knight.
You close your eyes From the 

1178
00:59:32,408 --> 00:59:35,600
day, which was an ordinary one 
folds itself quietly away. 

1179
00:59:36,300 --> 00:59:38,200
Sleep. 
Well, my tired half keepers. 

1180
00:59:43,500 --> 00:59:46,600
You're sitting in a cave 
entrance on a hillside in what 

1181
00:59:46,600 --> 00:59:49,300
will someday be called County, 
Clare Ireland. 

1182
00:59:49,300 --> 00:59:52,400
The ear doesn't matter because 
years haven't been invented yet,

1183
00:59:52,400 --> 00:59:56,700
but the season does its deep 
winter and the sun has just 

1184
00:59:56,700 --> 00:59:58,900
slipped below the Western 
Horizon around four. 

1185
00:59:58,900 --> 01:00:02,700
In the afternoon, your breath 
makes small clouds in the frigid

1186
01:00:02,700 --> 01:00:06,300
air and your fingers are already
going numb despite the sheepskin

1187
01:00:06,300 --> 01:00:10,500
wrapped around your shoulders. 
Behind you deeper in the cave. 

1188
01:00:10,500 --> 01:00:12,400
Someone has been tending. 
The fire all day. 

1189
01:00:12,400 --> 01:00:15,600
This isn't just any fire, it's 
the fire. 

1190
01:00:15,600 --> 01:00:18,300
The one, your family group is 
kept alive for three 

1191
01:00:18,300 --> 01:00:21,400
generations. 
You know this because your 

1192
01:00:21,400 --> 01:00:24,800
grandmother told you and her, 
grandmother told her the fire 

1193
01:00:24,800 --> 01:00:27,900
predates, everyone's memory a 
living thing that demands 

1194
01:00:27,900 --> 01:00:31,100
constant attention. 
Let it die and you'll spend 

1195
01:00:31,100 --> 01:00:34,100
hours trying to Cope's new 
Flames from a friction drill and

1196
01:00:34,100 --> 01:00:35,300
a piece of dried. 
Fungus. 

1197
01:00:35,300 --> 01:00:39,900
Your arms aching your patience 
worn thin as birch bark, 

1198
01:00:41,500 --> 01:00:45,300
Firelight doesn't reach far 
perhaps 15 feet from the half, 

1199
01:00:45,300 --> 01:00:49,200
maybe 20 if someone's just added
fresh pine logs that spit and 

1200
01:00:49,200 --> 01:00:52,000
crackle enthusiastically beyond 
that radius. 

1201
01:00:52,000 --> 01:00:54,200
The darkness isn't just an 
absence of light. 

1202
01:00:55,200 --> 01:00:59,000
Presence something thicken alive
that presses against your small 

1203
01:00:59,000 --> 01:01:02,100
circle of warmth. 
You can hear things moving out 

1204
01:01:02,100 --> 01:01:04,800
there in the winter night. 
Probably just a fox. 

1205
01:01:04,800 --> 01:01:08,700
Hopefully, just a fox. 
Your cousin is rotating a bunch 

1206
01:01:08,700 --> 01:01:11,200
of venison over the flames and 
the smell makes your stomach 

1207
01:01:11,200 --> 01:01:14,600
clenched with hunger. 
Fire like plays across her face,

1208
01:01:14,600 --> 01:01:17,800
making her features shift and 
dance in the shadows. 

1209
01:01:17,800 --> 01:01:22,900
In this light, everyone looks 
different older stranger, like, 

1210
01:01:22,900 --> 01:01:25,100
versions of themselves from some
other world. 

1211
01:01:25,900 --> 01:01:30,200
The Flames creator of Shadows on
the cave walls, enormous and 

1212
01:01:30,200 --> 01:01:34,900
distorted turning simple human 
gestures in to Mythic pantomime 

1213
01:01:34,900 --> 01:01:37,400
file. 
Was Humanity's first, great 

1214
01:01:37,400 --> 01:01:41,000
technology, more important than 
the wheel and more revolutionary

1215
01:01:41,000 --> 01:01:44,600
than agriculture before. 
Fire, your species huddled in 

1216
01:01:44,600 --> 01:01:49,500
darkness 12 hours out of every 
24 Vaughn to everything with 

1217
01:01:49,500 --> 01:01:51,400
sharp teeth and better night 
vision. 

1218
01:01:52,500 --> 01:01:55,000
After the fire, you'd pushed 
back the darkness. 

1219
01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:57,800
Just enough to create a space 
that was yours. 

1220
01:01:57,800 --> 01:02:03,200
Not Conquered never that but 
negotiated with An agreement 

1221
01:02:03,200 --> 01:02:06,700
between humanity and the night. 
The half is never just about 

1222
01:02:06,700 --> 01:02:09,300
light though. 
Light is certainly part of its 

1223
01:02:09,300 --> 01:02:11,100
magic. 
It's about heat. 

1224
01:02:11,100 --> 01:02:14,500
Yes. 
And Keeping Predators nervous 

1225
01:02:14,500 --> 01:02:15,700
enough to maintain their 
distance. 

1226
01:02:16,400 --> 01:02:20,000
But watch how everyone arranges 
themselves around it always 

1227
01:02:20,000 --> 01:02:24,700
facing inward backs to the 
protected cave wall, eyes drawn 

1228
01:02:24,700 --> 01:02:27,200
to the Flames. 
Fire is Hypnotic. 

1229
01:02:27,200 --> 01:02:30,400
You could watch it for hours and
sometimes you do because there's

1230
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:33,400
not much else to do once 
Darkness Falls in the days, work

1231
01:02:33,400 --> 01:02:36,000
is finished. 
Firelight is intimate. 

1232
01:02:36,000 --> 01:02:39,700
It only reaches so far creating 
a boundary between your group 

1233
01:02:39,700 --> 01:02:42,500
and everything else. 
Inside this circle of 

1234
01:02:42,500 --> 01:02:46,300
Illumination, you're safe, warm 
and fed. 

1235
01:02:47,200 --> 01:02:50,200
Outside it. 
The world is full of things that

1236
01:02:50,200 --> 01:02:52,900
would happily eat you. 
This is the first human 

1237
01:02:52,900 --> 01:02:55,900
experience of inside versus 
outside in the metaphorical 

1238
01:02:55,900 --> 01:02:58,000
scents. 
The division between 

1239
01:02:58,000 --> 01:03:02,800
civilization of wilderness, 
safety and danger, and all of 

1240
01:03:02,808 --> 01:03:06,500
its starts here with a fire at 
the center and darkness at the 

1241
01:03:06,500 --> 01:03:09,200
edges. 
Quality of firelight is 

1242
01:03:09,200 --> 01:03:11,600
something you'll never 
experience in your modern life, 

1243
01:03:11,600 --> 01:03:15,700
no matter how many candles you 
like during a power outage, it's

1244
01:03:15,700 --> 01:03:17,500
not steady. 
It doesn't. 

1245
01:03:17,500 --> 01:03:19,300
Stay the same color or intense 
City. 

1246
01:03:19,300 --> 01:03:21,100
For more than a few seconds at a
time. 

1247
01:03:21,100 --> 01:03:25,300
The Flames, Surge and subside. 
Like breathing, casting 

1248
01:03:25,300 --> 01:03:27,400
everything in shades of orange 
and gold. 

1249
01:03:27,400 --> 01:03:32,300
And deep red faces appear, a 
disappear objects at the edge of

1250
01:03:32,300 --> 01:03:34,700
the firelight seemed to flicker 
in and out of existence. 

1251
01:03:35,800 --> 01:03:38,100
Your ancestors weren't just 
sitting around fires. 

1252
01:03:38,100 --> 01:03:41,500
They were performing one of the 
most important maintenance tasks

1253
01:03:41,500 --> 01:03:43,900
in human history. 
Someone always had to watch the 

1254
01:03:43,900 --> 01:03:46,800
Flames had fuel before they died
too. 

1255
01:03:46,800 --> 01:03:48,600
Low and protect the coals 
through the night. 

1256
01:03:49,300 --> 01:03:52,800
In some cultures, letting the 
communal fire go out was 

1257
01:03:52,800 --> 01:03:54,600
considered such a serious 
failure. 

1258
01:03:54,600 --> 01:03:57,100
That it carried severe, social 
penalties. 

1259
01:03:57,100 --> 01:04:00,200
You'd let down not just your 
family but your entire 

1260
01:04:00,200 --> 01:04:02,800
Community. 
Condemning everyone to cold 

1261
01:04:02,800 --> 01:04:06,700
Darkness until fire could be 
rekindled and arduous process. 

1262
01:04:06,700 --> 01:04:10,200
That might take hours. 
There's an art to fire attending

1263
01:04:10,200 --> 01:04:14,400
that you learn young too much, 
would Smothers the Flames to 

1264
01:04:14,400 --> 01:04:17,900
little and they die to Embers 
that provide warmth but no light

1265
01:04:18,800 --> 01:04:22,900
Wet wood creates more smoke than
illumination, sending everyone 

1266
01:04:22,900 --> 01:04:26,000
into coughing. 
Fits resinous, Pine lights 

1267
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:30,100
quickly. 
The burns fast Oak Burns, slowly

1268
01:04:30,100 --> 01:04:32,500
and steadily, but takes forever 
to catch. 

1269
01:04:33,300 --> 01:04:35,300
Birch bark makes excellent 
kindling. 

1270
01:04:36,000 --> 01:04:38,900
Dry dough. 
Well, it's not pleasant to think

1271
01:04:38,900 --> 01:04:43,300
about but it burns a new well. 
When wood is scarce, the smoke 

1272
01:04:43,300 --> 01:04:47,200
from your Fire Rises and pools 
against the cave ceiling before 

1273
01:04:47,200 --> 01:04:50,000
finding its way out through 
cracks, and the cave entrance. 

1274
01:04:50,900 --> 01:04:55,900
Your eyes water constantly, your
clothes, your hair, your skin, 

1275
01:04:55,900 --> 01:04:58,600
everything reeks of smoke all 
the time. 

1276
01:04:58,600 --> 01:05:03,000
You stopped noticing months ago,
this is just what people smell. 

1277
01:05:03,000 --> 01:05:06,400
Like, centuries from now 
archaeologists, will be able to 

1278
01:05:06,400 --> 01:05:10,800
identify where ancient people 
lived by testing, soil samples 

1279
01:05:10,800 --> 01:05:15,400
for microscopic charcoal. 
Particles your presence here in 

1280
01:05:15,400 --> 01:05:19,000
this cave around. 
This fire will remain detectable

1281
01:05:19,000 --> 01:05:22,300
for thousands of years. 
Beyond your fire Circle. 

1282
01:05:22,300 --> 01:05:27,000
The winter night is absolute, no
streetlights, no house lights, 

1283
01:05:27,000 --> 01:05:30,700
no distant glow, from a 
neighboring Village, just 

1284
01:05:30,700 --> 01:05:32,600
darkness. 
So complete that you can't see 

1285
01:05:32,600 --> 01:05:34,600
your hand. 
Six inches from your face. 

1286
01:05:34,600 --> 01:05:38,700
The stars are brilliant when 
clouds permit brighter than 

1287
01:05:38,708 --> 01:05:40,200
anything. 
You've seen in your light, 

1288
01:05:40,200 --> 01:05:43,000
polluted Modern Life, but 
Starlight doesn't help. 

1289
01:05:43,000 --> 01:05:46,000
You see where your walking what 
might be watching you from the 

1290
01:05:46,008 --> 01:05:49,800
Shadows. 
So you stay near the fire, you 

1291
01:05:49,800 --> 01:05:52,900
arrange your entire life around 
its maintenance and its limited 

1292
01:05:52,900 --> 01:05:56,100
radius of Illumination. 
You wait when there's enough 

1293
01:05:56,100 --> 01:05:59,800
dawn like to see by work through
the day then Retreat to the 

1294
01:05:59,808 --> 01:06:03,800
Fireside, as Darkness Falls your
world shrinks to what the 

1295
01:06:03,800 --> 01:06:06,700
Flame's reveal. 
Stories are told here. 

1296
01:06:07,400 --> 01:06:11,400
Skills are taught tools are 
prepared and children fall 

1297
01:06:11,400 --> 01:06:15,300
asleep to the sound of crackling
wood and quiet conversations. 

1298
01:06:15,300 --> 01:06:19,000
This is Humanity's first 
experience of artificial light 

1299
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:22,100
though, artificial seems like 
the wrong word for something. 

1300
01:06:22,100 --> 01:06:25,700
So Elemental. 
Fire is half-tamed nature, 

1301
01:06:25,700 --> 01:06:30,300
neither fully wild nor fully 
domesticated, it, consumes, 

1302
01:06:30,300 --> 01:06:32,900
whatever you feed it in 
different to your needs 

1303
01:06:32,900 --> 01:06:37,100
dangerous. 
Even when contained, Spark jumps

1304
01:06:37,100 --> 01:06:39,200
from The Hearth and lands on 
your wall cloak. 

1305
01:06:39,200 --> 01:06:43,500
You brush it away quickly before
it can smolder into a hole fast 

1306
01:06:43,500 --> 01:06:46,600
serves you but only if you 
remain Vigilant respectful and 

1307
01:06:46,600 --> 01:06:49,100
properly afraid, the elders in 
your group. 

1308
01:06:49,100 --> 01:06:52,600
Remember, stories passed down 
from their Elders about times 

1309
01:06:52,600 --> 01:06:54,700
when fire went out during a 
harsh winter. 

1310
01:06:54,700 --> 01:06:58,300
When illness or accident meant, 
no one could attend it properly.

1311
01:06:58,300 --> 01:07:02,200
The darkness that followed was 
terrifying, not just physically 

1312
01:07:02,200 --> 01:07:06,200
cold, but spiritually desolate. 
Restarting a fire required. 

1313
01:07:06,200 --> 01:07:10,200
Finding dry wood in wet weather,
repairing Tinder carefully and 

1314
01:07:10,200 --> 01:07:13,200
spending hours creating friction
hot enough to ignite the 

1315
01:07:13,200 --> 01:07:16,800
kindling. 
Success was never guaranteed. 

1316
01:07:18,000 --> 01:07:21,400
some groups, the stories say 
didn't survive such failures, 

1317
01:07:21,400 --> 01:07:25,200
you watch the Flames dance and 
realize that this fire connects 

1318
01:07:25,200 --> 01:07:28,300
you to an unbroken chain of 
light stretching back further 

1319
01:07:28,300 --> 01:07:31,700
than memory, Every night for 
thousands of generations. 

1320
01:07:31,700 --> 01:07:34,700
Humans have gathered around 
fires just like this one. 

1321
01:07:35,500 --> 01:07:38,600
Particular would might change 
the shape of the half might 

1322
01:07:38,600 --> 01:07:42,300
differ, but the essential 
experience remains constant. 

1323
01:07:42,300 --> 01:07:48,200
Warm light safety and Community.
All contained, within a small 

1324
01:07:48,200 --> 01:07:50,000
radius of flickering 
illumination. 

1325
01:07:50,000 --> 01:07:52,800
Your youngest sibling is 
learning fire attending. 

1326
01:07:52,800 --> 01:07:56,800
Now watching the Flames intently
learning to read their language.

1327
01:07:56,800 --> 01:08:01,300
When the fire burns, yellow and 
high, you're using fresh wood 

1328
01:08:01,300 --> 01:08:05,200
when it settles to blue flames. 
Close to the coals, the wood has

1329
01:08:05,200 --> 01:08:07,900
mostly burned away. 
Red Embers mean. 

1330
01:08:07,900 --> 01:08:10,700
The fire is dying but can be 
revived with careful attention. 

1331
01:08:11,800 --> 01:08:15,100
Black smoke means, wet wood, or 
insufficient oxygen. 

1332
01:08:15,100 --> 01:08:18,300
These lessons are as important 
as any other knowledge. 

1333
01:08:18,300 --> 01:08:22,600
The child will acquire the fire 
shape your understanding of time

1334
01:08:22,600 --> 01:08:26,200
as well as space you measure the
evening by the amount of wood 

1335
01:08:26,200 --> 01:08:30,100
remaining by how low the flame 
of burned and by, when coals 

1336
01:08:30,100 --> 01:08:33,800
need to be banked for the night,
There are no clocks here, no 

1337
01:08:33,800 --> 01:08:37,399
precise measurements of hours 
and minutes time is the fire 

1338
01:08:37,399 --> 01:08:41,000
burning down daylight fading and
stars Wheeling overhead. 

1339
01:08:41,000 --> 01:08:45,300
The rhythms are natural tied to 
observable phenomena rather than

1340
01:08:45,300 --> 01:08:49,000
abstract numbers. 
As the evening deepens people, 

1341
01:08:49,000 --> 01:08:52,600
begin preparing for sleep. 
The fire is built up one final 

1342
01:08:52,600 --> 01:08:56,200
time, then carefully arranged so
it will burn slowly through the 

1343
01:08:56,200 --> 01:08:59,300
night. 
Someone tonight is your turn 

1344
01:08:59,300 --> 01:09:02,899
will wake periodically to add 
wood to ensure the Fire doesn't 

1345
01:09:02,899 --> 01:09:03,600
die. 
Completely. 

1346
01:09:03,600 --> 01:09:08,200
This Knight watches but not 
particularly arduous, you've 

1347
01:09:08,200 --> 01:09:11,300
done it since childhood. 
You know, the feel of waking in 

1348
01:09:11,300 --> 01:09:15,200
darkness, the brief moment of 
disorientation and then the 

1349
01:09:15,200 --> 01:09:17,600
automatic movement toward the 
Hearth to add fuel. 

1350
01:09:17,600 --> 01:09:22,399
The problem with fire is that it
wants to stay in one place and 

1351
01:09:22,399 --> 01:09:24,399
you frequently need to be in 
another place. 

1352
01:09:25,399 --> 01:09:29,000
This created certain logistical 
challenges that occupied your 

1353
01:09:29,000 --> 01:09:34,100
ancestors considerable Ingenuity
for thousands of years you're 

1354
01:09:34,100 --> 01:09:37,100
walking through a forest at dusk
following a path you know by 

1355
01:09:37,100 --> 01:09:41,399
feel as much as sight in your 
hand you're carrying a torch 

1356
01:09:41,399 --> 01:09:45,800
nothing fancy just a branch of 
pine wrapped with strips of 

1357
01:09:45,800 --> 01:09:50,600
Birchbox soaked in animal fat it
burns with a smoky sputtering 

1358
01:09:50,600 --> 01:09:53,700
flame that smells like a 
combination of campfire and old 

1359
01:09:53,700 --> 01:09:56,800
cooking grease. 
Every 30 feet or so you have to 

1360
01:09:56,800 --> 01:09:59,400
stop and scrape away the 
accumulated carbon at the 

1361
01:09:59,408 --> 01:10:02,700
burning end. 
Otherwise it will crust over an 

1362
01:10:02,700 --> 01:10:06,000
extinguishes itself. 
This torch will last perhaps 45 

1363
01:10:06,000 --> 01:10:09,200
minutes if you're lucky and the 
wind doesn't pick up after that,

1364
01:10:09,200 --> 01:10:11,500
you'll need to lighten. 
Another one from the dying 

1365
01:10:11,500 --> 01:10:14,500
flames of the first, your 
carrying three spares and your 

1366
01:10:14,500 --> 01:10:18,400
other hand already, prepared the
mathematic of Torchlight vs 

1367
01:10:18,400 --> 01:10:21,100
distance to travel is something 
you calculate automatically. 

1368
01:10:21,100 --> 01:10:24,400
Now the same way you might 
calculate whether you have 

1369
01:10:24,400 --> 01:10:26,100
enough gas to Reach the next 
station. 

1370
01:10:26,100 --> 01:10:30,600
Torchlight is democratic in a 
way that firelight, isn't it 

1371
01:10:30,600 --> 01:10:34,400
moves with you and extends your 
radius of safety beyond the 

1372
01:10:34,400 --> 01:10:37,600
half? 
But it's also limited creating a

1373
01:10:37,600 --> 01:10:42,200
small bubble of Illumination in 
an ocean of Darkness, the Light 

1374
01:10:42,200 --> 01:10:46,000
reaches, perhaps 10 feet ahead 
of you enough to see roots that 

1375
01:10:46,000 --> 01:10:49,800
might trip you and to make large
Predators, think twice before 

1376
01:10:49,800 --> 01:10:53,500
approaching it doesn't. 
However, let you see much of 

1377
01:10:53,500 --> 01:10:56,700
what's Happening beyond that. 
Circle, The Darkness outside 

1378
01:10:56,700 --> 01:11:00,700
your torch light isn't just dark
it somehow darker than it was 

1379
01:11:00,700 --> 01:11:03,100
before you lit. 
The torch as if the flame 

1380
01:11:03,100 --> 01:11:07,400
creates Shadow as much as light 
ancient people use torches the 

1381
01:11:07,400 --> 01:11:10,600
way you use flash lights with 
the same frustrations and 

1382
01:11:10,600 --> 01:11:14,100
benefits, They Carried torches 
to and from the fields after 

1383
01:11:14,100 --> 01:11:17,100
dark, They Carried torches down 
mine shafts. 

1384
01:11:17,100 --> 01:11:20,500
And into caves, They Carried 
torches through city streets 

1385
01:11:20,500 --> 01:11:24,500
before Street, lighting existed,
torches were so fundamental to 

1386
01:11:24,500 --> 01:11:28,000
ancient life that they show up 
in mythology art and literature 

1387
01:11:28,000 --> 01:11:31,600
constantly. 
The Olympic torch, the torch 

1388
01:11:31,600 --> 01:11:35,000
carrying Statue of Liberty and 
the Torches that angry 

1389
01:11:35,000 --> 01:11:36,900
villagers. 
Always seem to have handy in 

1390
01:11:36,900 --> 01:11:40,400
classic horror films. 
Making a good torch required. 

1391
01:11:40,400 --> 01:11:43,500
Genuine skill, simply setting, a
stick on fire. 

1392
01:11:43,500 --> 01:11:47,500
Produced terrible results. 
It burned too far to created too

1393
01:11:47,500 --> 01:11:50,500
much smoke and extinguished at 
the slightest Breeze. 

1394
01:11:50,500 --> 01:11:53,600
The best torches combined 
materials carefully. 

1395
01:11:53,600 --> 01:11:58,000
A dent core of hardwood wrapped 
with bark or fabric strips 

1396
01:11:58,000 --> 01:12:00,400
soaked in fat, or resin or 
pitch. 

1397
01:12:01,200 --> 01:12:04,600
Some cultures added sulfur for a
brighter flame others 

1398
01:12:04,600 --> 01:12:07,500
experimented with different, 
wrapping techniques to control 

1399
01:12:07,500 --> 01:12:10,700
the burn rate. 
They were professional torch 

1400
01:12:10,700 --> 01:12:13,800
makers in ancient cities 
Specialists, who understood the 

1401
01:12:13,800 --> 01:12:16,900
chemistry and physics of 
combustion centuries. 

1402
01:12:16,900 --> 01:12:20,700
Before those Sciences had names,
he passed another traveler 

1403
01:12:20,700 --> 01:12:24,200
going, the opposite direction. 
Also carrying a torch You not to

1404
01:12:24,208 --> 01:12:27,700
each other, as you pass two, 
small moving points of light, in

1405
01:12:27,700 --> 01:12:30,100
the immensity of Darkness, for a
moment. 

1406
01:12:30,108 --> 01:12:33,300
As you walk away from each 
other, you can see their torch 

1407
01:12:33,300 --> 01:12:37,800
light receding into the distance
behind you a small Comfort proof

1408
01:12:37,800 --> 01:12:39,500
that you're not completely alone
out here. 

1409
01:12:40,300 --> 01:12:43,200
The forest at night is a 
different place than the forest 

1410
01:12:43,200 --> 01:12:45,300
by day. 
Sounds carried differently. 

1411
01:12:45,300 --> 01:12:50,100
Distances become impossible to 
judge that tree walked past this

1412
01:12:50,100 --> 01:12:52,400
morning looks vaguely 
threatening and torch Shadow 

1413
01:12:52,400 --> 01:12:55,300
your torch illuminates, the eyes
of something watching from the 

1414
01:12:55,300 --> 01:12:58,900
underbrush, two points of 
reflected light greenish, gold 

1415
01:12:58,900 --> 01:13:02,600
unblinking You pause, whatever 
it is. 

1416
01:13:02,600 --> 01:13:07,100
Paul's is you take a step. 
It fades Back Into Darkness, 

1417
01:13:07,100 --> 01:13:10,500
your heart is pounding harder 
than it should be for a simple 

1418
01:13:10,500 --> 01:13:13,400
walk home. 
Torches had significant 

1419
01:13:13,400 --> 01:13:17,600
disadvantages beyond their short
burn time they required both 

1420
01:13:17,600 --> 01:13:21,400
hands in a sense one to hold the
torch and want to steady it 

1421
01:13:21,400 --> 01:13:25,600
against wind or to carry other 
items they created Sparks that 

1422
01:13:25,600 --> 01:13:29,200
could ignite your clothing or 
dry grass, they broadcast your 

1423
01:13:29,200 --> 01:13:33,000
position to anyone or anything 
watching in wet weather, they 

1424
01:13:33,000 --> 01:13:36,600
were nearly useless sputtering 
and smoking but providing 

1425
01:13:36,600 --> 01:13:39,500
minimal light. 
Smart people carried, extra 

1426
01:13:39,500 --> 01:13:42,900
kindling and fat soaked cloth to
restart torches, that refused to

1427
01:13:42,900 --> 01:13:45,100
stay lit. 
Yet despite these limitations, 

1428
01:13:45,100 --> 01:13:50,000
torches represented a revolution
in human Mobility. the four 

1429
01:13:50,000 --> 01:13:55,200
torches Darkness meant staying 
put After torches Darkness, 

1430
01:13:55,200 --> 01:13:58,900
meant preceding carefully, but 
still proceeding, you could 

1431
01:13:58,900 --> 01:14:03,300
travel at night, if necessary, 
you could work after Sunset, you

1432
01:14:03,300 --> 01:14:06,700
could investigate strange noises
outside your settlement rather 

1433
01:14:06,700 --> 01:14:10,400
than huddling inside wondering 
what was making them the torch 

1434
01:14:10,400 --> 01:14:14,100
extended human agency Beyond 
daylight hours pushing back 

1435
01:14:14,100 --> 01:14:16,000
against the tyranny of the sun 
schedule. 

1436
01:14:16,000 --> 01:14:19,800
In ancient cities, torch bearers
were common sights on streets 

1437
01:14:19,800 --> 01:14:22,800
after dark. 
Sometimes servants lighting the 

1438
01:14:22,800 --> 01:14:26,800
way for wealthy employers, 
sometimes hired to new the 

1439
01:14:26,800 --> 01:14:30,200
safest route through dangerous 
neighborhoods, a torch meant. 

1440
01:14:30,200 --> 01:14:33,500
You had somewhere to be 
resources to spare and the 

1441
01:14:33,508 --> 01:14:37,500
confidence to travel after Dark.
It was a small statement of 

1442
01:14:37,500 --> 01:14:40,800
power over natural rhythms that 
had governed human life since 

1443
01:14:40,808 --> 01:14:43,900
the species began your own 
torches burning lower. 

1444
01:14:43,900 --> 01:14:46,600
Now the flame creeping down 
toward your hand. 

1445
01:14:47,400 --> 01:14:50,000
You stop and light. 
Your second Torch from the first

1446
01:14:50,000 --> 01:14:53,400
holding them together until the 
new one catches properly. 

1447
01:14:54,200 --> 01:14:57,100
First torch you drop and grind 
out with your heel. 

1448
01:14:57,100 --> 01:15:00,300
Can't risk, leaving it burning 
where it might start a forest 

1449
01:15:00,300 --> 01:15:03,400
fire. 
The small careful actions 

1450
01:15:03,400 --> 01:15:06,800
repeated by millions of people 
over thousands of years. 

1451
01:15:06,800 --> 01:15:10,900
Prevented disasters, you'll 
never know about the path begins

1452
01:15:10,900 --> 01:15:14,500
to slope upward. 
You can see lights ahead, the 

1453
01:15:14,500 --> 01:15:17,500
fires of your village, glowing 
orange through the trees. 

1454
01:15:17,500 --> 01:15:22,000
Each house has its own half, 
creating a constellation of warm

1455
01:15:22,000 --> 01:15:25,200
light against the hillside 
during winter, before everyone 

1456
01:15:25,200 --> 01:15:27,900
goes to sleep, The Village 
glows, softly in the darkness 

1457
01:15:27,900 --> 01:15:32,200
visible for Miles, that 
glooming, safety shelter, food, 

1458
01:15:32,200 --> 01:15:35,900
and family. 
You Quicken your pace eager to 

1459
01:15:35,900 --> 01:15:39,200
be home to put down your torch 
and warm Yourself by a fire. 

1460
01:15:39,200 --> 01:15:42,000
That doesn't need to be carried 
through the night, the invention

1461
01:15:42,000 --> 01:15:45,200
of the lantern essentially, a 
torch protected by translucent 

1462
01:15:45,200 --> 01:15:49,200
panels solved some of the 
Torches problems horns. 

1463
01:15:49,200 --> 01:15:52,000
Scraped thinner enough to be 
semi-transparent, could protect 

1464
01:15:52,000 --> 01:15:54,700
a flame from wind while still 
allowing light to pass through 

1465
01:15:54,700 --> 01:15:57,800
late paper, served a similar 
function. 

1466
01:15:58,700 --> 01:16:01,500
These early lanterns were crewed
by later standards but 

1467
01:16:01,500 --> 01:16:04,900
represented significant 
improvements Overexposed Flames,

1468
01:16:04,900 --> 01:16:08,600
a lantern was less likely to be 
extinguished by a sudden gust. 

1469
01:16:09,400 --> 01:16:13,500
Less likely to drop Sparks on 
flammable materials and could be

1470
01:16:13,508 --> 01:16:15,500
carried. 
More safely through crowded 

1471
01:16:15,500 --> 01:16:17,900
spaces. 
You've seen lanterns in the 

1472
01:16:17,900 --> 01:16:21,400
market Town, carried by 
merchants and officials who 

1473
01:16:21,400 --> 01:16:25,700
could afford such luxuries The 
light they cast is softer than 

1474
01:16:25,700 --> 01:16:29,600
Torchlight more diffused, but 
also more reliable. 

1475
01:16:29,600 --> 01:16:33,200
A good lantern with adequate oil
could burn for hours without 

1476
01:16:33,200 --> 01:16:36,900
attention, making it ideal for 
night-watches and extended 

1477
01:16:36,900 --> 01:16:40,000
travel. 
The towns night Watchman carries

1478
01:16:40,000 --> 01:16:43,000
one as he makes his rounds, 
calling out the hours, and 

1479
01:16:43,000 --> 01:16:45,500
checking doors, his Lantern has 
become. 

1480
01:16:45,500 --> 01:16:49,100
So associated with his role that
children play at being Watchmen,

1481
01:16:49,100 --> 01:16:52,500
carrying makeshift to lanterns, 
and mimicking his calls, 

1482
01:16:52,500 --> 01:16:54,800
torches. 
Also played important, 

1483
01:16:54,800 --> 01:16:56,500
ceremonial roles in your 
culture. 

1484
01:16:56,500 --> 01:17:00,200
Wedding's often included 
torch-lit procession with the 

1485
01:17:00,208 --> 01:17:03,200
bride, being a squatted to her 
new home by torch bearers. 

1486
01:17:04,000 --> 01:17:07,800
Funerals similarly used torches 
the Flames representing the 

1487
01:17:07,800 --> 01:17:11,000
spirits Journey from this world 
to the next summer. 

1488
01:17:11,000 --> 01:17:14,700
Solstice celebrations involved, 
building enormous bonfire Towers

1489
01:17:14,700 --> 01:17:18,600
then using torches to light. 
Them simultaneously at Sunset, 

1490
01:17:18,600 --> 01:17:22,700
creating spectacular displays 
visible across the countryside. 

1491
01:17:22,700 --> 01:17:26,500
The military applications of 
torches were equally significant

1492
01:17:27,400 --> 01:17:31,000
Armies on the March needed light
to set up Camp, Post centuries 

1493
01:17:31,000 --> 01:17:33,900
and coordinate movements after 
dark signal fires on. 

1494
01:17:33,908 --> 01:17:37,500
Hilltops could transmit messages
across vast distances faster 

1495
01:17:37,500 --> 01:17:41,500
than any Messenger on foot or 
horse a chain of Beacon fires. 

1496
01:17:41,500 --> 01:17:44,100
Stretching along a coastline, 
could warn of invasion within 

1497
01:17:44,100 --> 01:17:46,600
hours. 
Alerting populations to Danger 

1498
01:17:46,600 --> 01:17:50,100
long before the threat arrived. 
You remember hearing stories 

1499
01:17:50,100 --> 01:17:52,800
about the great Beacon chain 
that once stretched across the 

1500
01:17:52,800 --> 01:17:55,600
land linking watchtowers, and 
fortifications. 

1501
01:17:55,600 --> 01:17:59,200
When enemies approached the 
first Tower, would its Beacon 

1502
01:17:59,200 --> 01:18:02,700
which would be seen by the next 
Tower which would like its own 

1503
01:18:02,700 --> 01:18:05,500
fire. 
And so on down the line, the 

1504
01:18:05,500 --> 01:18:08,800
system was simple but effective 
turning light itself into a 

1505
01:18:08,800 --> 01:18:13,100
communication Network, spanning 
hundreds of miles You're sitting

1506
01:18:13,100 --> 01:18:16,000
in a Stone House on the 
Mediterranean coast and it 

1507
01:18:16,000 --> 01:18:21,000
sometime around 800 BC, e night 
is falling and rather than 

1508
01:18:21,000 --> 01:18:23,700
retiring to bed you're working 
on a fishing net. 

1509
01:18:23,700 --> 01:18:25,900
That needs repair before 
tomorrow's expedition. 

1510
01:18:25,900 --> 01:18:28,500
You're able to do this because 
of the object sitting on the 

1511
01:18:28,500 --> 01:18:31,300
table beside you, a simple clay,
oil lamp. 

1512
01:18:31,300 --> 01:18:35,100
No larger than your palm filled 
with olive oil and fitted with a

1513
01:18:35,100 --> 01:18:37,900
small in Wick. 
The lamps light is modest. 

1514
01:18:38,600 --> 01:18:41,600
Barely enough to illuminate your
hands and the section of net, 

1515
01:18:41,600 --> 01:18:44,200
you're mending. 
But it's steady in a way that 

1516
01:18:44,200 --> 01:18:47,500
Torchlight never was and it 
doesn't require constant 

1517
01:18:47,500 --> 01:18:50,100
attention. 
The WIC drawers oil upward 

1518
01:18:50,100 --> 01:18:52,700
through capillary action, a 
phenomenon, you don't 

1519
01:18:52,708 --> 01:18:54,900
understand. 
But have learned to trust and 

1520
01:18:54,900 --> 01:18:58,600
burns with a small bright flame 
that smells faintly of olives 

1521
01:18:58,600 --> 01:19:02,200
and smoke oil lamps represented.
A massive Leap Forward in 

1522
01:19:02,200 --> 01:19:05,100
lighting technology, though. 
They still had significant 

1523
01:19:05,100 --> 01:19:08,600
limitations. 
The light they cast was weak by 

1524
01:19:08,600 --> 01:19:11,600
modern standards enough for 
close work, but not for 

1525
01:19:11,600 --> 01:19:14,300
Illuminating. 
An entire room, you needed 

1526
01:19:14,300 --> 01:19:16,500
multiple lamps for that and 
olive oil. 

1527
01:19:16,500 --> 01:19:18,800
Was expensive enough. 
That most families used its 

1528
01:19:18,800 --> 01:19:22,700
spare in the wealthy might burn 
lamps freely throughout their 

1529
01:19:22,700 --> 01:19:25,300
homes. 
Everyone else calculated 

1530
01:19:25,300 --> 01:19:28,700
carefully, how many hours of 
Lamplight, they could afford the

1531
01:19:28,700 --> 01:19:31,800
oil lamps invention appears in 
dependently in multiple ancient 

1532
01:19:31,800 --> 01:19:34,900
cultures Mediterranean people's 
used olive oil. 

1533
01:19:34,900 --> 01:19:38,200
Asian cultures used various 
vegetable oils. 

1534
01:19:38,200 --> 01:19:43,100
And Northern Europeans used fish
oil or animal fat, the principal

1535
01:19:43,100 --> 01:19:45,300
remained. 
The same a reservoir to hold 

1536
01:19:45,300 --> 01:19:49,300
fuel, a wick to draw that fuel 
to a flame and a design that 

1537
01:19:49,300 --> 01:19:52,600
prevented the entire apparatus 
from becoming a fire hazard. 

1538
01:19:52,600 --> 01:19:56,400
Early lamps were simply shells 
or hollowed Stones filled with 

1539
01:19:56,408 --> 01:20:00,700
fat and a plant fiber Wick. 
Later versions became more 

1540
01:20:00,700 --> 01:20:05,200
sophisticated shaped clay, 
bronze, or iron vessels with 

1541
01:20:05,200 --> 01:20:08,600
spouts to hold the wick and 
handles for carrying your lamp 

1542
01:20:08,600 --> 01:20:11,500
is beautiful. 
In its simplicity, Clay is 

1543
01:20:11,500 --> 01:20:14,200
reddish-brown shaped like an 
elongated teardrop with a 

1544
01:20:14,200 --> 01:20:16,500
pinched spout. 
At one end, where the Wicker 

1545
01:20:16,500 --> 01:20:18,900
merges. 
There's a small hole at the wide

1546
01:20:18,900 --> 01:20:21,800
end for refilling. 
The Potter who made it decorated

1547
01:20:21,800 --> 01:20:24,500
the top with a simple pattern of
radiating lines. 

1548
01:20:24,500 --> 01:20:28,200
You bought it from him. 
Last year for three fish is one 

1549
01:20:28,200 --> 01:20:30,500
of your prized possessions, the 
light. 

1550
01:20:30,500 --> 01:20:33,400
It produces has a different 
quality than firelight from the 

1551
01:20:33,400 --> 01:20:36,900
half more. 
Focused less flickering the 

1552
01:20:36,900 --> 01:20:39,800
slightly bluish tinge compared 
to the orange glow of burning 

1553
01:20:39,800 --> 01:20:42,100
wood. 
You can read by this light of 

1554
01:20:42,100 --> 01:20:45,400
your literate, which you're not 
But your neighbor who runs the 

1555
01:20:45,400 --> 01:20:48,600
wine shop keeps his accounts by 
Lamplight, well into the night, 

1556
01:20:48,600 --> 01:20:52,500
the lamp allows him to extend 
his working hours to review his 

1557
01:20:52,500 --> 01:20:55,700
numbers and to plan his orders 
in the evening when his shop is 

1558
01:20:55,708 --> 01:20:59,000
closed. 
Oil lamps changed and nighttime 

1559
01:20:59,000 --> 01:21:01,100
behavior, in ways that torches 
never could. 

1560
01:21:01,100 --> 01:21:05,800
They enabled set entry work, you
could sit and weave right men 

1561
01:21:05,800 --> 01:21:09,400
and calculate or repair tools 
for extended periods, without 

1562
01:21:09,400 --> 01:21:12,700
constantly tending to a torch or
moving closer to the half. 

1563
01:21:12,700 --> 01:21:15,700
They were portable but didn't 
require constant replacement, 

1564
01:21:15,700 --> 01:21:18,700
like torches. 
A well-made lamp with a good 

1565
01:21:18,700 --> 01:21:20,900
supply of oil could burn all 
night if needed. 

1566
01:21:21,500 --> 01:21:24,100
Though, that level of 
extravagance was rare outside 

1567
01:21:24,100 --> 01:21:27,600
wealthy households, or temples 
the wick requires occasional 

1568
01:21:27,600 --> 01:21:30,900
trimming, you do this. 
Now, pinching off The Shard end 

1569
01:21:30,900 --> 01:21:34,400
with your calloused fingers. 
The flame sputters for a moment.

1570
01:21:34,408 --> 01:21:37,800
Then burns brighter and steadier
a properly. 

1571
01:21:37,800 --> 01:21:40,400
Trimmed Wick is the difference 
between a lamp that smokes and 

1572
01:21:40,400 --> 01:21:42,500
smells and one that burns 
cleanly. 

1573
01:21:43,300 --> 01:21:46,100
You learned this through trial 
and error wasting oil and 

1574
01:21:46,100 --> 01:21:48,800
filling your house with black 
smoke before you figured out the

1575
01:21:48,800 --> 01:21:51,600
correct, technique different 
oils, produced different 

1576
01:21:51,600 --> 01:21:54,400
results. 
Olive oil burned cleanly, but 

1577
01:21:54,400 --> 01:21:58,200
was expensive fish oil was 
cheaper but smelled distinctly 

1578
01:21:58,200 --> 01:22:01,400
Oceanic especially when the 
flame wasn't burning. 

1579
01:22:01,400 --> 01:22:05,300
Hot enough castor oil burned 
brightly but required specific 

1580
01:22:05,300 --> 01:22:09,400
materials to work properly. 
Animal fat could be used but 

1581
01:22:09,400 --> 01:22:12,300
tended to produce more smoke and
needed higher temperatures to 

1582
01:22:12,300 --> 01:22:14,600
remain liquid. 
Every culture developed 

1583
01:22:14,600 --> 01:22:16,800
preferences based on what 
resources were locally 

1584
01:22:16,800 --> 01:22:19,400
available. 
Religious ceremonies relied 

1585
01:22:19,400 --> 01:22:22,600
heavily on oil lamps. 
Temples and shrines kept 

1586
01:22:22,600 --> 01:22:26,200
Perpetual, Flames burning in 
dedicated lamps tended by 

1587
01:22:26,208 --> 01:22:30,100
priests or Temple servants. 
These Flames represented divine 

1588
01:22:30,100 --> 01:22:34,100
presence, continuity and 
connection between the human and

1589
01:22:34,100 --> 01:22:37,000
divine realms. 
Letting a temple lamp. 

1590
01:22:37,000 --> 01:22:39,200
Go out was considered a terrible
Omen. 

1591
01:22:39,200 --> 01:22:42,400
Some lamps were designed 
specifically for religious use. 

1592
01:22:42,400 --> 01:22:46,500
Elaborate bronze vessels with 
multiple Wicks ornate 

1593
01:22:46,500 --> 01:22:48,400
decorations and chains for 
hanging. 

1594
01:22:49,300 --> 01:22:51,200
You're almost finished with your
net repair. 

1595
01:22:51,200 --> 01:22:54,400
When you notice the flame 
dimming slightly, you check the 

1596
01:22:54,400 --> 01:22:58,400
oil level low, but enough to 
finish this work, tomorrow, 

1597
01:22:58,400 --> 01:23:01,400
you'll need to refill the lamp 
from the large clay, vessel in 

1598
01:23:01,400 --> 01:23:04,500
the corner, where you store your
olive oil supply, you budget 

1599
01:23:04,500 --> 01:23:07,600
carefully, balancing the need 
for evening lighter against the 

1600
01:23:07,600 --> 01:23:10,000
oils other uses and cooking and 
preserving food. 

1601
01:23:11,100 --> 01:23:14,100
Life is a series of small 
calculations like this. 

1602
01:23:15,000 --> 01:23:18,200
Trade-offs between competing 
needs with limited resources. 

1603
01:23:18,200 --> 01:23:20,900
Outside. 
You can hear the night Watchman 

1604
01:23:20,900 --> 01:23:23,100
passing through the street 
calling out. 

1605
01:23:23,100 --> 01:23:25,900
That all is well. 
He carries a lantern 

1606
01:23:25,900 --> 01:23:28,900
essentially, an oil lamp in 
closed, in a frame, with 

1607
01:23:28,900 --> 01:23:32,800
translucent panels of horn, or 
animal skin, to protect the 

1608
01:23:32,800 --> 01:23:37,600
flame from wind, his light bulbs
and sways as he walks casting 

1609
01:23:37,600 --> 01:23:39,800
moving Shadows against the walls
of House's. 

1610
01:23:39,800 --> 01:23:43,600
His voice is reassuring. 
A reminder that someone is 

1611
01:23:43,600 --> 01:23:46,900
watching that the darkness isn't
entirely unguarded. 

1612
01:23:48,200 --> 01:23:50,600
Lamp design. 
Evolved continuously over 

1613
01:23:50,600 --> 01:23:52,900
centuries. 
Simple open Bolls. 

1614
01:23:52,900 --> 01:23:56,300
Gave way to covered vessels with
small filling holes and pinched 

1615
01:23:56,300 --> 01:23:59,500
spouts. 
Spouts became longer to project 

1616
01:23:59,500 --> 01:24:02,800
the flame forward. 
Multiple Wick lamps provided 

1617
01:24:02,800 --> 01:24:06,300
more light from a single 
Reservoir, reflective surfaces 

1618
01:24:06,300 --> 01:24:08,800
behind lamps. 
Amplified their illumination. 

1619
01:24:08,800 --> 01:24:12,400
Each Improvement was 
incremental, but collectively. 

1620
01:24:12,400 --> 01:24:15,700
They transformed a crude light 
source into a sophisticated 

1621
01:24:15,700 --> 01:24:18,700
technology. 
The Romans became particularly 

1622
01:24:18,700 --> 01:24:21,700
skilled at lamp. 
Making producing thousands of 

1623
01:24:21,700 --> 01:24:24,200
ceramic, lamps and standardized 
workshops. 

1624
01:24:24,200 --> 01:24:27,800
These lamps were decorated with 
images of gods, animals 

1625
01:24:27,800 --> 01:24:32,200
Gladiators, and geometric 
patterns, art objects as much as

1626
01:24:32,200 --> 01:24:36,200
functional tools. 
Wealthy Romans owned, dozens of 

1627
01:24:36,200 --> 01:24:39,000
lamps, using them to illuminate,
dinner parties. 

1628
01:24:39,000 --> 01:24:42,300
And evening, social Gatherings, 
the lamps were arranged, 

1629
01:24:42,300 --> 01:24:45,800
strategically around rooms, 
creating lighting effects, that 

1630
01:24:45,800 --> 01:24:48,000
showcase the hosts wealth and 
taste. 

1631
01:24:49,000 --> 01:24:52,300
Lamp fuel was sometimes centered
with herbs or flowers to mask 

1632
01:24:52,300 --> 01:24:55,600
the smell of burning oil and 
create Pleasant atmosphere's. 

1633
01:24:55,600 --> 01:24:58,300
Lavender oil Rose. 
Marie or rose. 

1634
01:24:58,300 --> 01:24:59,800
Petals. 
Might be added to the fuel 

1635
01:24:59,800 --> 01:25:03,300
creating fragrances that mixed 
with a warm smell of burning 

1636
01:25:03,300 --> 01:25:06,100
oil. 
This practice was expensive and 

1637
01:25:06,100 --> 01:25:10,000
reserved for special occasions, 
but it demonstrated how people 

1638
01:25:10,000 --> 01:25:11,800
sought to make their artificial 
light. 

1639
01:25:11,800 --> 01:25:14,600
Not just functional but 
beautiful and pleasant. 

1640
01:25:15,700 --> 01:25:18,700
The trade and lamp, oil was 
substantial and economically. 

1641
01:25:18,700 --> 01:25:23,900
Important Olive Growers, oil 
presses merchants and lamp 

1642
01:25:23,900 --> 01:25:25,900
makers. 
All depended on the demand for 

1643
01:25:25,900 --> 01:25:29,500
illumination. 
In Mediterranean regions olive 

1644
01:25:29,500 --> 01:25:31,900
oil production was geared. 
As much toward lighting as 

1645
01:25:31,900 --> 01:25:34,600
toward cooking. 
Poor Olive Harvest, meant not 

1646
01:25:34,600 --> 01:25:38,200
just food shortages, but 
Darkness, as families, rationed 

1647
01:25:38,200 --> 01:25:41,200
their remaining oil carefully 
through the winter months, you 

1648
01:25:41,200 --> 01:25:44,400
finish your net repair and trim 
the wick one final time before 

1649
01:25:44,400 --> 01:25:46,700
extinguishing. 
The lamp the process is 

1650
01:25:46,700 --> 01:25:50,300
deliberate, you don't just blow 
out the flame which would fill 

1651
01:25:50,300 --> 01:25:54,300
the room with acreage smoke. 
Instead you use a small bronze 

1652
01:25:54,300 --> 01:25:57,800
tool designed for the purpose, 
pressing the wick down into the 

1653
01:25:57,800 --> 01:26:01,600
oil and the flame is smothered 
the room plunges into darkness 

1654
01:26:01,600 --> 01:26:03,700
leaving. 
Only the dim glow from the half 

1655
01:26:03,700 --> 01:26:07,600
fire across the room, Your eyes 
need a moment to adjust before. 

1656
01:26:07,600 --> 01:26:11,600
You can safely navigate to your 
sleeping area, your standing in 

1657
01:26:11,600 --> 01:26:13,400
a monastery. 
In medieval England, sometime 

1658
01:26:13,400 --> 01:26:18,200
around 1200 CE, its late evening
and you're in the scriptorium 

1659
01:26:18,200 --> 01:26:20,100
where monks spend their days 
copying manuscripts. 

1660
01:26:20,100 --> 01:26:24,300
The room is filled with a soft 
steady glow from dozens of 

1661
01:26:24,300 --> 01:26:27,500
candles. 
Beeswax candles that burn with a

1662
01:26:27,508 --> 01:26:31,100
gentle, honey scent and a light 
that's bright enough to read by 

1663
01:26:31,100 --> 01:26:35,600
but soft enough, not to strain. 
The eyes candles weren't new by 

1664
01:26:35,600 --> 01:26:39,300
this period but their widespread
use represented a significant 

1665
01:26:39,300 --> 01:26:43,100
advancement over oil lamps in 
many situations they were 

1666
01:26:43,100 --> 01:26:46,800
portable created. 
No liquid fuel to spill produced

1667
01:26:46,800 --> 01:26:50,100
minimal smoke if made properly 
and could be extinguished and 

1668
01:26:50,100 --> 01:26:53,700
relit with relative ease. 
They also burned down gradually 

1669
01:26:53,700 --> 01:26:56,100
which made them useful for 
measuring time. 

1670
01:26:56,900 --> 01:26:59,900
Specially marked candles could 
track hours during religious 

1671
01:26:59,900 --> 01:27:03,000
services or night-watches the 
candles Illuminating the 

1672
01:27:03,000 --> 01:27:07,200
scriptorium are expensive made 
from beeswax collected from the 

1673
01:27:07,200 --> 01:27:11,100
monasteries highs. 
Beeswax candles, burn cleanly, 

1674
01:27:11,100 --> 01:27:13,200
and smell Pleasant. 
Making them. 

1675
01:27:13,200 --> 01:27:16,200
The preferred choice for 
churches and Wealthy households.

1676
01:27:16,200 --> 01:27:19,500
The common people used Tallow 
candles made from rendered 

1677
01:27:19,500 --> 01:27:24,200
animal, fat much cheaper, but 
also smellier and smokier a 

1678
01:27:24,200 --> 01:27:26,700
Tallow candle burning, as a 
distinctly different olfactory 

1679
01:27:26,700 --> 01:27:30,600
experience than beeswax with 
undertones of old meat and 

1680
01:27:30,600 --> 01:27:34,700
Greece that never entirely 
dissipate You watch a monk 

1681
01:27:34,700 --> 01:27:38,300
working at his desk, copying 
lines from an illuminated 

1682
01:27:38,300 --> 01:27:42,200
manuscript, the candle beside in
his thick, perhaps six inches 

1683
01:27:42,200 --> 01:27:44,600
tall. 
Burning steadily in a simple 

1684
01:27:44,600 --> 01:27:48,400
iron holder every hour or so he 
trims the wick with a small pair

1685
01:27:48,400 --> 01:27:50,900
of scissors designed 
specifically for this purpose. 

1686
01:27:51,800 --> 01:27:54,000
Snuffers. 
They're called though that name 

1687
01:27:54,000 --> 01:27:56,800
is slightly misleading since 
they're for trimming rather than

1688
01:27:56,800 --> 01:28:01,000
extinguishing the trimmed Wick 
Falls away leaving behind a 

1689
01:28:01,000 --> 01:28:04,100
cleaner, brighter Flame. 
Candle making was both a 

1690
01:28:04,100 --> 01:28:06,900
household tasks and a 
professional trade families. 

1691
01:28:06,900 --> 01:28:10,200
Made their own Tallow candles by
dipping Wix repeatedly into 

1692
01:28:10,200 --> 01:28:13,100
melted fat. 
Building up layers until the 

1693
01:28:13,100 --> 01:28:16,200
candle reached the desired, 
thickness, professional 

1694
01:28:16,200 --> 01:28:19,300
Chandlers, produced higher 
quality candles using molds and 

1695
01:28:19,300 --> 01:28:23,700
better materials selling them in
markets and to institutions the 

1696
01:28:23,700 --> 01:28:26,500
Chandlers Guild in medieval 
cities was powerful and 

1697
01:28:26,500 --> 01:28:30,100
well-respected, light was 
valuable and those Who provided 

1698
01:28:30,100 --> 01:28:34,500
it enjoyed special status. 
The process of making a dipped 

1699
01:28:34,500 --> 01:28:36,400
candle is meditative and 
tedious. 

1700
01:28:36,400 --> 01:28:39,800
He prepare your Wick, usually 
braided cotton or linen. 

1701
01:28:39,800 --> 01:28:42,800
Strands. 
Heed your wax or Tallow until 

1702
01:28:42,800 --> 01:28:46,200
it's fully melted. 
Then you begin dipping sink, the

1703
01:28:46,200 --> 01:28:50,300
wick into the lickwood, pull it 
out, let it cool slightly and 

1704
01:28:50,300 --> 01:28:53,200
dip again. 
Each dip adds a thin layer. 

1705
01:28:53,200 --> 01:28:56,900
You need dozens of dips to 
create candle of useful size. 

1706
01:28:57,700 --> 01:29:00,700
The work takes hours and fills 
your house with the smell of hot

1707
01:29:00,700 --> 01:29:05,000
wax or cooking fat molded 
candles were fasted to produce 

1708
01:29:05,000 --> 01:29:08,800
but required equipment. 
A pewter tin mold shaped like a 

1709
01:29:08,800 --> 01:29:11,300
tube with a hole at the bottom 
for the wicked to pass through. 

1710
01:29:12,200 --> 01:29:14,200
Pour in the melted wax. 
Let it cool, completely. 

1711
01:29:14,200 --> 01:29:18,200
Then push out the finished 
candle multiple molds allowed. 

1712
01:29:18,200 --> 01:29:21,600
Chandlers to produce candles in 
batches making the process more 

1713
01:29:21,600 --> 01:29:24,600
efficient. 
The best molds created candles 

1714
01:29:24,600 --> 01:29:28,200
with smooth sides and even 
burning characteristics, the 

1715
01:29:28,200 --> 01:29:31,100
amount of light candle produced 
became a unit of measurement. 

1716
01:29:32,200 --> 01:29:35,700
But candle defined as the 
illumination cast by one candle,

1717
01:29:35,700 --> 01:29:40,000
at a distance of one foot. 
This unit persisted into the 

1718
01:29:40,000 --> 01:29:43,900
modern era eventually evolving 
into the Lumen medieval. 

1719
01:29:43,900 --> 01:29:46,700
People were intimately familiar 
with how many candles were 

1720
01:29:46,700 --> 01:29:49,800
needed to illuminate. 
A room adequate Lee and Wealthy 

1721
01:29:49,800 --> 01:29:53,000
households employed servants, 
specifically to manage candle 

1722
01:29:53,000 --> 01:29:56,100
supplies and ensure proper 
lighting throughout the house. 

1723
01:29:56,100 --> 01:30:00,100
Candles had one significant 
advantage overlaps and certain 

1724
01:30:00,100 --> 01:30:03,100
contexts, they could be easily 
moved and positioned. 

1725
01:30:03,100 --> 01:30:06,500
You could carry a candle in a 
simple, holder upstairs, 

1726
01:30:06,500 --> 01:30:09,700
downhaul ways. 
And into storage rooms. 

1727
01:30:09,700 --> 01:30:14,000
Candlesticks came in elaborate 
varieties, tall stands for 

1728
01:30:14,000 --> 01:30:18,500
hallways, short holders, for 
tables wall, sconces for rooms 

1729
01:30:18,500 --> 01:30:21,900
and chandeliers with multiple 
arms for great Halls. 

1730
01:30:21,900 --> 01:30:26,000
Each designed a specific 
lighting problem while also 

1731
01:30:26,000 --> 01:30:30,000
displaying wealth and status. 
the Catholic church was perhaps 

1732
01:30:30,000 --> 01:30:34,000
the largest consumer of candles 
in medieval Europe, altar 

1733
01:30:34,000 --> 01:30:38,000
candles burned during every 
service votive candles flickered

1734
01:30:38,000 --> 01:30:41,800
in alcoves, dedicated to Saints,
Processional candles were 

1735
01:30:41,800 --> 01:30:45,400
carried during ceremonies. 
The Paschal candle blessed 

1736
01:30:45,400 --> 01:30:48,500
during the east of vigil 
represented Christ Light 

1737
01:30:48,500 --> 01:30:52,100
entering the world, religious 
candle used was so extensive 

1738
01:30:52,100 --> 01:30:55,100
that monasteries with their own 
Apiaries, had significant 

1739
01:30:55,100 --> 01:30:58,600
economic advantages, they could 
produce their own beeswax. 

1740
01:30:58,600 --> 01:31:02,100
Rather than purchasing it, you 
notice how the candlelight in 

1741
01:31:02,100 --> 01:31:04,500
this scriptorium creates a 
particular atmosphere. 

1742
01:31:05,200 --> 01:31:09,400
Quieter to somehow the daylight 
more contemplative, the monks 

1743
01:31:09,400 --> 01:31:12,900
work in near silents their pens 
scratching against parchment. 

1744
01:31:12,900 --> 01:31:15,900
The only sounds being the 
occasional turned page or 

1745
01:31:15,900 --> 01:31:18,900
whispered prayer, the light 
seems appropriate for this work 

1746
01:31:18,900 --> 01:31:22,100
of preservation and devotion as 
if the candles themselves 

1747
01:31:22,100 --> 01:31:25,900
participate in the sacred task 
of copying religious texts. 

1748
01:31:26,700 --> 01:31:29,600
A draft from somewhere causes 
several candles to flick a 

1749
01:31:29,600 --> 01:31:33,600
simultaneously and among Rises. 
To investigate candles, were 

1750
01:31:33,600 --> 01:31:36,200
sensitive to air movement, a 
strong draft. 

1751
01:31:36,200 --> 01:31:39,400
Could extinguish them entirely 
calls them to burn, unevenly 

1752
01:31:39,400 --> 01:31:42,000
creating long drips down one 
side. 

1753
01:31:43,100 --> 01:31:46,400
Windows were kept closed at 
night, not just for warmth, but 

1754
01:31:46,400 --> 01:31:49,800
to protect the lights, heavy 
curtains, served double duty 

1755
01:31:49,800 --> 01:31:53,800
insulating against cold and 
blocking wins that might disturb

1756
01:31:53,800 --> 01:31:57,200
the flames. 
The monk trimming Wix carries a 

1757
01:31:57,200 --> 01:31:59,900
small, ceramic Bowl to collect 
the trimmed portions. 

1758
01:31:59,900 --> 01:32:04,400
Nothing is wasted even these 
tiny scraps of Wick and a daring

1759
01:32:04,400 --> 01:32:07,600
wax will be saved. 
And eventually incorporated into

1760
01:32:07,600 --> 01:32:12,600
new candles wax was too valuable
to discard even in an 

1761
01:32:12,600 --> 01:32:14,900
institution as wealthy as this 
monastery. 

1762
01:32:15,500 --> 01:32:18,200
The principle of careful 
Resource Management permeated 

1763
01:32:18,200 --> 01:32:21,700
every aspect of life in ages 
when materials were expensive 

1764
01:32:21,700 --> 01:32:24,200
and labor was cheap. 
Candle snuffers. 

1765
01:32:24,200 --> 01:32:27,800
Bell-shaped tools on long. 
Handles, were used to extinguish

1766
01:32:27,800 --> 01:32:31,400
candles without spreading smoke,
or spattering, hot wax, you 

1767
01:32:31,400 --> 01:32:34,900
watch, as a monk, makes his 
rounds with a Snuffer carefully.

1768
01:32:34,900 --> 01:32:38,300
Extinguishing candles that no 
longer needed as monks, complete

1769
01:32:38,300 --> 01:32:40,000
their work and retire for the 
night. 

1770
01:32:40,000 --> 01:32:44,300
The process is ritualistic 
Formed with the same care and 

1771
01:32:44,300 --> 01:32:46,300
attention as any other monastic 
Duty. 

1772
01:32:47,100 --> 01:32:50,000
Different colored candles, serve
different purposes and church 

1773
01:32:50,000 --> 01:32:53,000
settings. 
White candles were standard for 

1774
01:32:53,000 --> 01:32:56,800
most Services red candles appear
during certain feast days. 

1775
01:32:56,800 --> 01:33:01,400
Black handles were used during 
Good Friday The colors carried 

1776
01:33:01,400 --> 01:33:04,600
symbolic weight, part of the 
elaborate visual language of 

1777
01:33:04,600 --> 01:33:07,800
medieval Christianity. 
Even the number of candles had 

1778
01:33:07,800 --> 01:33:11,000
meaning two, candles 
represented, the Dual nature of 

1779
01:33:11,000 --> 01:33:14,800
Christ and seven candles 
corresponded to the Seven Gifts 

1780
01:33:14,800 --> 01:33:18,300
of the Holy Spirit, the wealthy 
experimented with candles made 

1781
01:33:18,300 --> 01:33:22,200
from spermaceti, a waxy 
substance, derived from sperm 

1782
01:33:22,200 --> 01:33:26,100
whales these candles burn, even 
more cleanly than beeswax and 

1783
01:33:26,100 --> 01:33:29,000
produced bright white light, 
however they were 

1784
01:33:29,000 --> 01:33:31,800
extraordinarily expensive, 
reserved for royalty and the 

1785
01:33:31,808 --> 01:33:33,700
highest nobility. 
A. 

1786
01:33:49,200 --> 01:33:52,000
These were made by soaking the 
pithy core of Rush plants in 

1787
01:33:52,000 --> 01:33:54,900
animal fat. 
They burned quickly and produced

1788
01:33:54,900 --> 01:33:57,600
minimal light, but they were 
cheap enough for even the 

1789
01:33:57,600 --> 01:34:01,500
poorest family to afford. 
A rush, like might burn for just

1790
01:34:01,500 --> 01:34:04,800
20 minutes, requiring constant 
replacement throughout the 

1791
01:34:04,800 --> 01:34:07,600
evening families. 
Using Rush lights lived with 

1792
01:34:07,600 --> 01:34:09,400
much. 
Dimmer illumination than their 

1793
01:34:09,400 --> 01:34:12,200
healthy and Neighbors. 
He walked through the monastery 

1794
01:34:12,200 --> 01:34:15,500
Cloisters as evening deepens 
into night, and the 

1795
01:34:15,508 --> 01:34:19,600
transformation is striking 
during the day, the stone arches

1796
01:34:19,600 --> 01:34:22,100
and corridors seem austere 
almost cold. 

1797
01:34:23,100 --> 01:34:26,900
A candlelight they become warm 
and mysterious Shadows pooling 

1798
01:34:26,900 --> 01:34:30,200
in Corners, the voltage ceiling,
barely visible above. 

1799
01:34:30,200 --> 01:34:34,500
This is a different building 
after dark experienced in a 

1800
01:34:34,500 --> 01:34:38,000
fundamentally different way. 
Architecture designed for 

1801
01:34:38,000 --> 01:34:41,900
daylight takes on new character.
When revealed by flickering 

1802
01:34:41,900 --> 01:34:46,100
Flames the monastery belt Tower 
houses, a special candle used 

1803
01:34:46,100 --> 01:34:50,900
for timekeeping Thick handle 
marked with hours burning at a 

1804
01:34:50,900 --> 01:34:52,700
consistent rate. 
That allows the bell ring at a 

1805
01:34:52,708 --> 01:34:55,700
track time through the night. 
When the flame reaches each 

1806
01:34:55,700 --> 01:34:58,700
Mark, he rings the bell to call 
monks to prayer. 

1807
01:34:58,700 --> 01:35:02,000
This system isn't perfectly 
accurate but it's reliable 

1808
01:35:02,000 --> 01:35:05,600
enough for the monasteries needs
time measured by a burning 

1809
01:35:05,600 --> 01:35:08,700
candle has a different texture 
than time measured by mechanical

1810
01:35:08,700 --> 01:35:12,700
clocks, more fluid, more 
connected to physical processes 

1811
01:35:12,700 --> 01:35:14,200
of consumption and 
transformation. 

1812
01:35:14,200 --> 01:35:17,900
Your attending a Diwali 
celebration in India, sometime 

1813
01:35:17,900 --> 01:35:21,700
around 1500 CE. 
The entire city is transformed 

1814
01:35:21,700 --> 01:35:25,900
into a constellation of small 
lights, thousands upon thousands

1815
01:35:25,900 --> 01:35:30,100
of clay oil lamps called Diaz 
arranged on windowsills 

1816
01:35:30,100 --> 01:35:32,400
doorsteps roof, tops and 
streets. 

1817
01:35:32,400 --> 01:35:36,500
Each deer is a simple thing, a 
small clay bowl for filled with 

1818
01:35:36,508 --> 01:35:39,300
oil or ghee with a cotton wick 
floating in it. 

1819
01:35:40,200 --> 01:35:42,800
Individually they provide 
minimal illumination 

1820
01:35:42,800 --> 01:35:45,600
collectively. 
They create a spectacle that 

1821
01:35:45,600 --> 01:35:49,200
transforms the night into 
something magical light has 

1822
01:35:49,200 --> 01:35:50,700
always carried. 
Meaning beyond the merely 

1823
01:35:50,700 --> 01:35:53,200
practical. 
And cultures around the world 

1824
01:35:53,200 --> 01:35:59,000
like represents knowledge divine
presence, hope celebration and 

1825
01:35:59,000 --> 01:36:02,800
Triumph, over Darkness both 
literal and metaphorical. 

1826
01:36:02,800 --> 01:36:07,700
The ways people use light, when 
where, and why they lit lamps or

1827
01:36:07,700 --> 01:36:11,600
candles or fires reveal as much 
about their spiritual lives as 

1828
01:36:11,600 --> 01:36:14,500
their material ones. 
You walk through the streets, 

1829
01:36:14,500 --> 01:36:18,000
admiring the displays some 
households have a range, their 

1830
01:36:18,000 --> 01:36:22,700
deers in elaborate patterns, 
spirals lotus, flowers and 

1831
01:36:22,700 --> 01:36:25,500
geometric designs, that seemed 
to Glow with intention. 

1832
01:36:26,600 --> 01:36:30,600
Children carry sparklers waving 
them to create brief Trails of 

1833
01:36:30,600 --> 01:36:32,800
light. 
In the darkness, the smell of 

1834
01:36:32,800 --> 01:36:36,500
burning oil mixes with incense 
and the scent of Festival Foods 

1835
01:36:36,500 --> 01:36:40,100
being prepared. 
This is light, used not for work

1836
01:36:40,100 --> 01:36:43,400
or safety. 
But for Joy for creating Beauty,

1837
01:36:43,400 --> 01:36:47,400
for honoring the Divine, the 
festival, celebrates the return 

1838
01:36:47,400 --> 01:36:51,200
of Lord Rama to his kingdom, 
after 14 years of Exile, and the

1839
01:36:51,200 --> 01:36:54,800
lights, represent the lamps that
citizens lit to guide him home 

1840
01:36:54,800 --> 01:36:58,100
and celebrate his return. 
But the meaning has deepened 

1841
01:36:58,100 --> 01:37:01,500
over centuries to Encompass 
broader themes, the victory of 

1842
01:37:01,508 --> 01:37:04,300
light over Darkness knowledge, 
over ignorance. 

1843
01:37:04,300 --> 01:37:08,400
And good over evil. 
Each tiny flame, becomes a 

1844
01:37:08,408 --> 01:37:12,400
prayer, a hope, a connection to 
something larger than individual

1845
01:37:12,400 --> 01:37:16,000
existence. 
In another time and place you're

1846
01:37:16,000 --> 01:37:18,600
standing in a Jewish household 
on the 8th night of Hanukkah. 

1847
01:37:18,600 --> 01:37:23,100
The menorah holds nine candles 8
for the 8th of the holiday. 

1848
01:37:23,100 --> 01:37:26,600
Plus the shamash the helper 
candle used to light the others,

1849
01:37:26,600 --> 01:37:30,300
the ritual of lighting, the 
menorah follows a specific order

1850
01:37:30,300 --> 01:37:34,300
right to left adding one candle 
each night until all later 

1851
01:37:34,300 --> 01:37:37,400
burning on the final evening. 
The light from these candles is 

1852
01:37:37,400 --> 01:37:39,200
not to be used for practical 
purposes. 

1853
01:37:39,200 --> 01:37:43,300
You don't read by them or 
navigate by them, they exist 

1854
01:37:43,300 --> 01:37:46,700
purely to remember to 
commemorate and to maintain 

1855
01:37:46,700 --> 01:37:48,700
connection with history and 
Faith. 

1856
01:37:48,700 --> 01:37:53,000
The story being commemorated is 
specific, the rededication of 

1857
01:37:53,000 --> 01:37:56,000
the second temple in Jerusalem 
and the Miracle of oil that 

1858
01:37:56,000 --> 01:37:58,500
should have burned for one day 
lasting 8 days. 

1859
01:37:58,500 --> 01:38:01,400
But like all religious 
observance, is the particular 

1860
01:38:01,400 --> 01:38:05,300
story opens onto Universal 
themes, lighters endurance, 

1861
01:38:05,300 --> 01:38:09,600
light is Unexpected Grace, light
as persistence against 

1862
01:38:09,600 --> 01:38:12,600
overwhelming. 
Odds the menorah as placement in

1863
01:38:12,600 --> 01:38:15,400
a window ensures that the Lights
Proclaim their message to the 

1864
01:38:15,400 --> 01:38:18,900
street, sharing the miracle, 
publicly rather than keeping it 

1865
01:38:18,900 --> 01:38:21,500
private. 
The Christians had their own 

1866
01:38:21,500 --> 01:38:25,800
traditions of sacred, light 
candlemas celebrated on February

1867
01:38:25,800 --> 01:38:29,300
2nd involved, bringing all the 
household candles to church for 

1868
01:38:29,300 --> 01:38:31,900
blessing. 
These blessed candles would 

1869
01:38:31,900 --> 01:38:35,600
protect the home ward off evil 
and ensure prosperity for the 

1870
01:38:35,600 --> 01:38:38,100
coming year. 
The traditional acknowledge that

1871
01:38:38,100 --> 01:38:41,400
light was more than mere 
illumination, it carried power, 

1872
01:38:41,400 --> 01:38:45,400
meaning and protection Beyond, 
its physical properties in 

1873
01:38:45,400 --> 01:38:48,600
Celtic lands. 
Before Christianity arrived, the

1874
01:38:48,600 --> 01:38:51,600
Festival of samain marked the 
transition from the light half 

1875
01:38:51,600 --> 01:38:55,900
of the year to the dark half. 
Large bonfires were lit on, 

1876
01:38:55,900 --> 01:39:00,200
hilltops visible for miles, 
around families, carried torches

1877
01:39:00,200 --> 01:39:04,200
lit from the sacred fires, back 
to their own halves rekindling 

1878
01:39:04,200 --> 01:39:06,700
their household Flames with 
Sanctified fire. 

1879
01:39:06,700 --> 01:39:10,700
The ritual connected individual 
homes to the community and to 

1880
01:39:10,700 --> 01:39:13,200
the Turning of Seasons using 
light. 

1881
01:39:13,200 --> 01:39:15,700
As both a practical tool and a 
spiritual symbol. 

1882
01:39:15,700 --> 01:39:19,900
The Japanese obon festival 
honors deceased ancestors and 

1883
01:39:19,900 --> 01:39:22,600
part of its observance, involves
lighting lanterns to guide 

1884
01:39:22,600 --> 01:39:24,200
Spirits back to the living 
world. 

1885
01:39:25,200 --> 01:39:29,400
Paper lanterns hang from Eaves 
and posts glowing softly in the 

1886
01:39:29,408 --> 01:39:31,700
summer. 
Darkness on the final night of 

1887
01:39:31,708 --> 01:39:34,800
the festival floating lanterns 
are set adrift on rivers and 

1888
01:39:34,800 --> 01:39:38,300
lakes carrying prayers. 
And farewells back to the spirit

1889
01:39:38,300 --> 01:39:42,400
world, the lights Bob and drift 
Downstream gradually 

1890
01:39:42,400 --> 01:39:46,700
disappearing into the darkness. 
A beautiful Melancholy image of 

1891
01:39:46,700 --> 01:39:50,300
impermanence and connection. 
Winter solstice celebrations, 

1892
01:39:50,300 --> 01:39:54,000
across numerous cultures, 
involved lighting fires or lamps

1893
01:39:54,000 --> 01:39:56,700
to encourage. 
The sun's return to prove, that 

1894
01:39:56,700 --> 01:39:59,700
light, still existed, even in 
the darkest part of the year. 

1895
01:40:00,800 --> 01:40:04,800
The Scandinavian tradition of 
Saint Lucia's day involved. 

1896
01:40:04,800 --> 01:40:08,400
Young women wearing crowns of 
candles bringing light and food 

1897
01:40:08,400 --> 01:40:10,800
to households during the darkest
weeks of Winter. 

1898
01:40:10,800 --> 01:40:14,400
The symbolism was clear. 
We carry light through the 

1899
01:40:14,400 --> 01:40:17,900
darkness. 
We maintain hope and we refuse 

1900
01:40:17,900 --> 01:40:21,400
to surrender to the long night. 
You're at a Buddhist temple 

1901
01:40:21,400 --> 01:40:25,400
during Vesak, the celebration of
Buddha's birth in lightning and 

1902
01:40:25,400 --> 01:40:28,300
death. 
The temple complex is adorned 

1903
01:40:28,300 --> 01:40:31,600
with thousands of lanterns 
creating a warm glow that seems 

1904
01:40:31,600 --> 01:40:34,900
to pulse with spiritual energy 
monks and lay people alike, 

1905
01:40:34,900 --> 01:40:39,500
carry small lamps and procession
circling the temple grounds, the

1906
01:40:39,500 --> 01:40:42,400
accumulated light of hundreds of
individual Flames. 

1907
01:40:42,400 --> 01:40:45,800
Creating an illumination that 
feels qualitatively different 

1908
01:40:45,800 --> 01:40:49,700
from any electric light you've 
experienced in your Modern Life.

1909
01:40:49,700 --> 01:40:53,400
In these, contexts wasn't 
measured in lumens or foot 

1910
01:40:53,400 --> 01:40:56,300
candles. 
It wasn't evaluated based on 

1911
01:40:56,300 --> 01:41:00,600
efficiency or duration, instead,
it was appreciated for its 

1912
01:41:00,600 --> 01:41:05,000
symbolic weight, its connection 
to meaning and memory, and its 

1913
01:41:05,000 --> 01:41:08,500
devotion, a single candle 
burning in memory of a deceased.

1914
01:41:08,500 --> 01:41:12,200
Loved one provided almost no 
practical illumination, but its 

1915
01:41:12,200 --> 01:41:17,000
purpose wasn't practical. 
It was witness remembrance and 

1916
01:41:17,000 --> 01:41:20,200
continuing connection, the 
ancient zoroastrians maintained,

1917
01:41:20,200 --> 01:41:24,400
sacred fires and fire temples 
tended continuously by priests 

1918
01:41:25,300 --> 01:41:27,800
These files were considered 
living manifestations of the 

1919
01:41:27,800 --> 01:41:31,600
Divine, requiring careful 
feeding and protection different

1920
01:41:31,600 --> 01:41:35,500
grades of fire existed, 
household fires, Community fires

1921
01:41:35,500 --> 01:41:37,900
and most sacred of all the 
attached behran. 

1922
01:41:37,900 --> 01:41:41,800
A fire, requiring, the Gathering
and combination of 16 different 

1923
01:41:41,800 --> 01:41:44,100
types of fire in elaborate 
purification. 

1924
01:41:44,100 --> 01:41:48,000
Ceremonies the fire could never 
be allowed to go out with 

1925
01:41:48,000 --> 01:41:50,900
priests maintaining constant 
vigil over its preservation. 

1926
01:41:50,900 --> 01:41:54,400
You observe how different 
cultures develop distinct 

1927
01:41:54,400 --> 01:41:57,900
Aesthetics of light. 
Chinese lanterns made of paper 

1928
01:41:57,900 --> 01:42:01,100
and bamboo painted with 
auspicious, symbols and proverbs

1929
01:42:01,900 --> 01:42:05,300
Moroccan lanterns of pierced 
metal creating intricate, Shadow

1930
01:42:05,300 --> 01:42:09,600
patterns on surrounding walls. 
Indian hanging lamps of brass 

1931
01:42:09,600 --> 01:42:13,500
with multiple Wicks arranged in 
rows, each, traditional Express,

1932
01:42:13,500 --> 01:42:16,200
something about how people 
understood and valued light 

1933
01:42:16,200 --> 01:42:20,600
turning functional objects into 
works of art. even in the 

1934
01:42:20,600 --> 01:42:23,600
darkness, you find that the 
human impulse toward ritual and 

1935
01:42:23,600 --> 01:42:26,900
celebration manifest through 
light birthday, candles 

1936
01:42:26,900 --> 01:42:31,000
represent years lived, and 
wishes made The memorial candles

1937
01:42:31,000 --> 01:42:34,500
honor those who died. 
Vigil candles accompany prayers 

1938
01:42:34,500 --> 01:42:38,100
for the sick or troubled, the 
Olympic torch carries flame 

1939
01:42:38,100 --> 01:42:41,900
across continents, connecting 
Nations through a shared symbol 

1940
01:42:41,900 --> 01:42:45,800
of Hope and excellence. 
None of these uses make economic

1941
01:42:45,800 --> 01:42:48,400
sense. 
They're inefficient expensive 

1942
01:42:48,400 --> 01:42:51,200
and accomplished. 
No practical work yet they 

1943
01:42:51,200 --> 01:42:54,300
persist because light means 
something Beyond mere visibility

1944
01:42:55,400 --> 01:42:58,700
processions by Torchlight or 
Candlelight created memorable. 

1945
01:42:58,700 --> 01:43:01,700
Spectacles, medieval religious 
processions. 

1946
01:43:01,700 --> 01:43:04,500
Wound through streets with 
participants carrying candles 

1947
01:43:04,500 --> 01:43:08,700
creating rivers of light flowing
through Darkness Japanese, 

1948
01:43:08,700 --> 01:43:11,400
Shrine festivals featured, 
participants carrying 

1949
01:43:11,400 --> 01:43:13,900
illuminated portable shrines, 
through streets. 

1950
01:43:13,900 --> 01:43:18,100
These moving lights, transformed
familiar spaces, making the 

1951
01:43:18,100 --> 01:43:22,200
everyday, World seem strange, 
and sacred And some traditions, 

1952
01:43:22,200 --> 01:43:24,500
the act of lighting itself 
became ritualized. 

1953
01:43:25,300 --> 01:43:28,200
Specific prayers accompanied, 
the lighting of Sabbath candles 

1954
01:43:28,200 --> 01:43:31,200
certain holidays. 
Required fires to be lit in 

1955
01:43:31,208 --> 01:43:35,700
particular ways from specific 
materials, as pacific times with

1956
01:43:35,700 --> 01:43:39,500
specific invocations. 
The lighting was as important as

1957
01:43:39,500 --> 01:43:42,600
the light itself and the Act 
was, as meaningful as the 

1958
01:43:42,600 --> 01:43:46,500
outcome, you notice how sacred 
light often involves Community 

1959
01:43:46,500 --> 01:43:50,300
participation. 
One person likes a candle then 

1960
01:43:50,300 --> 01:43:53,300
shares that flame with others 
who share with still others 

1961
01:43:53,300 --> 01:43:57,100
until hundreds of individual 
lights Bloom from a single 

1962
01:43:57,100 --> 01:43:59,800
Source. 
The metaphor is obvious, but 

1963
01:43:59,800 --> 01:44:03,500
powerful, like multiplies 
without diminishing knowledge, 

1964
01:44:03,500 --> 01:44:07,400
shared enriches everyone, and 
one small flame can illuminate, 

1965
01:44:07,400 --> 01:44:10,200
an entire Gathering. 
You're reviewing the household 

1966
01:44:10,200 --> 01:44:14,300
account in a middle class London
home, sometime around 1750, the 

1967
01:44:14,300 --> 01:44:17,800
numbers are frustrating, the 
cost of candles alone represents

1968
01:44:17,800 --> 01:44:21,100
a significant portion of your 
family's budget, not as much as 

1969
01:44:21,100 --> 01:44:24,600
food or rent, certainly, but 
enough to require careful 

1970
01:44:24,600 --> 01:44:27,600
management. 
You burn cheap Tallow candles in

1971
01:44:27,600 --> 01:44:29,100
the kitchen and servants 
quarters. 

1972
01:44:29,100 --> 01:44:32,600
Save the better beeswax candles 
for the Parlor where you 

1973
01:44:32,608 --> 01:44:37,500
entertain guests, Even so the 
expense adds up before 

1974
01:44:37,500 --> 01:44:41,100
electricity lighting was 
expensive enough to meaning for 

1975
01:44:41,100 --> 01:44:44,500
constrain Behavior. 
Poor families went to bed soon 

1976
01:44:44,500 --> 01:44:46,600
after Sunset because they 
couldn't afford to burn. 

1977
01:44:46,600 --> 01:44:49,000
Lights middling families 
carefully. 

1978
01:44:49,000 --> 01:44:52,900
Ration their lighting using good
candles sparingly and making do 

1979
01:44:52,900 --> 01:44:54,700
with cheaper alternatives when 
possible. 

1980
01:44:54,700 --> 01:44:58,100
Only the wealthy could afford to
light their homes as freely as 

1981
01:44:58,100 --> 01:45:00,500
they wished. 
And even, they paid attention to

1982
01:45:00,500 --> 01:45:03,800
the cost. 
The economics of light affected 

1983
01:45:03,800 --> 01:45:07,300
every level of society 
differently rural Farmers had 

1984
01:45:07,300 --> 01:45:10,800
access to animal fat for Tallow 
candles but might lack. 

1985
01:45:10,800 --> 01:45:12,500
The means to buy better 
alternatives. 

1986
01:45:13,200 --> 01:45:16,300
Urban workers could purchase 
various grades of candles and 

1987
01:45:16,300 --> 01:45:19,200
lamp oil but earned barely 
enough to afford, basic 

1988
01:45:19,200 --> 01:45:22,600
necessities, the wealthy 
employed, specialized servants 

1989
01:45:22,600 --> 01:45:26,800
lamp Bois candle, snuffers and 
torch bearers whose entire role 

1990
01:45:26,800 --> 01:45:29,000
involved managing the households
lighting needs. 

1991
01:45:29,700 --> 01:45:32,500
You calculate how many hours of 
light you can afford this week 

1992
01:45:32,500 --> 01:45:34,700
evening, Gatherings must be 
planned carefully. 

1993
01:45:34,700 --> 01:45:37,700
If you are hosting guests, you 
need to burn more candles to 

1994
01:45:37,700 --> 01:45:40,900
make a good impression, but that
means fewer hours of light on 

1995
01:45:40,900 --> 01:45:44,000
other nights reading must be 
done during daylight or by the 

1996
01:45:44,000 --> 01:45:47,600
most economical light sources. 
Sewing mending. 

1997
01:45:47,600 --> 01:45:50,300
And other clothes work are 
scheduled for the brightest part

1998
01:45:50,300 --> 01:45:53,900
of the day or postponed. 
Until you can justify the cost 

1999
01:45:53,900 --> 01:45:56,400
of proper illumination. 
The poor made difficult, 

2000
01:45:56,400 --> 01:45:59,100
trade-offs, a family earning 
barely enough to eat. 

2001
01:45:59,100 --> 01:46:02,300
Might choose between buying 
candles and buying food often 

2002
01:46:02,300 --> 01:46:04,600
food. 
One people went to bed early. 

2003
01:46:04,600 --> 01:46:07,400
Not because they were especially
tired, but because sitting in 

2004
01:46:07,400 --> 01:46:10,600
darkness was depressing and 
unproductive Winter. 

2005
01:46:10,600 --> 01:46:14,100
Evenings were long and dark and 
the inability to afford light 

2006
01:46:14,100 --> 01:46:17,400
made them longer and darker 
still some crafts and trades 

2007
01:46:17,400 --> 01:46:20,400
required light to function. 
And the cost of that light was 

2008
01:46:20,400 --> 01:46:22,300
built into the price of goods 
and services. 

2009
01:46:23,300 --> 01:46:25,500
Shoemaker needed. 
Good light to work, leather 

2010
01:46:25,500 --> 01:46:28,400
properly. 
Taylor needed it for fine 

2011
01:46:28,400 --> 01:46:31,400
stitching, I watch maker, 
absolutely required, it for 

2012
01:46:31,400 --> 01:46:34,700
delicate, repairs. 
The skilled trades people 

2013
01:46:34,700 --> 01:46:37,300
invested in better lighting 
because their livelihoods 

2014
01:46:37,300 --> 01:46:39,800
demanded it. 
But they paid a price in the 

2015
01:46:39,808 --> 01:46:43,700
form of significant ongoing 
expenses for candles or lamp oil

2016
01:46:43,700 --> 01:46:47,300
Street lighting where it existed
at all, was rudimentary and 

2017
01:46:47,300 --> 01:46:50,000
expensive in. 
London householders were 

2018
01:46:50,000 --> 01:46:52,800
required by law to hang 
lanterns, outside their doors on

2019
01:46:52,800 --> 01:46:55,400
Dark Nights. 
Creating a patchwork of light 

2020
01:46:55,400 --> 01:46:57,300
that barely illuminated the 
streets. 

2021
01:46:57,300 --> 01:47:01,600
The system was unreliable people
forgot or couldn't afford the 

2022
01:47:01,600 --> 01:47:05,200
oil or simply ignored the 
requirement walking through the 

2023
01:47:05,200 --> 01:47:08,500
city after dark remained 
dangerous with criminals. 

2024
01:47:08,500 --> 01:47:12,500
Taking advantage of poorly lit 
areas and victims, have limited 

2025
01:47:12,500 --> 01:47:16,100
ability to see threats 
approaching The cost of light 

2026
01:47:16,100 --> 01:47:19,900
created a kind of temporal 
inequality, the wealthy, could 

2027
01:47:19,900 --> 01:47:23,800
extend their days hosting 
evening salons and parties that 

2028
01:47:23,800 --> 01:47:25,400
continued. 
Well, past dark. 

2029
01:47:26,400 --> 01:47:29,800
They could read work and 
socialize during hours when 

2030
01:47:29,800 --> 01:47:33,500
poorer people had no choice but 
to sleep, his wasn't a trivial 

2031
01:47:33,500 --> 01:47:35,400
Advantage. 
It meant more hours for 

2032
01:47:35,400 --> 01:47:38,300
Education, networking 
entertainment and productive 

2033
01:47:38,300 --> 01:47:40,600
work. 
The ability to light the 

2034
01:47:40,608 --> 01:47:44,300
darkness was in effect. 
The ability to buy time itself, 

2035
01:47:44,300 --> 01:47:48,100
institutions had different 
economics than individuals 

2036
01:47:48,100 --> 01:47:51,500
churches could afford to keep 
multiple candles burning because

2037
01:47:51,500 --> 01:47:55,400
they serve communities rather 
than families universities and 

2038
01:47:55,400 --> 01:47:58,300
colleges maintained reading 
rooms with adequate lighting 

2039
01:47:58,300 --> 01:48:02,900
enabling Scholars to study. 
After Sunset, governments lit, 

2040
01:48:02,900 --> 01:48:04,600
official buildings and public 
spaces. 

2041
01:48:04,600 --> 01:48:06,900
As demonstrations of power and 
resources. 

2042
01:48:06,900 --> 01:48:10,500
These institutional lights 
created islands of Illumination 

2043
01:48:10,500 --> 01:48:14,100
in otherwise, dark cities. 
You've heard about experiments 

2044
01:48:14,100 --> 01:48:17,100
with new types of lamps, 
something about gaslighting, 

2045
01:48:17,100 --> 01:48:19,200
being tested in some public 
spaces. 

2046
01:48:19,200 --> 01:48:23,800
The idea seems fantastic. 
Pipes carrying flammable gas 

2047
01:48:23,800 --> 01:48:27,400
through the streets with flames,
burning at regular intervals 

2048
01:48:27,400 --> 01:48:29,900
from special fixtures. 
That sounds dangerous. 

2049
01:48:29,900 --> 01:48:33,000
But apparently the light is much
brighter than candles or oil 

2050
01:48:33,000 --> 01:48:36,100
lamps and the cost per hour of 
Illumination is low. 

2051
01:48:37,200 --> 01:48:40,500
Still You doubt, it will become 
wide-spread, how could such a 

2052
01:48:40,508 --> 01:48:43,200
system possibly be maintained 
across an entire city? 

2053
01:48:44,100 --> 01:48:47,100
The economics of light influence
social structures in ways, your 

2054
01:48:47,100 --> 01:48:50,700
only beginning to understand 
servants rows Before Dawn and 

2055
01:48:50,700 --> 01:48:54,700
worked until well after dark 
Often by inadequate light that 

2056
01:48:54,700 --> 01:48:56,900
strained, their eyes and made 
their work more difficult. 

2057
01:48:56,900 --> 01:49:01,100
Their labor subsidized their 
employers Comfort, including the

2058
01:49:01,100 --> 01:49:04,700
management of expensive Lighting
systems, the distribution of 

2059
01:49:04,700 --> 01:49:07,300
Light Within a household 
reflected the distribution of 

2060
01:49:07,300 --> 01:49:10,500
power. 
Masters got the best light and 

2061
01:49:10,500 --> 01:49:14,500
servants may do with minimal 
illumination or work by daylight

2062
01:49:14,500 --> 01:49:18,200
whenever possible professional, 
lamplighters formed, guilds and 

2063
01:49:18,200 --> 01:49:20,900
maintained regular employment in
cities with Street Lighting 

2064
01:49:20,900 --> 01:49:23,800
systems. 
They made rounds each evening 

2065
01:49:23,800 --> 01:49:27,500
with ladders and long poles. 
Lighting lamps along designated 

2066
01:49:27,500 --> 01:49:30,500
routes in the morning. 
They reversed the process 

2067
01:49:30,500 --> 01:49:33,200
extinguishing lamps and 
collecting unused oil. 

2068
01:49:33,900 --> 01:49:37,500
The work was steady but not 
glamorous and the pay, reflected

2069
01:49:37,500 --> 01:49:41,700
the low status of manual labor. 
Still it was preferable to many 

2070
01:49:41,700 --> 01:49:44,100
Alternatives of available to 
working class men. 

2071
01:49:45,100 --> 01:49:48,200
The market for lighting Products
was substantial and stratified 

2072
01:49:48,200 --> 01:49:51,600
expensive. 
Beeswax candles for the wealthy 

2073
01:49:51,600 --> 01:49:55,800
middling Tallow candles for the 
respectable poor and cheap Rush 

2074
01:49:55,800 --> 01:50:00,200
lights for those barely scraping
by Different grades of lamp 

2075
01:50:00,200 --> 01:50:04,500
oils, serve different markets, 
candlesticks lanterns snuffers 

2076
01:50:04,500 --> 01:50:07,300
and other lighting. 
Implements came in version's, 

2077
01:50:07,300 --> 01:50:08,800
appropriate for every social 
class. 

2078
01:50:08,800 --> 01:50:12,300
You could tell a family's 
approximate wealth and Status by

2079
01:50:12,300 --> 01:50:15,600
examining their lighting 
Provisions, somehow sold try to 

2080
01:50:15,600 --> 01:50:19,200
economize by making their own 
candles that this required time 

2081
01:50:19,200 --> 01:50:21,400
skill and access to raw 
materials. 

2082
01:50:22,400 --> 01:50:25,800
The Tallow had to be rendered 
from animal fat filtered to 

2083
01:50:25,800 --> 01:50:28,900
remove impurities, then used for
dipping or molding. 

2084
01:50:29,600 --> 01:50:32,100
The process was time-consuming 
and smelly. 

2085
01:50:32,700 --> 01:50:35,100
Filling the house with the odor 
of hot animal fat. 

2086
01:50:36,000 --> 01:50:38,700
Many families decided that 
purchasing candles from 

2087
01:50:38,700 --> 01:50:41,200
professional. 
Chandlers was worth the extra 

2088
01:50:41,200 --> 01:50:45,200
expense to avoid the unpleasant 
work, the seasonal variation, in

2089
01:50:45,200 --> 01:50:47,600
daylight hours, affected 
household, economic 

2090
01:50:47,600 --> 01:50:51,600
significantly, Summer evenings, 
required less artificial, light 

2091
01:50:51,600 --> 01:50:55,300
reducing expenses and allowing 
families to extend their waking 

2092
01:50:55,300 --> 01:50:59,100
hours without additional cost. 
Winter demanded much more light 

2093
01:50:59,100 --> 01:51:01,600
straining. 
Budgets, precisely when other 

2094
01:51:01,600 --> 01:51:07,000
expenses heating, warm clothing,
preserved Foods also increased 

2095
01:51:07,000 --> 01:51:10,200
the darkest months were often 
the hardest months economically 

2096
01:51:10,200 --> 01:51:13,200
with multiple needs competing 
for limited resources. 

2097
01:51:14,400 --> 01:51:16,300
You finish your accounting with 
a sigh. 

2098
01:51:17,100 --> 01:51:19,700
The candle budget will need to 
be reduced next month to cover 

2099
01:51:19,700 --> 01:51:23,500
an unexpected expense. 
This means fewer evening, social

2100
01:51:23,500 --> 01:51:27,600
Gatherings more work completed 
during daylight hours and early 

2101
01:51:27,600 --> 01:51:31,200
bedtime. 
It's a small adjustment, but it 

2102
01:51:31,208 --> 01:51:34,000
reminds you, how much of your 
life is constrained by the 

2103
01:51:34,000 --> 01:51:37,800
economics of something, as basic
as light, you long for a time 

2104
01:51:37,800 --> 01:51:39,300
when illumination might be 
cheap. 

2105
01:51:39,300 --> 01:51:42,600
And abundant though, you can't 
imagine how such a world could 

2106
01:51:42,600 --> 01:51:46,500
possibly come to exist. 
You're in a blacksmith's, Forge 

2107
01:51:46,500 --> 01:51:49,800
late in the evening and work 
continues, despite the darkness 

2108
01:51:49,800 --> 01:51:53,300
outside but the forge provides 
its own lumination. 

2109
01:51:53,300 --> 01:51:56,100
The fire burning at 
temperatures, hot enough to 

2110
01:51:56,100 --> 01:52:00,000
soften iron casts enough light 
to see by. especially once your 

2111
01:52:00,000 --> 01:52:02,800
eyes are just The glow is 
reddish. 

2112
01:52:02,800 --> 01:52:07,400
Orange painting everything in 
shades of warmth and Shadow. 

2113
01:52:07,400 --> 01:52:10,500
You can see the blacksmith's 
face, clearly when he leans 

2114
01:52:10,500 --> 01:52:13,800
close to the forge, but he 
disappears into silhouette when 

2115
01:52:13,800 --> 01:52:17,800
he steps back to his anvil. 
Certain types of work created 

2116
01:52:17,800 --> 01:52:20,800
their own light and people, 
organized, their labor, around 

2117
01:52:20,800 --> 01:52:23,900
this fact, blacksmiths could 
work in the evening because 

2118
01:52:23,900 --> 01:52:26,200
their forges illuminated their 
workspaces. 

2119
01:52:27,100 --> 01:52:30,100
Bakers started their days in the
middle of the night but their 

2120
01:52:30,100 --> 01:52:34,600
ovens provided light as well as 
heat metal workers glass blowers

2121
01:52:34,600 --> 01:52:38,500
and anyone else who's crafted 
fire had a lighting solution 

2122
01:52:38,500 --> 01:52:40,500
though? 
It wasn't always sufficient for 

2123
01:52:40,500 --> 01:52:43,300
detail work. 
The quality of Forge light is 

2124
01:52:43,300 --> 01:52:47,200
particular very bright near the 
fire but the illumination falls 

2125
01:52:47,200 --> 01:52:50,400
off quickly. 
Colors are distorted with 

2126
01:52:50,400 --> 01:52:53,800
everything taking on warm tones 
that make it difficult to judge 

2127
01:52:53,800 --> 01:52:57,500
the true appearance of objects. 
The blacksmith knows this and 

2128
01:52:57,500 --> 01:53:00,100
often takes worked pieces 
outside during daylight to 

2129
01:53:00,100 --> 01:53:03,400
examine them properly. 
What looks smooth and even by 

2130
01:53:03,400 --> 01:53:06,700
Forge, light might reveal flaws 
in natural illumination. 

2131
01:53:06,700 --> 01:53:09,600
You watch as the blacksmith 
Heats a piece of iron until it 

2132
01:53:09,600 --> 01:53:13,300
glows first red then orange then
yellow white at the hottest 

2133
01:53:13,300 --> 01:53:15,900
point. 
The metal itself, becomes a 

2134
01:53:15,900 --> 01:53:18,200
source of light bright enough to
read by. 

2135
01:53:18,200 --> 01:53:21,300
If you were foolish enough to 
get that close, he hammers it 

2136
01:53:21,300 --> 01:53:25,200
against the Anvil and Sparks, 
Fly with each impact, creating 

2137
01:53:25,200 --> 01:53:28,500
brief fireworks that illuminate 
the workshop in flickering 

2138
01:53:28,500 --> 01:53:31,500
bursts. 
The darkness between Sparks is 

2139
01:53:31,500 --> 01:53:35,300
somehow darker, your eyes 
constantly adjusting to changes 

2140
01:53:35,300 --> 01:53:38,100
in light level. 
The rhythmic work of the forge 

2141
01:53:38,100 --> 01:53:40,500
creates a kind of temporal 
structure to the evening. 

2142
01:53:40,500 --> 01:53:44,400
He the metal hammer, it check 
the shape and return it to the 

2143
01:53:44,408 --> 01:53:46,800
fire. 
Each cycle, involves moving 

2144
01:53:46,800 --> 01:53:50,400
between different light levels, 
the brilliant glow of the forge,

2145
01:53:50,400 --> 01:53:53,800
the dimmer light of the work 
area, and the near darkness of 

2146
01:53:53,800 --> 01:53:56,200
the corners, where tools and 
materials are stored. 

2147
01:53:56,200 --> 01:54:00,200
The blacksmith navigate these 
transitions automatically, his 

2148
01:54:00,200 --> 01:54:02,300
body remembering where 
everything is located. 

2149
01:54:03,200 --> 01:54:06,500
Other trades found different 
solutions to working after dark.

2150
01:54:06,500 --> 01:54:10,000
Fishermen often worked by 
Moonlight when the lunar cycle 

2151
01:54:10,000 --> 01:54:13,500
permitted or carried torches 
were necessary night fishing 

2152
01:54:13,500 --> 01:54:15,900
required, different skills than 
daylight fishing. 

2153
01:54:15,900 --> 01:54:20,600
You learn to navigate by feel 
and sound as much as sight to 

2154
01:54:20,600 --> 01:54:24,300
interpret Ripples and splashes 
you couldn't see clearly the 

2155
01:54:24,300 --> 01:54:26,900
torture attracted certain fish 
while scaring others away 

2156
01:54:26,900 --> 01:54:30,500
creating different opportunities
and challenges than daylight 

2157
01:54:30,500 --> 01:54:33,700
fishing presented. 
Mine has worked underground 

2158
01:54:33,700 --> 01:54:37,500
where no natural light ever 
reached entirely dependent on 

2159
01:54:37,500 --> 01:54:41,100
lamps or candles a Minor's lamp 
was a critical piece of 

2160
01:54:41,100 --> 01:54:43,500
equipment as important as any 
tool. 

2161
01:54:43,500 --> 01:54:46,400
Running out of light. 
While deep underground could be 

2162
01:54:46,400 --> 01:54:50,400
fatal, you might become 
disoriented unable to find your 

2163
01:54:50,400 --> 01:54:52,900
way back to the shaft, 
surrounded by Darkness. 

2164
01:54:52,900 --> 01:54:56,900
So complete, it created a kind 
of panic miners, learned a 

2165
01:54:56,900 --> 01:54:59,800
rational, their like carefully 
to navigate partially by memory 

2166
01:54:59,800 --> 01:55:02,200
and field. 
And to always carry back up 

2167
01:55:02,200 --> 01:55:05,200
illumination. 
The dangers of working by 

2168
01:55:05,200 --> 01:55:08,800
inadequate, light were real and 
common Crafts People strain 

2169
01:55:08,800 --> 01:55:11,200
their eyes, trying to see detail
by dim Lamplight. 

2170
01:55:12,000 --> 01:55:16,700
Accidents increased after dark 
misjudged distances, missed 

2171
01:55:16,700 --> 01:55:20,500
steps tools that slipped because
you couldn't quite see what you 

2172
01:55:20,500 --> 01:55:22,700
were doing. 
Some trades simply couldn't be 

2173
01:55:22,700 --> 01:55:25,800
performed safely without good 
light and people learned which 

2174
01:55:25,800 --> 01:55:29,300
tasks to save for daylight and 
which could be attempted By 

2175
01:55:29,300 --> 01:55:33,100
Flame, women's work, often 
continue after dark out of 

2176
01:55:33,108 --> 01:55:36,700
necessity. 
Spinning weaving sewing and 

2177
01:55:36,700 --> 01:55:40,000
mending needed to be done and 
days weren't long enough to 

2178
01:55:40,000 --> 01:55:41,700
complete everything during 
daylight hours. 

2179
01:55:41,700 --> 01:55:45,400
So women worked by firelight or 
Lamplight City. 

2180
01:55:45,400 --> 01:55:49,400
Close to the flame eyes. 
Straining to see fine details, 

2181
01:55:49,400 --> 01:55:53,500
the cost was measured in 
headaches, ice drain and gradual

2182
01:55:53,500 --> 01:55:56,400
loss of close Vision, over years
of working in inadequate 

2183
01:55:56,400 --> 01:56:00,400
illumination, You observe a 
spinner working by the half in 

2184
01:56:00,400 --> 01:56:03,300
the blacksmith's home. 
She sits close to the fire 

2185
01:56:03,300 --> 01:56:07,400
disaster in one hand, spindle in
the other drawing out, fiber and

2186
01:56:07,400 --> 01:56:09,300
twisting it into thread through 
movement. 

2187
01:56:09,300 --> 01:56:12,600
So practice, they were almost 
unconscious, The firelight 

2188
01:56:12,600 --> 01:56:16,600
Caster hands in sharp relief. 
Making the thread visible as it 

2189
01:56:16,600 --> 01:56:20,900
forms, but the light is 
inconsistent surging and fading 

2190
01:56:20,900 --> 01:56:24,100
with the Flames, requiring 
constant, adjustment and 

2191
01:56:24,100 --> 01:56:27,700
attention. 
Textile work spinning weaving. 

2192
01:56:27,700 --> 01:56:31,000
Sowing demanded, good vision and
steady hands. 

2193
01:56:31,900 --> 01:56:35,300
Women performing this work by an
adequate light developed eye 

2194
01:56:35,300 --> 01:56:37,800
problems earlier than men. 
Doing outdoor physical labor. 

2195
01:56:38,500 --> 01:56:41,100
Strain of focusing on fine 
detail, in poor illumination 

2196
01:56:41,100 --> 01:56:44,500
took accumulative toll. 
Some women were effectively 

2197
01:56:44,500 --> 01:56:48,600
blind for close work by their 
forties unable to thread needles

2198
01:56:48,600 --> 01:56:49,900
or see fine. 
Stitches. 

2199
01:56:49,900 --> 01:56:53,800
Relegated to simpler tasks that 
didn't require acute vision. 

2200
01:56:54,800 --> 01:56:57,500
The Potters Workshop operates on
a different Rhythm. 

2201
01:56:57,500 --> 01:57:01,300
Clay work requires good light to
see subtle imperfections and 

2202
01:57:01,300 --> 01:57:04,900
variations in thickness Potters 
who had to work after dark 

2203
01:57:04,900 --> 01:57:07,900
position, their wheels near 
Windows to capture the last of 

2204
01:57:07,900 --> 01:57:11,200
the evening light for arranged 
multiple lamps around their 

2205
01:57:11,208 --> 01:57:14,300
workspace. 
At considerable expense throwing

2206
01:57:14,300 --> 01:57:16,600
pots by firelight alone was 
nearly impossible. 

2207
01:57:16,600 --> 01:57:20,400
The inconsistent illumination 
made it too difficult to judge 

2208
01:57:20,400 --> 01:57:24,400
the vessels shape and symmetry 
Glass blowers had, perhaps the 

2209
01:57:24,400 --> 01:57:27,100
best nighttime working 
conditions among Kraft's people.

2210
01:57:27,100 --> 01:57:31,300
The molten glass itself glowed 
brilliantly and the furnace is 

2211
01:57:31,300 --> 01:57:34,300
provided ample, light, and heat.
Watching a glass. 

2212
01:57:34,300 --> 01:57:36,700
Blow a work after dark was 
spectacular. 

2213
01:57:37,800 --> 01:57:40,700
The Blob of glowing glass on the
end of the blowpipe lit, the 

2214
01:57:40,700 --> 01:57:44,000
entire Workshop, casting the 
worker in silhouette as they 

2215
01:57:44,000 --> 01:57:47,900
shaped and formed the material 
Sparks and smaller pieces of 

2216
01:57:47,900 --> 01:57:51,600
glass flew like tiny meteors 
when glass was cut or broken. 

2217
01:57:52,500 --> 01:57:54,900
You notice how different crafts 
developed different 

2218
01:57:54,900 --> 01:57:59,200
relationships with Darkness. 
Some resisted it struggling to 

2219
01:57:59,200 --> 01:58:01,400
maintain adequate light for 
precise work. 

2220
01:58:01,400 --> 01:58:05,100
Others accommodated. 
It adjusting work schedules to 

2221
01:58:05,100 --> 01:58:08,700
maximize use of daylight and 
minimize dependence on 

2222
01:58:08,700 --> 01:58:12,200
artificial illumination. 
Still others, Incorporated. 

2223
01:58:12,200 --> 01:58:15,900
It like the blacksmith whose 
work actually created the light 

2224
01:58:15,900 --> 01:58:19,100
necessary to see by The 
Apprentice system, partly 

2225
01:58:19,100 --> 01:58:20,800
reflected the economics of 
light. 

2226
01:58:21,700 --> 01:58:24,700
Young apprentices were sent to 
bed early partly to conserve 

2227
01:58:24,700 --> 01:58:27,700
candles and lamp oil. 
They Rose Before, Dawn and 

2228
01:58:27,700 --> 01:58:30,400
worked by daylight under 
supervision learning their 

2229
01:58:30,400 --> 01:58:32,200
trades. 
During hours when light was free

2230
01:58:32,200 --> 01:58:35,700
Masters, who could afford to 
work long hours by artificial 

2231
01:58:35,700 --> 01:58:39,400
light gained competitive 
advantages more productivity 

2232
01:58:39,400 --> 01:58:43,700
fast to completion of complex 
projects and the ability to take

2233
01:58:43,700 --> 01:58:47,200
on urgent orders, requiring 
nighttime work seasonal, 

2234
01:58:47,200 --> 01:58:49,600
variations affected work 
patterns significantly. 

2235
01:58:50,800 --> 01:58:53,900
Some of meant long working days,
taking full advantage of 

2236
01:58:53,900 --> 01:58:57,100
extended daylight winter, meant 
short of days and more 

2237
01:58:57,100 --> 01:59:00,200
dependents on expensive, 
artificial light with some 

2238
01:59:00,200 --> 01:59:02,200
trades. 
Essentially shutting down off to

2239
01:59:02,200 --> 01:59:06,300
dark While others invested in 
like lighting working the rhythm

2240
01:59:06,300 --> 01:59:09,100
of work, followed the rhythm of 
the sun more closely than any 

2241
01:59:09,100 --> 01:59:13,300
modern workplace can imagine The
night shift is modern industry, 

2242
01:59:13,300 --> 01:59:17,300
understands it barely existed 
some work continued after dark 

2243
01:59:17,300 --> 01:59:20,300
out of necessity Baker's. 
Preparing morning bread, 

2244
01:59:20,300 --> 01:59:24,800
nightwatchman patrolling streets
and midwives attending births at

2245
01:59:24,800 --> 01:59:28,300
any hour, but the idea of 
deliberately scheduling large 

2246
01:59:28,300 --> 01:59:29,800
numbers of workers to labor 
through. 

2247
01:59:29,800 --> 01:59:33,200
The night was largely 
impractical before adequate 

2248
01:59:33,200 --> 01:59:35,200
lighting made such Arrangements 
feasible. 

2249
01:59:35,200 --> 01:59:39,400
You're walking through Edinburgh
on a moonless night in 1780 and 

2250
01:59:39,400 --> 01:59:41,600
the Darkness is thick enough to 
feel solid. 

2251
01:59:41,600 --> 01:59:43,900
The street lighting is sporadic 
at best. 

2252
01:59:43,900 --> 01:59:47,900
Some oil lamps hanging from 
Posts at Major intersections but

2253
01:59:47,900 --> 01:59:52,100
long stretches of Road remain 
completely dark your carrying a 

2254
01:59:52,100 --> 01:59:55,200
lantern, which helps. 
But the light doesn't extend far

2255
01:59:55,200 --> 01:59:57,400
enough to prevent you from 
occasionally stepping in 

2256
01:59:57,400 --> 02:00:01,600
something unpleasant that you'd 
rather than not identify cities 

2257
02:00:01,600 --> 02:00:04,700
after dark were dangerous places
and insufficient lighting was a 

2258
02:00:04,708 --> 02:00:08,500
major reason why Criminals 
worked under cover of Darkness 

2259
02:00:08,500 --> 02:00:11,500
knowing that victims couldn't 
identify them. 

2260
02:00:11,500 --> 02:00:14,200
And constables. 
Couldnt easily give Chase 

2261
02:00:14,200 --> 02:00:17,900
getting home safely after dark 
often meant hiring a link boy. 

2262
02:00:17,900 --> 02:00:21,800
A youth carrying a torch to 
light your way or traveling in 

2263
02:00:21,800 --> 02:00:25,300
groups for safety. 
The wealthy had servants, who 

2264
02:00:25,308 --> 02:00:28,300
accompanied them with lanterns, 
everyone else took their 

2265
02:00:28,300 --> 02:00:32,000
chances, the watch system 
attempted to maintain order with

2266
02:00:32,000 --> 02:00:35,000
nightwatchman patrolling streets
and calling out the hours. 

2267
02:00:35,800 --> 02:00:39,900
But Watchmen were often elderly 
poorly paid and not particularly

2268
02:00:39,900 --> 02:00:43,200
effective at preventing crime, 
their lanterns helped them 

2269
02:00:43,200 --> 02:00:46,000
navigate, but also advertise 
their positions to anyone, 

2270
02:00:46,000 --> 02:00:49,100
wanting to avoid them. 
Criminals simply worked in the 

2271
02:00:49,108 --> 02:00:52,700
areas between watch roots in the
dark spaces, where no one was 

2272
02:00:52,700 --> 02:00:55,500
looking some cities, 
experimented with public 

2273
02:00:55,500 --> 02:00:58,700
Lighting systems. 
Paris had been installing oil 

2274
02:00:58,700 --> 02:01:02,200
lamps on May major streets. 
Since the 1660s, creating a 

2275
02:01:02,208 --> 02:01:05,700
network of lights that were lit 
each evening and extinguished at

2276
02:01:05,700 --> 02:01:09,100
dawn, the system required, an 
army of lamplighters and lamps 

2277
02:01:09,100 --> 02:01:12,200
offers workers, who made their 
rounds with ladders and long 

2278
02:01:12,208 --> 02:01:15,500
poles managing, thousands of 
lamps across the city. 

2279
02:01:15,500 --> 02:01:19,900
The cost was enormous but the 
benefits in terms of reduced 

2280
02:01:19,900 --> 02:01:22,700
crime and improved nighttime 
Commerce made, it worthwhile 

2281
02:01:22,700 --> 02:01:26,100
London, was slower to adopt 
comprehensive Street lighting. 

2282
02:01:26,800 --> 02:01:29,800
Relying on the patchwork system 
of householder lanterns. 

2283
02:01:29,800 --> 02:01:34,200
Supplemented by a few public 
lamps in, busier areas, the 

2284
02:01:34,200 --> 02:01:36,600
result was inconsistent. 
Some streets were reasonably 

2285
02:01:36,600 --> 02:01:38,900
well lit. 
While others remained dark 

2286
02:01:38,900 --> 02:01:42,500
passages, best of voided off to 
Sunset maps of London. 

2287
02:01:42,500 --> 02:01:45,300
Published in this period 
sometimes included notation 

2288
02:01:45,300 --> 02:01:47,700
about which streets were safe to
Traverse at night. 

2289
02:01:47,700 --> 02:01:51,700
He strange form of cartography 
that mapped danger as much as 

2290
02:01:51,700 --> 02:01:55,000
geography. 
He passed a Tavern like a noise 

2291
02:01:55,000 --> 02:01:58,600
spilling from his Open Door. 
inside, you can see customers 

2292
02:01:58,600 --> 02:02:03,800
drinking by candlelight the room
hazy with tobacco smoke Tavern 

2293
02:02:03,800 --> 02:02:06,400
stayed open late because they 
could afford the light necessary

2294
02:02:06,400 --> 02:02:10,000
to do business after dark. 
They became social centers by 

2295
02:02:10,008 --> 02:02:12,100
default. 
Where else could people Gather 

2296
02:02:12,100 --> 02:02:14,600
in the evening? 
The pub served as a kind of 

2297
02:02:14,600 --> 02:02:18,100
communal, living room, a lit 
space in the dark city, where 

2298
02:02:18,100 --> 02:02:21,400
news was exchanged deals were 
made and the hours between 

2299
02:02:21,400 --> 02:02:23,000
supper and bedtime could be 
passed. 

2300
02:02:23,000 --> 02:02:26,300
In company, like, soil, 
collectors were working emptying

2301
02:02:26,300 --> 02:02:29,800
chamber pots, and cesspits doing
work that polite Society 

2302
02:02:29,800 --> 02:02:33,100
preferred not to think about. 
They worked at night partly to 

2303
02:02:33,100 --> 02:02:35,300
avoid offending, daytime 
sensibilities. 

2304
02:02:35,300 --> 02:02:38,800
But also because Darkness 
provided some cover for work 

2305
02:02:38,800 --> 02:02:41,900
that no one wanted to watch 
their lanterns bobbed through 

2306
02:02:41,900 --> 02:02:45,700
alleys and rear courts marking 
their progress through tusks 

2307
02:02:45,700 --> 02:02:47,600
that were necessary of deeply 
unpleasant. 

2308
02:02:47,600 --> 02:02:50,300
You hear the Nightingale, man, 
making his rounds. 

2309
02:02:50,300 --> 02:02:54,200
A vendor selling small. 
Songbirds in cages conducting 

2310
02:02:54,200 --> 02:02:56,800
business primarily after dark 
because that's when his 

2311
02:02:56,800 --> 02:03:00,100
customers were home from work. 
He carries a lantern to show his

2312
02:03:00,100 --> 02:03:02,800
Wares and the birds sing despite
the dark. 

2313
02:03:03,100 --> 02:03:06,400
Their voice is strangely 
cheerful in the night streets. 

2314
02:03:06,400 --> 02:03:09,400
You wonder if they can confused 
about the time of day or if they

2315
02:03:09,408 --> 02:03:10,800
simply don't care when they 
sing. 

2316
02:03:10,800 --> 02:03:14,300
As long as someone is listening,
Street lighting, transformed, 

2317
02:03:14,300 --> 02:03:18,000
urban geography and subtle ways.
Well, its Street became 

2318
02:03:18,000 --> 02:03:21,400
desirable addresses with 
property values reflecting the 

2319
02:03:21,400 --> 02:03:23,700
relative safety and convenience 
of good illumination. 

2320
02:03:25,000 --> 02:03:28,400
Dark streets were avoided when 
possible creating invisible, 

2321
02:03:28,400 --> 02:03:31,900
boundaries within cities, the 
pattern of light and Shadow 

2322
02:03:31,900 --> 02:03:35,800
shaped how people move through 
Urban spaces creating preferred 

2323
02:03:35,800 --> 02:03:39,800
routes and no-go areas. 
The introduction of gaslighting 

2324
02:03:39,800 --> 02:03:42,700
would revolutionize cities in 
ways that were only Beginning To

2325
02:03:42,700 --> 02:03:45,600
Be Imagined within your lifetime
though. 

2326
02:03:45,600 --> 02:03:48,900
You don't know this yet streets 
will be lit by gas lamps that 

2327
02:03:48,900 --> 02:03:51,900
burn brighter and more steadily 
than oil lamps ever. 

2328
02:03:51,900 --> 02:03:54,700
Could the change will transform 
herb and life? 

2329
02:03:54,700 --> 02:03:59,300
Extending commas, reducing crime
and making nighttime navigation.

2330
02:03:59,300 --> 02:04:00,500
Far. 
Less treacherous. 

2331
02:04:00,500 --> 02:04:04,100
But for now, you navigate by 
Lantern light and Moonlight 

2332
02:04:04,100 --> 02:04:07,100
stepping carefully through a 
city that Darkness, still 

2333
02:04:07,100 --> 02:04:11,100
controls public squares and 
Market places, receive priority 

2334
02:04:11,100 --> 02:04:14,700
for lighting installation. 
These were spaces where Commerce

2335
02:04:14,700 --> 02:04:18,400
happened where people gathered 
and where a city's prosperity 

2336
02:04:18,400 --> 02:04:21,900
and civility were on display. 
Good Lighting in these areas, 

2337
02:04:21,900 --> 02:04:24,300
served both practical and 
symbolic functions. 

2338
02:04:25,300 --> 02:04:27,500
Hilted, trade and social 
interaction. 

2339
02:04:27,500 --> 02:04:30,700
While also demonstrating civil 
order and progress. 

2340
02:04:30,700 --> 02:04:34,100
You notice how the few Street 
lamps create pools of light 

2341
02:04:34,100 --> 02:04:38,800
separated by expanses of 
Darkness, walking between lamps 

2342
02:04:38,800 --> 02:04:42,500
means periodic, transitions from
relative, visibility to near 

2343
02:04:42,500 --> 02:04:46,800
total darkness with your eyes, 
constantly adjusting The 

2344
02:04:46,800 --> 02:04:48,700
psychological effect is 
unsettling. 

2345
02:04:49,300 --> 02:04:51,900
You feel exposed under the 
lamps, vulnerable, in the 

2346
02:04:51,900 --> 02:04:54,900
darkness between them. 
The profession of Link boy 

2347
02:04:54,900 --> 02:04:56,700
emerged to address the lighting 
Gap. 

2348
02:04:56,700 --> 02:05:00,400
These were typically poor youth 
who carried torches or lanterns 

2349
02:05:00,400 --> 02:05:03,900
and escorted people through dark
streets for a small fee. 

2350
02:05:03,900 --> 02:05:07,600
The work was a regular and 
poorly paid but it was available

2351
02:05:07,600 --> 02:05:10,500
to anyone with access to a torch
and knowledge of the city 

2352
02:05:10,500 --> 02:05:14,700
streets link boys position 
themselves busy corners and near

2353
02:05:14,700 --> 02:05:17,800
theater's offering their 
services to anyone venturing 

2354
02:05:17,800 --> 02:05:21,200
Into the Night. 
Theater goes provided reliable 

2355
02:05:21,200 --> 02:05:23,300
business for link, boys and 
Sudan. 

2356
02:05:23,300 --> 02:05:27,200
Check carriers performance is 
ended after dark releasing 

2357
02:05:27,200 --> 02:05:29,900
well-dressed audiences in to 
streets that were often quite 

2358
02:05:29,900 --> 02:05:32,500
dark. 
The wealthy audience members 

2359
02:05:32,500 --> 02:05:35,800
hired sedan chairs or private 
carriages with attendant torch. 

2360
02:05:35,800 --> 02:05:39,500
Bearers middle class, patrons 
hired link, boys or walked in 

2361
02:05:39,500 --> 02:05:41,900
groups. 
The poor simply walked home as 

2362
02:05:41,900 --> 02:05:43,700
quickly as possible hoping for 
the best. 

2363
02:05:44,800 --> 02:05:48,200
Prostitutes work, the dark 
streets using Shadows for 

2364
02:05:48,200 --> 02:05:51,800
anonymity and negotiating 
business in doorways and allies 

2365
02:05:51,800 --> 02:05:54,200
the darkness that made streets. 
Dangerous. 

2366
02:05:54,200 --> 02:05:56,800
Also made them useful for 
activities that required 

2367
02:05:56,800 --> 02:05:59,000
discretion. 
The relationship between 

2368
02:05:59,000 --> 02:06:02,300
illumination and moral order was
something city Authority's 

2369
02:06:02,300 --> 02:06:05,200
understood. 
Well, Better lighting meant 

2370
02:06:05,200 --> 02:06:08,000
better surveillance and better 
surveillance meant better 

2371
02:06:08,000 --> 02:06:11,300
control of behavior, you pass, 
the remains of someone's evening

2372
02:06:11,300 --> 02:06:14,600
meal thrown into the street 
bones, vegetable peelings and 

2373
02:06:14,608 --> 02:06:18,100
other less identifiable 
materials in darkness streets 

2374
02:06:18,100 --> 02:06:20,500
become repositories, for all 
kinds of waste. 

2375
02:06:21,000 --> 02:06:23,600
With people disposing of things 
they wouldn't dare throw out 

2376
02:06:23,600 --> 02:06:26,500
during daylight the morning, 
cleaning crews will deal with 

2377
02:06:26,500 --> 02:06:28,800
it. 
But for now the debris adds 

2378
02:06:28,800 --> 02:06:30,600
another Hazard to nighttime 
navigation. 

2379
02:06:31,400 --> 02:06:34,600
The sound of footsteps behind 
you causes a moment of anxiety. 

2380
02:06:35,700 --> 02:06:38,000
You turn to see another 
pedestrian with a lantern 

2381
02:06:38,000 --> 02:06:40,600
nodding. 
As the pass, the encounter is 

2382
02:06:40,600 --> 02:06:43,800
brief, but illustrates constant 
calculations people make about 

2383
02:06:43,800 --> 02:06:46,600
risk and safety. 
Who else is on the street? 

2384
02:06:47,400 --> 02:06:49,800
Are they walking with purpose or
lingering? 

2385
02:06:49,800 --> 02:06:54,100
Suspiciously do they have light 
every encounter after dark 

2386
02:06:54,100 --> 02:06:55,400
carried? 
A Potential Threat? 

2387
02:06:56,300 --> 02:06:59,700
Churches and Cathedrals often 
maintained exterior lamps, as 

2388
02:06:59,700 --> 02:07:04,000
acts of Charity, providing light
for travelers and demonstrating 

2389
02:07:04,000 --> 02:07:07,600
religious commitment to aiding 
the vulnerable, these lamps burn

2390
02:07:07,600 --> 02:07:10,200
throughout the night. 
Tended, by Church, caretakers 

2391
02:07:10,200 --> 02:07:14,700
creating small, sanctuaries of 
light in the Darkness, Travelers

2392
02:07:14,700 --> 02:07:17,900
knew to look for church lamps 
when navigating unfamiliar areas

2393
02:07:17,900 --> 02:07:22,000
after dark, the contrast between
daytime and nighttime cities was

2394
02:07:22,000 --> 02:07:25,400
Stark. 
During the day streets filled 

2395
02:07:25,400 --> 02:07:28,400
with vendors, workers vehicles 
and pedestrians. 

2396
02:07:28,400 --> 02:07:32,700
Moving purposefully through 
familiar spaces after dark, the 

2397
02:07:32,700 --> 02:07:36,600
same streets became different 
places, emptier more dangerous 

2398
02:07:36,600 --> 02:07:39,500
and navigable only with 
artificial light and 

2399
02:07:39,500 --> 02:07:43,100
considerable caution. 
The city effectively contracted 

2400
02:07:43,100 --> 02:07:47,100
after sunset, with large areas 
becoming virtually uninhabitable

2401
02:07:47,100 --> 02:07:51,200
until dawn. 
You're in Baltimore in 1816 and 

2402
02:07:51,200 --> 02:07:54,100
you've just witnessed something 
remarkable a demonstration of 

2403
02:07:54,100 --> 02:07:56,100
gaslighting in a downtown 
building. 

2404
02:07:56,100 --> 02:08:01,300
The light is like nothing you've
ever seen steady bright almost 

2405
02:08:01,300 --> 02:08:04,800
harsh compared to the soft glow 
of candles and oil lamps, you've

2406
02:08:04,800 --> 02:08:08,300
known your entire life. 
The room is illuminated evenly 

2407
02:08:08,300 --> 02:08:11,300
with none of the shadows, and 
dark Corners that characterize 

2408
02:08:11,300 --> 02:08:15,000
every other lit space you've 
experienced This is the 

2409
02:08:15,000 --> 02:08:16,200
beginning of the end for the 
world. 

2410
02:08:16,200 --> 02:08:18,600
You've known that you can't 
fully appreciate that. 

2411
02:08:18,600 --> 02:08:21,200
Yet gaslighting represents a 
transitional. 

2412
02:08:21,200 --> 02:08:25,100
Technology still based on 
combustion, still requiring 

2413
02:08:25,100 --> 02:08:29,000
pipes and maintenance still 
producing heat and using oxygen.

2414
02:08:30,000 --> 02:08:33,000
But it's the first lighting 
technology that divorces the 

2415
02:08:33,000 --> 02:08:36,800
source of fuel from the point of
use, the gas is manufactured 

2416
02:08:36,800 --> 02:08:39,800
elsewhere transported through 
pipes and burned at fixtures 

2417
02:08:39,800 --> 02:08:43,000
throughout the building. 
It's a small conceptual step, 

2418
02:08:43,000 --> 02:08:46,500
but it changes everything. 
The gas itself is made from coal

2419
02:08:46,500 --> 02:08:50,400
heated in sealed retorts, until 
it releases flammable Vapors, 

2420
02:08:50,400 --> 02:08:54,400
these Vapors are captured 
purified and stored in large gas

2421
02:08:54,400 --> 02:08:58,600
holders before being distributed
through iron pipes, the entire 

2422
02:08:58,600 --> 02:09:01,300
system requires significant 
infrastructure investment 

2423
02:09:01,300 --> 02:09:04,500
gasworks pipes meters and fixed 
pictures. 

2424
02:09:04,500 --> 02:09:07,900
It's not something individuals 
can create in their homes. 

2425
02:09:07,900 --> 02:09:11,500
It requires organized systems 
companies, capital and 

2426
02:09:11,500 --> 02:09:14,700
technology that transforms 
lighting from a household 

2427
02:09:14,700 --> 02:09:18,700
concern into a public utility. 
You watch as the demonstrator, 

2428
02:09:18,700 --> 02:09:22,300
adjust the flame, turning a 
small key that increases or 

2429
02:09:22,300 --> 02:09:26,200
decreases the flow of gas. 
The light responds instantly 

2430
02:09:26,200 --> 02:09:29,000
brightening or dimming with 
precise control. 

2431
02:09:29,000 --> 02:09:32,100
That would be impossible with 
candles or oil lamps. 

2432
02:09:32,100 --> 02:09:36,400
This control ability is part of 
the Revolution light that obeys.

2433
02:09:36,400 --> 02:09:39,700
Your immediate commands that 
requires no trimming or 

2434
02:09:39,700 --> 02:09:41,000
refilling. 
The burns. 

2435
02:09:41,000 --> 02:09:45,500
Consistently our after our, as 
long as the gas flows, the smell

2436
02:09:45,500 --> 02:09:49,100
is different too cold. 
Gas has a distinctive slightly 

2437
02:09:49,100 --> 02:09:51,900
unpleasant odor though. 
The demonstration organizers 

2438
02:09:51,900 --> 02:09:54,300
have added ventilation to make 
the space comfortable. 

2439
02:09:54,300 --> 02:09:58,300
Later, systems will add aromatic
compounds to gas to make leaks 

2440
02:09:58,300 --> 02:10:01,700
detectable But for now, the 
smell is just part of the 

2441
02:10:01,700 --> 02:10:05,700
experience. you notice that 
despite the bright light, the 

2442
02:10:05,700 --> 02:10:10,400
room is getting warm gaslights 
produce substantial Heat, a side

2443
02:10:10,400 --> 02:10:13,000
effect that will make some 
evenings uncomfortable and 

2444
02:10:13,000 --> 02:10:16,900
gas-lit spaces outside. 
Your told they're beginning to 

2445
02:10:16,900 --> 02:10:19,100
install gas street lights in 
major cities. 

2446
02:10:19,100 --> 02:10:22,400
Baltimore itself will have 
gastric lighting within a few 

2447
02:10:22,400 --> 02:10:24,700
years. 
The Lamppost will be taller than

2448
02:10:24,700 --> 02:10:28,100
oil lamp posts. 
The Flames enclosed in glass to 

2449
02:10:28,100 --> 02:10:31,000
protect them from wind, 
lamplighters will still make 

2450
02:10:31,000 --> 02:10:34,200
their rounds each evening, but 
now they'll be lighting gas, 

2451
02:10:34,200 --> 02:10:38,000
rather than oil using long poles
to turn the gas valves and 

2452
02:10:38,000 --> 02:10:41,300
ignite the flames. 
The economic implications are 

2453
02:10:41,300 --> 02:10:45,300
enormous gaslighting costs 
significantly less per hour of 

2454
02:10:45,300 --> 02:10:49,100
Illumination than candles or oil
lamps, making it extended 

2455
02:10:49,100 --> 02:10:51,400
nighttime activity affordable 
for more people. 

2456
02:10:52,200 --> 02:10:55,300
Factories will be able to run 
evening shifts shops. 

2457
02:10:55,300 --> 02:10:59,100
Will stay open after dark social
life, will extend further into 

2458
02:10:59,100 --> 02:11:01,500
the night. 
The working day will stretch 

2459
02:11:01,500 --> 02:11:05,100
beyond the boundaries, the sun 
had always set Not everyone is 

2460
02:11:05,100 --> 02:11:08,800
enthusiastic about these changes
can handle makers, see their 

2461
02:11:08,800 --> 02:11:12,300
livelihood, threatened, some 
people find gaslighting garish 

2462
02:11:12,300 --> 02:11:13,900
and unpleasant compared to the 
familiar. 

2463
02:11:13,900 --> 02:11:17,600
Glow of candles. 
There are safety concerns gas 

2464
02:11:17,600 --> 02:11:20,300
leaks can cause explosions. 
And several well-publicized 

2465
02:11:20,300 --> 02:11:23,500
accidents have made people 
nervous about having flammable 

2466
02:11:23,500 --> 02:11:27,700
gas pipe through their walls. 
The changes met with a mixture 

2467
02:11:27,700 --> 02:11:30,600
of excitement. 
And trepidation theaters were 

2468
02:11:30,600 --> 02:11:33,000
among the first to adopt 
gaslighting enthusiastically, 

2469
02:11:33,000 --> 02:11:36,300
the ability to control light 
levels, revolutionized 

2470
02:11:36,300 --> 02:11:40,100
stagecraft allowing for effects 
impossible, with candles or oil 

2471
02:11:40,100 --> 02:11:42,500
lamps lights. 
Could be dimmed gradually for 

2472
02:11:42,500 --> 02:11:46,800
dramatic effect, Brighton. 
For comedic scenes, and adjusted

2473
02:11:46,800 --> 02:11:50,100
throughout performance is to 
enhance mood and meaning the 

2474
02:11:50,100 --> 02:11:52,900
theater became a showcase for 
lighting technology, 

2475
02:11:52,900 --> 02:11:56,400
demonstrating possibilities, 
that would eventually spread to 

2476
02:11:56,400 --> 02:12:00,000
other venues, the installation 
of gaslighting infrastructure. 

2477
02:12:00,000 --> 02:12:03,900
Created new occupations gas 
Fitters who installed pipes and 

2478
02:12:03,908 --> 02:12:07,500
fixers gas inspectors who 
checked for leaks and safety 

2479
02:12:07,500 --> 02:12:10,000
compliance. 
And meter readers who tracked, 

2480
02:12:10,000 --> 02:12:13,600
consumption an entire industry 
emerged around this new 

2481
02:12:13,600 --> 02:12:17,200
technology employing, thousands 
of workers and generating 

2482
02:12:17,200 --> 02:12:20,900
substantial capital investment. 
You're seeing the future, 

2483
02:12:20,900 --> 02:12:23,700
though, you don't realize it yet
in. 

2484
02:12:23,700 --> 02:12:26,800
Your lifetime gaslighting will 
transform cities factories and 

2485
02:12:26,800 --> 02:12:29,300
homes. 
But even gaslighting is just 

2486
02:12:29,300 --> 02:12:32,700
another transition already. 
Scientists are experimenting 

2487
02:12:32,700 --> 02:12:36,600
with something called electric 
light using batteries, and metal

2488
02:12:36,600 --> 02:12:39,300
filaments, to create 
illumination without combustion.

2489
02:12:39,300 --> 02:12:42,200
It sounds like science fiction, 
you can't. 

2490
02:12:42,200 --> 02:12:44,400
Imagine it will ever be 
practical for everyday. 

2491
02:12:44,400 --> 02:12:49,300
Use some enthusiasts Envision 
entire cities, lit by gas with 

2492
02:12:49,300 --> 02:12:52,100
streets bright enough to read by
homes. 

2493
02:12:52,100 --> 02:12:55,700
Illuminated, as thoroughly as 
daylight and work continuing 

2494
02:12:55,700 --> 02:13:00,700
Around the Clock, others warned 
of dangers, explosions fires, 

2495
02:13:00,700 --> 02:13:04,700
and the moral hazards of 
extending human activity in to 

2496
02:13:04,700 --> 02:13:06,700
hours that God intended for 
rest. 

2497
02:13:06,700 --> 02:13:10,200
The debate reflects broader 
anxiety is about technology and 

2498
02:13:10,200 --> 02:13:13,700
change about whether progress 
serves Humanity or threatened 

2499
02:13:13,700 --> 02:13:16,600
it. 
The gas company representatives 

2500
02:13:16,600 --> 02:13:18,200
are taking questions from the 
audience. 

2501
02:13:18,200 --> 02:13:22,700
How much will installation cost?
How is gas consumption measured 

2502
02:13:22,700 --> 02:13:26,000
and build What happens if pipes 
break or leak. 

2503
02:13:26,700 --> 02:13:29,200
Can gaslighting be used safely 
and homes with children. 

2504
02:13:29,200 --> 02:13:33,400
The children's revealed both 
interest and concern, a 

2505
02:13:33,400 --> 02:13:36,000
community trying, to understand 
how this new technology will 

2506
02:13:36,000 --> 02:13:40,100
affect their lives. 
Walking home that evening your 

2507
02:13:40,100 --> 02:13:41,500
own oil lamps. 
Seems dimmer and less 

2508
02:13:41,500 --> 02:13:43,200
satisfactory than it. 
Did this morning. 

2509
02:13:43,200 --> 02:13:46,700
You've seen what's possible? 
And the old ways suddenly 

2510
02:13:46,700 --> 02:13:50,400
feeling adequate The light you 
carry has served Humanity for 

2511
02:13:50,400 --> 02:13:53,300
thousands of years but its days 
are numbered. 

2512
02:13:54,100 --> 02:13:57,600
Within a century almost no one 
will use oil lamps or candles as

2513
02:13:57,600 --> 02:14:01,400
primary light sources, they'll 
become decorative, nostalgic, 

2514
02:14:01,400 --> 02:14:04,100
and reserved for special 
occasions and power outages. 

2515
02:14:04,100 --> 02:14:08,100
The darkness that surrounded 
your ancestors that shape their 

2516
02:14:08,100 --> 02:14:12,100
days and structured, their 
societies that created fears and

2517
02:14:12,100 --> 02:14:14,500
rituals and careful economies of
light. 

2518
02:14:15,300 --> 02:14:18,400
That darkness is about to 
retreat further than anyone 

2519
02:14:18,400 --> 02:14:21,100
imagined possible. 
The night will never be fully 

2520
02:14:21,100 --> 02:14:24,900
conquered, but it will be pushed
back contained and made less 

2521
02:14:24,900 --> 02:14:27,600
threatening and less absolute 
your witnessing. 

2522
02:14:27,600 --> 02:14:30,300
The beginning of that 
transformation, standing at the 

2523
02:14:30,300 --> 02:14:33,300
threshold, between the world of 
fire and the world of artificial

2524
02:14:33,300 --> 02:14:35,900
light, that will Define the 
future elsewhere. 

2525
02:14:35,900 --> 02:14:39,500
In Laboratories and workshops 
experimenters are working with 

2526
02:14:39,500 --> 02:14:43,500
electricity art clams, using 
electric current between carbon 

2527
02:14:43,500 --> 02:14:45,300
electrodes can produce brilliant
light. 

2528
02:14:45,300 --> 02:14:48,800
Those are two bright and hot for
most practical applications. 

2529
02:14:48,800 --> 02:14:53,800
The light they created harsh 
bluish white and fundamentally 

2530
02:14:53,800 --> 02:14:58,000
different from any flame base 
illumination. most people who 

2531
02:14:58,000 --> 02:15:00,900
see art, clamp demonstrations 
are impressed, but doubtful 

2532
02:15:00,900 --> 02:15:04,500
about practical applications 
Thomas Edison hasn't been born 

2533
02:15:04,500 --> 02:15:08,100
yet, but the trajectory taught 
his eventual breakthrough as 

2534
02:15:08,100 --> 02:15:11,100
being established, each 
Improvement in lighting, 

2535
02:15:11,100 --> 02:15:14,900
technology, creates demand for 
more and better illumination 

2536
02:15:14,900 --> 02:15:19,100
each new capability reveals 
limitations of existing systems 

2537
02:15:19,800 --> 02:15:22,300
The path from fire to 
electricity passes through 

2538
02:15:22,300 --> 02:15:25,100
gaslighting and that transition 
is beginning. 

2539
02:15:25,100 --> 02:15:28,400
Now, in your time, in your city 
you think about your 

2540
02:15:28,400 --> 02:15:31,400
grandparents who live their 
entire lives by candle and 

2541
02:15:31,400 --> 02:15:35,300
Lamplight, never imagining 
Alternatives, you think about 

2542
02:15:35,300 --> 02:15:38,000
your grandchildren, who might 
grow up in a world where 

2543
02:15:38,000 --> 02:15:41,900
lighting is cheap abundant and 
controllable and ways? 

2544
02:15:41,900 --> 02:15:46,500
You can barely imagine the pace 
of change is accelerating and 

2545
02:15:46,500 --> 02:15:48,000
you're living through a pivotal 
moment. 

2546
02:15:48,000 --> 02:15:50,800
When Millennia of lighting 
history are being compressed and

2547
02:15:50,800 --> 02:15:54,200
transformed rest. 
Well knowing that the darkness, 

2548
02:15:54,200 --> 02:15:56,600
your ancestors navigated with 
such care. 

2549
02:15:56,600 --> 02:15:59,700
And Ingenuity has been mapped 
and measured and made for 

2550
02:15:59,700 --> 02:16:02,300
million through thousands of 
years of human persistence, 

2551
02:16:02,300 --> 02:16:07,000
their solutions to the problem 
of Darkness, simple practical 

2552
02:16:07,000 --> 02:16:10,100
and deeply meaningful. 
Like the path backward Through 

2553
02:16:10,100 --> 02:16:12,500
Time, showing us who we were 
before. 

2554
02:16:12,500 --> 02:16:15,500
We could banish the night with 
the flip of a switch, the 

2555
02:16:15,500 --> 02:16:18,200
Flames, they tended the lamps, 
they filled the candles. 

2556
02:16:18,200 --> 02:16:22,100
They dipped and the Stay lit. 
All of these represent 

2557
02:16:22,100 --> 02:16:26,200
Humanities long conversation 
with Darkness, a dialogue that 

2558
02:16:26,200 --> 02:16:28,600
continues. 
Even now in the age of electric 

2559
02:16:28,600 --> 02:16:32,299
light sleep peacefully 
surrounded by the glow of 

2560
02:16:32,299 --> 02:16:35,200
understanding wrapped. 
In the knowledge, that light has

2561
02:16:35,200 --> 02:16:37,400
always been about more than mere
visibility. 

2562
02:16:38,200 --> 02:16:43,299
It's been about safety 
Community, meaning and hope 

2563
02:16:43,299 --> 02:16:45,500
carried carefully through the 
long night. 

2564
02:16:52,500 --> 02:16:54,799
Let me tell you about a boy who 
would grow up to touch the 

2565
02:16:54,799 --> 02:16:56,799
ceiling of the most famous 
Chapel in the world. 

2566
02:16:56,799 --> 02:16:59,600
Imagine yourself relaxing in a 
cozy. 

2567
02:16:59,600 --> 02:17:05,900
Chair on a calming He was born 
on March, 6th 1475 in the small 

2568
02:17:05,900 --> 02:17:09,500
Hillside town of capris where 
the Morning Mist, clung to Old 

2569
02:17:09,500 --> 02:17:11,400
Stone houses like slumbering 
cats. 

2570
02:17:12,100 --> 02:17:15,299
His name was Michelangelo 
Borneo, but his friends just 

2571
02:17:15,299 --> 02:17:17,799
called him, Michelle. 
Do you know how certain things 

2572
02:17:17,799 --> 02:17:20,900
appeal to certain kids? 
While some people chase 

2573
02:17:20,900 --> 02:17:23,700
butterflies and others? 
Adore books, young Michelle had 

2574
02:17:23,700 --> 02:17:26,799
a peculiar Obsession. 
He was gathering Pebbles and 

2575
02:17:26,799 --> 02:17:29,900
examining their shapes turning 
them over in his tiny hands. 

2576
02:17:29,900 --> 02:17:32,799
As if they were Secrets while 
other six year olds were playing

2577
02:17:32,799 --> 02:17:36,400
with wooden toys. 
His father lot of icao was a 

2578
02:17:36,407 --> 02:17:39,100
local magistrate. 
Think of him as the town's 

2579
02:17:39,100 --> 02:17:42,299
official paper pusher and he had
Grand plans for his son, that 

2580
02:17:42,299 --> 02:17:44,799
definitely didn't involve 
getting Dusty with the rocks. 

2581
02:17:45,600 --> 02:17:48,600
When Michelle was little the 
family relocated to Florence 

2582
02:17:48,600 --> 02:17:51,799
which would later serve as both 
his inspiration and playground. 

2583
02:17:52,799 --> 02:17:55,799
In the 1480s Florence was more 
than just a city. 

2584
02:17:55,799 --> 02:17:59,299
It was like living inside a 
jewelry box with ideas and art 

2585
02:17:59,299 --> 02:18:02,500
glistening on every surface, the
Medici family ruled there as 

2586
02:18:02,500 --> 02:18:04,799
well as wealthy patrons, who 
collected artists in the same 

2587
02:18:04,799 --> 02:18:08,100
way that some people collect 
rare coins But they were not 

2588
02:18:08,100 --> 02:18:11,900
Kings when we shall was just six
years old, his mother Francesca 

2589
02:18:11,900 --> 02:18:14,799
passed away. 
Children are shaped by Los. 

2590
02:18:14,799 --> 02:18:18,000
Sometimes it pushes them towards
something bigger and other 

2591
02:18:18,000 --> 02:18:19,700
times, it makes them Retreat 
inward. 

2592
02:18:19,700 --> 02:18:21,799
It appeared to do both from 
Shell. 

2593
02:18:21,799 --> 02:18:25,100
He grew quieter and more 
perceptive spending hours, 

2594
02:18:25,100 --> 02:18:27,799
observing stone masons fixed 
structures because he was 

2595
02:18:27,799 --> 02:18:30,700
captivated by their ability to 
bend hard marble. 

2596
02:18:31,299 --> 02:18:33,900
In an attempt to guide him 
toward a respectable career in 

2597
02:18:33,900 --> 02:18:37,400
banking or government his father
enrolled him in Grammar School. 

2598
02:18:38,299 --> 02:18:40,299
Michelle. 
However, had different plans. 

2599
02:18:40,299 --> 02:18:43,000
He would doodle in the margins 
of his books. 

2600
02:18:43,000 --> 02:18:46,700
Instead of focusing on letting 
conjugations creating intricate 

2601
02:18:46,700 --> 02:18:49,700
drawings of hands faces and the 
way light fell across a 

2602
02:18:49,700 --> 02:18:53,500
windowsill Michelle couldn't 
help himself but his teachers 

2603
02:18:53,500 --> 02:18:56,900
weren't amused for him. 
Creating art was more than just 

2604
02:18:56,900 --> 02:18:58,600
a hobby. 
It was a way of life. 

2605
02:18:59,799 --> 02:19:03,500
At the age of 13, Mitchell 
joined Domenico, ghirlandaio one

2606
02:19:03,500 --> 02:19:06,500
of Florence's most prosperous 
painters as an apprentice 

2607
02:19:06,500 --> 02:19:09,500
defying. 
His father's wishes and likely 

2608
02:19:09,500 --> 02:19:12,100
amid. 
Some heated family disputes, you

2609
02:19:12,100 --> 02:19:13,700
can appreciate Lord of ecos 
horror. 

2610
02:19:13,700 --> 02:19:15,900
If you can picture your 
adolescent today, declaring 

2611
02:19:15,900 --> 02:19:18,200
their dropping out to pursue a 
career as a street artist. 

2612
02:19:18,200 --> 02:19:22,299
However, as is often the case 
with future Geniuses Michelle 

2613
02:19:22,299 --> 02:19:25,000
was obstinate The girl and I are
Workshop. 

2614
02:19:25,000 --> 02:19:28,100
Resembled, an art Factory from 
the Renaissance apprentices 

2615
02:19:28,100 --> 02:19:31,400
prepared canvases, ground 
pigments and picked up skills by

2616
02:19:31,400 --> 02:19:33,000
imitating. 
The Master's methods. 

2617
02:19:33,700 --> 02:19:36,799
For Michelle painting was a bit 
confining but most boys were 

2618
02:19:36,799 --> 02:19:39,700
excited to eventually paint a 
small portion of a larger piece.

2619
02:19:40,700 --> 02:19:43,100
Because of the three-dimensional
challenge of bringing life from 

2620
02:19:43,100 --> 02:19:45,700
inanimate Stone. 
He continued to gravitate 

2621
02:19:45,700 --> 02:19:49,200
towards sculpture his story 
takes an intriguing at this 

2622
02:19:49,200 --> 02:19:51,800
point. 
In his Garden's Lorenzo, de 

2623
02:19:51,800 --> 02:19:55,500
Medici also known as Lorenzo the
Magnificent, a established to 

2624
02:19:55,500 --> 02:19:59,000
sort of art academy, Young 
Artists could study classical 

2625
02:19:59,000 --> 02:20:01,700
sculpture and receive 
instruction from the best at 

2626
02:20:01,700 --> 02:20:05,700
this experimental School. 
Michelle was invited to join 

2627
02:20:05,700 --> 02:20:07,600
after Lorenzo Scout saw his 
work. 

2628
02:20:08,300 --> 02:20:11,100
The boy who had been Gathering 
Pebbles was now touching marble 

2629
02:20:11,100 --> 02:20:14,000
that had been carved before the 
birth of Christ and strolling 

2630
02:20:14,000 --> 02:20:16,800
through, Gardens brimming with 
statues from ancient Rome. 

2631
02:20:16,800 --> 02:20:19,600
It was like winning the 
Renaissance Lottery to live in 

2632
02:20:19,600 --> 02:20:23,100
the Medici household. 
Ideas crackled in the air like 

2633
02:20:23,100 --> 02:20:27,300
logs on a fire poets, recited 
new verses and philosophers 

2634
02:20:27,300 --> 02:20:30,700
debated at the tables where you 
ate even though Michelle was 

2635
02:20:30,700 --> 02:20:34,200
only 15 and still developing his
lanky frame, he was taking in 

2636
02:20:34,200 --> 02:20:37,300
everything, the art, the 
conversations, and the 

2637
02:20:37,300 --> 02:20:40,200
realization that people could 
make beautiful things that would

2638
02:20:40,200 --> 02:20:44,200
last He wants carved a sleeping 
Cupid, that was so realistic and

2639
02:20:44,200 --> 02:20:47,600
expertly done that someone 
proposed artificially aging it 

2640
02:20:47,600 --> 02:20:50,200
and marketing, it as an antique 
Roman item. 

2641
02:20:51,400 --> 02:20:54,700
The strategy was successful 
until the buyer realized the 

2642
02:20:54,700 --> 02:20:58,200
fraud The Collector however, was
impressed, rather than incense, 

2643
02:20:58,200 --> 02:21:01,100
who was this young person 
capable of deceiving 

2644
02:21:01,100 --> 02:21:03,900
professionals. 
At that moment, Michelle became 

2645
02:21:03,900 --> 02:21:05,900
aware of a significant aspect of
himself. 

2646
02:21:05,900 --> 02:21:10,800
He was not merely talented, but 
exceptionally so, This type of 

2647
02:21:10,808 --> 02:21:14,700
talent only occurs, perhaps once
every generation like learning 

2648
02:21:14,700 --> 02:21:16,800
you can fly but not being sure. 
You want to take off. 

2649
02:21:16,800 --> 02:21:19,100
It was both exhilarating and 
terrifying. 

2650
02:21:20,000 --> 02:21:23,200
As you go to sleep tonight, 
visualize that young man 

2651
02:21:23,200 --> 02:21:27,000
standing among marble statues. 
In those Medici Gardens, his 

2652
02:21:27,000 --> 02:21:29,100
hands already smeared with stone
dust. 

2653
02:21:29,100 --> 02:21:32,900
His mind racing with ideas, he 
had not yet been able to grasp 

2654
02:21:33,700 --> 02:21:36,600
When Michelle was 21 years old 
and packing, his few possessions

2655
02:21:36,600 --> 02:21:40,300
for Rome in 1496. 
He felt as though, the world was

2656
02:21:40,300 --> 02:21:45,300
waiting for him, his school had 
been Florence, but Rome, ah, 

2657
02:21:45,300 --> 02:21:48,100
Rome was the birthplace of 
Legends in the making of 

2658
02:21:48,100 --> 02:21:51,100
reputations. 
Imagine him traveling toward the

2659
02:21:51,100 --> 02:21:54,700
city that had ruled the world on
that dusty road, most likely on 

2660
02:21:54,700 --> 02:21:57,800
a borrowed horse with his 
Sketchbook securely tucked away 

2661
02:21:57,800 --> 02:22:01,500
in his saddle bag. 
In the late 1400s Rome resembled

2662
02:22:01,500 --> 02:22:04,600
a huge archaeological site where
people continue to live and 

2663
02:22:04,600 --> 02:22:06,900
work. 
There were pieces of the ancient

2664
02:22:06,900 --> 02:22:10,000
empire everywhere. 
You looked walls constructed 

2665
02:22:10,000 --> 02:22:13,100
from stones that had seen 
Caesar's Victory is marble 

2666
02:22:13,100 --> 02:22:16,400
statues without arms, but still 
exuding strength and broken 

2667
02:22:16,400 --> 02:22:18,100
columns, supporting Tavern 
roofs. 

2668
02:22:18,800 --> 02:22:21,800
It was like entering Paradise 
for an artist who was enamored 

2669
02:22:21,800 --> 02:22:24,400
with classical Beauty. 
A French Cardinal who wanted 

2670
02:22:24,400 --> 02:22:27,600
something unique for his tomb. 
Gave Michelle is first 

2671
02:22:27,600 --> 02:22:32,700
significant Commission The young
sculptor proposed, a pyata Mary 

2672
02:22:32,700 --> 02:22:35,500
holding the dead Christ and 
spent months, sketching, 

2673
02:22:35,500 --> 02:22:38,400
studying anatomy and preparing 
for what would become his 

2674
02:22:38,400 --> 02:22:41,100
Masterpiece. 
The problem with marble however,

2675
02:22:41,100 --> 02:22:45,400
is that it is not forgiving of 
Errors, a bad cut cannot be 

2676
02:22:45,400 --> 02:22:49,900
repaired or erased each chisel. 
Stroke is a tiny Act of Faith. 

2677
02:22:50,600 --> 02:22:53,100
He spent whole days in the 
workshop, working on the pieter 

2678
02:22:53,100 --> 02:22:56,400
like a man possessed coming out 
with marble dust under his 

2679
02:22:56,400 --> 02:23:00,000
fingernails, and in his hair. 
Tenderness of the sculpture he 

2680
02:23:00,000 --> 02:23:03,500
made was revolutionary. 
Michelle carved Mary and Christ 

2681
02:23:03,500 --> 02:23:06,300
as though they were actual 
people caught in a moment of 

2682
02:23:06,300 --> 02:23:09,200
great sorrow and Grace, in 
contrast, to the conventional 

2683
02:23:09,200 --> 02:23:12,300
medieval style, that made 
figures appear rigid and 

2684
02:23:12,300 --> 02:23:15,300
symbolic. 
However, something annoying 

2685
02:23:15,300 --> 02:23:18,300
occurred when the piece was 
revealed after admiring. 

2686
02:23:18,300 --> 02:23:22,000
It visitors would inquire who 
carved this and shake their 

2687
02:23:22,000 --> 02:23:24,600
heads incredulously when 
informed that it was a young man

2688
02:23:24,600 --> 02:23:27,800
from Florence. 
One night, Michelle did 

2689
02:23:27,800 --> 02:23:30,900
something he would never do 
again in his career, he sneaked 

2690
02:23:30,900 --> 02:23:34,200
back and carved his name 
directly on Mary sash saying 

2691
02:23:34,200 --> 02:23:37,200
Milano, Roti Florentine made 
this. 

2692
02:23:38,300 --> 02:23:40,400
Like a Renaissance graffiti 
artist claiming credit. 

2693
02:23:40,400 --> 02:23:43,800
It's funny to imagine this 
future Universe Master sneaking 

2694
02:23:43,800 --> 02:23:46,400
around, Saint Peter's Basilica 
in the dark with his chisel. 

2695
02:23:46,400 --> 02:23:50,300
However, it was successful. 
Everyone in Rome was suddenly 

2696
02:23:50,300 --> 02:23:52,800
aware of Michael Angelo's 
identity after the Pierre 

2697
02:23:52,800 --> 02:23:56,400
established his reputation. 
He also produced his well-known 

2698
02:23:56,400 --> 02:24:00,100
sculpture of the Roman wine. 
God, Bacchus around this period.

2699
02:24:01,200 --> 02:24:04,200
Now, the majority of artists 
depicted Bacchus as a Godlike 

2700
02:24:04,200 --> 02:24:06,900
and dignified figure. 
But Michelle had a different 

2701
02:24:06,900 --> 02:24:10,700
vision. his Backus has the soft 
body of someone who has had too 

2702
02:24:10,700 --> 02:24:13,300
much good living and he appears 
to be a little inebriated 

2703
02:24:13,300 --> 02:24:17,700
swaying, a little it was witty 
and clever demonstrating that 

2704
02:24:17,700 --> 02:24:20,400
Michelle was aware of human 
nature even when he was 

2705
02:24:20,400 --> 02:24:25,000
portraying gods, The achievement
presented new difficulties Rich 

2706
02:24:25,000 --> 02:24:28,000
customers started vying for his 
attention by paying 

2707
02:24:28,000 --> 02:24:30,200
progressively higher prices for 
his sculptures. 

2708
02:24:31,100 --> 02:24:33,100
Michelle. 
However was picky about his 

2709
02:24:33,100 --> 02:24:35,500
commission's. 
He desired projects that were 

2710
02:24:35,500 --> 02:24:38,500
challenges, his abilities and 
allow him to test the limits of 

2711
02:24:38,500 --> 02:24:41,500
what marble could accomplish. 
Not just financial gain. 

2712
02:24:42,300 --> 02:24:44,900
Representatives from Florence, 
showed up one day with an 

2713
02:24:44,900 --> 02:24:48,100
interesting proposal. 
The huge block of marble that 

2714
02:24:48,100 --> 02:24:49,700
had been there for decades was 
in the city. 

2715
02:24:50,500 --> 02:24:53,200
After a few attempts earlier 
sculptors had abandoned, it 

2716
02:24:53,200 --> 02:24:55,400
claiming it was defective and 
useless. 

2717
02:24:56,500 --> 02:24:58,800
The florentines pondered where 
the Michelle would want to look 

2718
02:24:58,800 --> 02:25:01,800
the block would have to be moved
back to Florence because it was 

2719
02:25:01,800 --> 02:25:05,500
so big 17 ft High. 
Like a physician examining a 

2720
02:25:05,508 --> 02:25:07,200
patient, Michelle studded the 
marble. 

2721
02:25:07,200 --> 02:25:10,600
He walked around it, felt its 
surface with his hands and 

2722
02:25:10,600 --> 02:25:13,900
examined, the cuts and grain he 
saw potential where other 

2723
02:25:13,900 --> 02:25:16,800
sculptors or problems, he could 
already picture the figure 

2724
02:25:16,800 --> 02:25:19,600
imprisoned in a waiting release 
in his imagination. 

2725
02:25:21,000 --> 02:25:24,400
This commission would become 
David, it wasn't just any 

2726
02:25:24,400 --> 02:25:27,100
Commission. 
Months passed during the 

2727
02:25:27,100 --> 02:25:29,800
negotiations. 
Michelle desired a suitable 

2728
02:25:29,800 --> 02:25:32,600
workspace. 
Sufficient compensation and 

2729
02:25:32,600 --> 02:25:36,400
total creative control. 
The city officials agreed to 

2730
02:25:36,400 --> 02:25:39,700
everything, possibly believing 
that someone would solve their 

2731
02:25:39,700 --> 02:25:42,300
marble problem. 
They were unaware that they were

2732
02:25:42,300 --> 02:25:45,400
commissioning the world's most 
well known sculpture Michelle 

2733
02:25:45,400 --> 02:25:48,100
took a final stroll through the 
historic streets, of Rome, as he

2734
02:25:48,108 --> 02:25:51,200
got ready to head back to 
Florence, he was departing as a 

2735
02:25:51,200 --> 02:25:53,700
master having arrived as a 
budding Young artist. 

2736
02:25:53,700 --> 02:25:57,000
He had learned from the Eternal 
City that beauty could endure 

2737
02:25:57,000 --> 02:25:59,800
centuries of conflict. 
And turmoil, that art could 

2738
02:25:59,800 --> 02:26:03,100
transcend Empires and The 
Talented hand could transform 

2739
02:26:03,100 --> 02:26:05,300
Stone into a language that would
endure forever. 

2740
02:26:06,000 --> 02:26:08,800
As you drift off to sleep 
tonight, picture, Michelle 

2741
02:26:08,800 --> 02:26:11,400
already seeing David's face in 
his dreams. 

2742
02:26:11,400 --> 02:26:14,200
Loading that massive block of 
marble onto a cart. 

2743
02:26:15,100 --> 02:26:18,100
Those times when everything in 
your life falls into place, when

2744
02:26:18,100 --> 02:26:20,600
all of your knowledge and 
abilities come together to work 

2745
02:26:20,600 --> 02:26:23,800
on the ideal project, at the 
ideal moment have a certain 

2746
02:26:23,800 --> 02:26:27,500
Allure that moment for Michelle 
who is now 26. 

2747
02:26:27,500 --> 02:26:31,100
And back in Florence was when he
first saw the enormous block of 

2748
02:26:31,108 --> 02:26:33,400
marble that would eventually 
become David. 

2749
02:26:34,200 --> 02:26:38,400
The marble had a fascinating 
backstory decades before it had 

2750
02:26:38,400 --> 02:26:41,800
been taken from Carrara and used
to make a sculpture of David for

2751
02:26:41,800 --> 02:26:45,100
Florence cathedral. two, 
previous sculptors had attempted

2752
02:26:45,100 --> 02:26:48,800
it Agostino di duccio had 
started carving, but abandoned 

2753
02:26:48,800 --> 02:26:51,800
it and Antonio rossellino had 
been commissioned to continue 

2754
02:26:51,800 --> 02:26:56,200
but also gave up A 1501 the 
block, which the locals called 

2755
02:26:56,200 --> 02:27:00,300
the giant had devolved into a 
Public Disgrace, akin to a 

2756
02:27:00,300 --> 02:27:02,900
costly piece of exercise, 
equipment collecting dust in a 

2757
02:27:02,900 --> 02:27:05,700
corner. 
In order to safeguard his work 

2758
02:27:05,700 --> 02:27:08,500
and his privacy Michelle 
constructed a wooden shelter 

2759
02:27:08,500 --> 02:27:11,500
around the marble in the 
cathedral Courtyard where he set

2760
02:27:11,500 --> 02:27:14,600
up his Workshop. 
This was his world for the next 

2761
02:27:14,600 --> 02:27:16,900
three years. 
He would get there before the 

2762
02:27:16,900 --> 02:27:19,700
sun came up and work until it 
went out frequently. 

2763
02:27:19,700 --> 02:27:22,700
Skipping meals. 
City officials defended their 

2764
02:27:22,700 --> 02:27:25,500
investment, despite complaints 
from The Neighbors about the 

2765
02:27:25,500 --> 02:27:27,800
continuous tapping of a chisel 
on Stone. 

2766
02:27:28,600 --> 02:27:31,200
They had a sneaking suspicion 
that something extraordinary was

2767
02:27:31,200 --> 02:27:33,100
taking place behind those wooden
walls. 

2768
02:27:33,900 --> 02:27:36,700
Reimagining, a well-known tale, 
was more important to David's 

2769
02:27:36,700 --> 02:27:39,700
creation than technical 
proficiency earlier. 

2770
02:27:39,700 --> 02:27:42,600
Artists are depicted, David 
standing over Goliath, severed 

2771
02:27:42,600 --> 02:27:45,900
head, following his victory. 
Michelle, however, saw things 

2772
02:27:45,908 --> 02:27:50,000
differently, his David is shown 
just before the fight his 

2773
02:27:50,000 --> 02:27:53,300
muscles, tensed his gaze. 
Fixed on the approaching giant. 

2774
02:27:53,300 --> 02:27:57,000
A young man mustering the will 
to fight an impossible battle 

2775
02:27:57,000 --> 02:28:00,600
David represented, everyone who 
had ever had to overcome 

2776
02:28:00,600 --> 02:28:04,300
insurmountable odds which in 
plague stricken warn 

2777
02:28:04,300 --> 02:28:07,800
Renaissance, Italy, mental, most
everyone, The physical 

2778
02:28:07,800 --> 02:28:11,600
difficulties were tremendous the
marble weighed more than six 

2779
02:28:11,600 --> 02:28:15,900
tons and stood 17 feet tall. 
Michelle had to climb ladders 

2780
02:28:15,900 --> 02:28:18,300
and Scaffolding constantly 
changing his perspective. 

2781
02:28:18,300 --> 02:28:22,000
In order to check his 
proportions, he devised a method

2782
02:28:22,000 --> 02:28:25,600
for creating tiny wax models and
their enlarging them applying 

2783
02:28:25,600 --> 02:28:28,800
mathematical ratios to translate
his Concepts onto the enormous 

2784
02:28:28,800 --> 02:28:31,100
Stone. 
They were disadvantages to 

2785
02:28:31,100 --> 02:28:34,700
working alone on some days when 
a certain muscle wouldn't look 

2786
02:28:34,700 --> 02:28:36,500
right? 
Or the marble showed an 

2787
02:28:36,500 --> 02:28:39,100
unexpected floor. 
Doubt would creep in like 

2788
02:28:39,100 --> 02:28:42,600
morning fog. 
A time Michelle would dedicate 

2789
02:28:42,600 --> 02:28:45,900
whole days to carving and 
recovering a single finger until

2790
02:28:45,900 --> 02:28:47,400
it reached the level of 
perfection. 

2791
02:28:47,400 --> 02:28:50,100
He had imagined. 
His hands were permanently, 

2792
02:28:50,100 --> 02:28:53,000
discolored his back hurt from 
looking up all the time. 

2793
02:28:53,000 --> 02:28:56,000
And he became known for being 
anti-social though. 

2794
02:28:56,000 --> 02:28:58,800
This was partially due to the 
fact that he simply had no time 

2795
02:28:58,800 --> 02:29:01,900
for socializing. 
He was a slow breakthrough 

2796
02:29:01,900 --> 02:29:05,700
months went by and David shape 
appeared on the stone, like a 

2797
02:29:05,700 --> 02:29:09,600
sunrise cresting Hills. 
The fundamental form came first 

2798
02:29:09,600 --> 02:29:12,300
followed by the definition of 
the muscles and features. 

2799
02:29:12,300 --> 02:29:15,600
And lastly, the amazing detail 
that gave the appearance of 

2800
02:29:15,600 --> 02:29:19,500
living flesh to Marble Mitchell 
focused, particularly on David's

2801
02:29:19,500 --> 02:29:23,000
eyes, which still appear to 
track movement and His Hands, 

2802
02:29:23,000 --> 02:29:26,600
which were large to highlight 
his humanity and resolved by 

2803
02:29:26,600 --> 02:29:30,200
1504 word had gotten out that. 
Something extraordinary was 

2804
02:29:30,200 --> 02:29:31,800
taking place in that Workshop. 
In Florence. 

2805
02:29:31,800 --> 02:29:35,000
The response was Swift and 
overwhelming when David was 

2806
02:29:35,000 --> 02:29:38,800
finally unveiled by officials 
crowds of citizens gathered. 

2807
02:29:38,800 --> 02:29:42,600
Merely to gaze to learn the 
technique artists traveled from 

2808
02:29:42,600 --> 02:29:46,400
all over Italy, even people who 
knew nothing about art could 

2809
02:29:46,400 --> 02:29:48,900
sense, they were seeing 
something that would outlive 

2810
02:29:48,900 --> 02:29:51,500
them all. 
But then came a delightful 

2811
02:29:51,500 --> 02:29:54,900
problem where to put a 17 foot 
naked, man. 

2812
02:29:55,700 --> 02:29:57,600
David was supposed to be 
positioned high on the 

2813
02:29:57,600 --> 02:30:01,100
cathedral, but the sculpture was
too magnificent to be concealed 

2814
02:30:01,100 --> 02:30:03,900
on a rooftop. 
The placement was discussed by a

2815
02:30:03,900 --> 02:30:07,200
commission of citizens and 
artists including Leonardo da 

2816
02:30:07,200 --> 02:30:10,800
Vinci who had his own views. 
As a representation of the power

2817
02:30:10,800 --> 02:30:13,900
of the Republic, some wanted 
David to stand in front of the 

2818
02:30:13,900 --> 02:30:16,600
plate of echo. 
Others, favored a more secure 

2819
02:30:16,600 --> 02:30:20,900
area The topic of politics came 
up like David and Goliath 

2820
02:30:20,900 --> 02:30:23,900
Florence was a republican 
circled by hostile territories. 

2821
02:30:23,900 --> 02:30:27,800
The sculpture came to represent 
Democratic principles opposing 

2822
02:30:27,800 --> 02:30:31,300
oppression when David was 
eventually erected in front of 

2823
02:30:31,300 --> 02:30:34,500
the Palazzo Vecchio, it was both
an artistic and a political 

2824
02:30:34,500 --> 02:30:37,400
statement. 
The installation was a feat of 

2825
02:30:37,400 --> 02:30:40,500
engineering using an intricate 
system of ropes and wooden 

2826
02:30:40,500 --> 02:30:44,000
rollers. 40 men, moved David the
half mile from the workshop to 

2827
02:30:44,000 --> 02:30:46,300
The Piazza over the course of 
four days. 

2828
02:30:46,300 --> 02:30:49,800
The procession turned into an 
unplanned celebration of civic 

2829
02:30:49,800 --> 02:30:51,900
pride as people gathered in the 
streets to watch. 

2830
02:30:52,800 --> 02:30:56,300
Michelle who was now 29 had 
given Florence and icon. 

2831
02:30:56,300 --> 02:30:59,500
In addition to a sculpture In 
addition to his artistic 

2832
02:30:59,500 --> 02:31:02,600
accomplishments David embodied 
the Renaissance belief that 

2833
02:31:02,600 --> 02:31:05,500
anyone could achieve anything 
with Talent bravery and 

2834
02:31:05,500 --> 02:31:09,500
willpower. as you fall asleep in
the moment, when the scaffolding

2835
02:31:09,500 --> 02:31:13,200
was finally taking down, and 
David was standing there in all 

2836
02:31:13,200 --> 02:31:16,800
his Splendor prepared to take on
any Giants, the world might set 

2837
02:31:16,800 --> 02:31:19,400
in something happens. 
That completely upend 

2838
02:31:19,400 --> 02:31:21,100
everything. 
You believe to be true about 

2839
02:31:21,100 --> 02:31:23,300
yourself. 
Just when you think life is 

2840
02:31:23,300 --> 02:31:26,700
settled into a comfortable 
pattern, Pope Julius the second 

2841
02:31:26,700 --> 02:31:30,300
who combined the artistic 
aspirations of Lorenzo de Medici

2842
02:31:30,300 --> 02:31:33,500
the temperament of a Renaissance
wall Lord, and the Spiritual 

2843
02:31:33,500 --> 02:31:36,800
Authority of the papacy was the 
source of the disruption for 

2844
02:31:36,800 --> 02:31:40,700
Michelle. in order to design and
sculpt a massive tomb, that 

2845
02:31:40,708 --> 02:31:43,900
would rival, The Monuments of 
the ancient Emperors Julius had 

2846
02:31:43,900 --> 02:31:47,500
called Michelle to Rome With 
dozens of figures, adorning the 

2847
02:31:47,500 --> 02:31:50,000
three-story marble Masterpiece 
Mitchell. 

2848
02:31:50,000 --> 02:31:53,100
Spent months making models and 
drawings his sculpture Legacy 

2849
02:31:53,100 --> 02:31:57,300
would be the work of a lifetime.
Then Julius had second thoughts.

2850
02:31:57,300 --> 02:32:01,000
Imagine Michelle's annoyance, 
your guests decide. 

2851
02:32:01,000 --> 02:32:02,900
They would rather have pizza 
after you've prepared the 

2852
02:32:02,900 --> 02:32:06,700
perfect dinner party purchased 
all the necessary supplies and 

2853
02:32:06,700 --> 02:32:09,600
began cooking. 
The pope was the guest in this 

2854
02:32:09,600 --> 02:32:12,400
instance though and you couldn 
exactly dispute paper or 

2855
02:32:12,400 --> 02:32:15,000
authority. 
Julius came up with a novel 

2856
02:32:15,000 --> 02:32:17,400
idea. 
He wanted Michelle to paint the 

2857
02:32:17,400 --> 02:32:21,600
Sistine Chapel ceiling. 
Michelle objected, but I'm a 

2858
02:32:21,600 --> 02:32:25,000
sculptor and he was correct. 
He had a little experience 

2859
02:32:25,000 --> 02:32:28,400
painting and he'd never tried 
anything as large as Julius had 

2860
02:32:28,400 --> 02:32:32,300
in mind. 68 feet above the 
ground, the Sistine Chapel 

2861
02:32:32,300 --> 02:32:35,700
ceiling, covered more than 5,000
square feet of curved surface 

2862
02:32:35,700 --> 02:32:38,100
lying on your back. 
Would be like painting the 

2863
02:32:38,100 --> 02:32:42,000
interior of a cathedral Meals 
worries, didn't interest 

2864
02:32:42,000 --> 02:32:44,400
Julia's. 
Discussions were short and 

2865
02:32:44,400 --> 02:32:46,800
obedience was expected when the 
pope made a request. 

2866
02:32:47,800 --> 02:32:51,400
According to some historians 
romantic the Pope's architect 

2867
02:32:51,400 --> 02:32:54,200
suggested, Michelle for the 
project despite the fact that it

2868
02:32:54,200 --> 02:32:57,400
was all but impossible in the 
hopes that the sculptor would 

2869
02:32:57,400 --> 02:32:59,900
falter and withdraw from the 
race for julius's favor. 

2870
02:33:00,800 --> 02:33:04,000
If that's the case, they 
misjudged Michelle stubbornness.

2871
02:33:04,800 --> 02:33:09,900
In 1508 Michelle was 33 years 
old and looking up at a ceiling 

2872
02:33:09,900 --> 02:33:13,000
that seemed to go on forever. 
Trying to figure out how to turn

2873
02:33:13,000 --> 02:33:16,700
plain plaster into the most 
amazing painted surface in 

2874
02:33:16,700 --> 02:33:18,800
Christian art. 
He would have to come up with 

2875
02:33:18,800 --> 02:33:21,600
ways to paint above without 
getting blinded by paint 

2876
02:33:21,600 --> 02:33:24,500
dripping in his eyes designed 
scaffolding, that wouldn't 

2877
02:33:24,500 --> 02:33:27,300
collapse and somehow come up 
with a cohesive composition, 

2878
02:33:27,300 --> 02:33:31,500
that made sense from 68 feet 
below, The topic was just as 

2879
02:33:31,500 --> 02:33:35,000
intimidating. 
Julius wanted prophets sibyls 

2880
02:33:35,000 --> 02:33:38,500
and hundreds of other characters
to surround scenes from Genesis 

2881
02:33:38,500 --> 02:33:42,100
such as the creation of the 
world, Adam and Eve and Noah's 

2882
02:33:42,100 --> 02:33:44,100
flood. 
It was more than just a 

2883
02:33:44,100 --> 02:33:45,700
painting. 
It was a comprehensive 

2884
02:33:45,700 --> 02:33:49,000
theological program that had to 
function as both separate scenes

2885
02:33:49,000 --> 02:33:52,300
and a cohesive whole reasoning 
that he would begin the story, 

2886
02:33:52,300 --> 02:33:55,100
chronologically Michelle started
with the flood scene. 

2887
02:33:55,100 --> 02:33:58,500
However, it was extremely 
challenging to work overhead 

2888
02:33:58,500 --> 02:34:02,100
while laying on scaffolding. 
His neck ached from the awkward 

2889
02:34:02,100 --> 02:34:04,100
position, paint, dripped 
continuously. 

2890
02:34:04,100 --> 02:34:06,900
And the figures he thought were 
Flawless up clothes looked 

2891
02:34:06,900 --> 02:34:10,400
warped down from floor level. 
He struggled for weeks before 

2892
02:34:10,400 --> 02:34:12,100
scraping everything off and 
starting over. 

2893
02:34:12,800 --> 02:34:16,200
This time working backwards 
through Genesis, he started with

2894
02:34:16,200 --> 02:34:18,600
God, distinguishing between 
light and darkness. 

2895
02:34:19,500 --> 02:34:23,100
Created clever methods such as 
thickening his paint, mixtures 

2896
02:34:23,100 --> 02:34:26,500
to minimize dripping making 
cartoon templates to project 

2897
02:34:26,500 --> 02:34:29,800
designs onto the ceiling, and 
modifying proportions to take 

2898
02:34:29,800 --> 02:34:31,500
the viewing angle into 
consideration. 

2899
02:34:32,300 --> 02:34:35,100
Most significantly, he 
discovered that the ceiling was 

2900
02:34:35,108 --> 02:34:37,600
an architectural space, that 
could give the impression of 

2901
02:34:37,600 --> 02:34:40,100
depth and movement rather than a
flat surface. 

2902
02:34:40,900 --> 02:34:44,000
The work took up all of his time
during his four years. 

2903
02:34:44,008 --> 02:34:46,800
As a painter, he frequently 
worked by himself in the chapel 

2904
02:34:46,800 --> 02:34:49,700
after dark using only candles 
for illumination. 

2905
02:34:50,700 --> 02:34:53,700
Every brushstroke of those. 
Magnificent figures was created 

2906
02:34:53,700 --> 02:34:56,900
by his hand, but his assistant 
prepared, the paints and 

2907
02:34:56,900 --> 02:35:00,800
cartoons his own lamentable, 
poem about becoming a hunchback 

2908
02:35:00,800 --> 02:35:03,900
from looking up all the time, 
describes the chronic neck, and 

2909
02:35:03,908 --> 02:35:06,700
back pain, he developed that, 
would follow him for the rest of

2910
02:35:06,700 --> 02:35:09,100
his life. 
Psychological pressure. 

2911
02:35:09,100 --> 02:35:12,500
Matched the physical toll. 
Julius would show up out of the 

2912
02:35:12,500 --> 02:35:15,800
blue scaling, the scaffolding to
check on progress and give 

2913
02:35:15,800 --> 02:35:18,800
unsolicited advice. 
The pope was impatient 

2914
02:35:18,800 --> 02:35:21,400
constantly asking when the work 
would be finished. 

2915
02:35:22,400 --> 02:35:25,100
Michelle almost got hit with 
julius's walking stick for as 

2916
02:35:25,100 --> 02:35:26,800
well known reply when it's 
finished. 

2917
02:35:27,700 --> 02:35:31,500
But over time magic occurred 
figures of amazing Beauty and 

2918
02:35:31,500 --> 02:35:33,500
strength started to emerge from 
the ceiling. 

2919
02:35:33,500 --> 02:35:37,400
His God wasn't the distant. 
Symbolic, deity of medieval art,

2920
02:35:37,400 --> 02:35:40,700
but a dynamic Creator sweeping 
through space with cosmic 

2921
02:35:40,700 --> 02:35:43,500
energy. 
The most well known gesture in 

2922
02:35:43,508 --> 02:35:44,700
art. 
History is Adams. 

2923
02:35:44,700 --> 02:35:47,900
Awakening touch. 
Flat ceiling became a vision of 

2924
02:35:47,900 --> 02:35:51,400
Heaven as the prophets and 
civils appeared to occupy actual

2925
02:35:51,400 --> 02:35:54,900
architectural spaces. 
The way, all of these components

2926
02:35:54,900 --> 02:35:57,400
came together was the most 
amazing accomplishment. 

2927
02:35:58,200 --> 02:36:00,300
Visitors could follow the 
creation story. 

2928
02:36:00,300 --> 02:36:02,200
While being ordered by the 
individual figures. 

2929
02:36:02,200 --> 02:36:05,400
Exquisite beauty as they read, 
the ceiling from the chapel 

2930
02:36:05,400 --> 02:36:09,100
floor, which resembled a huge 
illuminated manuscript tonight. 

2931
02:36:09,100 --> 02:36:12,100
As you close your eyes, picture,
Michelle standing atop that 

2932
02:36:12,100 --> 02:36:15,600
scaffolding exhausted and 
covered in paint producing 

2933
02:36:15,600 --> 02:36:17,400
pictures, that will all future 
Generations. 

2934
02:36:17,400 --> 02:36:20,600
Every great Endeavor has a 
turning point when you take 

2935
02:36:20,600 --> 02:36:24,000
stock and discover that you've 
produced something, that even 

2936
02:36:24,000 --> 02:36:27,600
you were surprised by When the 
scaffolding was eventually, 

2937
02:36:27,600 --> 02:36:31,600
taken down in October 1512, 
Michelangelo was able to see the

2938
02:36:31,600 --> 02:36:34,500
finished, Sistine Chapel ceiling
for the first time from the 

2939
02:36:34,500 --> 02:36:37,200
ground floor. 
Just like any other visitor who 

2940
02:36:37,200 --> 02:36:39,200
might happen to wander in from 
the Roman streets. 

2941
02:36:40,600 --> 02:36:43,600
The unveiling was a combination 
of religious ceremony, political

2942
02:36:43,600 --> 02:36:47,400
theater and art exhibition as 
one might anticipate from a 

2943
02:36:47,400 --> 02:36:51,200
Papal event in Renaissance Rome.
In their finest robes Cardinals 

2944
02:36:51,200 --> 02:36:54,500
and diplomats assembled artists 
traveled from all over Italy, to

2945
02:36:54,500 --> 02:36:57,700
observe, what everyone knew 
would be unprecedented and 

2946
02:36:57,700 --> 02:37:00,800
inquisitive Romans flocked out 
side to catch a glimpse of what 

2947
02:37:00,800 --> 02:37:02,400
their cities Master had 
achieved. 

2948
02:37:02,400 --> 02:37:05,900
There was an instantaneous and 
profound silence as those heavy 

2949
02:37:05,900 --> 02:37:08,000
wooden doors opened in the crowd
filed in. 

2950
02:37:08,900 --> 02:37:11,000
When something is so Exquisite 
that it leaves people 

2951
02:37:11,000 --> 02:37:12,600
speechless, you know what I 
mean? 

2952
02:37:12,600 --> 02:37:14,800
That's precisely what took 
place. 

2953
02:37:15,700 --> 02:37:18,400
Standing with their next craned 
back and their mouths, open 

2954
02:37:18,400 --> 02:37:22,000
grown men who had lived their 
entire lives surrounded by Art 

2955
02:37:22,000 --> 02:37:23,700
tempted to take in what they 
were witnessing. 

2956
02:37:25,300 --> 02:37:28,300
The ceiling had been turned into
a window to Heaven, not just 

2957
02:37:28,300 --> 02:37:30,800
painted. 
Michelle had created an 

2958
02:37:30,800 --> 02:37:34,100
architectural illusion. 
So convincing that visitors felt

2959
02:37:34,100 --> 02:37:37,400
they were looking up through 
actual stone Frameworks at real 

2960
02:37:37,400 --> 02:37:39,300
figures inhabiting, Celestial 
space. 

2961
02:37:40,000 --> 02:37:43,300
Each scene. 
God sweeping the cosmos atom 

2962
02:37:43,300 --> 02:37:47,000
waking up, even merging. 
From Adam's side was Flawless on

2963
02:37:47,000 --> 02:37:50,000
its own but they all came 
together like the movements of a

2964
02:37:50,000 --> 02:37:52,800
symphony. 
Of course, Pope Julius was 

2965
02:37:52,800 --> 02:37:55,200
Victorious. 
He'd commissioned the piece for 

2966
02:37:55,208 --> 02:37:58,300
political, as well as artistic 
reasons demonstrating to the 

2967
02:37:58,300 --> 02:38:01,100
world that people Rome was 
capable of creating Wonders on 

2968
02:38:01,100 --> 02:38:03,000
par with those of classical 
Antiquity. 

2969
02:38:03,000 --> 02:38:05,700
However, Julius appeared 
astonished by the 

2970
02:38:05,700 --> 02:38:09,200
accomplishments of his erratic. 
Sculptor undoubtedly, the 

2971
02:38:09,200 --> 02:38:13,100
ceiling was propaganda, but it 
was propaganda of such Sublime 

2972
02:38:13,100 --> 02:38:15,100
Beauty. 
That it took on a much higher 

2973
02:38:15,100 --> 02:38:17,900
significance. 
As usual, Michelle was already 

2974
02:38:17,900 --> 02:38:19,000
planning. 
His next Endeavor. 

2975
02:38:19,000 --> 02:38:22,300
He was still essentially a 
sculptor even though the four 

2976
02:38:22,300 --> 02:38:24,400
years of painting had been an 
unusual diversion. 

2977
02:38:25,300 --> 02:38:27,800
He desired to go back to the 
marble statues that had been 

2978
02:38:27,808 --> 02:38:31,500
patiently, waiting in julius's 
Workshop to his two but like 

2979
02:38:31,500 --> 02:38:35,000
Pope's Julius had other ideas. 
The relationship between 

2980
02:38:35,000 --> 02:38:38,400
Michelle and Julius was 
fascinating to observe, both of 

2981
02:38:38,400 --> 02:38:42,100
them had strong Wills Ardent art
lovers and were completely 

2982
02:38:42,100 --> 02:38:43,500
confident in their own 
abilities. 

2983
02:38:43,500 --> 02:38:47,100
There are arguments, were 
legendary and one point Michelle

2984
02:38:47,100 --> 02:38:49,700
actually left Rome and had to be
brought back by people of 

2985
02:38:49,700 --> 02:38:52,100
apologies. 
However, they were able to 

2986
02:38:52,100 --> 02:38:54,400
understand one another in the 
way that challenging people 

2987
02:38:54,400 --> 02:38:58,900
occasionally do, Despite his 
complaints Michelle flourished, 

2988
02:38:58,900 --> 02:39:02,100
under the pressure of impossible
commission's and Julius saw 

2989
02:39:02,100 --> 02:39:05,500
genius, where he saw it. 
Michelle likely believed that he

2990
02:39:05,500 --> 02:39:08,600
would finally be able to work on
his own projects after julius's 

2991
02:39:08,600 --> 02:39:11,800
death in 1513. 
Michelle had been raised in the 

2992
02:39:11,800 --> 02:39:14,600
Medici family, so it should have
been good news that he was. 

2993
02:39:14,600 --> 02:39:16,200
Now. 
Dealing with the new Pope Leo, 

2994
02:39:16,200 --> 02:39:21,000
the 10th who was a Medici But 
Leo, had his own artistic vision

2995
02:39:21,000 --> 02:39:25,000
and his own favorite artists 
including Raphael, who was 

2996
02:39:25,000 --> 02:39:27,400
painting the papal Apartments, 
while Michelle was working 

2997
02:39:27,400 --> 02:39:31,100
overhead in the Sistine Chapel 
the Rivalry with Raphael gives 

2998
02:39:31,100 --> 02:39:35,300
Michelle story a humorous side. 
Plot Charming, tactful at ease 

2999
02:39:35,300 --> 02:39:37,700
around customers and capable of 
running sizable. 

3000
02:39:37,700 --> 02:39:40,800
Workshops Raphael was everything
Michelle wasnt. 

3001
02:39:41,500 --> 02:39:44,500
Raphael was hosting, elegant 
dinner parties and graciously 

3002
02:39:44,500 --> 02:39:47,300
accepting commission after 
commission while Michelle was up

3003
02:39:47,300 --> 02:39:50,400
on scaffolding covered in paint 
complaining, about people 

3004
02:39:50,400 --> 02:39:53,900
meddling Nonetheless, the two 
artists valued one another's 

3005
02:39:53,900 --> 02:39:57,100
creation's, although he would 
never publicly acknowledged. 

3006
02:39:57,100 --> 02:40:00,200
It Michelle valued, Rafael's, 
compositional abilities, and 

3007
02:40:00,200 --> 02:40:03,000
Technical Innovations, and 
Raphael used elements. 

3008
02:40:03,000 --> 02:40:05,200
He had learned from studying 
Michels ceiling in his own 

3009
02:40:05,200 --> 02:40:07,800
paintings. 
It was the kind of high-level 

3010
02:40:07,800 --> 02:40:10,700
professional rivalry that 
motivates both sides to achieve 

3011
02:40:10,700 --> 02:40:13,600
more Leo. 
The 10th wanted Michelangelo to 

3012
02:40:13,600 --> 02:40:16,900
be involved in the facade. 
Design of Saint Peters, Peter's 

3013
02:40:16,900 --> 02:40:18,800
Basilica because he had big 
plans for it. 

3014
02:40:19,900 --> 02:40:22,400
One of the most frustrating 
periods in Michelle's career 

3015
02:40:22,400 --> 02:40:25,600
resulted from this years of 
building architectural models 

3016
02:40:25,600 --> 02:40:28,700
and drawings visiting marble 
quarries and setting up. 

3017
02:40:28,700 --> 02:40:31,200
Workshops only to have the 
project shelved. 

3018
02:40:31,200 --> 02:40:34,500
When papal funds ran out, 
Michelle had made promises 

3019
02:40:34,500 --> 02:40:37,100
signed contracts, and hired 
staff. 

3020
02:40:37,100 --> 02:40:39,800
And all of that vanished 
overnight due to politics at the

3021
02:40:39,800 --> 02:40:42,100
Vatican. 
Michelle learned a valuable 

3022
02:40:42,100 --> 02:40:44,900
lesson about the risky nature of
our artistic patronage from 

3023
02:40:44,900 --> 02:40:48,700
these people, let Downs money, 
vanished, priorities, shifted 

3024
02:40:48,700 --> 02:40:52,100
and Pope's passed away. 
He needed to choose projects 

3025
02:40:52,100 --> 02:40:54,700
more carefully and guard against
the whims of influential 

3026
02:40:54,700 --> 02:40:56,600
patrons. 
If he hoped to produce work, 

3027
02:40:56,600 --> 02:41:00,100
that would last But his 
reputation was set in stone by 

3028
02:41:00,100 --> 02:41:03,100
the Sistine ceiling. 
People traveled from all over 

3029
02:41:03,100 --> 02:41:06,000
Europe to witness. 
It was the subject of intense 

3030
02:41:06,000 --> 02:41:08,200
study by other artists who 
sought to comprehend his 

3031
02:41:08,200 --> 02:41:11,000
methods. 
Poet started writing about it, 

3032
02:41:11,000 --> 02:41:13,500
Michelle had accomplished, 
something that goes beyond 

3033
02:41:13,500 --> 02:41:17,500
typical artistic achievement. 
He had produced art that people 

3034
02:41:17,500 --> 02:41:21,200
would travel great distances to 
view a sleep draws near to 

3035
02:41:21,200 --> 02:41:23,600
night. 
Imagine those first viewers in 

3036
02:41:23,600 --> 02:41:27,800
the Sistine Chapel, their faces 
lit by candlelight looking up in

3037
02:41:27,808 --> 02:41:30,800
or at pictures that seemed to 
make Genesis come to life. 

3038
02:41:31,600 --> 02:41:34,200
Mastery in one area frequently 
leads to unexpected 

3039
02:41:34,200 --> 02:41:36,800
opportunities. 
In other areas a lesson that 

3040
02:41:36,800 --> 02:41:38,500
life has a way of imparting to 
us. 

3041
02:41:39,400 --> 02:41:42,300
Michelle experience, this lesson
dramatically and his later 

3042
02:41:42,300 --> 02:41:45,300
years, new challenges, that 
would push him well beyond his 

3043
02:41:45,300 --> 02:41:47,500
comfort zone and uncover 
talents. 

3044
02:41:47,500 --> 02:41:50,200
He was unaware, he possessed 
came as he approached his 

3045
02:41:50,200 --> 02:41:53,200
fifties old age by Renaissance 
standards. 

3046
02:41:54,000 --> 02:41:56,600
When Pope Clement, the seventh 
asked him to design a library. 

3047
02:41:56,600 --> 02:42:00,900
It was the first surprise, the 
Laurentian library in Florence a

3048
02:42:00,900 --> 02:42:02,600
groundbreaking facility that 
would house. 

3049
02:42:02,600 --> 02:42:05,800
The Medici family's Priceless 
manuscript collection was not 

3050
02:42:05,800 --> 02:42:08,600
just any Library. 
Similar to his approach to 

3051
02:42:08,600 --> 02:42:11,700
sculpture, Michelle viewed 
architecture as an expression of

3052
02:42:11,700 --> 02:42:14,500
the fundamental character of a 
building rather than, as 

3053
02:42:14,500 --> 02:42:17,800
ornamentation. 
His design was audacious. 

3054
02:42:18,800 --> 02:42:21,500
With its rows of wooden reading 
desks and well-proportioned 

3055
02:42:21,500 --> 02:42:23,900
windows. 
That, let in soft light, the 

3056
02:42:23,900 --> 02:42:26,400
reading room, resembled the 
Serene Hull of a ship. 

3057
02:42:26,400 --> 02:42:30,200
However, his true genius was 
displayed in the vestibular at 

3058
02:42:30,200 --> 02:42:33,600
the entrance with steps that 
curved and divided in ways, that

3059
02:42:33,600 --> 02:42:35,500
gave the impression that stone 
was Liquid. 

3060
02:42:35,500 --> 02:42:39,000
He constructed a staircase that 
appeared to flow like frozen 

3061
02:42:39,000 --> 02:42:42,100
lava even. 
Now visitors still stop on those

3062
02:42:42,100 --> 02:42:44,700
stairs feeling as though they 
have viewing architectural 

3063
02:42:44,700 --> 02:42:48,600
sculpture, It was both happy and
sad to work in Florence, once 

3064
02:42:48,600 --> 02:42:51,300
more, the city of his youth had 
changed. 

3065
02:42:51,300 --> 02:42:55,100
Political upheavals, had 
scattered old friends, and the 

3066
02:42:55,100 --> 02:42:57,800
optimistic, humanism of his 
early years, had been tempered 

3067
02:42:57,800 --> 02:43:01,700
by War, plague and religious 
Reformation Michael's interest 

3068
02:43:01,700 --> 02:43:04,100
in poetry grew and he began 
pinning. 

3069
02:43:04,100 --> 02:43:06,600
Verses that showed a more 
reflective side of himself. 

3070
02:43:06,600 --> 02:43:10,500
His poems weren't masterpieces, 
but they were deeply personal, 

3071
02:43:10,500 --> 02:43:14,700
exploring themes of Aging faith 
and the meaning of artistic 

3072
02:43:14,700 --> 02:43:18,200
creation. 
Victoria kelana are remarkable 

3073
02:43:18,200 --> 02:43:21,900
woman, who was a poet religious 
reformer, and intellectual force

3074
02:43:21,900 --> 02:43:24,100
in her own, right? 
Became one of his most 

3075
02:43:24,100 --> 02:43:25,700
significant friends during this 
time. 

3076
02:43:26,500 --> 02:43:29,800
Their deep spiritual bond, 
founded on a mutual interest in 

3077
02:43:29,800 --> 02:43:33,100
poetry, art and religious issues
was unique for its time. 

3078
02:43:33,900 --> 02:43:36,300
Few people ever faced the 
intellectual challenges that 

3079
02:43:36,300 --> 02:43:39,500
Michelle face from Vittoria and 
their correspondent shows, a 

3080
02:43:39,500 --> 02:43:41,900
gentle thoughtful side of the 
great artists. 

3081
02:43:42,800 --> 02:43:46,300
When Vittoria died in 1547 
Michelle was devastated. 

3082
02:43:47,300 --> 02:43:50,700
At 72, when most men of his age,
had long since passed away, he 

3083
02:43:50,700 --> 02:43:54,100
was grieving the loss of a 
person who had recognized his 

3084
02:43:54,100 --> 02:43:57,400
art and his inner turmoil. 
He was questioning everything at

3085
02:43:57,400 --> 02:44:01,100
the time of her death, including
his face, his artistic Legacy, 

3086
02:44:01,100 --> 02:44:04,700
and the significance of his 
worldly success, which had 

3087
02:44:04,700 --> 02:44:07,000
brought him Fame, but not 
necessarily piece. 

3088
02:44:08,100 --> 02:44:09,900
Pope Paul. 
The third asked him to paint a 

3089
02:44:09,900 --> 02:44:12,600
scene of the last judgment on 
the Sistine, Chapel's altar wall

3090
02:44:12,600 --> 02:44:15,700
during this depressing time. 
Michelle was hesitant because 

3091
02:44:15,700 --> 02:44:17,800
the chapel already held his best
painting. 

3092
02:44:17,800 --> 02:44:21,300
He was a sculptor first and 
foremost, and the subject matter

3093
02:44:21,300 --> 02:44:24,700
required him to confront 
uncomfortable, personal themes 

3094
02:44:24,700 --> 02:44:29,000
of death and divine Justice. 
However, his most emotionally 

3095
02:44:29,000 --> 02:44:31,300
impactful painting turned out to
be The Last Judgement. 

3096
02:44:32,200 --> 02:44:35,000
The hopeful humanism of the 
healing had vanished to be 

3097
02:44:35,000 --> 02:44:37,700
replaced by a more somber 
picture of humanity being held 

3098
02:44:37,700 --> 02:44:40,600
ultimately responsible. 
His Christ figure is a strong 

3099
02:44:40,600 --> 02:44:43,500
judge whose gesture separates 
the saved from the Damned. 

3100
02:44:43,500 --> 02:44:45,900
Not the Kindred Redeemer of 
traditional art. 

3101
02:44:46,700 --> 02:44:49,800
With figures Rising towards 
salvation or Falling Towards 

3102
02:44:49,800 --> 02:44:52,400
damnation. 
In a cosmic drama, that filled 

3103
02:44:52,400 --> 02:44:55,600
the entire wall, the composition
worlds with movement and emotion

3104
02:44:55,600 --> 02:44:59,600
the painting immediately sparked
controversy his figures 

3105
02:44:59,600 --> 02:45:03,700
According to some critics were 
too intense to muscular and two 

3106
02:45:03,700 --> 02:45:07,000
nude for a place of worship. 
Michelle's strong. 

3107
02:45:07,000 --> 02:45:09,600
Humanistic Vision was becoming 
outdated as the 

3108
02:45:09,600 --> 02:45:11,200
counter-reformation got 
underway. 

3109
02:45:11,200 --> 02:45:13,600
A new restrictions were placed 
on religious art. 

3110
02:45:14,400 --> 02:45:17,600
He became known as the underwear
painter because later artists 

3111
02:45:17,600 --> 02:45:19,900
would actually paint draperies 
over some of his figures. 

3112
02:45:19,900 --> 02:45:22,300
The criticism didn't matter to 
Michelle. 

3113
02:45:22,300 --> 02:45:25,400
He painted not for the Acclaim 
of the day but for God and 

3114
02:45:25,400 --> 02:45:29,100
future Generations. 
His mature view of human nature,

3115
02:45:29,100 --> 02:45:30,700
was embodied in the last 
judgment. 

3116
02:45:30,700 --> 02:45:34,200
He was profoundly aware of both 
human potential and human 

3117
02:45:34,200 --> 02:45:37,400
Frailty without being cynically 
pessimistic or naively 

3118
02:45:37,400 --> 02:45:39,900
optimistic. 
Having been named Chief 

3119
02:45:39,900 --> 02:45:43,600
Architect in 1547. 
He was also supervising the 

3120
02:45:43,600 --> 02:45:46,300
building of the new Saint 
Peter's Basilica. 

3121
02:45:47,400 --> 02:45:50,000
Creating a structure that would 
represent Christianity while 

3122
02:45:50,000 --> 02:45:53,000
resolving massive engineering 
and design issues was possibly 

3123
02:45:53,000 --> 02:45:54,800
his biggest architectural 
challenge. 

3124
02:45:55,500 --> 02:45:59,100
His solution a huge Dome that 
would dominate the Roman Skyline

3125
02:45:59,100 --> 02:46:01,000
and serve as an inspiration for 
Cathedral. 

3126
02:46:01,000 --> 02:46:04,000
Builders for centuries was 
characteristically audacious. 

3127
02:46:04,900 --> 02:46:07,700
His last years were spent 
working on Saint Peters, he 

3128
02:46:07,700 --> 02:46:10,400
approached the project with the 
commitment of someone who it 

3129
02:46:10,400 --> 02:46:14,300
would be his last Masterpiece 
and refused payment, believing 

3130
02:46:14,300 --> 02:46:17,400
it to be a service to God. 
By fusing traditional 

3131
02:46:17,400 --> 02:46:19,100
proportions, with Cutting Edge 
engineering. 

3132
02:46:19,100 --> 02:46:21,500
The domes design produced a 
building. 

3133
02:46:21,500 --> 02:46:24,300
That was both technically 
outstanding and spiritually. 

3134
02:46:24,300 --> 02:46:26,900
Uplifting. 
As you drift off to sleep 

3135
02:46:26,900 --> 02:46:30,800
picture, Michelle in his 70s. 
Still scaling scaffolding 

3136
02:46:30,800 --> 02:46:34,600
pushing the envelope and finding
new ways to use paint and stone 

3137
02:46:34,600 --> 02:46:36,600
to further his endless Creative 
Vision. 

3138
02:46:38,200 --> 02:46:40,600
Seeing a great artists face 
their own mortality. 

3139
02:46:40,600 --> 02:46:44,500
While continuing to create with 
unwavering passion is incredibly

3140
02:46:44,500 --> 02:46:47,400
moving. 
This is precisely the story that

3141
02:46:47,400 --> 02:46:51,100
Michelle's last decades tell. 
A man in his 70s and 80s. 

3142
02:46:51,100 --> 02:46:54,000
Who never slowed down, who 
continue to push boundaries 

3143
02:46:54,000 --> 02:46:57,700
despite his body reminding him 
every day that he was after all 

3144
02:46:57,700 --> 02:47:01,000
human. 
Michelle was 75 years old by 

3145
02:47:01,000 --> 02:47:04,500
1550, which is nearly 
Unthinkable for a person born in

3146
02:47:04,508 --> 02:47:07,900
the 15th century. 
His peers were mostly long dead.

3147
02:47:08,700 --> 02:47:12,900
Rafael had passed away in 1520 
and Leonardo in 1590. 

3148
02:47:12,900 --> 02:47:15,500
In addition to his artistic 
competitors. 

3149
02:47:15,500 --> 02:47:19,600
Michele had outlived entire 
generations of admirers critics 

3150
02:47:19,600 --> 02:47:24,600
and Nevertheless he kept up his 
work on some Peter's, Basilica 

3151
02:47:24,600 --> 02:47:29,000
with the Vigor of a man, half 
his age, his last Obsession, and

3152
02:47:29,000 --> 02:47:32,600
what an obsession it was was the
Dome of Saint Peter's Not only 

3153
02:47:32,600 --> 02:47:35,100
was he designing a roof but he 
was also building. 

3154
02:47:35,100 --> 02:47:38,300
What would become Rome's? 
Most iconic, silhouette a 

3155
02:47:38,300 --> 02:47:40,200
building. 
So precisely proportioned that 

3156
02:47:40,200 --> 02:47:42,900
it appears to hover over the 
Vatican, like a visible prayer. 

3157
02:47:43,700 --> 02:47:46,700
How to support that much weight 
at that height while designing 

3158
02:47:46,700 --> 02:47:50,900
an interior space that inspires 
rather than intimidates was a 

3159
02:47:50,900 --> 02:47:54,600
huge engineering challenge. 
As usual, Michelle came up with 

3160
02:47:54,600 --> 02:47:57,800
a creative solution. 
He created a double-shell dome 

3161
02:47:57,800 --> 02:47:59,900
with an outer Dome. 
That would form the external 

3162
02:47:59,900 --> 02:48:03,200
profile and an inner Dome that 
guests would see from inside the

3163
02:48:03,200 --> 02:48:06,600
Basilica. this enabled him to 
maximize the architectural 

3164
02:48:06,600 --> 02:48:09,700
impact on the outside, as well 
as the spiritual experience 

3165
02:48:09,700 --> 02:48:15,300
Within Despite the domes 452 
foot elevation, it feels cozy 

3166
02:48:15,300 --> 02:48:17,800
and protective from within, 
rather than intimidating. 

3167
02:48:17,800 --> 02:48:20,900
Delegating more than Michelle 
had ever felt comfortable with 

3168
02:48:20,900 --> 02:48:24,100
was necessary to work on, such a
large project in his last years.

3169
02:48:24,900 --> 02:48:27,600
He had to entrust assistance 
with details that he would have 

3170
02:48:27,600 --> 02:48:29,900
insisted on carving himself 
earlier in his career. 

3171
02:48:30,700 --> 02:48:33,200
For someone who had always felt 
that only his own hand could 

3172
02:48:33,200 --> 02:48:35,000
accomplish the Perfection he 
desired. 

3173
02:48:35,000 --> 02:48:37,900
This was both challenging and 
freeing. 

3174
02:48:38,700 --> 02:48:41,500
While others took care of the 
execution, he could concentrate 

3175
02:48:41,500 --> 02:48:45,400
on the big picture during these 
years, his poetry increased in 

3176
02:48:45,400 --> 02:48:49,100
frequency and intimacy for him 
writing versus was similar to 

3177
02:48:49,100 --> 02:48:51,300
sketching. 
It allowed him to process 

3178
02:48:51,300 --> 02:48:54,700
thoughts and feelings without 
the physical strain of painting,

3179
02:48:54,700 --> 02:48:57,900
or carving his poem show. 
A man struggling with issues 

3180
02:48:57,900 --> 02:49:01,400
that success was unable to 
resolve such as what happens to 

3181
02:49:01,400 --> 02:49:05,000
people when they die, give an 
eternity, what purpose do 

3182
02:49:05,000 --> 02:49:08,000
accomplishments on Earth. 
Serve, how does an artist, get 

3183
02:49:08,000 --> 02:49:09,900
ready to abandon and complete 
pieces. 

3184
02:49:09,900 --> 02:49:13,400
One of his most poignant final 
poems questions, his art 

3185
02:49:13,400 --> 02:49:16,200
directly asking whether all of 
his painted scenes. 

3186
02:49:16,200 --> 02:49:19,200
And marble Figures were merely a
diversion from deeper spiritual 

3187
02:49:19,200 --> 02:49:21,500
issues, or if they were actually
prayers. 

3188
02:49:22,300 --> 02:49:25,800
This was no pretense, Michelle 
truly questioned whether his 

3189
02:49:25,800 --> 02:49:27,700
life's work had made him more or
less like God. 

3190
02:49:28,500 --> 02:49:30,700
Ironically some were 
acknowledging his work as 

3191
02:49:30,700 --> 02:49:33,900
possibly the greatest artistic 
accomplishment in human history 

3192
02:49:33,900 --> 02:49:36,700
while Michelle was doubting its 
spiritual worth. 

3193
02:49:37,300 --> 02:49:39,900
People traveled from all over 
Europe to view his artwork. 

3194
02:49:39,900 --> 02:49:43,700
His methods were assiduously 
studied by Young Artists while 

3195
02:49:43,700 --> 02:49:45,800
he was still alive. 
Author started, writing 

3196
02:49:45,800 --> 02:49:48,100
biographies, treating him, as a 
living legend. 

3197
02:49:48,100 --> 02:49:51,300
This attention was both 
rewarding and taxing for 

3198
02:49:51,300 --> 02:49:53,600
Michelle. 
Always a recluse who felt more 

3199
02:49:53,600 --> 02:49:55,000
at ease with marble, than with 
people. 

3200
02:49:55,000 --> 02:49:58,600
He was suddenly expected to play
the part of a Renaissance Master

3201
02:49:58,600 --> 02:50:00,800
for a never-ending parade of 
admirers. 

3202
02:50:01,500 --> 02:50:05,000
He became known for being rough 
with guests but those who knew 

3203
02:50:05,000 --> 02:50:07,700
him well saw this as shyness 
rather than conceit. 

3204
02:50:09,200 --> 02:50:13,100
Three weeks before his 89th 
birthday on February 18th, 1564.

3205
02:50:13,100 --> 02:50:15,900
Michelle passed away quietly at 
home in Rome. 

3206
02:50:15,900 --> 02:50:18,500
Even though he had been feeling 
ill for a few days. 

3207
02:50:18,500 --> 02:50:21,300
He had nearly finished the 
architectural drawing for Saint 

3208
02:50:21,300 --> 02:50:24,300
Peters Witnesses. 
Claimed that his final remarks 

3209
02:50:24,300 --> 02:50:27,400
discussed finishing the dough. 
Even as he was dying, he was 

3210
02:50:27,400 --> 02:50:28,800
contemplating unfinished 
business. 

3211
02:50:28,800 --> 02:50:32,500
He completely changed 
Renaissance culture as evidence 

3212
02:50:32,500 --> 02:50:34,300
by the immediate reaction to his
death. 

3213
02:50:35,100 --> 02:50:38,400
As a church Prince Pope Pius, 
the fourth wanted him to be 

3214
02:50:38,400 --> 02:50:41,900
buried in Saint Peters, his body
was ordered to be returned to 

3215
02:50:41,908 --> 02:50:45,900
his birthplace by the City of 
Florence in Rome artists started

3216
02:50:45,908 --> 02:50:48,000
organizing or Nate funeral 
rituals. 

3217
02:50:48,600 --> 02:50:50,700
An era came to an end with 
Mitchell's passing. 

3218
02:50:50,700 --> 02:50:53,700
He was no longer just an artist,
but a cultural Force. 

3219
02:50:53,700 --> 02:50:56,200
His impact goes well beyond our 
history. 

3220
02:50:56,200 --> 02:50:59,600
You can see Michelle's Legacy 
every time you see a government 

3221
02:50:59,600 --> 02:51:02,800
building with a classical Dome, 
he helped create the concepts 

3222
02:51:02,800 --> 02:51:05,000
that are echoed. 
Whenever someone discusses the 

3223
02:51:05,000 --> 02:51:08,800
Divine spark of creativity 
artists, are always imitating 

3224
02:51:08,800 --> 02:51:11,400
him when they refused to 
sacrifice their vision for 

3225
02:51:11,400 --> 02:51:14,700
financial gain. 
As you fall asleep, visualize, 

3226
02:51:14,700 --> 02:51:16,800
Michelle's, Dome, rising, over 
Rome in the evening. 

3227
02:51:16,800 --> 02:51:20,100
Light, a monument to one man's 
conviction that people are 

3228
02:51:20,100 --> 02:51:22,800
capable of producing art that 
endures for centuries. 

3229
02:51:22,800 --> 02:51:25,900
Monuments that bridge, the gap 
between Earthly craft and 

3230
02:51:25,900 --> 02:51:29,400
eternal aspirational and beauty 
that surpasses Empires. 

3231
02:51:30,800 --> 02:51:32,600
Dream. 
Sweet dreams. 

3232
02:51:37,900 --> 02:51:41,700
Nikola Tesla's boyhood in the 
small village of Milan nestled 

3233
02:51:41,700 --> 02:51:43,500
in the rural reaches of the 
Austrian Empire. 

3234
02:51:43,500 --> 02:51:46,800
Now Croatia was, as far removed 
from the noise of modern 

3235
02:51:46,800 --> 02:51:48,400
contractions as one might 
imagine. 

3236
02:51:49,400 --> 02:51:52,700
Yet even amid this pastoral 
backdrop Tesla found ways to 

3237
02:51:52,700 --> 02:51:57,200
indulge his curiosity. 
His father milutin was an 

3238
02:51:57,200 --> 02:52:00,700
orthodox priest often occupied 
by religious duties, but he also

3239
02:52:00,700 --> 02:52:03,800
possessed a serious Library 
where young Nicholas snuck away 

3240
02:52:03,800 --> 02:52:06,500
to read. 
In fact, Tesla frequently, 

3241
02:52:06,500 --> 02:52:09,700
credited, these secretive 
Explorations for sparking, his 

3242
02:52:09,700 --> 02:52:14,000
fascination with science. 
Meanwhile, his mother duka a 

3243
02:52:14,000 --> 02:52:16,800
resourceful and gifted woman 
crafted household tools with her

3244
02:52:16,800 --> 02:52:19,900
hands granting Tesla. 
First hand look at the interplay

3245
02:52:19,900 --> 02:52:24,500
between imagination and utility.
One story that rarely gets 

3246
02:52:24,500 --> 02:52:29,100
retold overshadowed perhaps by 
Granda, anecdotes involved a 

3247
02:52:29,100 --> 02:52:32,700
small wooden water wheel. 
He built at age 9 determined to 

3248
02:52:32,700 --> 02:52:35,000
harness, the churning stream 
that ran behind his home. 

3249
02:52:35,900 --> 02:52:39,300
Tesla carved, rough paddles from
scavenge Driftwood, and 

3250
02:52:39,300 --> 02:52:41,900
improvised, and axle from a 
broken carpart. 

3251
02:52:41,900 --> 02:52:46,800
While the contrived was crude, 
it worked sought of its 

3252
02:52:46,800 --> 02:52:49,800
sputtered and jammed more often 
than its fun but this half 

3253
02:52:49,800 --> 02:52:54,000
success taught him, the power of
redirecting Natural Forces even 

3254
02:52:54,000 --> 02:52:57,100
as a child, he recognized that 
nature has tremendous energy. 

3255
02:52:57,100 --> 02:53:01,100
Just waiting to be tapped. 
It was also during these early 

3256
02:53:01,100 --> 02:53:03,500
years, that Tesla started 
experiencing a cute 

3257
02:53:03,500 --> 02:53:06,900
visualizations later. 
He described how bright flashes 

3258
02:53:06,900 --> 02:53:09,600
before his eyes would conjure 
Vivid images of objects. 

3259
02:53:09,600 --> 02:53:13,400
He hadn't even witnessed before 
this phenomenon, which he called

3260
02:53:13,400 --> 02:53:17,400
his mind's eye sometimes 
unsettled people around him, but

3261
02:53:17,400 --> 02:53:20,500
it had a silver lining. 
Whenever an idea flickered 

3262
02:53:20,500 --> 02:53:23,500
through his Consciousness. 
He could examine its details in 

3263
02:53:23,500 --> 02:53:27,000
these mental pictures rotating 
and refining them before he ever

3264
02:53:27,000 --> 02:53:30,500
set pen to paper. 
This unique ability often 

3265
02:53:30,500 --> 02:53:33,800
minimized in popular accounts 
shaped his inventive process. 

3266
02:53:34,700 --> 02:53:37,300
Of course, not all was a 
delicate as a Schoolboy. 

3267
02:53:37,300 --> 02:53:40,600
Tesla nurse to rebellious streak
and loathed rope memorization. 

3268
02:53:41,800 --> 02:53:44,500
His teacher wants, scolded him 
for insisting that the Earth was

3269
02:53:44,500 --> 02:53:47,800
a giant magnet telling, the 
class that Tesla was letting his

3270
02:53:47,800 --> 02:53:51,200
imagination run wild. 
The teacher was unaware of how 

3271
02:53:51,200 --> 02:53:54,500
close Tesla was to the truth, 
nor how that minor humiliation 

3272
02:53:54,500 --> 02:53:56,700
inspired him to study, magnetism
more thoroughly. 

3273
02:53:57,600 --> 02:53:59,200
Some say the seeds of his 
future. 

3274
02:53:59,200 --> 02:54:04,100
AC motor began here in the 
tension between Authority and 

3275
02:54:04,100 --> 02:54:08,000
Tesla's unwavering self-belief 
in spare moments. 

3276
02:54:08,000 --> 02:54:10,900
The young Tesla found 
camaraderie with friends who 

3277
02:54:10,900 --> 02:54:13,000
joined in his experiments like 
building. 

3278
02:54:13,000 --> 02:54:16,500
Hand cranked contractions were 
trying to talk through Tin Can 

3279
02:54:16,500 --> 02:54:21,300
telephones yet if a Contraption 
faildo test love vanished in to 

3280
02:54:21,300 --> 02:54:24,600
introspection. 
Recalculating every step in his 

3281
02:54:24,600 --> 02:54:28,000
mind. 
In those hours, no one could pry

3282
02:54:28,000 --> 02:54:31,200
him away from his Reflections. 
It was as if he was lost in that

3283
02:54:31,200 --> 02:54:34,700
luminous inner Workshop. 
Despite bouts of quiet 

3284
02:54:34,700 --> 02:54:37,100
withdrawal. 
Tesla still lived in a 

3285
02:54:37,108 --> 02:54:38,600
household. 
That valued performance. 

3286
02:54:39,800 --> 02:54:43,000
Surely rhetorical Flair. 
His father believed in the power

3287
02:54:43,000 --> 02:54:45,800
of eloquence and would often 
deliver stirring orations. 

3288
02:54:45,800 --> 02:54:49,400
Perhaps this is how Tesla 
learned to present radical ideas

3289
02:54:49,400 --> 02:54:53,700
with poisons from his mother. 
The virtue of patient tinkering 

3290
02:54:53,700 --> 02:54:56,800
an aspect overshadowed by 
stories of His Brilliant. 

3291
02:54:56,800 --> 02:55:00,900
Flashes of insight though, 
untrained formerly Duke is 

3292
02:55:00,900 --> 02:55:03,300
improvisational skills. 
Showed him that great inventions

3293
02:55:03,300 --> 02:55:05,100
need not come from Grand 
laboratory trees. 

3294
02:55:05,100 --> 02:55:08,700
They could begin at a humble 
table or by the Riverside as 

3295
02:55:08,700 --> 02:55:10,400
long as one had the drive to see
them through. 

3296
02:55:10,400 --> 02:55:13,700
By the time he reached out 
lessons Tesla had devoured 

3297
02:55:13,700 --> 02:55:15,800
nearly every science book in his
father's Library. 

3298
02:55:16,500 --> 02:55:19,500
He immersed himself in 
electricity magnetism and 

3299
02:55:19,500 --> 02:55:22,400
mechanical wonders. 
His Fascination growing with 

3300
02:55:22,400 --> 02:55:26,300
each page, later at night, when 
the household slept, and a 

3301
02:55:26,300 --> 02:55:29,600
single kerosene lamp. 
Flickered in the corridor Tesla 

3302
02:55:29,600 --> 02:55:32,800
mold over New Concepts, making 
mental notes on how to apply 

3303
02:55:32,800 --> 02:55:35,700
them. 
He never just read he scouted 

3304
02:55:35,700 --> 02:55:38,700
for Clues. 
Each bit of knowledge layering 

3305
02:55:38,700 --> 02:55:42,500
onto his mental designs. 
These experiences and smil Jan 

3306
02:55:42,500 --> 02:55:45,900
formed the Bedrock of a lifetime
of invention while the world 

3307
02:55:45,900 --> 02:55:48,900
would one day witness Teslas 
theatrical experiments and 

3308
02:55:48,908 --> 02:55:52,800
transformative, discoveries. 
It All Began beside a murmuring 

3309
02:55:52,800 --> 02:55:56,500
Creek and within the hush of a 
modest Library there free from 

3310
02:55:56,500 --> 02:56:01,200
Urban clamor Tesla, learned the 
value of curiosity, observation 

3311
02:56:01,200 --> 02:56:05,000
and sustained, determination. 
It was in this unassuming 

3312
02:56:05,000 --> 02:56:08,600
domain, where wooden water 
wheels sputtered and a boy's 

3313
02:56:08,600 --> 02:56:11,700
imagination soared that the 
seeds of an extraordinary 

3314
02:56:11,700 --> 02:56:14,600
Destiny. 
First took Route, perhaps most 

3315
02:56:14,600 --> 02:56:18,100
telling these formative years, 
cemented in Tesla, a lifelong 

3316
02:56:18,100 --> 02:56:21,400
pattern of introspection and 
experimentation the young 

3317
02:56:21,400 --> 02:56:23,300
inventor, not only absorbed 
nollege. 

3318
02:56:23,300 --> 02:56:27,700
He reinvented it in his 
imagination for him smilianets. 

3319
02:56:33,700 --> 02:56:36,700
Tesla's departure from home was 
spurred by academic Pursuits 

3320
02:56:36,700 --> 02:56:40,400
that beckoned him to larger 
Arenas, eventually Landing him 

3321
02:56:40,400 --> 02:56:42,200
at the Austrian Polytechnic in 
grounds. 

3322
02:56:42,900 --> 02:56:46,300
The environment there, demanded 
rigor, which suited Tesla's 

3323
02:56:46,300 --> 02:56:49,600
capacity for total immersion? 
He sunk his teeth into 

3324
02:56:49,600 --> 02:56:52,700
mathematics physics and 
mechanics with a feverish 

3325
02:56:52,700 --> 02:56:56,100
intensity professors noted, his 
uncanny ability to answer 

3326
02:56:56,100 --> 02:56:59,000
complex theoretical questions 
without referencing textbooks. 

3327
02:56:59,000 --> 02:57:03,200
A result of his extraordinary 
mental visualization, However, 

3328
02:57:03,200 --> 02:57:07,100
the spark that truly lit. 
His imagination was the direct 

3329
02:57:07,100 --> 02:57:11,100
current DC electrical Machinery.
In the school's Labs 

3330
02:57:11,100 --> 02:57:15,000
conventional wisdom suggested DC
was the future of power. 

3331
02:57:15,700 --> 02:57:17,300
But Tesla found its 
inefficiencies. 

3332
02:57:17,300 --> 02:57:21,500
Maddening observing, how DC 
motors generated Sparks and 

3333
02:57:21,500 --> 02:57:24,400
wasted energy. 
He questioned how nobody noticed

3334
02:57:24,400 --> 02:57:27,100
a better pathway when one 
Professor pronounced that 

3335
02:57:27,100 --> 02:57:31,100
harnessing alternating current 
AC at scale was an 

3336
02:57:31,100 --> 02:57:33,300
impossibility. 
Tesla resisted, the urge to 

3337
02:57:33,300 --> 02:57:36,500
argue instead, he spent late 
nights in his boarding room 

3338
02:57:36,500 --> 02:57:40,500
sketching out rotating magnetic 
fields in his head if he does 

3339
02:57:40,500 --> 02:57:42,600
off at all. 
It was with diagrams dancing 

3340
02:57:42,600 --> 02:57:46,600
across his eyelids despite his 
academic prowess, Tesla 

3341
02:57:46,600 --> 02:57:50,600
stinting, grass did not end 
smoothly exhaustion and perhaps 

3342
02:57:50,600 --> 02:57:53,800
an underlying rebellious streak 
contributed to friction with 

3343
02:57:53,800 --> 02:57:57,300
University administrators. 
Who once rigged an experiment to

3344
02:57:57,300 --> 02:58:00,500
demonstrate a refined method for
measuring electric resistance. 

3345
02:58:01,300 --> 02:58:04,000
When the apparatus 
short-circuited Tesla found 

3346
02:58:04,000 --> 02:58:07,000
himself facing the wrath of a 
professor, outraged by 

3347
02:58:07,000 --> 02:58:11,600
unorthodox experimentation. 
Feeling unwelcome Tesla walked 

3348
02:58:11,600 --> 02:58:13,900
out leaving conventional 
Academia behind. 

3349
02:58:15,100 --> 02:58:19,100
From grads, Tesla move to other 
opportunities, including a brief

3350
02:58:19,100 --> 02:58:20,800
and often overlooked period in 
Marburg. 

3351
02:58:20,800 --> 02:58:24,500
Now, maribor Slovenia there, a 
shadow seemed to fall over him 

3352
02:58:24,500 --> 02:58:27,300
separated, from the camera of 
classmates. 

3353
02:58:27,300 --> 02:58:31,600
Grappled, with bouts of anxiety,
without structured lab access 

3354
02:58:31,600 --> 02:58:34,800
test Tesla turned to solitary 
experiments tinkering with 

3355
02:58:34,800 --> 02:58:37,400
leftover scraps of metal and 
wire yet. 

3356
02:58:37,400 --> 02:58:40,400
The Gloom of isolation Nord at 
him and he eventually returned 

3357
02:58:40,400 --> 02:58:44,600
home for a spell, his confidence
rattled but not shattered. 

3358
02:58:44,600 --> 02:58:48,800
It was in Budapest or working at
The Budapest telephone exchange.

3359
02:58:48,800 --> 02:58:50,800
The Tesla began to regain his 
footing. 

3360
02:58:50,800 --> 02:58:54,300
In that frenetic workspace, who 
was tasked with improving the 

3361
02:58:54,300 --> 02:58:58,200
nascent telephone systems 
design, one lesson circulated 

3362
02:58:58,200 --> 02:59:01,900
story details, how Tesla, once 
clambered onto a rooftop to 

3363
02:59:01,900 --> 02:59:04,900
adjust overhead lines, the 
lightning flashes, giving him 

3364
02:59:04,900 --> 02:59:08,600
new ideas about high frequency, 
current colleague's regarded him

3365
02:59:08,600 --> 02:59:11,100
as eccentric competent, 
Crucially. 

3366
02:59:11,100 --> 02:59:14,500
It was during a routine walk 
through Budapest city park that 

3367
02:59:14,500 --> 02:59:17,500
the notion of the rotating 
magnetic field crystallized in 

3368
02:59:17,500 --> 02:59:20,500
his mind. 
Inspired by a poem he recited 

3369
02:59:20,500 --> 02:59:24,800
aloud Tesla abruptly stopped 
drastic from the ground and 

3370
02:59:24,800 --> 02:59:27,400
began tracing swirling diagrams 
in the dirt. 

3371
02:59:28,100 --> 02:59:30,700
He explained to His companion. 
How two or more alternating 

3372
02:59:30,700 --> 02:59:34,600
currents out of phase, could 
induce a rotating field capable 

3373
02:59:34,600 --> 02:59:37,000
of spinning a motor that Eureka 
moment. 

3374
02:59:37,000 --> 02:59:40,400
Set the course for his next 
inventions, it was an unveiling 

3375
02:59:40,400 --> 02:59:44,600
of practical AC Concepts in the 
most unassuming of settings Far 

3376
02:59:44,600 --> 02:59:46,800
From Any official laboratory 
shortly. 

3377
02:59:46,800 --> 02:59:49,900
After Tesla found himself with 
an opportunity in Paris working 

3378
02:59:49,900 --> 02:59:51,500
for the Continental Edison 
Company. 

3379
02:59:51,500 --> 02:59:54,600
His tasks involved 
troubleshooting installation of 

3380
02:59:54,600 --> 02:59:58,500
Edison's DC Systems, the very 
technology that had vexed him 

3381
02:59:58,508 --> 03:00:01,800
back at graze. 
Even so the job introduced him 

3382
03:00:01,808 --> 03:00:04,600
to real-world engineering 
challenges and power. 

3383
03:00:04,600 --> 03:00:08,400
Outages to generate a 
malfunctions by day Tesla, 

3384
03:00:08,400 --> 03:00:11,100
tackled these issues becoming 
something of a specialist in 

3385
03:00:11,100 --> 03:00:13,800
diagnosing, electrical 
breakdowns by night. 

3386
03:00:13,800 --> 03:00:17,500
He refined sketches of his AC 
motor desperately, wishing for 

3387
03:00:17,500 --> 03:00:21,100
the chance to build a prototype.
the interplay between The Daily 

3388
03:00:21,100 --> 03:00:24,000
Grind of DC, Hardware 
maintenance, and the nightly 

3389
03:00:24,000 --> 03:00:27,500
pursuit of AC in Innovation, 
lent Tesla's, life are peculiar 

3390
03:00:27,500 --> 03:00:31,300
Duality, an unresolved tension 
between the present and what he 

3391
03:00:31,300 --> 03:00:34,300
believed the future should be 
well, though, overshadowed by 

3392
03:00:34,300 --> 03:00:37,800
the high drama of late Year's 
These formative experiences 

3393
03:00:37,800 --> 03:00:41,300
taught Tesla resilience, he 
learned how to negotiate limited

3394
03:00:41,300 --> 03:00:44,600
resources, how to observe the 
smallest anomalies and 

3395
03:00:44,600 --> 03:00:47,800
mechanical performance. 
And how to coax Visions from his

3396
03:00:47,800 --> 03:00:52,200
mind into workable sketches. 
more importantly, his confidence

3397
03:00:52,200 --> 03:00:56,000
in the feasibility of AC power 
solidified, even as he undertook

3398
03:00:56,000 --> 03:00:59,200
the tedium of dc-based 
assignments, The world around 

3399
03:00:59,200 --> 03:01:02,000
him might have regarded AC as a 
flight of fancy, but in his 

3400
03:01:02,008 --> 03:01:05,000
eyes, it was the rightful heir 
to the electrical Throne waiting

3401
03:01:05,000 --> 03:01:08,900
for its moment to shine. 
Tesla's fateful Journey to the 

3402
03:01:08,900 --> 03:01:13,700
United States in 1884 has often 
been romanticized yet, a host of

3403
03:01:13,700 --> 03:01:16,200
lesson, known details in Rich 
that narrative. 

3404
03:01:16,200 --> 03:01:19,600
He arrived in New York, with 
next to nothing carrying a 

3405
03:01:19,600 --> 03:01:21,700
letter of introduction to 
Thomas, Edison from his former 

3406
03:01:21,700 --> 03:01:24,900
employer in Paris. 
The letter, supposedly claimed 

3407
03:01:24,900 --> 03:01:26,800
Tesla was an exceptional 
engineer. 

3408
03:01:26,800 --> 03:01:30,100
Who would produce one wonders in
popular retellings? 

3409
03:01:30,100 --> 03:01:34,700
This encounter frames Tesla and 
Edison as instant Rivals, but in

3410
03:01:34,700 --> 03:01:39,100
truth their relationship began 
with cautious respect Edison 

3411
03:01:39,100 --> 03:01:42,400
recognized Tesla's competence 
right away and put him to work 

3412
03:01:42,400 --> 03:01:45,100
on projects, deemed two 
intricate or menial for others. 

3413
03:01:45,900 --> 03:01:49,200
There's a story one, not widely 
circulated, the Tesla fixed to 

3414
03:01:49,208 --> 03:01:50,800
defective shipboard lighting 
system. 

3415
03:01:51,700 --> 03:01:54,200
Saving Edison's company from 
contract penalties. 

3416
03:01:54,900 --> 03:01:56,500
Tesla. 
Never used it as Leverage. 

3417
03:01:57,200 --> 03:02:01,600
Still Edison noticed intrigued 
by Tesla's meticulous approach. 

3418
03:02:01,600 --> 03:02:04,700
He assigned him to redesign DC 
generators. 

3419
03:02:05,500 --> 03:02:08,600
Tesla toiled day and night 
confident, his improvements 

3420
03:02:08,600 --> 03:02:10,600
would prove their worth and they
did. 

3421
03:02:10,600 --> 03:02:14,800
But when he sought remuneration 
misunderstandings piled up, it 

3422
03:02:14,800 --> 03:02:18,300
wasn't a single dispute. 
Over a massive bonus, more, a 

3423
03:02:18,300 --> 03:02:21,500
pattern of unkept promises and 
blurred expectations. 

3424
03:02:22,300 --> 03:02:26,300
By early 1885, the veneer of 
cordiality of evaporated and 

3425
03:02:26,300 --> 03:02:30,100
Tesla left Edison's employee. 
That was the Genesis of a 

3426
03:02:30,100 --> 03:02:33,200
rivalry later. 
Amplified by newspapers driven 

3427
03:02:33,200 --> 03:02:37,400
more by conflicting Technologies
than personal hatred, Financial 

3428
03:02:37,400 --> 03:02:40,600
troubles Bessette Tesla almost 
immediately with fewer 

3429
03:02:40,600 --> 03:02:43,200
acquaintances in New York. 
He found himself digging ditches

3430
03:02:43,200 --> 03:02:46,300
for two dollars a day. 
It might have been that physical

3431
03:02:46,300 --> 03:02:50,000
labor under a harsh son that 
sharpened his resolve. 

3432
03:02:50,000 --> 03:02:53,800
He told a friend that while his 
body dug ditches his mind was 

3433
03:02:53,800 --> 03:02:56,000
Far Away. 
Disrupt describing a lipstick, 

3434
03:02:56,000 --> 03:02:59,000
call arcs of thought. 
Where some might have fallen 

3435
03:02:59,000 --> 03:03:02,100
into despair. 
Tesla saw an interval to refine 

3436
03:03:02,100 --> 03:03:05,300
his intended path. 
That path led to the formation 

3437
03:03:05,300 --> 03:03:07,300
of Tesla electric light and 
Manufacturing. 

3438
03:03:07,300 --> 03:03:11,400
His first entrepreneurial 
venture in America, he secured 

3439
03:03:11,400 --> 03:03:14,600
backers, who at first promised 
to let him develop Arc Lighting 

3440
03:03:14,600 --> 03:03:16,900
systems and eventually his 
prized AC Motors. 

3441
03:03:16,900 --> 03:03:20,600
However, once Tesla delivered an
efficient Arc lighting solution,

3442
03:03:20,600 --> 03:03:24,700
those investors showed no 
interest in AC Capital wanted 

3443
03:03:24,700 --> 03:03:27,400
quick returns, not imaginative 
leaps. 

3444
03:03:27,400 --> 03:03:31,100
Frustrated, Tesla found himself 
pushed out of the very company. 

3445
03:03:31,100 --> 03:03:34,500
Bearing, his name This episode 
left him, wary of business 

3446
03:03:34,500 --> 03:03:37,400
Partnerships and taught him. 
That investors valued immediate 

3447
03:03:37,400 --> 03:03:41,100
profit over long-term Vision. 
Undeterred, Tesla began to 

3448
03:03:41,100 --> 03:03:43,900
demonstrate his, a sea motor 
concept and small lecture halls 

3449
03:03:43,900 --> 03:03:46,000
around the city. 
One venue. 

3450
03:03:46,000 --> 03:03:49,000
The back room of a modest 
Manhattan building had an 

3451
03:03:49,000 --> 03:03:53,000
audience of barely 20 people. 
But among them was Alfred s 

3452
03:03:53,000 --> 03:03:56,300
Browne, a Western Union 
superintendent, who recognized 

3453
03:03:56,300 --> 03:03:58,500
Tesla's potential another 
backer. 

3454
03:03:58,500 --> 03:04:03,000
Charles Peck also attended, 
Together, they formed a 

3455
03:04:03,000 --> 03:04:06,200
partnership with Tesla pledging 
to support his AC technology. 

3456
03:04:07,100 --> 03:04:09,600
These unglamorous, session's 
laid vital groundwork for 

3457
03:04:09,600 --> 03:04:13,300
Tesla's next breakthrough. 
Soon with Newfound supporters, 

3458
03:04:13,300 --> 03:04:17,300
Tesla established a laboratory 
at 89 Liberty Street Manhattan. 

3459
03:04:17,300 --> 03:04:20,500
Amid coils of wire and 
improvised setups. 

3460
03:04:20,500 --> 03:04:23,900
He tinkered relentlessly. 
The space was cramped but 

3461
03:04:23,900 --> 03:04:26,700
offered freedom. 
He constructed prototypes of the

3462
03:04:26,700 --> 03:04:30,000
polyphase, AC motor 
painstakingly refining them 

3463
03:04:30,000 --> 03:04:32,000
until they could run smoothly 
under load. 

3464
03:04:32,800 --> 03:04:35,500
Maintaining a consistent 
rotating, magnetic field, was 

3465
03:04:35,500 --> 03:04:38,800
one challenge, ensuring it 
didn't damage the apparatus over

3466
03:04:38,800 --> 03:04:41,400
time. 
Was another Tesla, tackled each 

3467
03:04:41,400 --> 03:04:45,500
obstacle systematically relying 
on mental simulations before any

3468
03:04:45,500 --> 03:04:49,600
real world tests one anecdote 
from this periods, Tesla 

3469
03:04:49,600 --> 03:04:52,800
experimenting with high-speed 
turbines that let out a nerving 

3470
03:04:52,800 --> 03:04:56,400
wines. 
Passes by grew weary prompting 

3471
03:04:56,400 --> 03:04:59,300
multiple visits from the local 
fire brigade, after neighbors, 

3472
03:04:59,300 --> 03:05:03,100
complained of Sparks. 
Tesla oblivious to the fuss 

3473
03:05:03,100 --> 03:05:06,600
would apologize earnestly. 
Then resumed his adjustments. 

3474
03:05:06,600 --> 03:05:09,600
The moment they left. 
Such episodes highlight his 

3475
03:05:09,600 --> 03:05:13,200
tendency to live almost entirely
in his realm of ideas, paying 

3476
03:05:13,200 --> 03:05:16,800
little heed to outside alarm. 
While public fascination with 

3477
03:05:16,800 --> 03:05:19,800
the electricity, was on the rise
spurred by the novelty of 

3478
03:05:19,800 --> 03:05:22,200
electric light's. 
Most industrialists, still 

3479
03:05:22,200 --> 03:05:26,300
viewed a sea with caution. 
Tesla's goal was not simply to 

3480
03:05:26,300 --> 03:05:29,200
make a sea Motors feasible, but 
to persuade key players that 

3481
03:05:29,200 --> 03:05:32,200
this technology was reliable 
safe and profitable. 

3482
03:05:33,000 --> 03:05:35,100
Each small success in his lab 
bolstered. 

3483
03:05:35,100 --> 03:05:38,900
His resolve inching him closer 
to a grand future shaped by 

3484
03:05:38,900 --> 03:05:41,400
alternating current truly 
Unstoppable. 

3485
03:05:42,700 --> 03:05:46,700
By 1888 Tesla was ready to 
unveil his AC motor to the world

3486
03:05:46,700 --> 03:05:49,600
and the venue was the American 
Institute of electrical 

3487
03:05:49,600 --> 03:05:52,600
engineers. 
While typical accounts highlight

3488
03:05:52,600 --> 03:05:56,000
the significance of the event. 
Few explore, the hushed. 

3489
03:05:56,000 --> 03:05:58,900
Excitement that filled that 
lecture hall, attendees 

3490
03:05:58,900 --> 03:06:01,700
included, professors journalists
and Industrial Titans. 

3491
03:06:01,700 --> 03:06:05,500
All a buzz with talk of a new 
era in electrical distribution. 

3492
03:06:05,500 --> 03:06:09,000
Some were openly skeptical 
others arrived hoping to witness

3493
03:06:09,000 --> 03:06:11,800
the demise of what they 
considered an Impossible Dream. 

3494
03:06:12,700 --> 03:06:16,100
Tesla walked onto the stage with
a calm demeanor, unveiling, his 

3495
03:06:16,100 --> 03:06:18,700
motor and discussing its 
principles with methodical 

3496
03:06:18,700 --> 03:06:21,300
precision. 
Crucially in the audience, sat 

3497
03:06:21,300 --> 03:06:24,300
George Westinghouse who had 
embraced AC for power 

3498
03:06:24,300 --> 03:06:27,900
transmission. 
Impressed by Tesla's Clarity and

3499
03:06:27,900 --> 03:06:30,300
the Elegance implicit of his 
motor Westinghouse. 

3500
03:06:30,300 --> 03:06:32,800
Quickly reached out in 
negotiations. 

3501
03:06:32,800 --> 03:06:36,000
He purchased Tesla's patents for
a substantial sum and promised 

3502
03:06:36,000 --> 03:06:38,800
royalties for every horse power 
generated by his invention. 

3503
03:06:39,800 --> 03:06:42,700
while mainstream retellings, 
mentioned the deal, the Nuance 

3504
03:06:42,700 --> 03:06:45,400
of their discussions shape by 
Tesla's vision for future 

3505
03:06:45,400 --> 03:06:49,100
expansion of AC off often 
remains overlooked With 

3506
03:06:49,100 --> 03:06:52,200
westinghouse's backing Tesla, 
moved into a well-resourced 

3507
03:06:52,200 --> 03:06:55,400
facility in Pittsburgh to refine
his designs for commercial 

3508
03:06:55,400 --> 03:06:58,100
production. 
The cultural shift from his 

3509
03:06:58,100 --> 03:07:00,800
Liberty Street lab to an 
industrial setting was Stark. 

3510
03:07:01,500 --> 03:07:04,900
Tesla sought perfect Synergy of 
frequency and voltage, while 

3511
03:07:04,900 --> 03:07:08,300
corporate Engineers focused on 
standardized Parts despite 

3512
03:07:08,300 --> 03:07:10,600
tension, seeing his Motors mass 
produced. 

3513
03:07:10,600 --> 03:07:13,600
Thrilled him. 
He was elated when AC systems 

3514
03:07:13,600 --> 03:07:16,300
lit, parts of the 1893 World 
Columbian. 

3515
03:07:16,300 --> 03:07:19,900
Exposition in Chicago, 
showcasing a cityscape at glow 

3516
03:07:19,900 --> 03:07:22,900
with alternating current 
courtesy of Westinghouse and 

3517
03:07:22,900 --> 03:07:25,200
Tesla. 
A lesser known interlude 

3518
03:07:25,200 --> 03:07:29,100
occurred when Tesla visited 
Niagara Falls to her, they the 

3519
03:07:29,108 --> 03:07:32,800
plan, hydroelectric station 
standing at the brink of the 

3520
03:07:32,800 --> 03:07:35,900
Thundering Cascade. 
He reportedly Muse that 

3521
03:07:35,900 --> 03:07:39,300
harnessing, such power would 
reflect Humanity's harmony with 

3522
03:07:39,300 --> 03:07:42,500
nature. 
When it went on line, delivering

3523
03:07:42,500 --> 03:07:46,700
electricity as far as Buffalo, 
it proved ACS potency yet the 

3524
03:07:46,700 --> 03:07:50,200
war of the currents fueled by 
Edison's campaign labeling, AC, 

3525
03:07:50,200 --> 03:07:52,800
dangerous cast Shadows on these 
achievements. 

3526
03:07:53,600 --> 03:07:56,400
Edison's allies staged gruesome 
demonstrations. 

3527
03:07:56,400 --> 03:07:59,700
Electrocuting animals to 
highlight Aces hazards. 

3528
03:07:59,700 --> 03:08:03,400
Tesla though offended voided. 
Direct public attacks. 

3529
03:08:03,400 --> 03:08:07,000
Instead, he showcased Aces 
safety and flamboyant ways. 

3530
03:08:07,000 --> 03:08:10,400
Passing high frequency, currents
through himself to light lamps, 

3531
03:08:11,200 --> 03:08:15,300
Newspapers seized on the spec 
circles Tesla disliked theatrics

3532
03:08:15,300 --> 03:08:18,000
from your hype that saw them as 
necessary to shift perception, 

3533
03:08:18,000 --> 03:08:21,800
Tesla's finances, briefly soared
his arrangement with 

3534
03:08:21,800 --> 03:08:24,700
Westinghouse promised 
substantial gains as AC spread. 

3535
03:08:24,700 --> 03:08:28,000
However, Westinghouse soon faced
Financial strain from the 

3536
03:08:28,000 --> 03:08:30,200
Niagara project and Market 
fluctuations. 

3537
03:08:30,200 --> 03:08:32,500
When Bankers threatened, the 
Westinghouse company. 

3538
03:08:32,500 --> 03:08:36,400
Tesla made a dramatic Choice. 
He released Westinghouse from 

3539
03:08:36,400 --> 03:08:40,800
the heavy royalty agreement. 
Some theaters altruism others, 

3540
03:08:40,800 --> 03:08:43,900
suspect, that he believed 
broader, AC adoption would bring

3541
03:08:43,900 --> 03:08:45,500
even greater, well, down the 
line. 

3542
03:08:45,500 --> 03:08:48,600
Either way, this decision cost 
him Millions. 

3543
03:08:49,500 --> 03:08:53,800
That shifted Tesla's partnership
with Westinghouse, meanwhile his

3544
03:08:53,800 --> 03:08:57,400
growing celebrity pushed him to 
chase new ideas, fascinated by 

3545
03:08:57,400 --> 03:09:00,800
high frequency, currents, and 
wireless power heard that AC 

3546
03:09:00,800 --> 03:09:02,700
power distribution, was only a 
starting point. 

3547
03:09:03,600 --> 03:09:06,500
His pivot from danger to 
Visionary signal, the dawn of a 

3548
03:09:06,500 --> 03:09:10,400
new phase yet, the transition 
was uneasy industry leaders 

3549
03:09:10,400 --> 03:09:13,200
wanted Market. 
Ready products, not Grand at 

3550
03:09:13,200 --> 03:09:17,000
Tesla. 
Ever the dreamer to break 

3551
03:09:17,000 --> 03:09:20,800
boundaries, This Clash set the 
stage for his most audacious 

3552
03:09:20,800 --> 03:09:24,300
projects, some of which risk 
isolating him from commercial 

3553
03:09:24,300 --> 03:09:28,300
backers, even so, as AC quietly 
became the worldwide, standard 

3554
03:09:28,300 --> 03:09:31,200
Tesla's decisive role could not 
be denied. 

3555
03:09:32,000 --> 03:09:35,100
A toppled, the seemingly 
immovable, diesel regime and 

3556
03:09:35,100 --> 03:09:37,800
paved the road for an era 
defined by alternating current. 

3557
03:09:38,500 --> 03:09:41,100
A feat that left him eager to 
explore even more Uncharted 

3558
03:09:41,100 --> 03:09:43,900
Terrain. 
These winds fueled Tesla's. 

3559
03:09:43,900 --> 03:09:47,700
Restless imagination propelling,
further innovation, By the 

3560
03:09:47,700 --> 03:09:51,800
mid-1890s Tesla had garnered a 
reputation as an inventor, who 

3561
03:09:51,800 --> 03:09:54,600
might rewrite the laws of nature
with each new contrivance. 

3562
03:09:55,200 --> 03:09:59,100
In truth, his methods combined 
meticulous, trial and error with

3563
03:09:59,100 --> 03:10:03,300
knights of solitary reflection. 
He fashioned Advanced coils to 

3564
03:10:03,300 --> 03:10:06,800
produce high voltage, high 
frequency, alternating currents,

3565
03:10:06,800 --> 03:10:09,500
creating dramatic arts of 
artificial lightning. 

3566
03:10:10,200 --> 03:10:12,500
While crowds flocked to watch 
his public lectures in 

3567
03:10:12,500 --> 03:10:16,200
Manhattan, Tesla was growing 
Restless longing for a place 

3568
03:10:16,200 --> 03:10:18,900
where he could attempt even 
bigger experiments unencumbered 

3569
03:10:18,900 --> 03:10:22,600
by City constraints. 
That desire took him to Colorado

3570
03:10:22,600 --> 03:10:26,400
Springs in 1899 perched at a 
higher altitude where thinner 

3571
03:10:26,400 --> 03:10:29,100
are helped facilitate certain 
high voltage tests. 

3572
03:10:29,100 --> 03:10:33,600
The remote location was an ideal
Laboratory. he set up shop at 

3573
03:10:33,600 --> 03:10:36,100
the edge of town building, a 
structure equipped with a tall, 

3574
03:10:36,100 --> 03:10:40,000
Mast jutting above the roofline 
local spoke in hushed tones 

3575
03:10:40,000 --> 03:10:43,900
about lightning machines and 
Eerie after dark glows, some 

3576
03:10:43,900 --> 03:10:45,400
worried about potential 
catastrophe. 

3577
03:10:45,400 --> 03:10:48,400
Well, others were simply curious
about the lanky figure who 

3578
03:10:48,400 --> 03:10:51,700
wandered fields at odd hours. 
Studying the interplay of 

3579
03:10:51,700 --> 03:10:55,500
natural lightning. 
Inside that Workshop Tesla, 

3580
03:10:55,500 --> 03:10:58,600
probed Frontiers that mainstream
scientists had scarcely 

3581
03:10:58,600 --> 03:11:01,200
imagined. 
He fixated on the Resonance of 

3582
03:11:01,200 --> 03:11:03,800
Earth's ionosphere believing 
signals could be beamed 

3583
03:11:03,800 --> 03:11:07,500
wirelessly across vast distances
if property tuned according to 

3584
03:11:07,500 --> 03:11:11,000
diary entries he meticulously 
recorded Every Spark, every 

3585
03:11:11,000 --> 03:11:15,300
flash, every ear, splitting 
crack of artificial Thunder on 

3586
03:11:15,300 --> 03:11:17,200
occasion. 
He produced such intense 

3587
03:11:17,200 --> 03:11:20,200
discharges, that the crackle 
could be heard for miles. 

3588
03:11:21,000 --> 03:11:23,500
One account claims that he 
caused the local power station's

3589
03:11:23,500 --> 03:11:27,900
generated to overheat prompting,
a short-lived blackout ever the 

3590
03:11:27,900 --> 03:11:30,300
polite. 
Guest Tesla apologized, then 

3591
03:11:30,300 --> 03:11:34,400
resumed tinkering in Colorado, 
Tesla crystallized, his Grand 

3592
03:11:34,400 --> 03:11:38,300
Vision, System of Global 
Wireless communication and power

3593
03:11:38,300 --> 03:11:41,300
distribution. 
The townspeople hearing rumors 

3594
03:11:41,300 --> 03:11:45,300
of free electricity speculated, 
he might Supply Power at no cost

3595
03:11:45,300 --> 03:11:47,900
Tesla's goals. 
However, were subtler. 

3596
03:11:47,900 --> 03:11:51,000
He pictured networks of towers 
resonating with the Earth's 

3597
03:11:51,000 --> 03:11:53,900
natural electrical charge 
carrying Voice or energy 

3598
03:11:53,900 --> 03:11:56,600
anywhere. 
This concept was a precursor to 

3599
03:11:56,600 --> 03:11:59,800
technologies that would surface 
decades later from Radio 

3600
03:11:59,800 --> 03:12:03,600
Transmissions to radar and 
Beyond yet life in Colorado was 

3601
03:12:03,600 --> 03:12:06,000
more than just experiments and 
thunderous Arts. 

3602
03:12:06,000 --> 03:12:09,200
Tesla, occasionally, mingled 
with the locals regaling, them 

3603
03:12:09,200 --> 03:12:12,200
with Tales of Europe and his 
early exploits in New York. 

3604
03:12:13,100 --> 03:12:16,700
Despite his eccentric schedule 
he possessed impeccable manners,

3605
03:12:16,700 --> 03:12:20,400
one story recounts how he gave a
personal demo of Wireless laps 

3606
03:12:20,400 --> 03:12:23,700
to a bewildered blacksmith who 
later insisted Tesla was pulling

3607
03:12:23,700 --> 03:12:27,800
electricity from thin air. 
Such encounters spurred Legends 

3608
03:12:27,800 --> 03:12:30,500
of Tesla as a wizard blending 
science with something like 

3609
03:12:30,500 --> 03:12:33,800
sorcery. 
Still financing these colossal 

3610
03:12:33,800 --> 03:12:38,400
tests drain Tesla's resources 
his main backer JP Morgan had 

3611
03:12:38,400 --> 03:12:40,100
initially supported the wireless
project. 

3612
03:12:40,100 --> 03:12:43,500
Like likely anticipating a 
monopoly on global information 

3613
03:12:43,500 --> 03:12:47,500
but once Morgan realized Tesla's
schemes were far more ambitious 

3614
03:12:47,500 --> 03:12:51,300
and riskier than mere Wireless. 
Telegraphy his enthusiasm 

3615
03:12:51,300 --> 03:12:54,600
cooled. 
Tesla pressed on convinced one 

3616
03:12:54,600 --> 03:12:58,100
decisive demonstration would 
open funding floodgates that 

3617
03:12:58,100 --> 03:13:01,700
breakthrough, however, remained 
a Lucifer newspapers, Amplified 

3618
03:13:01,700 --> 03:13:05,000
rumors about Tesla's activities.
Some claiming he was attempting 

3619
03:13:05,000 --> 03:13:07,200
to Signal distant planets, 
though. 

3620
03:13:07,200 --> 03:13:10,100
Tesla did speculate about 
Extra-Terrestrial intelligence, 

3621
03:13:10,100 --> 03:13:14,500
his real focus on terrestrial 
Wireless the Lyrid headlines. 

3622
03:13:14,500 --> 03:13:17,200
While fueling his Legend did 
little to alleviate his 

3623
03:13:17,200 --> 03:13:21,700
financial pressures eventually, 
funds ran low forcing Tesla to 

3624
03:13:21,700 --> 03:13:26,100
close the Colorado lab in 1900. 
He left with crates of notes and

3625
03:13:26,100 --> 03:13:29,200
under diminished Zeal convinced,
he could still bring Wireless 

3626
03:13:29,200 --> 03:13:33,100
power to the masses. 
For townspeople Left Behind the 

3627
03:13:33,100 --> 03:13:37,200
memory of glowing skies and 
roiling static lingered a 

3628
03:13:37,200 --> 03:13:39,800
testament to the spectacular 
possibilities that science could

3629
03:13:39,800 --> 03:13:43,100
conjure. 
For Tesla, her Colorado Springs 

3630
03:13:43,100 --> 03:13:46,400
became a pivotal chapter, a 
Proving Ground, that fortified 

3631
03:13:46,400 --> 03:13:48,800
his belief in the Limitless 
potential of electrical 

3632
03:13:48,800 --> 03:13:50,400
resonance. 
It was there. 

3633
03:13:50,400 --> 03:13:53,800
He most clearly foresaw, a 
connected World boundless by 

3634
03:13:53,800 --> 03:13:57,100
wires than by the atmospheric 
and Earth circling energies. 

3635
03:13:57,100 --> 03:14:00,700
He aimed to harness in hindsight
Colorado was the Overture to his

3636
03:14:00,708 --> 03:14:02,600
next attempt at Global 
electrification. 

3637
03:14:02,600 --> 03:14:05,800
An attempt that would manifest 
in the Towering outline of 

3638
03:14:05,808 --> 03:14:07,400
warden cliff on Long Island 
Shores. 

3639
03:14:08,500 --> 03:14:12,000
Upon returning to New York Tesla
Consolidated, his finding from 

3640
03:14:12,000 --> 03:14:15,300
Colorado Springs into an 
audacious new Venture, the 

3641
03:14:15,300 --> 03:14:19,100
warden Cliff Tower project With 
Finance in from JP Morgan 

3642
03:14:19,100 --> 03:14:20,900
initially obtained. 
Under the premise of 

3643
03:14:20,900 --> 03:14:23,800
groundbreaking Wireless 
telegraphy Tesla purchased land 

3644
03:14:23,800 --> 03:14:26,800
in Shoreham Long Island. 
Overlooking the Atlantic. 

3645
03:14:28,000 --> 03:14:31,300
Construction began in 1901, the 
looming structure. 

3646
03:14:31,300 --> 03:14:34,900
Stood nearly, Mandarin 87 ft. 
High topped by bulbous metal 

3647
03:14:34,900 --> 03:14:38,600
Dome an extended deep below 
ground through a network of iron

3648
03:14:38,600 --> 03:14:41,500
rods many. 
Observers had no idea what to 

3649
03:14:41,500 --> 03:14:45,400
make of it. 
Tesla ever enigmatic preferred 

3650
03:14:45,400 --> 03:14:48,200
sweeping claims about sending 
both signals and energy across 

3651
03:14:48,200 --> 03:14:51,000
continents. 
What often goes unappreciated is

3652
03:14:51,000 --> 03:14:53,200
How Deeply testable believed in 
the underlying physics. 

3653
03:14:54,100 --> 03:14:57,000
His notes show that Warden Cliff
wasn't limited to broadcasting, 

3654
03:14:57,000 --> 03:14:59,400
Telegraph signals, he intended 
it. 

3655
03:14:59,400 --> 03:15:02,400
As the first of many 
transmitters, all resonating 

3656
03:15:02,400 --> 03:15:05,700
with Earth's natural, electrical
cavities to convey messages or 

3657
03:15:05,700 --> 03:15:09,300
even power to any matching 
receiver worldwide in his mind. 

3658
03:15:09,300 --> 03:15:12,900
It wasn't fantasy, it was a 
logical leap from the high 

3659
03:15:12,900 --> 03:15:15,000
voltage experiments. 
He had run in Colorado Springs. 

3660
03:15:15,800 --> 03:15:19,300
However, the timing was not in 
his favor in the same year that 

3661
03:15:19,300 --> 03:15:22,200
Warden Cliffs skeletal form 
emerged from the Treetops, 

3662
03:15:22,200 --> 03:15:25,400
Guglielmo Marconi successfully 
conducted the first 

3663
03:15:25,400 --> 03:15:29,100
transatlantic, radio 
transmission reporters, hailed 

3664
03:15:29,100 --> 03:15:33,600
Marconi's a giant in Wireless. 
Communication Tesla, outraged 

3665
03:15:33,600 --> 03:15:35,500
pointed out that his own patents
on. 

3666
03:15:35,500 --> 03:15:37,400
Alternating current and related 
Technologies. 

3667
03:15:37,400 --> 03:15:41,100
Predated Marconi's work. 
Nevertheless, the public and 

3668
03:15:41,100 --> 03:15:43,900
financiers were smitten with 
Marconi's simpler, more 

3669
03:15:43,900 --> 03:15:47,700
immediately marketable setup. 
Morgan's patients were thin 

3670
03:15:47,700 --> 03:15:50,200
white bankroll Tesla's, massive 
Tower. 

3671
03:15:50,200 --> 03:15:53,600
If Marconi is apparatus suffice 
for long distance, signaling 

3672
03:15:53,600 --> 03:15:56,700
Warden Cliff still incomplete 
henreid. 

3673
03:15:56,700 --> 03:16:00,800
Money, the crew building at 
dwindled salary went on paid and

3674
03:16:00,800 --> 03:16:02,900
Tesla found himself pleading for
fresh capital. 

3675
03:16:03,700 --> 03:16:06,400
Each conversation with Morgan 
ended in thirst demands for 

3676
03:16:06,400 --> 03:16:09,900
tangible proof which Tesla 
couldn't produce fast enough. 

3677
03:16:10,600 --> 03:16:14,600
Desperate for funds, Tesla tried
licensing, auxiliary inventions,

3678
03:16:14,600 --> 03:16:17,600
turbines pumps. 
And even a plan to harness 

3679
03:16:17,600 --> 03:16:20,900
geothermal heat, But investors 
questioned his broader 

3680
03:16:20,900 --> 03:16:24,400
intentions where he might have 
pivot their money into the tower

3681
03:16:24,400 --> 03:16:27,000
as Financial constraints 
tightened. 

3682
03:16:27,000 --> 03:16:29,600
Warden Clifford remained, a half
realized vision. 

3683
03:16:30,800 --> 03:16:35,000
By 1905, the site was 
effectively deserted the tower, 

3684
03:16:35,000 --> 03:16:38,500
a silent Monument to Tesla's 
Ambitions and the shifting tides

3685
03:16:38,500 --> 03:16:42,100
of investor faith. 
During these Bleak years test 

3686
03:16:42,100 --> 03:16:45,300
Tesla's public Persona, grew 
more eccentric journalists 

3687
03:16:45,300 --> 03:16:48,400
occasionally interviewed him 
only to hear about proposals for

3688
03:16:48,400 --> 03:16:53,000
death Rays or atmospheric power 
rumors circulated that he was 

3689
03:16:53,000 --> 03:16:56,400
becoming a recluse. 
Yet his mind State, agile, 

3690
03:16:56,400 --> 03:16:59,200
continuing to churn out 
possibilities. 

3691
03:16:59,200 --> 03:17:03,100
He Force solar energy as a 
future Mainstay though, few 

3692
03:17:03,100 --> 03:17:05,400
listened. 
The industrial World seemed 

3693
03:17:05,400 --> 03:17:09,500
enthralled by an oil and coal. 
While Tesla's musings about sun,

3694
03:17:09,500 --> 03:17:12,700
powered engine's, Drew smirks 
Warden, Cliff was never fully 

3695
03:17:12,700 --> 03:17:16,300
operational and the newspapers. 
Offered little sympathy some 

3696
03:17:16,300 --> 03:17:18,900
newspapers, ridiculed him 
portraying him as an unrealistic

3697
03:17:18,900 --> 03:17:21,800
idea list others. 
Barely mentioned his name 

3698
03:17:21,800 --> 03:17:25,200
focusing instead on Marconi's 
ongoing successes. 

3699
03:17:25,200 --> 03:17:30,208
The Sting of being overshadowed 
was palpable Tesla clung to the 

3700
03:17:30,216 --> 03:17:33,100
belief that one day the world 
would recognize the practicality

3701
03:17:33,100 --> 03:17:36,900
of Wireless power. 
Indeed, later generations would 

3702
03:17:36,900 --> 03:17:39,300
adapt many of his principles for
radio and Beyond. 

3703
03:17:40,100 --> 03:17:43,000
But in his time, the towers 
failure, left him saddled with 

3704
03:17:43,000 --> 03:17:46,000
debt and weighed down by public 
skepticism even. 

3705
03:17:46,000 --> 03:17:48,100
So Tesla didn't abandon 
optimism. 

3706
03:17:48,800 --> 03:17:51,500
He often spoke as if Warden 
Cliff had simply been delayed, 

3707
03:17:51,500 --> 03:17:56,000
not canceled in private, he 
refined sketches of improved 

3708
03:17:56,000 --> 03:18:00,000
transmitters reimagine, the 
towers design and kept dreaming 

3709
03:18:00,000 --> 03:18:02,900
of a worldwide grid of residence
stations. 

3710
03:18:02,900 --> 03:18:06,000
He believed that the planet 
itself with its vast. 

3711
03:18:06,000 --> 03:18:09,000
Electrical potential could be 
turned into a conduit of 

3712
03:18:09,000 --> 03:18:12,100
universal energy. 
The fact that Society was not 

3713
03:18:12,100 --> 03:18:15,600
ready, did little to, dampen his
conviction despite setbacks 

3714
03:18:15,600 --> 03:18:19,000
fragments of Tesla's Vision, 
crept into later technological. 

3715
03:18:19,000 --> 03:18:22,000
Revolution's Wireless 
communication would evolve in 

3716
03:18:22,008 --> 03:18:25,300
Leaps and Bounds over powered by
the more conventional means 

3717
03:18:25,300 --> 03:18:28,200
Concepts like Global 
connectivity and broadcast 

3718
03:18:28,200 --> 03:18:31,900
energy dismissed in Tesla's day,
surface decades, afterward in 

3719
03:18:31,900 --> 03:18:34,500
varying forms. 
Yet at the dawn of the 20th 

3720
03:18:34,500 --> 03:18:38,000
century Tesla faced only 
mounting bills evaporating 

3721
03:18:38,000 --> 03:18:40,600
capital and a tower rusting away
on Long Island. 

3722
03:18:42,000 --> 03:18:45,300
The Heartbreak of wardenclyffe 
marked a turning point leaving 

3723
03:18:45,300 --> 03:18:47,900
Tesla to operate mostly on the 
margins of an industry. 

3724
03:18:47,900 --> 03:18:52,500
Hid once revolutionized As the 
20th century marched on the 

3725
03:18:52,500 --> 03:18:54,100
world. 
Tesla had done so much to 

3726
03:18:54,100 --> 03:18:57,300
illuminate. 
Surged ahead, the AC systems, he

3727
03:18:57,300 --> 03:19:00,800
championed became the backbone 
of modern infrastructure yet, 

3728
03:19:00,800 --> 03:19:04,900
Tesla himself slipped from the 
spotlight, He moved between New 

3729
03:19:04,900 --> 03:19:07,400
York hotels. 
Sometimes leaving unpaid bills 

3730
03:19:07,400 --> 03:19:10,100
behind. 
Public interviews grew sparse 

3731
03:19:10,100 --> 03:19:13,200
when he did speak. 
He mentioned theories of beam. 

3732
03:19:13,200 --> 03:19:17,000
Weapons weather manipulation and
advanced propulsion sowing 

3733
03:19:17,000 --> 03:19:19,600
intrigued, even some questioned 
his grasp on reality. 

3734
03:19:20,600 --> 03:19:24,000
But his notebooks to the extent,
they survive reveal how these 

3735
03:19:24,000 --> 03:19:27,100
ideas built on earlier 
experiments rather than me or 

3736
03:19:27,100 --> 03:19:30,100
Whimsy. 
A lesson known facet of Tesla's 

3737
03:19:30,100 --> 03:19:31,700
later. 
Life was his nightly ritual of 

3738
03:19:31,708 --> 03:19:35,900
feeding, pigeons in Bryant Park,
Observers saw a solitary figure 

3739
03:19:35,900 --> 03:19:40,400
scattering seeds by Lamplight 
but Tesla found solace in caring

3740
03:19:40,400 --> 03:19:43,400
for those birds. 
Claiming a special bond with one

3741
03:19:43,400 --> 03:19:46,500
white pigeon in particular. 
It may have seemed an odd 

3742
03:19:46,500 --> 03:19:49,000
Pastime for a renowned inventor 
yet. 

3743
03:19:49,000 --> 03:19:51,900
It reflected a familiar pattern.
Tesla's. 

3744
03:19:51,900 --> 03:19:54,700
Deep empathy for natural, 
phenomena creatures included. 

3745
03:19:55,700 --> 03:19:58,900
Meanwhile, patent disputes raged
over the origins of radio. 

3746
03:19:58,900 --> 03:20:02,900
Tesla had filed patents before 
Marconi's breakthroughs yet. 

3747
03:20:02,900 --> 03:20:05,700
Marconi was lauded for bringing 
Wireless transmission into the 

3748
03:20:05,700 --> 03:20:09,000
mainstream. 
The legal entanglements, dragged

3749
03:20:09,000 --> 03:20:13,300
on for years. 
In 1943, the US Supreme Court. 

3750
03:20:13,300 --> 03:20:16,000
Finally recognized Tesla's 
priority for peace. 

3751
03:20:16,000 --> 03:20:18,800
Certain critical. 
Radio patents though, this 

3752
03:20:18,800 --> 03:20:21,600
Vindication arrived too late to 
alter his financial Straits. 

3753
03:20:22,400 --> 03:20:25,800
He was never able to capitalize 
on the official ruling nor did 

3754
03:20:25,800 --> 03:20:28,400
it quell, The public's 
Association of radio primarily 

3755
03:20:28,400 --> 03:20:31,600
with Marconi. 
Tesla spent his final stretch of

3756
03:20:31,608 --> 03:20:35,400
Life at the New Yorker Hotel. 
Though, short on funds, he still

3757
03:20:35,400 --> 03:20:39,700
scrolled ideas on scraps of 
paper proposing, cosmic ray 

3758
03:20:39,700 --> 03:20:43,000
engines and new power methods. 
Visitors, who managed to see 

3759
03:20:43,000 --> 03:20:44,500
him? 
Might find him animated and 

3760
03:20:44,500 --> 03:20:47,300
eloquent. 
Speaking in polished tones About

3761
03:20:47,300 --> 03:20:50,600
harnessing the energy of the Sun
or channeling power from the 

3762
03:20:50,600 --> 03:20:54,100
Earth's magnetic field. 
He believed that her telephone 

3763
03:20:54,100 --> 03:20:57,300
beam could end War by making 
National borders in penetrable. 

3764
03:20:58,000 --> 03:21:01,700
To many these Notions sounded 
impossible yet Tesla's. 

3765
03:21:01,700 --> 03:21:05,300
Track record left room to wonder
When he passed away on January, 

3766
03:21:05,300 --> 03:21:10,800
7th, 1943 in room, 3327, he left
behind boxes of documents that 

3767
03:21:10,800 --> 03:21:12,400
soon. 
Became the subject of intense 

3768
03:21:12,400 --> 03:21:16,100
scrutiny authorities, seize, 
some of his papers fuelling 

3769
03:21:16,100 --> 03:21:19,300
Rumours of hidden Innovation, or
weapons to dangerous for public 

3770
03:21:19,300 --> 03:21:21,500
consumption. 
Conspiracy theories. 

3771
03:21:21,500 --> 03:21:25,300
Flourished, while the reality 
likely involved routine, 

3772
03:21:25,300 --> 03:21:29,300
security concerns the secrecy 
lent, Mystique to Tesla's Legacy

3773
03:21:30,000 --> 03:21:33,500
It became hard to disentangle 
fact from folklore over the 

3774
03:21:33,500 --> 03:21:36,200
decades. 
Tesla standing in popular 

3775
03:21:36,200 --> 03:21:39,800
Consciousness swung wildly 
Edison's name overshadowed his 

3776
03:21:39,800 --> 03:21:44,300
for a time especially in school 
textbooks only later did your 

3777
03:21:44,300 --> 03:21:46,400
movements rise to credit Tesla 
for his revolutionary 

3778
03:21:46,400 --> 03:21:51,300
contributions, to AC power radio
technology and more modern 

3779
03:21:51,300 --> 03:21:53,900
Engineers scientists. 
And curious lay people 

3780
03:21:53,908 --> 03:21:57,400
uncovered, his patents and 
writings marveling at how he'd 

3781
03:21:57,400 --> 03:22:00,900
anticipated entire fields of 
inquiry from robotics to 

3782
03:22:00,900 --> 03:22:04,100
wireless communication. 
His pioneering theories on 

3783
03:22:04,100 --> 03:22:06,800
residents and frequency. 
Also, informed aspects of modern

3784
03:22:06,800 --> 03:22:09,800
electronics, though, that debt 
was seldom acknowledged until 

3785
03:22:09,800 --> 03:22:13,900
much later in daily life. 
Tesla's. 

3786
03:22:13,900 --> 03:22:16,000
True genius shines in the 
simplest of ways. 

3787
03:22:16,000 --> 03:22:18,500
Flicker, lights, switch, and you
reap. 

3788
03:22:18,500 --> 03:22:22,400
The benefits of alternating 
current use wireless devices and

3789
03:22:22,400 --> 03:22:25,300
you operate on a principal Tesla
believed could reach across the 

3790
03:22:25,300 --> 03:22:28,300
planet. 
The Synergy envisioned between 

3791
03:22:28,300 --> 03:22:30,600
inventor nature and the 
Unstoppable. 

3792
03:22:30,600 --> 03:22:33,800
March of progress remains a 
potent, reminder of how one 

3793
03:22:33,800 --> 03:22:35,900
brilliant mind can shape hole 
errors. 

3794
03:22:35,900 --> 03:22:40,400
Test Tesla's story is above all,
a study, and perseverance and 

3795
03:22:40,400 --> 03:22:42,900
Paradox. 
He shunned the pursuit of wealth

3796
03:22:42,900 --> 03:22:45,000
yet needed Capital to 
materialize his dreams. 

3797
03:22:45,800 --> 03:22:47,500
He relished public 
demonstrations yet. 

3798
03:22:47,500 --> 03:22:50,400
Often worked Alone lost in 
interior worlds. 

3799
03:22:51,000 --> 03:22:55,000
He was both lauded and dismissed
recognized as a key figure in an

3800
03:22:55,000 --> 03:22:56,800
electrifying, the modern world 
yet. 

3801
03:22:56,800 --> 03:22:59,500
Branded at times as an 
eccentric, on the fringes of 

3802
03:22:59,500 --> 03:23:03,000
acceptable science. 
Even, so, he left an imprint 

3803
03:23:03,000 --> 03:23:05,800
rivaled by few long after his 
death. 

3804
03:23:05,800 --> 03:23:10,100
The hum of AC power lines, the 
glow of electric lamps and the 

3805
03:23:10,100 --> 03:23:13,000
chirp of Wireless signals Echo, 
Tesla's influence. 

3806
03:23:13,000 --> 03:23:16,500
He never saw the breadth of his 
Triumph in person, yet. 

3807
03:23:16,500 --> 03:23:18,900
The future, he glimpsed was Not 
Mere fantasy. 

3808
03:23:18,900 --> 03:23:22,500
It was an inevitable extension 
of the forces, he harnessed so 

3809
03:23:22,500 --> 03:23:25,100
elegantly. 
And though, the man himself 

3810
03:23:25,100 --> 03:23:29,300
passed in relative, obscurity, 
his ideas still crack with a 

3811
03:23:29,300 --> 03:23:31,700
Vitality that defies the 
boundaries of time and 

3812
03:23:31,700 --> 03:23:40,400
Imagination. 
Picture London on a warm 

3813
03:23:40,400 --> 03:23:42,500
evening. 
In late August, 1939. 

3814
03:23:43,600 --> 03:23:46,800
The Sun is setting over the 
Thames, painting, the sky in 

3815
03:23:46,800 --> 03:23:50,300
shades of Amber and Rose that 
reflect off the river's surface 

3816
03:23:50,300 --> 03:23:53,600
like liquid copper. 
Street lamps are beginning their

3817
03:23:53,600 --> 03:23:57,000
nightly ritual that gentle 
flickering as they come to life,

3818
03:23:57,000 --> 03:24:00,700
one by one, creating pools of 
yellow warmth along the 

3819
03:24:00,700 --> 03:24:04,000
Pavements. 
Shop Windows glow with displays 

3820
03:24:04,000 --> 03:24:07,700
of summer dresses and wireless 
sets, casting, rectangles of 

3821
03:24:07,700 --> 03:24:11,800
light onto the sidewalks where 
couples stroll arm in arm their 

3822
03:24:11,800 --> 03:24:14,000
Shadows long and lazy in the 
golden hour. 

3823
03:24:14,700 --> 03:24:17,600
You can hear the particular 
sounds of a city in its evening 

3824
03:24:17,600 --> 03:24:20,400
mode. 
The rumble of red double decker 

3825
03:24:20,400 --> 03:24:24,400
buses, the clip-clop of delivery
horses making their final rounds

3826
03:24:24,400 --> 03:24:28,300
and the cheerful Ting of bicycle
bells as workers, pedal home for

3827
03:24:28,300 --> 03:24:30,600
supper. 
From open Windows. 

3828
03:24:30,600 --> 03:24:34,700
Comes to the smell of cooking 
roast dinners, boiled potatoes, 

3829
03:24:34,700 --> 03:24:37,100
and the yeasty warmth of fresh 
bread. 

3830
03:24:38,200 --> 03:24:42,000
Radios played dance music, the 
kind with horns and steady, 

3831
03:24:42,000 --> 03:24:46,100
rhythms that make your foot, tap
out, thinking about it in Paris,

3832
03:24:46,100 --> 03:24:48,700
the cafes are feeling with their
usual evening crowd. 

3833
03:24:49,400 --> 03:24:51,700
The Eiffel Tower stands, 
illuminated against the 

3834
03:24:51,700 --> 03:24:53,800
darkening Sky. 
It's iron. 

3835
03:24:53,800 --> 03:24:56,500
Lattice outlined in electric 
brilliant. 

3836
03:24:56,500 --> 03:24:58,600
Like a piece of jewelry against 
velvet. 

3837
03:24:59,400 --> 03:25:01,700
There are neon signs advertising
a parody. 

3838
03:25:01,700 --> 03:25:05,200
Warm light coming from 
restaurant interiors, and the 

3839
03:25:05,200 --> 03:25:08,700
headlamps of citroen's and 
renews making rivers of light. 

3840
03:25:08,700 --> 03:25:12,500
Along the Sean salisi. 
Street musicians play accordions

3841
03:25:12,500 --> 03:25:15,200
on Corners, the cases open for 
coins. 

3842
03:25:15,200 --> 03:25:17,600
That clink with a satisfying 
metallic ring. 

3843
03:25:18,500 --> 03:25:23,400
Berlin 2 is based in light, the 
grand buildings, along unto deny

3844
03:25:23,400 --> 03:25:26,400
Linden, a flood lit. 
The neoclassical facades 

3845
03:25:26,400 --> 03:25:31,400
standing proud and imposing. 
The shops, stay open late, their

3846
03:25:31,400 --> 03:25:34,200
Windows full of goods, that 
speak of prosperity and Order. 

3847
03:25:34,800 --> 03:25:39,000
Electric trams hum along their 
tracks, their Interiors bright. 

3848
03:25:39,000 --> 03:25:42,000
And modern filled with 
passengers, reading newspapers 

3849
03:25:42,000 --> 03:25:45,900
or chatting about their days. 
These cities have spent decades 

3850
03:25:45,900 --> 03:25:47,700
building their electrical 
infrastructure. 

3851
03:25:48,600 --> 03:25:52,100
Stringing miles of cable, 
installing countless fixtures 

3852
03:25:52,100 --> 03:25:55,300
and creating networks of 
Illumination that have become as

3853
03:25:55,300 --> 03:25:59,200
fundamental to Urban Life as 
running water or paved streets. 

3854
03:26:00,200 --> 03:26:03,600
The age of electric light is 
barely 50 years old, still. 

3855
03:26:03,600 --> 03:26:07,200
Young enough to feel miraculous.
People who grew up with oil 

3856
03:26:07,200 --> 03:26:09,500
lamps and candles. 
Now flip switches without 

3857
03:26:09,500 --> 03:26:13,300
thinking Banishing, Darkness 
with a casual gesture that would

3858
03:26:13,300 --> 03:26:15,400
have seemed like sorcery to 
their grandparents. 

3859
03:26:16,200 --> 03:26:20,600
But on September 1st 1939, 
Everything Changes, Germany 

3860
03:26:20,600 --> 03:26:24,200
invades Poland, and within 
hours, Britain, and France are 

3861
03:26:24,200 --> 03:26:26,800
making preparations that have 
been planned in secret for 

3862
03:26:26,800 --> 03:26:29,800
months. 
Government officials retrieve 

3863
03:26:29,800 --> 03:26:33,500
documents from locked safes. 
Civil defense workers report to 

3864
03:26:33,500 --> 03:26:37,300
their posts and ordinary 
citizens receive instructions. 

3865
03:26:37,300 --> 03:26:40,500
That will alter the appearance 
of their world in ways, both 

3866
03:26:40,500 --> 03:26:44,200
profound and peculiar. 
The blackout is coming. 

3867
03:26:44,200 --> 03:26:47,500
You might wonder why Darkness 
would be chosen as a defense 

3868
03:26:47,500 --> 03:26:49,900
strategy. 
The logic is straightforward, 

3869
03:26:49,900 --> 03:26:52,700
but chilling. 
Bombers, navigating at night, 

3870
03:26:52,700 --> 03:26:55,400
need visual reference points to 
find their targets. 

3871
03:26:56,100 --> 03:26:59,900
A city Ablaze with light is as 
easy to spot from the air as a 

3872
03:26:59,900 --> 03:27:03,700
lighthouse on a dark Coast. 
Remove that light and the 

3873
03:27:03,700 --> 03:27:06,100
bombers are flying over an 
invisible landscape. 

3874
03:27:06,100 --> 03:27:09,600
Unable to distinguish a 
Munitions Factory from a 

3875
03:27:09,600 --> 03:27:13,100
residential neighborhood or a 
railway junk Junction from a 

3876
03:27:13,100 --> 03:27:15,100
park. 
So, the decision is made. 

3877
03:27:16,000 --> 03:27:18,400
When night falls, the lights 
must go out. 

3878
03:27:19,300 --> 03:27:23,100
Not just some lights or most 
lights, but all lights. 

3879
03:27:23,900 --> 03:27:27,400
Every window must be covered 
every Street Lamp extinguished 

3880
03:27:27,400 --> 03:27:31,200
and every card driven with 
hooded headlamps that cast, only

3881
03:27:31,200 --> 03:27:35,200
the faintest glow. 
The great cities of Europe will 

3882
03:27:35,200 --> 03:27:38,900
disappear from view pulled 
beneath a blanket of Darkness as

3883
03:27:38,900 --> 03:27:41,400
complete as any medieval village
new. 

3884
03:27:42,200 --> 03:27:44,800
The preparation happen with 
remarkable speed. 

3885
03:27:45,700 --> 03:27:49,600
Shops sell out of black fabric 
within hours, hardware stores 

3886
03:27:49,600 --> 03:27:52,100
run out of paint, tape 
cardboard. 

3887
03:27:52,100 --> 03:27:56,600
Anything that might be used to 
block light the government has 

3888
03:27:56,600 --> 03:28:00,100
printed millions of leaflets 
explaining the regulations and 

3889
03:28:00,100 --> 03:28:03,600
these appear in letterboxes like
strange invitations to a 

3890
03:28:03,600 --> 03:28:07,100
backwards party where the goal 
is to extinguish rather than 

3891
03:28:07,100 --> 03:28:11,200
illuminate You can imagine the 
conversations happening in homes

3892
03:28:11,200 --> 03:28:13,100
across Britain that first 
weekend of September. 

3893
03:28:14,100 --> 03:28:17,500
Family standing in their parlors
looking at their windows with 

3894
03:28:17,500 --> 03:28:21,700
Newfound assessment calculating.
How many yards of material 

3895
03:28:21,700 --> 03:28:24,400
they'll need? 
Whether thick curtains will 

3896
03:28:24,400 --> 03:28:27,800
suffice or if they'll need 
something more substantial? 

3897
03:28:29,500 --> 03:28:33,100
There's an odd Domesticity to 
these calculations as if their 

3898
03:28:33,100 --> 03:28:36,700
redecorating for some peculiar 
aesthetic preference rather than

3899
03:28:36,700 --> 03:28:39,700
preparing for war. 
The instructions are specific 

3900
03:28:39,700 --> 03:28:42,900
and somewhat over Windows must 
be covered. 

3901
03:28:42,900 --> 03:28:45,400
So thoroughly that not a crack 
of light escapes. 

3902
03:28:45,400 --> 03:28:50,200
This includes skylights glass 
doors and even the tiny windows 

3903
03:28:50,200 --> 03:28:53,100
in bathrooms. 
The penalty for showing light is

3904
03:28:53,100 --> 03:28:57,300
not insignificant. finds that 
could strain A Working Families 

3905
03:28:57,300 --> 03:29:01,200
budget and more importantly, the
social pressure of knowing that 

3906
03:29:01,200 --> 03:29:04,800
your carelessness might endanger
your neighbor's On September 

3907
03:29:04,800 --> 03:29:07,000
3rd, Britain. 
Officially declares war on 

3908
03:29:07,000 --> 03:29:09,400
Germany. 
That evening as Darkness 

3909
03:29:09,400 --> 03:29:11,400
approaches the blackout begins 
in earnest. 

3910
03:29:12,500 --> 03:29:16,400
Sunday, traditionally a day of 
rest, the family, dinners and 

3911
03:29:16,400 --> 03:29:19,400
evening strolls. 
But this Sunday evening will be 

3912
03:29:19,400 --> 03:29:22,200
different from any of the nation
has known in living memory. 

3913
03:29:22,900 --> 03:29:27,600
The sun sets at approximately 
7:30 p.m. on that first blackout

3914
03:29:27,600 --> 03:29:33,100
evening in early September 1939.
Twilight deepens. 

3915
03:29:33,100 --> 03:29:37,000
You would notice something 
extraordinary happening rather 

3916
03:29:37,000 --> 03:29:40,900
not happening. 
The usual sequence of light's 

3917
03:29:40,900 --> 03:29:43,000
Awakening across the city simply
doesn't occur. 

3918
03:29:44,000 --> 03:29:46,900
The street lamps from remained 
dark shop windows. 

3919
03:29:46,900 --> 03:29:50,100
Stay unlit. 
The Familiar glow that typically

3920
03:29:50,100 --> 03:29:53,300
begins to Define buildings and 
streets remained absent. 

3921
03:29:54,100 --> 03:29:58,100
Instead there's a collective 
dimming as if someone is slowly 

3922
03:29:58,100 --> 03:30:00,900
turning down the brightness 
control on the entire world. 

3923
03:30:02,200 --> 03:30:05,500
As the last and natural light 
Fades from the west and Sky, 

3924
03:30:05,500 --> 03:30:08,700
Darkness arrives with unusual 
completeness. 

3925
03:30:09,500 --> 03:30:13,200
Not the partial darkness of a 
normal night punctuated by 

3926
03:30:13,200 --> 03:30:16,300
human-made illumination, but 
something approaching the 

3927
03:30:16,300 --> 03:30:18,400
darkness of the countryside or 
Wilderness. 

3928
03:30:18,400 --> 03:30:22,200
The kind of dark that City 
dwellers might encounter only on

3929
03:30:22,200 --> 03:30:24,300
camping trip or during power 
outages. 

3930
03:30:24,300 --> 03:30:29,800
The cycle impact is immediate 
and disorienting Human beings 

3931
03:30:29,800 --> 03:30:32,700
have an ancient hardwired 
response to Darkness. 

3932
03:30:33,500 --> 03:30:38,200
We are diurnal creatures adapted
for daylight activity and are 

3933
03:30:38,200 --> 03:30:40,400
nervous. 
Systems treat Darkness as a 

3934
03:30:40,400 --> 03:30:42,400
signal for rest or potential 
Danger. 

3935
03:30:43,200 --> 03:30:46,300
For thousands of years, Darkness
meant Retreat to shelter 

3936
03:30:46,300 --> 03:30:50,400
gathering around fires and 
seizing productive, activity 

3937
03:30:50,400 --> 03:30:54,200
until sunrise. 
Electric light changed all that.

3938
03:30:54,900 --> 03:30:58,000
Extending the day are officially
allowing cities to function 

3939
03:30:58,000 --> 03:31:01,300
Around the Clock. 
Now suddenly that ancient 

3940
03:31:01,300 --> 03:31:05,400
relationship with darkness is 
restored but in an urban context

3941
03:31:05,400 --> 03:31:09,000
where it feels profoundly 
unnatural your surrounded by 

3942
03:31:09,000 --> 03:31:12,100
buildings and streets the 
infrastructure of modern 

3943
03:31:12,100 --> 03:31:15,300
civilization. 
Yet experiencing a darkness that

3944
03:31:15,300 --> 03:31:19,800
belongs to a pre-industrial era.
It creates a kind of temporal 

3945
03:31:19,800 --> 03:31:23,600
vertigo as if you've traveled 
backward in time while remaining

3946
03:31:23,600 --> 03:31:27,000
physically in the present. 
The first challenge is simply 

3947
03:31:27,000 --> 03:31:30,000
moving around. 
Walking down a familiar Street, 

3948
03:31:30,000 --> 03:31:32,000
becomes an exercise in careful 
navigation. 

3949
03:31:33,000 --> 03:31:35,600
Your eyes strained to 
distinguish shapes in the glue. 

3950
03:31:35,600 --> 03:31:39,500
The outline of a pillow box, the
curve of a curb silhouette of 

3951
03:31:39,500 --> 03:31:42,900
another person approaching curbs
and steps become hazards. 

3952
03:31:43,800 --> 03:31:46,400
More than one person trips over 
their own doorstep. 

3953
03:31:46,400 --> 03:31:50,000
In those early blackout, 
evenings misjudging distances in

3954
03:31:50,000 --> 03:31:54,100
the absence of light. 
Cars and buses face even greater

3955
03:31:54,100 --> 03:31:57,400
challenges vehicle headlamps 
must be fitted with special 

3956
03:31:57,400 --> 03:32:01,800
covers that restrict their light
to a tiny slit casting only the 

3957
03:32:01,800 --> 03:32:03,500
weakest beam onto the road 
ahead. 

3958
03:32:04,400 --> 03:32:07,900
Imagine driving at walking speed
appearing through your 

3959
03:32:07,900 --> 03:32:10,000
windshield. 
At a street, you can barely see 

3960
03:32:10,000 --> 03:32:14,300
watching for pedestrians who 
appear as mere shadows and 

3961
03:32:14,300 --> 03:32:17,000
trying to avoid other vehicles 
that are equally difficult to 

3962
03:32:17,000 --> 03:32:20,500
spot. 
The accident rate in these early

3963
03:32:20,500 --> 03:32:22,600
blackout days, Spike's 
alarmingly. 

3964
03:32:23,400 --> 03:32:27,800
Collisions between Vehicles, 
cars striking pedestrians and 

3965
03:32:27,800 --> 03:32:30,600
people walking into lampposts or
falling into gutters. 

3966
03:32:31,700 --> 03:32:34,600
There's a particular comedy to 
some of these mishaps though. 

3967
03:32:34,600 --> 03:32:36,300
Nobody finds them funny at the 
time. 

3968
03:32:37,300 --> 03:32:41,200
Respectable citizens, stumble 
into Hedges delivery boys, 

3969
03:32:41,200 --> 03:32:44,900
cycling into parked cars, a 
bishop walking home from evening

3970
03:32:44,900 --> 03:32:46,700
service. 
Mistakes are strangers. 

3971
03:32:46,700 --> 03:32:50,300
Front gate for his own and spend
several confused minutes trying 

3972
03:32:50,300 --> 03:32:52,400
to unlock it before realising 
his error. 

3973
03:32:53,300 --> 03:32:56,300
These little disasters, become 
part of the blackout experience 

3974
03:32:56,300 --> 03:33:00,300
stories to share over tea and 
evidence that everyone is 

3975
03:33:00,300 --> 03:33:02,300
struggling with the same 
Strange. 

3976
03:33:02,300 --> 03:33:06,000
New Reality, the government's 
Airaid, precautions wardens 

3977
03:33:06,000 --> 03:33:09,700
quickly, nicknamed ARP wardens, 
begin their patrols. 

3978
03:33:09,700 --> 03:33:14,000
These are ordinary citizens, 
volunteers and part-timers given

3979
03:33:14,000 --> 03:33:16,400
the authority to enforce 
blackout regulations. 

3980
03:33:17,200 --> 03:33:21,000
They walk the streets with 
masked torches watching for any 

3981
03:33:21,008 --> 03:33:23,600
violation. 
Any crack of light that might 

3982
03:33:23,600 --> 03:33:26,200
betray a city's presence to 
aircraft overhead. 

3983
03:33:27,100 --> 03:33:30,200
The wardens develop a certain 
reputation for zealousness. 

3984
03:33:31,300 --> 03:33:34,300
They'll knock sharply on doors. 
At the faintest glimpse of light

3985
03:33:34,300 --> 03:33:37,000
their voices. 
Carrying through the darkness 

3986
03:33:37,000 --> 03:33:39,700
with urgent. 
Whispers, put that light out, 

3987
03:33:39,700 --> 03:33:43,600
the phrase becomes so common, it
turns into a kind of Catchphrase

3988
03:33:43,600 --> 03:33:47,600
repeated in music halls and 
radio, comedies of verbal, 

3989
03:33:47,600 --> 03:33:50,300
symbol of the blackouts 
intrusion into private life. 

3990
03:33:51,300 --> 03:33:53,800
Insight home's. 
Families, are adapting to their 

3991
03:33:53,800 --> 03:33:57,100
new evening routines. 
The process of preparing for 

3992
03:33:57,100 --> 03:34:00,000
blackout becomes a nightly 
ritual performed. 

3993
03:34:00,000 --> 03:34:03,800
As Twilight approaches You would
rise from your chair set down 

3994
03:34:03,800 --> 03:34:07,000
your tea and begin, the 
systematic covering of windows. 

3995
03:34:07,800 --> 03:34:11,600
Some families use elaborate 
curtain systems heavy fabric on 

3996
03:34:11,600 --> 03:34:15,500
tracks that slide into place. 
Others make do with Simple 

3997
03:34:15,500 --> 03:34:19,700
Solutions, blankets pinned over 
frames sheets of cardboard 

3998
03:34:19,700 --> 03:34:23,500
wedged into place and layers of 
newspaper taped to glass. 

3999
03:34:24,700 --> 03:34:27,300
The effect on interior space is 
claustrophobic. 

4000
03:34:27,900 --> 03:34:31,200
With Windows covered rooms, lose
their connection to the outside 

4001
03:34:31,200 --> 03:34:33,800
world. 
You can't glance out to check. 

4002
03:34:33,800 --> 03:34:36,800
The weather, can't see the 
comforting glow of neighboring 

4003
03:34:36,800 --> 03:34:41,000
houses and can't watch the moon 
rise or stars appear your home 

4004
03:34:41,000 --> 03:34:44,900
becomes a sealed box cut off 
from the usual, visual reference

4005
03:34:44,900 --> 03:34:47,000
points that Orient you in time 
and space. 

4006
03:34:47,900 --> 03:34:49,500
Lighting inside must be 
carefully. 

4007
03:34:49,500 --> 03:34:53,500
Managed to Many families reduce 
their use of electric lights, 

4008
03:34:53,500 --> 03:34:58,000
partly from habit saving 
resources for the war effort and

4009
03:34:58,000 --> 03:35:01,000
partly from an almost 
superstitious fear that somehow 

4010
03:35:01,000 --> 03:35:03,400
light will escape despite their 
precautions. 

4011
03:35:04,400 --> 03:35:07,800
They rely on stead on single dim
bulbs or return to older 

4012
03:35:07,800 --> 03:35:11,500
Technologies oil. 
Lamps candles and Gaslight where

4013
03:35:11,500 --> 03:35:14,400
it's still available. 
Quality of light changes 

4014
03:35:14,400 --> 03:35:18,200
becoming warmer but weaker 
creating Deep Shadows in room 

4015
03:35:18,200 --> 03:35:21,500
Corners, making reading 
difficult and turning evening 

4016
03:35:21,500 --> 03:35:25,600
hours into something. 
Quieter and more subdued There's

4017
03:35:25,600 --> 03:35:27,500
an economic Dimension to this 
Darkness too. 

4018
03:35:27,500 --> 03:35:32,700
Electric companies reduce their 
output as demand plummets, coal 

4019
03:35:32,700 --> 03:35:34,400
consumption drops as power 
stations. 

4020
03:35:34,400 --> 03:35:37,300
Throttle back Street Maintenance
Crews. 

4021
03:35:37,300 --> 03:35:41,100
No longer need to service lamps.
The entire infrastructure of 

4022
03:35:41,100 --> 03:35:45,100
urban illumination built up over
decades sits idle. 

4023
03:35:45,100 --> 03:35:48,600
It's as if a major technological
achievement has been suddenly, 

4024
03:35:48,600 --> 03:35:50,900
paused put on hold for the 
duration. 

4025
03:35:52,000 --> 03:35:55,100
But perhaps the most striking 
aspect of these first blackout 

4026
03:35:55,100 --> 03:35:58,600
nights is the quiet. 
With activities, constrained by 

4027
03:35:58,600 --> 03:36:01,400
Darkness with people staying 
indoors more. 

4028
03:36:01,400 --> 03:36:05,800
And with traffic reduced to a 
cautious crawl cities, become 

4029
03:36:05,800 --> 03:36:10,100
genuinely hushed in a way, they 
have not been since the 19th 

4030
03:36:10,100 --> 03:36:13,500
century. 
Standing on a London Street at 

4031
03:36:13,500 --> 03:36:17,200
9:00 on a blackout evening. 
You might hear sound that 

4032
03:36:17,200 --> 03:36:19,200
normally drown in the urban 
cacophony. 

4033
03:36:20,000 --> 03:36:24,000
Wind rustling through, plain 
trees, the distant, who took an 

4034
03:36:24,000 --> 03:36:27,800
owl in a park, your own 
footsteps, echoing off building 

4035
03:36:27,800 --> 03:36:32,000
for SARS The Creeks of your shoe
leather and the Whisperer of 

4036
03:36:32,000 --> 03:36:36,200
your coat. 
This quiet has its own peculiar 

4037
03:36:36,200 --> 03:36:38,900
quality. 
Different from the Silence of 

4038
03:36:38,908 --> 03:36:43,000
the countryside or wilderness. 
It's a metropolitan quiet. 

4039
03:36:43,000 --> 03:36:46,700
The sound of millions of people 
deliberately hushing themselves 

4040
03:36:46,700 --> 03:36:51,100
suppressing their normal 
activities and existing in a 

4041
03:36:51,100 --> 03:36:54,700
state of communal restraint. 
It feels pregnant with potential

4042
03:36:54,700 --> 03:36:58,500
as if the city is holding. 
Its breath waiting for something

4043
03:36:58,500 --> 03:37:03,000
to happen or not happen. 
The September progresses into 

4044
03:37:03,000 --> 03:37:07,400
October and October into 
November, the blackout stops, 

4045
03:37:07,400 --> 03:37:10,400
being a shocking novelty and 
becomes Instead. 

4046
03:37:10,400 --> 03:37:15,200
The New Normal Human beings are 
remarkably adaptable creatures, 

4047
03:37:15,200 --> 03:37:19,200
and people develop strategies 
habits and even preference is 

4048
03:37:19,208 --> 03:37:22,800
around their dark and existence.
Shops are just their hours, 

4049
03:37:22,800 --> 03:37:25,800
opening early to catch Morning, 
Light, and closing. 

4050
03:37:25,800 --> 03:37:28,100
Well before Darkness makes 
shopping in practical. 

4051
03:37:29,100 --> 03:37:32,400
The rhythm of commercial life. 
Shifts backward becoming more 

4052
03:37:32,400 --> 03:37:35,500
diurnal, more aligned with 
natural light cycles. 

4053
03:37:36,400 --> 03:37:39,900
Markets bus at dawn in ways, 
they haven't for Generations. 

4054
03:37:40,700 --> 03:37:43,700
Office workers arrive, early and
leave early at trying to 

4055
03:37:43,708 --> 03:37:46,100
complete their commute. 
While the Sun's still offers 

4056
03:37:46,100 --> 03:37:49,400
some guidance. 
Fashion adapts to Darkness with 

4057
03:37:49,400 --> 03:37:53,600
unexpected creativity. 
People begin wearing white or 

4058
03:37:53,600 --> 03:37:56,800
light colored clothing in the 
evenings, making themselves more

4059
03:37:56,800 --> 03:37:58,900
visible to others, navigating 
the Gloom. 

4060
03:37:59,800 --> 03:38:04,000
Women carry their white handbags
rather than darker ones, Men 

4061
03:38:04,000 --> 03:38:06,300
Sport white handkerchiefs, in 
their breast pockets. 

4062
03:38:07,200 --> 03:38:10,200
Some particularly safety 
conscious individuals paint 

4063
03:38:10,200 --> 03:38:13,800
white stripes on their clothing.
Looking rather like zebras as 

4064
03:38:13,800 --> 03:38:17,000
they hurry along Pavements. 
The practice extends to 

4065
03:38:17,000 --> 03:38:20,400
inanimate objects. 
Curbs are painted white to make 

4066
03:38:20,400 --> 03:38:23,100
them visible. 
The trunks of trees lining 

4067
03:38:23,100 --> 03:38:27,300
streets, receive white bands, 
pillow boxes, get white stripes,

4068
03:38:27,300 --> 03:38:30,600
even dogs, acquire, white 
collars so they can be spotted 

4069
03:38:30,600 --> 03:38:34,200
in the Darkness. 
The effect glimpsed in whatever 

4070
03:38:34,200 --> 03:38:38,500
dim light is available is oddly 
festive. as if the city has been

4071
03:38:38,508 --> 03:38:42,300
decorated, for some backward 
celebration where white rather 

4072
03:38:42,300 --> 03:38:46,300
than bright colors, provide the 
decoration Businesses find 

4073
03:38:46,300 --> 03:38:49,200
innovative ways to continue 
operating despite the darkness, 

4074
03:38:49,200 --> 03:38:52,000
restaurant's used dim red 
lights. 

4075
03:38:52,000 --> 03:38:54,900
That supposedly don't carry as 
far as white light. 

4076
03:38:55,800 --> 03:38:59,100
Cinemas schedule. 
More matin showing pubs 

4077
03:38:59,100 --> 03:39:02,700
installed Double Door Systems. 
Smalling, closed, lobbies where 

4078
03:39:02,700 --> 03:39:06,000
patrons can enter and close one 
door before opening the second 

4079
03:39:06,000 --> 03:39:08,800
preventing light from spilling 
onto the street. 

4080
03:39:09,900 --> 03:39:13,100
These little airlocks become 
social spaces in the cells 

4081
03:39:13,100 --> 03:39:15,500
places where strangers paused 
together. 

4082
03:39:15,500 --> 03:39:19,900
In compressed transition zones, 
sharing apologetic, Smiles in 

4083
03:39:19,900 --> 03:39:23,500
the darkness before one of them 
Ventures to open the inner door.

4084
03:39:24,300 --> 03:39:26,800
The entertainment industry 
adapts with characteristic 

4085
03:39:26,800 --> 03:39:30,000
resilience. 
Radio becomes even more Central 

4086
03:39:30,000 --> 03:39:33,300
to evening life, providing 
entertainment, that requires no 

4087
03:39:33,300 --> 03:39:35,400
light Beyond what's needed to 
see the dial. 

4088
03:39:36,400 --> 03:39:39,300
Families, gather around their 
Wireless sets and dimly lit, 

4089
03:39:39,300 --> 03:39:43,300
rooms, following dramas and 
comedies listening to news 

4090
03:39:43,300 --> 03:39:45,800
broadcasts that have taken on 
new urgency. 

4091
03:39:47,400 --> 03:39:51,400
The BBC develops new programming
specifically suited to blackout 

4092
03:39:51,400 --> 03:39:54,900
conditions. 
Gentle calming content for 

4093
03:39:54,900 --> 03:39:58,300
people sitting in dark and rooms
trying not to think too much 

4094
03:39:58,308 --> 03:40:00,600
about why they're sitting in 
darkened rooms. 

4095
03:40:01,600 --> 03:40:05,400
Reading becomes more challenging
even with curtains drawn and no 

4096
03:40:05,400 --> 03:40:08,100
light is escaping many. 
People find it difficult to read

4097
03:40:08,100 --> 03:40:10,000
by the dim bowls, they allow 
themselves. 

4098
03:40:11,000 --> 03:40:13,900
But held closer to faces, 
causing ice drain. 

4099
03:40:14,700 --> 03:40:17,900
Some people ReDiscover, the 
pleasure of reading aloud with 

4100
03:40:17,900 --> 03:40:21,000
Partners or family members, 
taking turns performing stories 

4101
03:40:21,000 --> 03:40:25,400
or newspaper articles for each 
other. it's a practice that had 

4102
03:40:25,400 --> 03:40:29,000
largely died out with widespread
literacy and individual reading 

4103
03:40:29,000 --> 03:40:32,600
lights now, resurrected by 
necessity, and turning out to be

4104
03:40:32,600 --> 03:40:36,600
rather Pleasant a return to the 
old tradition of communal 

4105
03:40:36,600 --> 03:40:39,700
storytelling updated for the 
20th century. 

4106
03:40:40,900 --> 03:40:43,900
Children adapt to the blackout 
with the flexibility of Youth 

4107
03:40:43,900 --> 03:40:46,100
though. 
It complicates their lives in 

4108
03:40:46,100 --> 03:40:49,900
numerous ways school days 
reorganize around available 

4109
03:40:49,900 --> 03:40:55,100
daylight evening activities 
Scouts Girl, Guides and youth 

4110
03:40:55,100 --> 03:40:57,800
clubs. 
Either moved to afternoon hours 

4111
03:40:57,800 --> 03:41:00,700
or take on a different character
as participants Gathering 

4112
03:41:00,700 --> 03:41:04,800
carefully blacked out Halls. 
games and activities shift 

4113
03:41:04,800 --> 03:41:08,600
toward those that don't require 
good visibility Card games 

4114
03:41:08,600 --> 03:41:13,600
become popular board games 
experience, a Revival Radio quiz

4115
03:41:13,600 --> 03:41:17,000
shows Inspire living room 
competitions, the blackout 

4116
03:41:17,000 --> 03:41:20,900
creates unexpected opportunities
for Mischief too in the 

4117
03:41:20,900 --> 03:41:23,400
darkness. 
It's easier to stay out later 

4118
03:41:23,400 --> 03:41:27,200
than your parents realize to 
slip away on scene and to 

4119
03:41:27,200 --> 03:41:30,500
conduct the small rebellions of 
adolescents with reduced risk of

4120
03:41:30,500 --> 03:41:33,900
detection. 
More than one teenager discovers

4121
03:41:33,900 --> 03:41:37,100
that the blackout for all its 
restriction offers, a kind of 

4122
03:41:37,108 --> 03:41:39,300
Freedom that comes with reduced 
surveillance. 

4123
03:41:40,200 --> 03:41:42,300
For young couples. 
The darkness provides both 

4124
03:41:42,300 --> 03:41:45,300
challenges and possibilities. 
Traditional. 

4125
03:41:45,300 --> 03:41:49,500
Courtship rituals, evening 
strolls Cinema visits Cafe 

4126
03:41:49,500 --> 03:41:51,500
dates. 
Must be reconsidered. 

4127
03:41:52,300 --> 03:41:54,700
Walking together, requires 
linking arms, not just 

4128
03:41:54,700 --> 03:41:58,300
romantically but practically for
navigation and safety. 

4129
03:41:59,200 --> 03:42:03,500
The darkness creates a kind of 
intimacy by default a closeness 

4130
03:42:03,500 --> 03:42:06,800
born of necessity that might not
otherwise develop so quickly. 

4131
03:42:07,900 --> 03:42:11,000
First kisses happen in deeper 
Darkness than any previous 

4132
03:42:11,000 --> 03:42:15,700
generation experience unobserved
by passes by who can barely see 

4133
03:42:15,700 --> 03:42:19,300
their own feet. 
Workers in essential Services. 

4134
03:42:19,300 --> 03:42:22,900
Face particular challenges, 
doctors make house calls 

4135
03:42:22,900 --> 03:42:26,200
navigate by memory and 
guesswork, their medical bags. 

4136
03:42:26,200 --> 03:42:28,600
Bumping against their legs as 
they feel their way along 

4137
03:42:28,600 --> 03:42:32,500
streets, Nurses on night shifts.
Move through Hospital. 

4138
03:42:32,500 --> 03:42:35,300
Corridors lit. 
Only by shielded lamps. 

4139
03:42:36,000 --> 03:42:39,600
Checking on patients in Wards, 
kept darker than anyone finds 

4140
03:42:39,600 --> 03:42:43,100
comfortable. 
Fire brigades drill extensively 

4141
03:42:43,100 --> 03:42:45,400
for responding to emergencies in
near total. 

4142
03:42:45,400 --> 03:42:49,900
Darkness developing systems of 
communication that rely on sound

4143
03:42:49,900 --> 03:42:52,000
and touch rather than visual 
signals. 

4144
03:42:53,100 --> 03:42:56,800
The Postal Service continues its
rounds though, Postman learn to 

4145
03:42:56,800 --> 03:42:58,900
sort mail by feel as much as 
sight. 

4146
03:42:58,900 --> 03:43:02,500
Their fingers, developing 
sensitivity to different paper, 

4147
03:43:02,500 --> 03:43:05,100
stocks and envelope sizes. 
Milk. 

4148
03:43:05,100 --> 03:43:07,500
Deliveries continue in the 
pre-dawn Darkness. 

4149
03:43:08,200 --> 03:43:10,200
Clink of bottles and the rattle 
of crates. 

4150
03:43:10,200 --> 03:43:13,900
Providing a kind of alarm clock 
announcing the coming day to 

4151
03:43:13,900 --> 03:43:15,700
those awake early enough to hear
it. 

4152
03:43:16,800 --> 03:43:20,700
Public transportation becomes an
exercise in faith and routine. 

4153
03:43:21,500 --> 03:43:24,800
Bus conductors develop an almost
Supernatural ability to 

4154
03:43:24,800 --> 03:43:28,100
recognize stops in the darkness.
Calling them out with 

4155
03:43:28,100 --> 03:43:30,300
confidence. 
Born of long familiarity. 

4156
03:43:31,300 --> 03:43:34,400
passengers learn to count stops 
and to listen for landmarks, 

4157
03:43:35,600 --> 03:43:39,100
Killer Church Belle, the sound 
of the river and the change in 

4158
03:43:39,108 --> 03:43:42,500
Echo as the bus passes between 
building's of different heights.

4159
03:43:43,400 --> 03:43:46,400
Regular commuters developmental 
Maps so detail. 

4160
03:43:46,400 --> 03:43:49,700
They could navigate their Roots 
blindfolded, which is 

4161
03:43:49,700 --> 03:43:52,900
essentially what they're doing 
as the months progress and 

4162
03:43:52,900 --> 03:43:54,800
Britain. 
Settles into what comes known as

4163
03:43:54,800 --> 03:43:58,900
the phony War appeared, when War
has been declared, but major 

4164
03:43:58,900 --> 03:44:01,100
fighting hasn't yet reached 
British soil. 

4165
03:44:01,800 --> 03:44:04,500
The blackout reveals unexpected 
dimensions. 

4166
03:44:05,500 --> 03:44:08,400
What began as an emergency 
measure starts to disclose 

4167
03:44:08,400 --> 03:44:12,300
peculiar Beauties and strange 
Pleasures that coexist with the 

4168
03:44:12,300 --> 03:44:16,500
anxiety and inconvenience. 
The night sky becomes visible in

4169
03:44:16,500 --> 03:44:19,600
ways that City dwellers haven't 
experienced in decades. 

4170
03:44:20,500 --> 03:44:23,000
Without the light pollution that
normally obscures all. 

4171
03:44:23,000 --> 03:44:26,800
But the brightest stars, the 
full glory of the cosmos appears

4172
03:44:26,800 --> 03:44:30,300
overhead on clear night. 
Stepping outside is like 

4173
03:44:30,300 --> 03:44:33,000
discovering a lost artwork. 
That's been hanging in your home

4174
03:44:33,000 --> 03:44:35,100
all along hidden behind a 
curtain. 

4175
03:44:35,100 --> 03:44:39,200
You didn't realize was there You
can see the Milky Way from 

4176
03:44:39,200 --> 03:44:43,900
Central London that cloudy band 
of distant Stars stretching 

4177
03:44:43,900 --> 03:44:48,100
across the darkness like a river
of light. constellation's 

4178
03:44:48,100 --> 03:44:52,100
appear, not as isolated bright 
points, but as part of complex 

4179
03:44:52,100 --> 03:44:57,700
starfields, Within patterns 
debts and layers that electric 

4180
03:44:57,700 --> 03:44:59,300
light normally renders 
invisible. 

4181
03:45:00,300 --> 03:45:04,600
The moon when it's up seems 
preposterously bright casting 

4182
03:45:04,600 --> 03:45:07,000
reel. 
Shadows turning streets into 

4183
03:45:07,000 --> 03:45:10,900
silver mazes and making you 
understand why poets and lovers 

4184
03:45:10,900 --> 03:45:12,700
of obsessed over it from 
millennia. 

4185
03:45:13,500 --> 03:45:16,600
Some people find this revelation
of the night sky almost worth 

4186
03:45:16,600 --> 03:45:18,100
the inconvenience of the 
blackout. 

4187
03:45:19,000 --> 03:45:22,400
Astronomy clubs form, taking 
advantage of viewing. 

4188
03:45:22,400 --> 03:45:24,900
Conditions that rival rural 
observatories. 

4189
03:45:25,600 --> 03:45:29,300
Amateur stargazers set up, 
telescopes in parks and Gardens 

4190
03:45:29,300 --> 03:45:34,000
sharing glimpses of Jupiter's 
moons, Saturn's rings. 

4191
03:45:34,000 --> 03:45:37,500
And the craters of the Moon in 
unprecedented detail. 

4192
03:45:38,600 --> 03:45:41,800
There's something hopeful about 
this, people looking Upward at 

4193
03:45:41,800 --> 03:45:44,400
Beauty and vastness, while 
preparing for conflict that 

4194
03:45:44,400 --> 03:45:46,200
feels Petty and small by 
comparison. 

4195
03:45:47,400 --> 03:45:50,900
The darkness also reveals the 
bioluminescence that normally 

4196
03:45:50,900 --> 03:45:54,800
goes unnoticed. 
On damp nights decaying wood in 

4197
03:45:54,808 --> 03:45:59,400
Parks glows, with Foxfire that 
Eerie green, phosphorescent 

4198
03:45:59,400 --> 03:46:03,500
produced by certain fungi. 
People discover it by accident. 

4199
03:46:03,500 --> 03:46:08,100
Initially a alarmed by the 
spectral light, then fascinated 

4200
03:46:08,100 --> 03:46:11,900
by this natural illumination, 
that requires no electricity. 

4201
03:46:13,900 --> 03:46:17,300
Some gather pieces of glowing 
would bringing them home like 

4202
03:46:17,300 --> 03:46:21,200
captured fairy lights, watching 
them pulse and fade in dark and 

4203
03:46:21,200 --> 03:46:24,300
rooms. 
Sound takes on new prominence in

4204
03:46:24,300 --> 03:46:28,100
the absence of visual stimuli. 
Your hearing becomes more acute 

4205
03:46:28,100 --> 03:46:30,500
or attentive to the acoustic 
environment. 

4206
03:46:31,500 --> 03:46:34,600
You notice the different sounds 
that shoes make on different 

4207
03:46:34,600 --> 03:46:37,700
surfaces, the crisp click of 
leather on pavement. 

4208
03:46:37,700 --> 03:46:41,900
The softer scuff on dirt and the
hollow Echo, when crossing a 

4209
03:46:41,900 --> 03:46:44,700
bridge. 
You become aware of how sound 

4210
03:46:44,700 --> 03:46:48,500
reflects off buildings, how it 
carries differently in Cold, Air

4211
03:46:48,500 --> 03:46:52,100
versus warm and how wind affects
what you can and cannot hear. 

4212
03:46:53,000 --> 03:46:55,700
Music heard in the blackout 
takes on different qualities. 

4213
03:46:56,600 --> 03:46:59,600
A piano played in a darkened 
room with only the faintest 

4214
03:46:59,600 --> 03:47:02,600
light to illuminate. 
The keys seems to fill the space

4215
03:47:02,600 --> 03:47:05,800
more completely, the notes 
appear to have more presents, 

4216
03:47:05,800 --> 03:47:09,700
more weight. 
Street musicians, fewer now, but

4217
03:47:09,700 --> 03:47:13,900
still present create pockets of 
Melody in the darkness and 

4218
03:47:13,900 --> 03:47:16,700
pedestrians, pause to listen in 
ways. 

4219
03:47:16,700 --> 03:47:19,900
They might not in daylight when 
Vision provides so many 

4220
03:47:19,900 --> 03:47:24,900
competing distractions church 
bells continue to Mark time, but

4221
03:47:25,100 --> 03:47:27,600
The sound travels differently 
through the quieted city. 

4222
03:47:28,500 --> 03:47:32,800
Without traffic noise to muffle 
the bells carry for Miles their 

4223
03:47:32,800 --> 03:47:35,500
various tones. 
Creating unintended Harmony as 

4224
03:47:35,500 --> 03:47:39,100
different churches, Mark the 
hours. some people begin to 

4225
03:47:39,100 --> 03:47:43,000
navigate by bell sound using 
familiar patterns to orient 

4226
03:47:43,000 --> 03:47:46,800
themselves even when visual 
landmarks or invisible The 

4227
03:47:46,800 --> 03:47:49,500
blackout. 
So amplifies smell without 

4228
03:47:49,500 --> 03:47:52,100
visual distraction. 
Your nose provides more 

4229
03:47:52,100 --> 03:47:54,800
information than usual. 
You become aware of the 

4230
03:47:54,808 --> 03:47:59,100
particular Center of rain on 
Stone of fog, carrying hints of 

4231
03:47:59,108 --> 03:48:02,900
the river of coal smoke from 
chimneys and of cooking from 

4232
03:48:02,900 --> 03:48:05,600
various houses creating an 
olfactory map of your 

4233
03:48:05,600 --> 03:48:08,900
neighborhood. 
Bakeries become locatable by 

4234
03:48:08,900 --> 03:48:13,000
scent before sight. 
The yeasty warmth of fresh bread

4235
03:48:13,000 --> 03:48:16,200
serving as a beacon that draws 
customers through the darkness. 

4236
03:48:17,100 --> 03:48:20,100
But alongside these unexpected 
Pleasures, runs a constant under

4237
03:48:20,100 --> 03:48:23,500
current of unease. 
The darkness that reveals Stars 

4238
03:48:23,500 --> 03:48:27,300
also conceals potential threats,
every shadow could be an 

4239
03:48:27,300 --> 03:48:30,000
obstacle in every sound might 
signal Danger. 

4240
03:48:31,300 --> 03:48:34,400
Human imagination. 
Deprived of visual input tends 

4241
03:48:34,400 --> 03:48:36,800
to fill, in missing information 
with worst case scenarios. 

4242
03:48:37,800 --> 03:48:40,800
That bump in the darkness is 
probably just someone's elbow, 

4243
03:48:40,800 --> 03:48:44,300
making accidental contact, but 
for a moment, your heart rate 

4244
03:48:44,300 --> 03:48:48,200
Spike's with more Primal Fear 
women, particularly feel 

4245
03:48:48,200 --> 03:48:51,500
vulnerable in the darkness. 
The reduced visibility that 

4246
03:48:51,500 --> 03:48:53,200
offers privacy to courting 
couples. 

4247
03:48:53,200 --> 03:48:57,900
Also provides cover for 
harassment and assault. reported

4248
03:48:57,900 --> 03:49:00,700
incidents of such crimes 
increased during the blackout, 

4249
03:49:00,700 --> 03:49:04,400
though it's unclear whether the 
actual rate Rises or if Darkness

4250
03:49:04,400 --> 03:49:08,300
simply enables crimes that would
happen regardless, Many women 

4251
03:49:08,300 --> 03:49:12,100
alter their routines traveling, 
only in groups, carrying 

4252
03:49:12,100 --> 03:49:15,800
whistles, or other noise makers,
and avoiding certain areas that 

4253
03:49:15,800 --> 03:49:20,600
feel particularly threatening in
the absence of light. back out 

4254
03:49:20,608 --> 03:49:24,700
also creates social isolation in
unexpected ways without being 

4255
03:49:24,700 --> 03:49:27,500
able to see into neighbor's 
Windows to note, the comforting 

4256
03:49:27,500 --> 03:49:32,000
glow of occupied homes, people 
feel more alone The physical 

4257
03:49:32,000 --> 03:49:35,500
proximity of urban life 
continues, you're still 

4258
03:49:35,508 --> 03:49:38,700
surrounded by thousands of other
humans living their lives, just 

4259
03:49:38,700 --> 03:49:42,500
beyond thin walls. 
But the visual confirmation of 

4260
03:49:42,500 --> 03:49:45,800
that presence disappears. 
Your neighbor might be three 

4261
03:49:45,800 --> 03:49:48,800
feet away on the other side of a
wall, but in the darkness and 

4262
03:49:48,800 --> 03:49:51,200
quiet, they might as well be 
mussels distant. 

4263
03:49:52,400 --> 03:49:55,600
This isolation is particularly 
hard for the elderly and infirm.

4264
03:49:55,600 --> 03:49:59,000
Those who already struggled with
Mobility, find the darkness 

4265
03:49:59,000 --> 03:50:03,100
actively dangerous. 
The simple Act of walking to a 

4266
03:50:03,100 --> 03:50:06,400
corner shop becomes fraught with
Hazard hunting, curbs to 

4267
03:50:06,400 --> 03:50:10,300
stumble, over obstacles, to 
collide with, and the constant 

4268
03:50:10,300 --> 03:50:13,600
possibility of becoming 
disoriented and lost on familiar

4269
03:50:13,600 --> 03:50:16,800
streets. 
Many older people choose to stay

4270
03:50:16,800 --> 03:50:18,600
home more. 
Venturing out. 

4271
03:50:18,600 --> 03:50:23,400
Only when absolutely necessary 
accepting a constricted life as 

4272
03:50:23,400 --> 03:50:26,500
preferable to the risks of 
navigating the shadowed City. 

4273
03:50:27,300 --> 03:50:30,200
Mental health professionals, 
notice an increasing reports of 

4274
03:50:30,200 --> 03:50:34,300
anxiety and depression. 
The darkness combined with wall 

4275
03:50:34,300 --> 03:50:37,500
stress creates a psychological 
burden that some people struggle

4276
03:50:37,500 --> 03:50:40,400
to manage. 
Sleep patterns, disrupt. 

4277
03:50:41,100 --> 03:50:44,800
Some people sleep better in the 
deeper Darkness While others lie

4278
03:50:44,800 --> 03:50:47,100
awake. 
Listening to every small sound 

4279
03:50:47,100 --> 03:50:49,500
unable to relax into 
vulnerability. 

4280
03:50:50,600 --> 03:50:53,900
Dreams become more Vivid for 
many possibly because the 

4281
03:50:53,900 --> 03:50:57,500
darkness and quiet create fewer 
distractions from internal 

4282
03:50:57,500 --> 03:51:01,100
mental activity. 
Yet, there is a strange coziness

4283
03:51:01,100 --> 03:51:05,100
to it all a sense of communal 
experience that transcends the 

4284
03:51:05,100 --> 03:51:08,800
inconvenience and danger. 
Everyone is facing the same 

4285
03:51:08,800 --> 03:51:12,600
challenge, making the same 
adjustments and developing the 

4286
03:51:12,600 --> 03:51:15,200
same odd competencies for 
navigating Darkness. 

4287
03:51:15,200 --> 03:51:19,200
There's a camera in shared 
difficulty, a democratic 

4288
03:51:19,200 --> 03:51:21,900
leveling that occurs. 
When Lord and laborer alike, 

4289
03:51:21,900 --> 03:51:25,800
must feel their way along the 
same invisible Street inside the

4290
03:51:25,800 --> 03:51:29,500
blacked out homes of Britain 
family, life reorganizes itself 

4291
03:51:29,500 --> 03:51:31,700
around new limitations and 
possibilities. 

4292
03:51:32,900 --> 03:51:36,500
The blackout curtains that seal 
Windows become daily fixtures, 

4293
03:51:36,500 --> 03:51:39,500
they're operation as routine as 
making tea. 

4294
03:51:40,500 --> 03:51:44,200
Each evening has natural. 
Light begins to fade, someone 

4295
03:51:44,200 --> 03:51:47,900
Rises to perform the ritual. 
Drawing heavy fabric across 

4296
03:51:47,900 --> 03:51:51,000
Windows. 
Checking for gaps and ensuring 

4297
03:51:51,000 --> 03:51:53,100
no betraying lean or Mark the 
house from above. 

4298
03:51:54,000 --> 03:51:58,400
The rooms once sealed feel 
different smaller, somehow even 

4299
03:51:58,400 --> 03:52:02,100
though their physical dimensions
have not changed, the absence of

4300
03:52:02,100 --> 03:52:03,600
visual connection to the 
outside. 

4301
03:52:03,600 --> 03:52:07,300
World makes interior spaces feel
more like caves or cocoons 

4302
03:52:07,300 --> 03:52:12,400
enclosed inward-facing and 
separate from the larger world. 

4303
03:52:13,500 --> 03:52:16,200
This can be comforting or 
claustrophobic depending on 

4304
03:52:16,200 --> 03:52:20,500
temperament and Circumstance. 
The sum it creates a pleasant 

4305
03:52:20,500 --> 03:52:24,100
sense of snugness everyone. 
Tucked safely together. 

4306
03:52:25,000 --> 03:52:29,200
For others, it feels confining a
nightly imprisonment in their 

4307
03:52:29,200 --> 03:52:32,400
own homes. 
Lighting becomes a subject of 

4308
03:52:32,400 --> 03:52:34,500
surprising complexity and 
important. 

4309
03:52:35,500 --> 03:52:39,000
How much light is in enough? 
Two little strange eyes and 

4310
03:52:39,000 --> 03:52:42,000
hampers activities. 
The too much feels wasteful. 

4311
03:52:42,000 --> 03:52:45,500
Almost Reckless. 
Families, develop their own 

4312
03:52:45,500 --> 03:52:49,100
standards and practices. 
Some maintain just one or two 

4313
03:52:49,108 --> 03:52:53,000
lights in the most used rooms 
leaving hallways and lesser use 

4314
03:52:53,000 --> 03:52:56,000
spaces in darkness. 
Others attempt to maintain 

4315
03:52:56,000 --> 03:52:59,500
something closer to their 
pre-war lighting levels, valuing

4316
03:52:59,500 --> 03:53:03,500
normalcy over conservation. 
The quality of light matters 

4317
03:53:03,500 --> 03:53:08,100
too, incandescent bulbs cast, 
warm, yellow, orange light, that

4318
03:53:08,100 --> 03:53:11,900
feels friendly and domestic. 
Slight where it's still 

4319
03:53:11,900 --> 03:53:14,700
available. 
Flickers slightly creating 

4320
03:53:14,700 --> 03:53:19,000
moving Shadows that some fine 
nostalgic and others find eerie.

4321
03:53:19,800 --> 03:53:22,700
Candles produced beautiful 
light, but require attention. 

4322
03:53:23,500 --> 03:53:28,300
Someone must trim Wix watch for 
drips and ensure nothing catches

4323
03:53:28,300 --> 03:53:32,300
fire. 
Oil lamps smell distinctive, a 

4324
03:53:32,300 --> 03:53:35,500
petroleum scent, that becomes 
associated with winter evenings 

4325
03:53:35,500 --> 03:53:38,800
and the crackle of the wireless.
Mealtimes. 

4326
03:53:38,800 --> 03:53:42,700
Adjust to the blackouts rhythms.
Dinner happens early while 

4327
03:53:42,700 --> 03:53:45,500
natural light, still assists 
with cooking and table setting. 

4328
03:53:46,300 --> 03:53:50,100
The ritual of evening t-shirts 
backward too, will transforms 

4329
03:53:50,100 --> 03:53:52,900
into a simpler Affair taking in 
dimly lit rooms. 

4330
03:53:53,800 --> 03:53:56,400
Some families find themselves, 
eating more cold meals in the 

4331
03:53:56,400 --> 03:53:59,200
evening of avoiding the 
complexity of cooking, and 

4332
03:53:59,200 --> 03:54:03,200
reduced light, and making do 
with sound witches left over, Pi

4333
03:54:03,200 --> 03:54:06,300
cheese and crackers. 
Yet, there's an increased 

4334
03:54:06,300 --> 03:54:08,300
emphasis on making evening meals
special. 

4335
03:54:09,200 --> 03:54:12,100
A conscious effort to maintain 
normalcy and comfort, despite 

4336
03:54:12,100 --> 03:54:15,900
the circumstances mothers and 
wives, take extra care with 

4337
03:54:15,900 --> 03:54:18,600
presentation, setting tables 
nicely. 

4338
03:54:18,600 --> 03:54:22,600
Even if the dining room is dim 
using Good China and creating 

4339
03:54:22,600 --> 03:54:25,800
small, ceremonies that assert 
civilizations continuity. 

4340
03:54:27,200 --> 03:54:31,100
These gestures matter more than 
they might seem their acts of 

4341
03:54:31,108 --> 03:54:34,400
resistance against the 
disruption declarations that 

4342
03:54:34,400 --> 03:54:37,700
ordinary life, persists, despite
extraordinary circumstances 

4343
03:54:37,700 --> 03:54:41,700
after dinner families gathered 
together, more than they might 

4344
03:54:41,700 --> 03:54:44,400
have before. 
With fewer options, for 

4345
03:54:44,400 --> 03:54:47,900
individual entertainment, with 
Darkness, making it impractical 

4346
03:54:47,900 --> 03:54:51,200
to pursue separate activities, 
in different rooms, people, 

4347
03:54:51,200 --> 03:54:53,200
congregate in the best lit 
space. 

4348
03:54:53,200 --> 03:54:57,600
Usually, the city room or 
kitchen, This enforced 

4349
03:54:57,600 --> 03:55:01,200
togetherness recreates patterns 
of family life from early eras. 

4350
03:55:01,900 --> 03:55:05,000
before electric light allowed 
household members, to scatter to

4351
03:55:05,000 --> 03:55:08,200
different rooms pursuing 
individual interests, the 

4352
03:55:08,200 --> 03:55:11,400
wireless becomes, the evening's 
focal point, it was dial 

4353
03:55:11,400 --> 03:55:15,100
glowing, like a small, campfire 
Gathering the family around its 

4354
03:55:15,100 --> 03:55:19,400
broadcast voices, Program 
structure the evening, the news 

4355
03:55:19,400 --> 03:55:23,700
at 9, followed by entertainment,
then perhaps music before bed, 

4356
03:55:23,700 --> 03:55:28,200
listening becomes a communal 
activity, something shared and 

4357
03:55:28,200 --> 03:55:31,100
discussed with reactions 
Exchange in real time. 

4358
03:55:31,900 --> 03:55:35,500
When something funny happens in 
a comedy programme, the family's

4359
03:55:35,500 --> 03:55:37,600
laughter mingles together in the
dim room. 

4360
03:55:37,600 --> 03:55:41,600
Creating a shared memory. 
A small moment of Joy amidst 

4361
03:55:41,600 --> 03:55:45,400
anxiety. 
Games and puzzles experienced a 

4362
03:55:45,400 --> 03:55:49,500
Renaissance families, bring out 
jigsaws card decks and board 

4363
03:55:49,500 --> 03:55:51,900
games that have been Gathering 
dust and cupboards. 

4364
03:55:52,800 --> 03:55:55,500
These activities work. 
Well, in dim, light and 

4365
03:55:55,500 --> 03:55:57,300
accommodate multiple 
participants. 

4366
03:55:57,300 --> 03:56:02,500
The social Dynamic shifts during
gameplay, hierarchies flattened 

4367
03:56:02,500 --> 03:56:05,900
children can be beat adults 
through local skill, and 

4368
03:56:05,900 --> 03:56:08,200
everyone participates on more 
equal terms. 

4369
03:56:09,100 --> 03:56:12,200
These evening game sessions, 
create their own satisfaction of

4370
03:56:12,200 --> 03:56:15,400
Simple Pleasures that don't 
require technology or 

4371
03:56:15,400 --> 03:56:18,500
brighteners. 
Conversation 2 becomes more 

4372
03:56:18,500 --> 03:56:22,000
Central to family life. 
Without the visual stimulation 

4373
03:56:22,000 --> 03:56:23,900
of bright rooms and varied 
activities. 

4374
03:56:23,900 --> 03:56:29,100
People talk more, tell stories 
and share their days in Greater 

4375
03:56:29,100 --> 03:56:31,600
detail. 
Parents discussed these things 

4376
03:56:31,600 --> 03:56:33,900
with children that might 
normally be postponed or 

4377
03:56:33,900 --> 03:56:36,800
abbreviated. 
Siblings who might typically 

4378
03:56:36,800 --> 03:56:39,300
ignore each other in favor of 
separate Pursuits. 

4379
03:56:39,300 --> 03:56:42,700
Find themselves. 
Actually conversing getting to 

4380
03:56:42,700 --> 03:56:45,900
know each other better in these 
enforced periods of proximity. 

4381
03:56:47,000 --> 03:56:50,200
Reading aloud becomes a nightly 
ritual in many households. 

4382
03:56:50,800 --> 03:56:54,200
Father, might read from the 
evening paper, sharing news and 

4383
03:56:54,200 --> 03:56:56,500
editorials sometimes with 
commentary. 

4384
03:56:57,100 --> 03:57:00,400
Mother might read from novels 
performing different voices for 

4385
03:57:00,400 --> 03:57:03,400
different characters creating 
entertainment that doesn't 

4386
03:57:03,400 --> 03:57:07,400
require visual props. 
Older children might take turns 

4387
03:57:07,400 --> 03:57:10,200
reading developing their 
expression and comfort with 

4388
03:57:10,200 --> 03:57:13,400
performance. 
These sessions revive an oral 

4389
03:57:13,400 --> 03:57:16,800
tradition that had been fading, 
turning literature back into 

4390
03:57:16,800 --> 03:57:18,900
something, communal rather than 
solitary. 

4391
03:57:19,800 --> 03:57:22,000
Bedtime routine simplify in some
ways. 

4392
03:57:22,900 --> 03:57:25,900
Without bright light, the 
natural drowsiness that comes 

4393
03:57:25,900 --> 03:57:28,300
with Darkness isn't artificially
suppressed. 

4394
03:57:29,300 --> 03:57:31,800
Children. 
Get sleepier their circadian 

4395
03:57:31,800 --> 03:57:34,900
rhythms responding to 
environmental cues that electric

4396
03:57:34,900 --> 03:57:38,600
light normally override. 
Parents find it easier to get 

4397
03:57:38,600 --> 03:57:41,200
little ones to bed when the 
whole house is already dim and 

4398
03:57:41,200 --> 03:57:43,500
quiet. 
When there's not much exciting 

4399
03:57:43,500 --> 03:57:47,400
happening to miss. 
But the darkness also introduces

4400
03:57:47,400 --> 03:57:50,500
new nighttime, fears. 
Specially for children. 

4401
03:57:51,600 --> 03:57:53,300
The shadows in a dimly lit, 
bedroom. 

4402
03:57:53,300 --> 03:57:58,500
Seemed deeper more ominous. 
The usual reassurance of theirs,

4403
03:57:58,500 --> 03:58:02,000
nothing there becomes harder to 
verify when you actually can't 

4404
03:58:02,000 --> 03:58:06,000
see into corners and closets. 
Some parents leave candles 

4405
03:58:06,000 --> 03:58:09,100
burning excepting. 
The fire risk as preferable to 

4406
03:58:09,100 --> 03:58:12,600
Childhood Terror. 
Others develop new bed time, 

4407
03:58:12,600 --> 03:58:16,200
rituals longer tucking in 
sessions stories told. 

4408
03:58:16,200 --> 03:58:19,800
In soothing, tones and songs 
hummed until sleep arrives. 

4409
03:58:20,800 --> 03:58:23,300
For parents themselves, the 
blackout creates its own 

4410
03:58:23,300 --> 03:58:26,500
intimacy and distance. 
Once children are asleep, 

4411
03:58:26,500 --> 03:58:29,000
couples have the evening to 
themselves in ways, they might 

4412
03:58:29,000 --> 03:58:32,000
not have before. 
When evening activities, might 

4413
03:58:32,000 --> 03:58:34,800
scatter family members to 
various entertainments. 

4414
03:58:36,000 --> 03:58:39,600
Yet the darkness and quiet all 
so, emphasized, their isolation.

4415
03:58:40,500 --> 03:58:43,200
Two people in a sealed house on 
a dark and Street. 

4416
03:58:44,000 --> 03:58:46,500
Living Through History without 
knowing how the story ends. 

4417
03:58:47,600 --> 03:58:50,600
Some couples use this time for 
serious conversations, that 

4418
03:58:50,600 --> 03:58:54,100
daylight and distraction had 
allowed them to postpone 

4419
03:58:54,100 --> 03:58:58,400
discussion about money about 
plans for possible, evacuation 

4420
03:58:58,400 --> 03:59:02,000
about fears and hopes, and about
what they'll do. 

4421
03:59:02,000 --> 03:59:06,500
If the war intensified, Other 
couples deliberately avoid heavy

4422
03:59:06,500 --> 03:59:09,900
topics preferring to maintain 
lightness, to protect their 

4423
03:59:09,900 --> 03:59:12,100
evening hours as refugees from 
worried. 

4424
03:59:13,100 --> 03:59:17,400
They play cards, listen to music
and simply sit together in 

4425
03:59:17,400 --> 03:59:21,100
comfortable silence, taking 
comfort from physical proximity.

4426
03:59:22,400 --> 03:59:24,900
The blackout effects married 
life in unexpected. 

4427
03:59:24,900 --> 03:59:27,700
Ways the darkness provides 
privacy. 

4428
03:59:27,700 --> 03:59:30,800
Even in homes, with thin walls 
and multiple inhabitants 

4429
03:59:30,800 --> 03:59:34,700
intimacy becomes easier when 
visual privacy is assured. 

4430
03:59:34,700 --> 03:59:38,900
When darkness guarantees 
discretion Some couples find 

4431
03:59:38,900 --> 03:59:42,500
their relationships strengthened
by the enforced closeness and 

4432
03:59:42,500 --> 03:59:45,000
the shared experience of 
adapting to strange 

4433
03:59:45,000 --> 03:59:49,200
circumstances. others, find the 
proximity without Escape, 

4434
03:59:49,200 --> 03:59:52,400
grating, the inability to 
retreat into separate 

4435
03:59:52,400 --> 03:59:56,100
activities, creating friction, 
that might otherwise dissipate 

4436
03:59:56,900 --> 04:00:00,000
Elderly family members often 
living with their adult children

4437
04:00:00,000 --> 04:00:04,000
face particular challenges. 
Many older people have always 

4438
04:00:04,000 --> 04:00:07,700
relied heavily on visual cues 
and the reduction in light makes

4439
04:00:07,700 --> 04:00:11,900
everything harder reading. 
Even just moving around the 

4440
04:00:11,900 --> 04:00:14,800
house safely. 
Families must decide how to 

4441
04:00:14,800 --> 04:00:17,900
balance their Elders needs for 
light with blackout requirements

4442
04:00:17,900 --> 04:00:22,900
and conservation concerns. 
compromises emerge, brighter, 

4443
04:00:22,900 --> 04:00:25,500
light, and grandmother's room, 
even if the rest of the house 

4444
04:00:25,500 --> 04:00:30,300
remains dim Extra candles placed
strategically more assistance 

4445
04:00:30,300 --> 04:00:33,000
with evening tasks that Darkness
make difficult. 

4446
04:00:34,000 --> 04:00:36,900
The blackout also reveals class 
differences in domestic 

4447
04:00:36,900 --> 04:00:40,900
experience, wealthier, families 
can afford heavier, curtains, 

4448
04:00:40,900 --> 04:00:44,700
better, blackout materials, and 
perhaps even specially designed 

4449
04:00:44,700 --> 04:00:47,000
blackout systems with multiple 
layers. 

4450
04:00:47,000 --> 04:00:50,900
Their homes might have more 
rooms allowing family members 

4451
04:00:50,900 --> 04:00:53,900
more privacy, despite the 
enforced evening togetherness. 

4452
04:00:54,700 --> 04:00:57,300
They might maintain closer to 
normal lighting levels, 

4453
04:00:57,300 --> 04:01:00,100
considering the extra 
electricity expense and 

4454
04:01:00,100 --> 04:01:04,200
acceptable cost for comfort. 
Working class families make do 

4455
04:01:04,200 --> 04:01:08,800
with cheaper Solutions, blankets
nailed over Windows newspaper 

4456
04:01:08,800 --> 04:01:12,500
pasted to Glass and curtains 
sewn from whatever fabric could 

4457
04:01:12,500 --> 04:01:15,300
be afforded. 
Their smaller homes mean less 

4458
04:01:15,300 --> 04:01:18,400
privacy. 
More enforced, proximity, and 

4459
04:01:18,400 --> 04:01:19,900
every one living in each other's
Pockets. 

4460
04:01:19,900 --> 04:01:23,900
Even more than usual. 
Economies in lighting hit harder

4461
04:01:23,900 --> 04:01:26,400
when you're already budgeting 
carefully for every shilling. 

4462
04:01:27,100 --> 04:01:30,400
Yet, there's a democratizing 
element, too rich and poor 

4463
04:01:30,400 --> 04:01:32,900
alike. 
Must darken their homes, the 

4464
04:01:32,900 --> 04:01:35,900
Duke, and his mansion, and the 
docker in his Terrace row. 

4465
04:01:35,900 --> 04:01:39,900
Both spend their evening's in 
dimmed rooms, both must navigate

4466
04:01:39,900 --> 04:01:44,400
the same dark and streets. 
The blackout is one of the few 

4467
04:01:44,400 --> 04:01:47,300
wartime measures that truly 
applies equally across social 

4468
04:01:47,300 --> 04:01:50,600
strata. 
Creating a rare moment of shared

4469
04:01:50,600 --> 04:01:56,800
experience across class lines. 
As 1939 turns into 1940 and the 

4470
04:01:56,800 --> 04:01:58,800
blackout continues month after 
month. 

4471
04:01:59,500 --> 04:02:03,200
Something remarkable happens. 
People stop thinking about it 

4472
04:02:03,200 --> 04:02:06,200
quite so much. 
The extraordinary becomes 

4473
04:02:06,200 --> 04:02:07,800
ordinary through sheer 
repetition. 

4474
04:02:08,800 --> 04:02:11,800
The nightly ritual of darkening,
Windows transforms from a 

4475
04:02:11,800 --> 04:02:16,000
conscious process into a habit, 
Performed with the automaticity 

4476
04:02:16,000 --> 04:02:18,400
of brushing teeth or locking 
doors. 

4477
04:02:19,400 --> 04:02:23,100
Innovations, accumulate, small 
improvements that collectively 

4478
04:02:23,100 --> 04:02:24,500
make the darkness more 
manageable. 

4479
04:02:25,300 --> 04:02:28,300
Enterprise in individuals, 
develop gadgets and solutions 

4480
04:02:28,300 --> 04:02:31,100
that spread through communities 
like helpful folklore. 

4481
04:02:31,700 --> 04:02:34,600
Someone discovers that painting 
stair, edges with luminous 

4482
04:02:34,600 --> 04:02:39,200
paint, makes them safer to 
navigate. the idea spreads and 

4483
04:02:39,200 --> 04:02:43,300
soon glowing stairs become 
common little safety features 

4484
04:02:43,300 --> 04:02:47,100
that cost pennies, but prevent 
countless Falls, Shops. 

4485
04:02:47,100 --> 04:02:51,300
Begin selling specially designed
blackout accessories torches 

4486
04:02:51,300 --> 04:02:53,400
with narrow beams and red 
filters. 

4487
04:02:53,400 --> 04:02:56,200
That supposedly don't compromise
night vision. 

4488
04:02:57,000 --> 04:03:00,900
Reflective armbands and badges 
for pedestrians luminous 

4489
04:03:00,900 --> 04:03:03,000
buttons. 
That can be sewn onto coats. 

4490
04:03:03,600 --> 04:03:07,600
White painted walking sticks. 
The commercial World adapts to 

4491
04:03:07,600 --> 04:03:11,500
serve the dark and consumer 
finding profit even in darkness.

4492
04:03:12,400 --> 04:03:16,300
Fashion truly Embraces, the 
blackout aesthetic. designers 

4493
04:03:16,300 --> 04:03:19,800
create clothing with safety 
features, built in white piping 

4494
04:03:19,800 --> 04:03:24,100
on dark coats, reflective 
threads, woven into fabrics and 

4495
04:03:24,100 --> 04:03:27,500
light colored accessories that 
serve the Dual purposes of style

4496
04:03:27,500 --> 04:03:32,000
and visibility women's magazines
run features on Blackout Beauty 

4497
04:03:32,000 --> 04:03:35,800
suggesting makeup and hairstyles
suited to dim lighting. 

4498
04:03:36,700 --> 04:03:40,700
The advice is practical and 
sometimes absurd, lighter face 

4499
04:03:40,700 --> 04:03:42,700
powders recommended because it's
more visible. 

4500
04:03:42,700 --> 04:03:46,300
While dark lipstick is warned 
against lest you become a pair 

4501
04:03:46,300 --> 04:03:48,400
of disembodied. 
Lips floating in the darkness 

4502
04:03:48,400 --> 04:03:52,100
restaurants and pubs develop a 
labret workarounds for the 

4503
04:03:52,100 --> 04:03:55,300
blackout restrictions. 
Some establishments paint their 

4504
04:03:55,300 --> 04:03:59,300
Windows opaque black, but in 
stalled, elaborate interior, 

4505
04:03:59,300 --> 04:04:03,200
lighting, creating spaces that 
feel almost normal once you're 

4506
04:04:03,200 --> 04:04:05,800
inside. 
Others embrace the dimness 

4507
04:04:05,800 --> 04:04:09,600
installing red or blue lights 
that create atmospheric spaces. 

4508
04:04:09,600 --> 04:04:13,300
While technically complying with
regulations nightclubs, in 

4509
04:04:13,300 --> 04:04:16,500
particular find that dim 
lighting can be romantic or 

4510
04:04:16,500 --> 04:04:19,800
mysterious transforming a 
restriction into a feature. 

4511
04:04:19,800 --> 04:04:23,600
The entertainment industry 
becomes increasingly creative 

4512
04:04:24,500 --> 04:04:27,600
Cinemas develop complex 
procedures for seating people in

4513
04:04:27,600 --> 04:04:30,300
darkness ushers with covered 
torches. 

4514
04:04:30,300 --> 04:04:34,700
Luminous floor markers and 
spaced entry times to prevent 

4515
04:04:34,700 --> 04:04:36,500
traffic jams in the lightless 
Isles. 

4516
04:04:37,500 --> 04:04:40,600
Some theaters experiment with 
matinee, only schedules 

4517
04:04:40,600 --> 04:04:43,900
accepting reduced evening 
business rather than dealing 

4518
04:04:43,900 --> 04:04:48,000
with blackout complications. 
Others Thrive precisely because 

4519
04:04:48,000 --> 04:04:50,200
they offer brightest escapism 
inside. 

4520
04:04:50,200 --> 04:04:52,400
While maintaining complete 
darkness outside. 

4521
04:04:53,300 --> 04:04:56,700
Radio programs evolved to suit 
their audiences circumstances. 

4522
04:04:56,700 --> 04:05:00,400
Content becomes more domestic 
more suited to family. 

4523
04:05:00,400 --> 04:05:04,200
Listening in dimmed rooms, 
comedy programs, emphasize 

4524
04:05:04,200 --> 04:05:08,800
verbal humor, over visual gags, 
dramas rely on sound effects and

4525
04:05:08,800 --> 04:05:11,400
voice acting to create Vivid 
mental images. 

4526
04:05:12,400 --> 04:05:15,500
The BBC becomes increasingly 
sophisticated in its 

4527
04:05:15,500 --> 04:05:18,800
understanding of how to create 
entertainment for a population 

4528
04:05:18,800 --> 04:05:22,700
city in the dark unable to do 
much else besides listened. 

4529
04:05:23,800 --> 04:05:26,900
Local communities, develop 
Collective, coping strategies 

4530
04:05:26,900 --> 04:05:31,200
neighborhoods, organized 
blackout socials Gathering where

4531
04:05:31,200 --> 04:05:33,500
people can meet and mingled 
despite the darkness. 

4532
04:05:34,800 --> 04:05:38,100
Churches, host, evening services
that become social events. 

4533
04:05:38,100 --> 04:05:41,900
As much as religious ones, 
providing both spiritual comfort

4534
04:05:41,900 --> 04:05:45,400
and human connection. 
Community centers run 

4535
04:05:45,400 --> 04:05:48,100
activities, specifically 
designed for low-light 

4536
04:05:48,100 --> 04:05:51,400
conditions. 
Music sessions discussion groups

4537
04:05:51,400 --> 04:05:54,100
and Collective listening to 
important broadcasts. 

4538
04:05:55,000 --> 04:05:57,500
Street communities become more 
tight-knit through the shared 

4539
04:05:57,500 --> 04:06:00,200
experience. 
Neighbors, who might previously 

4540
04:06:00,200 --> 04:06:02,400
have exchanged only perfunctory 
greetings? 

4541
04:06:02,400 --> 04:06:05,800
Now check on each other help 
each other with blackout 

4542
04:06:05,800 --> 04:06:08,300
preparations and share resources
and solutions. 

4543
04:06:08,300 --> 04:06:11,700
The darkness creates a kind of 
Frontier mentality. 

4544
04:06:11,700 --> 04:06:14,500
A sense that you're all in this 
together. 

4545
04:06:14,500 --> 04:06:19,000
Facing common challenges that 
require Mutual support children,

4546
04:06:19,000 --> 04:06:22,200
remarkably resilient turn the 
blackout into play. 

4547
04:06:22,200 --> 04:06:26,400
They invent games. 
Suited to Darkness, elaborate 

4548
04:06:26,400 --> 04:06:28,900
version of hide and seek 
treasure hunts. 

4549
04:06:28,900 --> 04:06:31,700
That rely on touch and sound, 
rather than sight. 

4550
04:06:31,700 --> 04:06:35,400
And Theatrical performance is 
put on in dimmed, groom's where 

4551
04:06:35,400 --> 04:06:37,900
imagination fills in for visual 
spectacle. 

4552
04:06:38,900 --> 04:06:42,400
The blackout becomes normalized 
in their experience, not a 

4553
04:06:42,400 --> 04:06:46,300
temporary disruption but simply 
how the world works as natural 

4554
04:06:46,300 --> 04:06:48,600
as rain or school or Sunday 
roast. 

4555
04:06:49,600 --> 04:06:53,000
Teachers adapt, their lesson 
plans, incorporating blackout 

4556
04:06:53,000 --> 04:06:56,800
realities into education. 
Science classes discuss 

4557
04:06:56,800 --> 04:06:58,700
astronomy. 
With Newfound relevance 

4558
04:06:58,700 --> 04:07:01,300
students, can actually see what 
they're learning about. 

4559
04:07:02,900 --> 04:07:05,300
History lessons. 
Draw, parallels to Medieval 

4560
04:07:05,300 --> 04:07:07,900
life. 
Helping children understand that

4561
04:07:07,900 --> 04:07:10,500
most of human history occurred 
without electric light. 

4562
04:07:11,400 --> 04:07:15,900
Art classes experiment with low 
light media, charcoal drawings 

4563
04:07:15,900 --> 04:07:20,400
shadow puppets and projects that
work despite limited visibility.

4564
04:07:21,500 --> 04:07:23,900
Physical coordination improves 
across the population. 

4565
04:07:23,900 --> 04:07:26,100
As people, develop better, 
spatial awareness. 

4566
04:07:27,200 --> 04:07:31,000
Your appropriate that internal 
sense of where your body is in 

4567
04:07:31,000 --> 04:07:34,000
space. 
Sharpens when visual input 

4568
04:07:34,000 --> 04:07:37,600
becomes unreliable. 
People learn to move more 

4569
04:07:37,600 --> 04:07:41,300
carefully, more consciously 
developing a kind of bodily 

4570
04:07:41,300 --> 04:07:44,200
intelligence that Modern Life 
had allowed to atrophy. 

4571
04:07:45,600 --> 04:07:49,900
Simple Act of walking becomes 
more mindful, more present, and 

4572
04:07:49,900 --> 04:07:52,400
less the unconscious automatic 
process. 

4573
04:07:52,400 --> 04:07:56,800
It had been Health effects 
emerge, by both positive and 

4574
04:07:56,800 --> 04:08:00,600
negative accident rates from the
darkness remain elevated. 

4575
04:08:00,600 --> 04:08:04,600
People can continue to trip 
Collide and stumble into 

4576
04:08:04,600 --> 04:08:07,100
objects. 
But there are unexpected 

4577
04:08:07,100 --> 04:08:10,200
benefits, too. 
The early evening, schedules 

4578
04:08:10,200 --> 04:08:13,300
mean, people get more sleep and 
their circadian rhythms. 

4579
04:08:13,300 --> 04:08:15,800
Are more aligned with natural 
light, dark Cycles. 

4580
04:08:16,900 --> 04:08:19,000
The reduction in artificial 
light at night. 

4581
04:08:19,000 --> 04:08:21,500
Might be improving Sleep 
Quality, though. 

4582
04:08:21,500 --> 04:08:25,200
Nobody's conducting formal 
studies to verify this the 

4583
04:08:25,200 --> 04:08:28,200
enforced indoor evenings mean, 
less exposure to cold and damp 

4584
04:08:28,200 --> 04:08:31,200
for some potentially reducing 
winter illness. 

4585
04:08:32,100 --> 04:08:34,500
Seasonal variations in the 
blackout, create different 

4586
04:08:34,500 --> 04:08:38,100
challenges and experiences. 
Some evenings with their late 

4587
04:08:38,100 --> 04:08:42,200
sunsets, require short 
appearance of blackout. perhaps 

4588
04:08:42,200 --> 04:08:46,300
just three or four hours, people
can enjoy long Twilights and 

4589
04:08:46,300 --> 04:08:49,300
extended time Outdoors, while 
it's still light enough to see 

4590
04:08:50,300 --> 04:08:53,200
Picnics and garden parties, 
adapt to early schedule's 

4591
04:08:53,200 --> 04:08:56,100
wrapping up before, Darkness 
makes them in practical. 

4592
04:08:57,600 --> 04:09:01,200
But winter brings longer 
blackout periods, sometimes 16 

4593
04:09:01,200 --> 04:09:03,100
hours or more of required 
Darkness. 

4594
04:09:03,900 --> 04:09:07,300
The cycleogical weight of this 
is considerable waking in 

4595
04:09:07,300 --> 04:09:09,900
darkness. 
Working through short, daylight 

4596
04:09:09,900 --> 04:09:12,600
hours, returning home to more 
Darkness. 

4597
04:09:12,600 --> 04:09:18,200
It feels oppressive endless. 
Seasonal affective disorder 

4598
04:09:18,200 --> 04:09:20,900
though not yet named or 
officially recognized. 

4599
04:09:20,900 --> 04:09:26,100
Surely affects many the lack of 
light combines with war anxiety 

4600
04:09:26,100 --> 04:09:31,100
to create periods of genuine, 
depression for some December 

4601
04:09:31,100 --> 04:09:33,900
1939. 
Brings the Blackout's first 

4602
04:09:33,900 --> 04:09:37,200
winter holiday season. 
Christmas presents unique 

4603
04:09:37,200 --> 04:09:40,100
challenges. 
How do you maintain festive 

4604
04:09:40,100 --> 04:09:44,200
cheer in compulsory Darkness 
Families rise to the challenge 

4605
04:09:44,200 --> 04:09:47,900
with determination that borders 
on defiance Christmas lights. 

4606
04:09:47,900 --> 04:09:51,300
Those strings of colored bulbs, 
that normally decorate windows, 

4607
04:09:51,300 --> 04:09:54,600
and trees must be abandoned or 
drastically modified. 

4608
04:09:55,500 --> 04:09:59,000
Some people criter elaborate 
interior displays decorating 

4609
04:09:59,000 --> 04:10:02,900
trees in rooms with completely 
blacked out windows, creating 

4610
04:10:02,900 --> 04:10:06,100
private festivals of light that 
can't be seen from outside. 

4611
04:10:07,800 --> 04:10:11,900
Carol singing adapts to blackout
conditions groups, carry covered

4612
04:10:11,900 --> 04:10:15,600
lands as they move from house to
house their voices rising in the

4613
04:10:15,608 --> 04:10:18,900
darkness creating moments of 
beauty and connection. 

4614
04:10:18,900 --> 04:10:21,900
That feel more pressure for the 
surrounding Gloom. 

4615
04:10:22,900 --> 04:10:26,200
Ancient hymns about light coming
into darkness, take on new 

4616
04:10:26,200 --> 04:10:29,400
residents. 
Silent Night, feels especially 

4617
04:10:29,400 --> 04:10:31,700
appropriate. 
When nights are so profoundly 

4618
04:10:31,700 --> 04:10:35,600
silent and dark. 
Gift-giving focuses on practical

4619
04:10:35,600 --> 04:10:40,400
items suited to blackout life, 
torches, luminous paint warm 

4620
04:10:40,400 --> 04:10:42,700
clothing and books for reading 
aloud. 

4621
04:10:43,500 --> 04:10:44,900
But there are frivolous gifts 
too. 

4622
04:10:44,900 --> 04:10:48,500
Deliberate, assertions of 
normalcy and joy, despite 

4623
04:10:48,500 --> 04:10:53,000
circumstances dolls, and toy 
soldiers for children, perfume 

4624
04:10:53,000 --> 04:10:56,000
and stockings for wives and 
pipes and tobacco. 

4625
04:10:56,000 --> 04:11:01,100
For husbands, These gestures 
matter enormously small Defiance

4626
04:11:01,100 --> 04:11:04,200
is against the walls, 
restrictions declarations that 

4627
04:11:04,200 --> 04:11:07,600
life and pleasure can continue 
New Year's Eve, presents. 

4628
04:11:07,600 --> 04:11:11,800
Its own strange circumstances, 
the traditional celebrations 

4629
04:11:11,800 --> 04:11:15,100
gathering in public squares, 
watching for midnight and the 

4630
04:11:15,100 --> 04:11:17,600
explosion of noise and lighters 
the New Year. 

4631
04:11:17,600 --> 04:11:22,100
Arrives must be reimagined. 
People celebrate in dark and 

4632
04:11:22,100 --> 04:11:26,200
homes, listening for church 
bells gathering around Wireless 

4633
04:11:26,200 --> 04:11:30,500
sets for special broadcasts. 
When midnight comes they might 

4634
04:11:30,500 --> 04:11:34,400
step out into darkness, hearing 
distant, voices, calling 

4635
04:11:34,400 --> 04:11:36,800
greetings. 
They cannot see feeling 

4636
04:11:36,800 --> 04:11:39,600
connected to Invisible 
neighbors, through sound alone. 

4637
04:11:40,900 --> 04:11:43,600
The turn to 1940 brings renewed 
determination. 

4638
04:11:44,800 --> 04:11:47,800
The blackout will continue but 
people have learned to live with

4639
04:11:47,800 --> 04:11:50,600
it. 
The initial shock has worn off 

4640
04:11:50,600 --> 04:11:53,500
replaced by practice to 
competence. 

4641
04:11:54,200 --> 04:11:57,300
You know, how to navigate your 
street in darkness, you know, 

4642
04:11:57,300 --> 04:11:59,900
how long your blackout 
preparations, take, you know, 

4643
04:11:59,900 --> 04:12:03,000
which activities work in dim 
light in which don't the 

4644
04:12:03,000 --> 04:12:06,800
learning curve has been climbed 
and what remains is simply 

4645
04:12:07,700 --> 04:12:10,200
persistent. 
The blackout continues through 

4646
04:12:10,200 --> 04:12:14,500
1940 and Beyond lasting in 
various forms until September 

4647
04:12:14,500 --> 04:12:18,100
1944. 
When regulation's finally relax 

4648
04:12:18,100 --> 04:12:21,600
as the threat of bombing 
diminishes, but even before 

4649
04:12:21,600 --> 04:12:24,600
official relaxation, the 
blackout out of volts and become

4650
04:12:24,600 --> 04:12:29,000
less absolute As military 
technology improves and bombing 

4651
04:12:29,000 --> 04:12:32,100
strategies change the strict 
requirements. 

4652
04:12:32,100 --> 04:12:35,700
Loosened slightly. 
Dim lights become permissible in

4653
04:12:35,700 --> 04:12:39,200
some circumstances. 
The complete darkness of those 

4654
04:12:39,200 --> 04:12:42,500
first months gradually lightened
to a more manageable glue. 

4655
04:12:43,500 --> 04:12:47,200
The first relaxation is 
attentive, almost apologetic. 

4656
04:12:48,500 --> 04:12:50,800
Regulations. 
Allow heavily shielded Street 

4657
04:12:50,800 --> 04:12:54,100
Lighting in some areas. 
Not the full illumination of 

4658
04:12:54,100 --> 04:12:58,000
pre-war years, but enough to 
prevent the worst accidents and 

4659
04:12:58,000 --> 04:13:00,900
to make navigation possible 
without constant hazard. 

4660
04:13:01,700 --> 04:13:05,100
These new lights, cast pools of 
dim Radiance that seemed 

4661
04:13:05,100 --> 04:13:09,400
extraordinarily bright after 
years of complete darkness. 

4662
04:13:09,400 --> 04:13:12,900
Even though they are actually 
quite faint by historical 

4663
04:13:12,900 --> 04:13:15,600
standards. 
People's reactions to these 

4664
04:13:15,600 --> 04:13:18,300
first returns of public lighting
reveal. 

4665
04:13:18,300 --> 04:13:20,600
How much the darkness has 
affected them. 

4666
04:13:21,200 --> 04:13:24,700
Some feel immediate relief and 
easing of tension, they hadn't 

4667
04:13:24,700 --> 04:13:27,800
quite realized they were 
carrying the simple ability to 

4668
04:13:27,800 --> 04:13:31,000
see where you're walking to 
recognize faces to orient 

4669
04:13:31,000 --> 04:13:33,100
yourself. 
Visually These feel like 

4670
04:13:33,100 --> 04:13:37,200
luxuries gifts restored after 
long deprivation. 

4671
04:13:38,100 --> 04:13:39,900
Others. 
Feel oddly uncomfortable with 

4672
04:13:39,900 --> 04:13:43,100
the lights return. 
After years of Darkness even 

4673
04:13:43,100 --> 04:13:45,800
dim, lighting can feel exposing 
and vulnerable. 

4674
04:13:46,800 --> 04:13:49,300
Some people have grown 
accustomed to the anonymity that

4675
04:13:49,300 --> 04:13:52,800
Darkness provides the sense of 
being unseen As you move through

4676
04:13:52,800 --> 04:13:55,600
public spaces. 
The return of light. 

4677
04:13:55,600 --> 04:13:59,300
However, faint removes that 
protective invisibility. 

4678
04:14:00,300 --> 04:14:03,800
The gradual restoration 
progresses through 1944 as 

4679
04:14:03,800 --> 04:14:07,800
allied forces, push across 
Europe and the threat to Britain

4680
04:14:07,800 --> 04:14:13,100
received. more lights, return 
regulations, relax further and 

4681
04:14:13,100 --> 04:14:16,400
the familiar glow of evening 
civilization begins to rebuild 

4682
04:14:17,400 --> 04:14:21,200
Shop Windows light up first, 
just modestly but enough to 

4683
04:14:21,200 --> 04:14:23,700
display goods and to create 
welcoming spaces. 

4684
04:14:24,700 --> 04:14:27,500
Then Street lamps return to more
normal operation. 

4685
04:14:27,500 --> 04:14:28,800
They're familiar. 
Yellow. 

4686
04:14:28,800 --> 04:14:31,400
Orange, light painting 
Pavements, and facades. 

4687
04:14:32,100 --> 04:14:33,700
For those who remember the 
change. 

4688
04:14:33,700 --> 04:14:36,400
And by this point, young 
children have lived their entire

4689
04:14:36,400 --> 04:14:38,400
conscious lives under blackout 
conditions. 

4690
04:14:38,400 --> 04:14:43,700
The restoration of light feels 
almost magical treats that had 

4691
04:14:43,700 --> 04:14:46,800
been navigated by memory and 
faiths suddenly reveal 

4692
04:14:46,800 --> 04:14:49,800
themselves in detail. 
Building show their full 

4693
04:14:49,800 --> 04:14:53,900
architectural character. 
Faces become readable from a 

4694
04:14:53,900 --> 04:14:57,000
distance, the urban landscape 
recovers, its visible 

4695
04:14:57,000 --> 04:15:00,000
complexity. 
The psychological impact of 

4696
04:15:00,000 --> 04:15:04,400
restored, lighting is profound 
and multifaceted. they're 

4697
04:15:04,400 --> 04:15:08,600
certainly celebration relief and
joy at this tangible symbol of 

4698
04:15:08,600 --> 04:15:13,600
the wars, waning But there's all
a strange sadness and unexpected

4699
04:15:13,600 --> 04:15:16,200
Nostalgia for something that 
everyone complained about 

4700
04:15:16,200 --> 04:15:17,600
constantly, while it was 
happening. 

4701
04:15:18,600 --> 04:15:22,600
The blackout years for all their
difficulty had created a kind of

4702
04:15:22,600 --> 04:15:27,100
Fellowship, a shared experience 
that had bound Community 

4703
04:15:27,100 --> 04:15:30,100
together. 
With the return of light comes 

4704
04:15:30,100 --> 04:15:34,000
the return of normal, Urban 
anonymity, the dissolution of 

4705
04:15:34,000 --> 04:15:37,900
that intense Mutual dependence. 
Some of the Innovations and 

4706
04:15:37,900 --> 04:15:41,800
adaptations developed during the
blackout persist even after 

4707
04:15:41,800 --> 04:15:45,400
they're no longer necessary. 
People who learn to navigate by 

4708
04:15:45,400 --> 04:15:47,700
sound and memory retain those 
skills. 

4709
04:15:48,400 --> 04:15:51,100
Families, who discovered they 
enjoyed evening read aloud 

4710
04:15:51,100 --> 04:15:53,100
sessions. 
Continue them even when bright 

4711
04:15:53,100 --> 04:15:54,900
lights would permit individual 
reading. 

4712
04:15:55,600 --> 04:15:58,500
Communities that Drew together 
in darkness, maintain some of 

4713
04:15:58,500 --> 04:16:01,600
that closeness. 
Those relationships that formed 

4714
04:16:01,600 --> 04:16:05,100
during shared difficulty. 
The physical traces of the 

4715
04:16:05,100 --> 04:16:07,700
blackout. 
Persist too. white painted 

4716
04:16:07,700 --> 04:16:11,300
curbs, and tree trunks were made
their purpose of sleep, but 

4717
04:16:11,300 --> 04:16:14,800
their presence continuing 
Blackout curtains, stay up in 

4718
04:16:14,808 --> 04:16:17,700
many homes. 
Why take them down with their 

4719
04:16:17,700 --> 04:16:20,700
already installed when they 
useful for privacy? 

4720
04:16:20,700 --> 04:16:23,100
When there are a remind her of 
survival? 

4721
04:16:24,300 --> 04:16:27,400
Architectural features designed 
for the blackout era. 

4722
04:16:27,400 --> 04:16:30,000
Those double door entries on 
pubs. 

4723
04:16:30,000 --> 04:16:33,500
The carefully positioned 
lighting fixers remain as 

4724
04:16:33,500 --> 04:16:35,900
fossils of a particular 
historical moment. 

4725
04:16:36,900 --> 04:16:39,300
Ecological effects of the 
blackout years, gradually 

4726
04:16:39,300 --> 04:16:43,700
reverse as artificial light 
Returns the night sky slowly 

4727
04:16:43,700 --> 04:16:46,300
disappears. 
Again behind its veil of urban 

4728
04:16:46,300 --> 04:16:48,900
globe. 
The Stars fade from Easy 

4729
04:16:48,900 --> 04:16:53,200
visibility the Milky Way 
withdraws, the darkness that had

4730
04:16:53,200 --> 04:16:55,800
revealed Celestial beauty is 
pushed back by human 

4731
04:16:55,800 --> 04:16:58,600
illumination. 
Some people mourn. 

4732
04:16:58,600 --> 04:17:01,900
This loss realizing that the 
blackout had given them a gift. 

4733
04:17:01,900 --> 04:17:05,500
They'll never receive again 
regular sight of the universe of

4734
04:17:05,500 --> 04:17:09,300
their heads, The generation that
lived through the blackout 

4735
04:17:09,300 --> 04:17:12,100
carries memories, that shape 
their relationship with light 

4736
04:17:12,100 --> 04:17:13,800
and darkness for the rest of 
their lives. 

4737
04:17:14,600 --> 04:17:17,100
Those who were children during 
the blackout often. 

4738
04:17:17,100 --> 04:17:20,500
Develop, either a strong 
preference for Darkness finding 

4739
04:17:20,500 --> 04:17:23,100
comfort in the nighttime 
environment, they was children 

4740
04:17:23,100 --> 04:17:26,100
or an equally strong preference 
for a abundant light. 

4741
04:17:27,000 --> 04:17:30,600
A kind of overcompensation for 
years of enforced dimness. 

4742
04:17:32,200 --> 04:17:34,600
The blackout leaves. 
Its mark on British culture in 

4743
04:17:34,600 --> 04:17:38,700
subtle ways, a certain comfort 
with dimmer lighting persists. 

4744
04:17:39,500 --> 04:17:42,400
British homes and public spaces 
10 toward more modest 

4745
04:17:42,400 --> 04:17:44,600
illumination than their American
counterparts. 

4746
04:17:46,100 --> 04:17:48,400
A prince that may Trace 
partially to this period of 

4747
04:17:48,400 --> 04:17:51,300
enforced. 
Darkness, the idea that too much

4748
04:17:51,300 --> 04:17:55,400
light is wasteful even slightly 
vulgar becomes embedded in 

4749
04:17:55,400 --> 04:17:59,100
aesthetic, Sensibility. 
The historical memory of the 

4750
04:17:59,100 --> 04:18:01,100
blackout carries multiple 
meanings. 

4751
04:18:01,100 --> 04:18:05,200
It becomes a symbol of British 
resilience of the homefront 

4752
04:18:05,200 --> 04:18:07,900
contribution, to the war effort 
and of collective. 

4753
04:18:07,900 --> 04:18:12,100
Sacrifice for a common cause 
politicians and cultural 

4754
04:18:12,100 --> 04:18:16,000
commentators invoke the blackout
as an example of what a society 

4755
04:18:16,000 --> 04:18:19,700
can endure when properly 
motivated when United by shared 

4756
04:18:19,700 --> 04:18:23,500
purpose, but the blackout. 
All so serves as a reminder of 

4757
04:18:23,500 --> 04:18:27,400
Wars intrusion into civilian 
life of how conflict transforms 

4758
04:18:27,400 --> 04:18:31,700
ordinary existence in ways, both
large and small, it demonstrates

4759
04:18:31,700 --> 04:18:35,800
that Warfare is not just distant
battles fought by soldiers, but 

4760
04:18:35,800 --> 04:18:39,300
also the accumulated, small 
deprivations and adjustments 

4761
04:18:39,300 --> 04:18:43,200
that everyone must make the 
nightly ritual of darkening, 

4762
04:18:43,200 --> 04:18:47,500
Windows, the cautious navigation
of familiar streets and the 

4763
04:18:47,500 --> 04:18:50,400
adaptation of every evening 
routine to accommodate the 

4764
04:18:50,400 --> 04:18:54,000
absence of light. 
For modern observers, the 

4765
04:18:54,000 --> 04:18:57,500
blackout offers A peculiar 
window into a world that 

4766
04:18:57,500 --> 04:19:00,200
simultaneously recognizable and 
alien. 

4767
04:19:01,200 --> 04:19:05,800
The brick of 1939 had 
electricity radio, Autumn 

4768
04:19:05,800 --> 04:19:10,200
appeals and Cinema all the 
technological fixtures of Modern

4769
04:19:10,200 --> 04:19:13,100
Life. 
Yet the deliberate removal of 

4770
04:19:13,100 --> 04:19:16,900
just one element artificial 
light after dark. 

4771
04:19:16,900 --> 04:19:20,900
Transformed daily experience. 
In ways that connected people 

4772
04:19:20,900 --> 04:19:23,600
backward to pre-industrial, 
patterns of living. 

4773
04:19:23,600 --> 04:19:27,000
There's something almost 
meditative about contemplating 

4774
04:19:27,000 --> 04:19:30,000
the blackout years. 
This period, when millions of 

4775
04:19:30,000 --> 04:19:34,400
people deliberately darken their
world sitting in dimmed rooms, 

4776
04:19:34,400 --> 04:19:39,000
navigating shadowed streets and 
learning to experience their 

4777
04:19:39,000 --> 04:19:44,000
environment through senses other
than sight, In our current ERA 

4778
04:19:44,000 --> 04:19:48,400
of constant illumination, when 
light pollution is so pervasive 

4779
04:19:48,400 --> 04:19:51,800
that many children grow up, 
never seeing the Milky Way. 

4780
04:19:52,700 --> 04:19:55,900
When cities glow so brightly 
that their visible from space, 

4781
04:19:55,900 --> 04:19:59,400
there's something oddly 
appealing about this historical 

4782
04:19:59,400 --> 04:20:03,800
moment of chosen Darkness. 
The blackout reminds us that our

4783
04:20:03,800 --> 04:20:06,900
relationship with light and 
darkness is not fixed or natural

4784
04:20:06,900 --> 04:20:12,000
but historically constructed 
shaped by technology, regulation

4785
04:20:12,000 --> 04:20:15,800
and social practice. 
For most of human history, 

4786
04:20:15,800 --> 04:20:19,400
Darkness was inevitable. 
You may the best like you could 

4787
04:20:19,400 --> 04:20:23,100
with fire or oil but ultimately 
night meant Darkness. 

4788
04:20:24,400 --> 04:20:28,700
Electric light changed, this 
pushing Darkness, back and 

4789
04:20:28,700 --> 04:20:33,200
extending the day artificially. 
The blackout briefly reversed 

4790
04:20:33,200 --> 04:20:36,600
this transformation restoring 
Darkness not through 

4791
04:20:36,600 --> 04:20:40,100
technological failure. 
Through deliberate choice. 

4792
04:20:41,100 --> 04:20:44,700
As you lie here. 
Now, warm and comfortable in a 

4793
04:20:44,700 --> 04:20:47,000
room where light is available at
the flick of a switch. 

4794
04:20:47,000 --> 04:20:50,900
It's worth contemplating. 
What the blackout reveals about 

4795
04:20:50,900 --> 04:20:53,000
human adaptability and 
resilience. 

4796
04:20:53,900 --> 04:20:57,000
The people of Britain in 1939 
didn't know how long the war 

4797
04:20:57,000 --> 04:20:59,500
would last. 
Whether the blackout would be 

4798
04:20:59,500 --> 04:21:02,700
needed for weeks or years or 
whether they are cities would 

4799
04:21:02,700 --> 04:21:07,300
survive or be destroyed yet they
adapted persevered and found 

4800
04:21:07,300 --> 04:21:08,900
moments of beauty and 
connection. 

4801
04:21:08,900 --> 04:21:12,900
Amidst the enforced Darkness. 
The blackout demonstrates 

4802
04:21:12,900 --> 04:21:16,800
something essential about human 
communities that we can endure 

4803
04:21:16,800 --> 04:21:20,700
significant disruption to normal
life when we understand the 

4804
04:21:20,700 --> 04:21:24,100
purpose behind it, when we 
believe we're contributing to 

4805
04:21:24,100 --> 04:21:26,500
something larger than our 
individual comfort. 

4806
04:21:27,900 --> 04:21:31,000
The nightly ritual of darkening 
Windows became a form of 

4807
04:21:31,000 --> 04:21:34,700
participation. 
A tangible action that connected

4808
04:21:34,700 --> 04:21:36,700
each household the national 
effort. 

4809
04:21:37,500 --> 04:21:40,500
There's something deeply human 
about gathering in darkened 

4810
04:21:40,500 --> 04:21:43,800
rooms about families coming 
together, around dim lights 

4811
04:21:43,800 --> 04:21:46,800
about Community supporting each 
other, through shared 

4812
04:21:46,800 --> 04:21:49,800
difficulty. 
These patterns recur throughout 

4813
04:21:49,800 --> 04:21:54,400
human history around ancient, 
campfires in medieval great 

4814
04:21:54,400 --> 04:21:58,300
Halls, lit by Rush light and in 
Pioneer cabins on winter 

4815
04:21:58,300 --> 04:22:01,400
evenings. 
The blackout temporarily 

4816
04:22:01,400 --> 04:22:05,000
restored, these older patterns 
using modern technology to 

4817
04:22:05,000 --> 04:22:09,400
recreate, pre-modern conditions.
The sensory richness of the 

4818
04:22:09,400 --> 04:22:12,400
blackout experience, the visible
stars. 

4819
04:22:12,400 --> 04:22:15,800
The Amplified sounds, the 
heightened awareness of smell 

4820
04:22:15,800 --> 04:22:18,400
and touch. 
Suggests that our normal 

4821
04:22:18,400 --> 04:22:21,600
brightly lit, existence May 
diminish, certain forms of 

4822
04:22:21,600 --> 04:22:25,400
awareness and experience. 
We gain practical benefits from 

4823
04:22:25,400 --> 04:22:28,800
abundant light certainly, but we
may lose other kinds of 

4824
04:22:28,800 --> 04:22:31,400
perception. 
Other ways of experiencing our 

4825
04:22:31,400 --> 04:22:33,900
environment. 
In each other, the blackouts in 

4826
04:22:33,908 --> 04:22:37,100
force slowed down. 
Its requirement for more careful

4827
04:22:37,100 --> 04:22:39,100
movement, more deliberate 
action. 

4828
04:22:39,100 --> 04:22:44,100
And more time spent in quiet 
domestic setting these Creator 

4829
04:22:44,100 --> 04:22:47,700
quality of life that many people
fail, surprisingly satisfying, 

4830
04:22:47,700 --> 04:22:53,100
despite the circumstances, 
Frantic pace of Modern Life, the

4831
04:22:53,100 --> 04:22:57,300
constant visual stimulation, the
ability to pursue individual 

4832
04:22:57,300 --> 04:23:00,200
activities, in separate rooms 
with independent lighting. 

4833
04:23:00,900 --> 04:23:04,100
All these Innovations have costs
as well as benefits. 

4834
04:23:04,900 --> 04:23:07,600
Consider how the blackout 
changed social interaction. 

4835
04:23:08,400 --> 04:23:11,900
In darkness, you couldn't judge 
people by their appearance quite

4836
04:23:11,900 --> 04:23:15,000
so readily. 
Conversations happened with the 

4837
04:23:15,000 --> 04:23:18,600
constant visual feedback. 
We normally rely on people, 

4838
04:23:18,600 --> 04:23:22,000
learn to listen, more carefully 
to pay attention to voice, tone 

4839
04:23:22,000 --> 04:23:24,700
and word choice rather than 
facial expressions and body 

4840
04:23:24,700 --> 04:23:27,300
language. 
This created different kinds of 

4841
04:23:27,308 --> 04:23:29,400
intimacy and different patterns 
of connection. 

4842
04:23:30,400 --> 04:23:34,000
The democratizing effect of the 
blackout the way, it affected 

4843
04:23:34,000 --> 04:23:36,500
rich. 
And poor alike, created, a rare 

4844
04:23:36,500 --> 04:23:39,300
moment of genuinely shared 
experience across social 

4845
04:23:39,300 --> 04:23:44,000
classes. the Duke and the doctor
both navigated the same darkened

4846
04:23:44,000 --> 04:23:48,500
streets, both sat in dimmed 
rooms and both face the same 

4847
04:23:48,500 --> 04:23:51,700
challenges of maintaining normal
life despite abnormal 

4848
04:23:51,700 --> 04:23:55,800
conditions, This shared 
experience contributed to the 

4849
04:23:55,800 --> 04:23:59,300
social solidarity, that 
characterized Britain during the

4850
04:23:59,300 --> 04:24:01,700
War years. 
The blackouts. 

4851
04:24:01,700 --> 04:24:04,800
Something about the relationship
between freedom and security. 

4852
04:24:05,700 --> 04:24:08,800
The regulations represented, a 
significant restriction of 

4853
04:24:08,808 --> 04:24:12,400
personal Liberty, you couldn't 
like your own home as you wished

4854
04:24:12,400 --> 04:24:16,700
couldn't move freely at night 
without risk and face penalties 

4855
04:24:16,700 --> 04:24:20,400
for violations. 
Yet, most people accepted these 

4856
04:24:20,400 --> 04:24:23,900
restrictions as legitimate and 
necessary, a reasonable 

4857
04:24:23,900 --> 04:24:28,200
trade-off for Collective safety.
The balance between individual 

4858
04:24:28,200 --> 04:24:31,000
freedom and common security is 
never simple. 

4859
04:24:31,000 --> 04:24:35,000
Never permanent. 
It must be constantly negotiated

4860
04:24:35,000 --> 04:24:38,400
and renegotiated. 
The Innovations and adaptations 

4861
04:24:38,400 --> 04:24:41,600
that emerged during the 
blackout, the Luminous paint, 

4862
04:24:41,600 --> 04:24:45,700
the white marked curbs. 
The hooded headlamps the double 

4863
04:24:45,700 --> 04:24:48,900
door entries. 
Represent human creativity 

4864
04:24:48,900 --> 04:24:53,100
responding to constraint. 
Necessity, truly does mother 

4865
04:24:53,100 --> 04:24:55,300
invention and the blackout 
years. 

4866
04:24:55,300 --> 04:24:58,100
Produced countless small 
solutions to the problems that 

4867
04:24:58,100 --> 04:25:01,800
Darkness created. 
These Innovations demonstrate, 

4868
04:25:01,800 --> 04:25:05,300
the restrictions can Inspire 
rather than merely limit. 

4869
04:25:06,200 --> 04:25:08,900
Working within constraints can 
generate creativity. 

4870
04:25:10,100 --> 04:25:12,600
The return of light. 
After years of Darkness must 

4871
04:25:12,600 --> 04:25:14,600
have felt like emerging from a 
long tunnel. 

4872
04:25:15,300 --> 04:25:18,200
The Familiar World revealed 
again, the simple pleasure of 

4873
04:25:18,208 --> 04:25:23,200
seeing clearly of moving without
constant caution of Windows that

4874
04:25:23,200 --> 04:25:27,700
connect rather than seal. 
Yet along with this relief, came

4875
04:25:27,700 --> 04:25:31,700
the loss of something too. 
That peculiar intimacy, that 

4876
04:25:31,700 --> 04:25:36,200
Darkness had created, that 
sharpened awareness that sense 

4877
04:25:36,200 --> 04:25:39,800
of shared endurance. 
For those who live through it. 

4878
04:25:39,800 --> 04:25:43,400
The blackout becomes one of 
those formative experiences that

4879
04:25:43,400 --> 04:25:47,600
shape perception for a lifetime.
The carry memories of navigating

4880
04:25:47,600 --> 04:25:50,900
Darkness. 
A families gathered in dim rooms

4881
04:25:50,900 --> 04:25:55,100
of stars, brilliant overhead and
of the particular quality of 

4882
04:25:55,108 --> 04:25:58,300
Silence that descended on cities
designed for noises. 

4883
04:25:59,300 --> 04:26:04,100
These memories become stories, 
then history, then Legend part 

4884
04:26:04,100 --> 04:26:06,800
of the narrative that nation's 
tell themselves about their 

4885
04:26:06,800 --> 04:26:09,300
past. 
As we come to the end of our 

4886
04:26:09,300 --> 04:26:12,500
journey through the blackout 
years, as your eyelids grow 

4887
04:26:12,500 --> 04:26:16,200
heavy, and your breathing slows.
Let's gather the gentle lessons 

4888
04:26:16,200 --> 04:26:18,900
that this history offers for 
your own rest tonight. 

4889
04:26:20,400 --> 04:26:23,500
The blackout teachers us that 
darkness is not necessarily 

4890
04:26:23,500 --> 04:26:27,400
something to fear but rather a 
natural state that humans lived 

4891
04:26:27,400 --> 04:26:30,000
with for Millennia before 
electric light became common. 

4892
04:26:30,000 --> 04:26:34,200
Those wartime Britains learn to 
find comfort and even Beauty and

4893
04:26:34,200 --> 04:26:38,100
darkness, the visible stars, the
heightened awareness of sound 

4894
04:26:38,100 --> 04:26:42,200
and smell and the coziness of 
dimly lit rooms where families 

4895
04:26:42,200 --> 04:26:46,700
gathered close as you prepare 
for Sleep, your participating in

4896
04:26:46,708 --> 04:26:51,300
the same ancient human practice 
voluntarily entering Darkness 

4897
04:26:51,300 --> 04:26:55,000
trusting it to hold you safely 
while you're Consciousness dims 

4898
04:26:55,800 --> 04:27:00,300
The darkness of sleep is 
restorative necessary and a gift

4899
04:27:00,300 --> 04:27:03,800
rather than a threat. 
Like those blackout nights. 

4900
04:27:03,800 --> 04:27:07,600
It offers a time of rest of 
withdrawal, from the constant 

4901
04:27:07,600 --> 04:27:11,100
stimulation of Waking Life and 
of renewal that comes through 

4902
04:27:11,100 --> 04:27:14,800
quiet and absence of light. 
The blackout families who learn 

4903
04:27:14,800 --> 04:27:18,400
to slow down to move more 
carefully to pay attention to 

4904
04:27:18,400 --> 04:27:21,700
senses Beyond sight. 
They discovered rhythms, that 

4905
04:27:21,700 --> 04:27:26,900
sleep requires to the winding 
down, the gradual dimming, the 

4906
04:27:26,900 --> 04:27:29,200
shift from activity to 
Stillness. 

4907
04:27:30,200 --> 04:27:34,100
These transitions matter. 
They prepare body and mind for 

4908
04:27:34,100 --> 04:27:37,600
the darkness of sleep just as 
blackout preparations. 

4909
04:27:37,600 --> 04:27:39,700
Ready? 
Homes for the darkness of night.

4910
04:27:40,600 --> 04:27:43,600
The resilience of those blackout
years reminds us that humans can

4911
04:27:43,600 --> 04:27:47,800
adapt to almost anything and can
find peace and even pleasure in 

4912
04:27:47,800 --> 04:27:50,400
circumstances that initially 
seemed impossible. 

4913
04:27:51,100 --> 04:27:54,200
If they could learn to thrive in
dark and cities, you can 

4914
04:27:54,200 --> 04:27:57,800
certainly trust yourself to the 
darkness of your bedroom, to the

4915
04:27:57,800 --> 04:28:01,000
natural process of sleep, that 
your body knows how to perform. 

4916
04:28:02,000 --> 04:28:04,600
The community and connection 
that emerged from the shared 

4917
04:28:04,600 --> 04:28:07,800
blackout experience suggests, 
something about the importance 

4918
04:28:07,800 --> 04:28:11,900
of letting go of accepting 
limitations and of working with 

4919
04:28:11,900 --> 04:28:15,400
rather than against 
circumstances sleep requires 

4920
04:28:15,400 --> 04:28:18,000
this same surrender. 
You cannot force it. 

4921
04:28:18,000 --> 04:28:20,600
Only create conditions that 
welcome it. 

4922
04:28:21,300 --> 04:28:24,200
Like those families dimming 
their lights and settling into 

4923
04:28:24,200 --> 04:28:27,100
evening quiet. 
You prepare the space and then 

4924
04:28:27,100 --> 04:28:29,100
allow the darkness to do its 
work. 

4925
04:28:30,000 --> 04:28:34,000
Those visible stars during the 
blackout, the celestial beauty 

4926
04:28:34,000 --> 04:28:37,600
that emerged when artificial 
light with Drew remind us that 

4927
04:28:37,600 --> 04:28:40,200
Darkness reveals as well as 
conceals. 

4928
04:28:41,600 --> 04:28:45,400
Sleeps, Darkness, dreams emerge,
unconscious. 

4929
04:28:45,400 --> 04:28:49,600
Processes do their necessary 
work and the mind sorts and 

4930
04:28:49,600 --> 04:28:53,400
files and heals in ways that 
can't happen in waking light. 

4931
04:28:54,500 --> 04:28:57,200
Trust the darkness to show you 
what you need to see. 

4932
04:28:58,200 --> 04:29:02,000
The gradual adaptation to the 
blackout for a fear, transformed

4933
04:29:02,000 --> 04:29:04,500
to competence and then Comfort 
mirrors. 

4934
04:29:04,500 --> 04:29:06,800
The journey into sleep that you 
make each night. 

4935
04:29:07,600 --> 04:29:10,100
At first letting go of 
Consciousness can feel 

4936
04:29:10,100 --> 04:29:15,900
vulnerable, even frightening. 
But with practice with trust it 

4937
04:29:15,900 --> 04:29:20,700
becomes natural, even welcome. 
The darkness becomes familiar 

4938
04:29:20,700 --> 04:29:24,300
safe and a friend rather than a 
threat. 

4939
04:29:25,500 --> 04:29:28,300
As the blackout eventually, 
lifted and light returned. 

4940
04:29:28,300 --> 04:29:31,400
So too, will you wake tomorrow 
to light an activity? 

4941
04:29:31,400 --> 04:29:35,800
But, for now, like those wartime
families settling into their 

4942
04:29:35,800 --> 04:29:40,100
dimmed homes, you can Embrace 
this time of darkness and quiet.

4943
04:29:41,000 --> 04:29:44,300
Let your eyes closed like black 
out, curtains drawing shut. 

4944
04:29:45,300 --> 04:29:47,700
Feel your awareness dim like 
lights turning down. 

4945
04:29:47,700 --> 04:29:52,200
Allow yourself to sink into 
Stillness like a City, Going 

4946
04:29:52,200 --> 04:29:56,400
Quiet under the night sky. 
The people of the blackout years

4947
04:29:56,400 --> 04:29:59,700
survived, not through constant 
vigilance, but through 

4948
04:29:59,700 --> 04:30:04,800
acceptance adaptation, and the 
ability to find peace in Altered

4949
04:30:04,800 --> 04:30:07,800
circumstances. 
They learned that Darkness could

4950
04:30:07,800 --> 04:30:11,900
be endured that it brought gifts
along with its challenges that 

4951
04:30:11,900 --> 04:30:14,700
life continued and even 
flourished under its cover. 

4952
04:30:15,900 --> 04:30:19,500
Your sleep tonight is your 
personal blackout a time of 

4953
04:30:19,500 --> 04:30:22,700
chosen. 
Darkness of withdrawal from the 

4954
04:30:22,700 --> 04:30:26,000
world's demands of rest and 
restoration. 

4955
04:30:26,900 --> 04:30:30,200
Like those wartime britons, you 
don't know exactly what tomorrow

4956
04:30:30,200 --> 04:30:32,800
will bring. 
You can trust that this period 

4957
04:30:32,800 --> 04:30:35,600
of Darkness will prepare you for
whatever light reveals. 

4958
04:30:36,400 --> 04:30:39,100
The last lesson of the blackout 
is, perhaps the most important 

4959
04:30:39,100 --> 04:30:42,900
that sometimes the most valuable
thing we can do is simply stop. 

4960
04:30:42,900 --> 04:30:48,100
Darken our world and rest. 
Not as defeat or Retreat. 

4961
04:30:48,100 --> 04:30:50,900
That is necessary preparation 
for continuing. 

4962
04:30:52,100 --> 04:30:54,900
Those nightly blackout rituals 
weren't just safety measures. 

4963
04:30:54,900 --> 04:30:58,200
They were acknowledgments that 
activity must balance with 

4964
04:30:58,200 --> 04:31:02,200
Stillness that light needs 
Darkness as a Counterpoint and 

4965
04:31:02,200 --> 04:31:05,000
that life requires periods of 
quiet and rest. 

4966
04:31:05,000 --> 04:31:09,700
So let yourself rest. 
Now let the darkness hold you as

4967
04:31:09,700 --> 04:31:13,200
it held those millions of people
through their blackout years 

4968
04:31:13,200 --> 04:31:18,500
safely, gently preparing you for
whatever tomorrow's light will 

4969
04:31:18,500 --> 04:31:20,800
bring. 
Your eyes are growing heavy. 

4970
04:31:21,700 --> 04:31:25,100
Your breath is slowing. 
The darkness around, you is 

4971
04:31:25,100 --> 04:31:27,900
peaceful protective and 
appropriate. 

4972
04:31:28,900 --> 04:31:30,900
Sleep. 
Well, knowing that you're 

4973
04:31:30,900 --> 04:31:33,300
participating in one of 
Humanity's oldest and most 

4974
04:31:33,300 --> 04:31:37,000
natural practices. 
The darkness is your friend to 

4975
04:31:37,000 --> 04:31:40,200
night just as it became the 
friend of those who learned to 

4976
04:31:40,200 --> 04:31:44,400
live through the great blackout 
rest easy rest deep rest. 

4977
04:31:44,400 --> 04:31:46,600
Well. 
And when morning comes when 

4978
04:31:46,600 --> 04:31:49,200
light returns your white 
refreshed as those blackout 

4979
04:31:49,200 --> 04:31:53,500
families woke to another day 
resilient and adapted and ready 

4980
04:31:53,500 --> 04:31:56,300
to continue. 
For now though, just darkness, 

4981
04:31:56,300 --> 04:31:59,400
just quiet, just rest. 
Sleep. 

4982
04:31:59,400 --> 04:32:09,300
Well. 
Close your eyes and imagine a 

4983
04:32:09,300 --> 04:32:13,300
time before Forks, existed. 
Before napkins, before anyone 

4984
04:32:13,300 --> 04:32:16,100
ever told you to keep your 
elbows off the table, we're 

4985
04:32:16,100 --> 04:32:19,700
going back, roughly 300,000 
years to when your ancient 

4986
04:32:19,700 --> 04:32:22,300
ancestors, were just trying to 
figure out this whole Being 

4987
04:32:22,300 --> 04:32:26,200
Human thing and table manners, 
ranked somewhere below, avoid 

4988
04:32:26,200 --> 04:32:29,500
being eaten by large cats on 
their list of concerns. 

4989
04:32:30,900 --> 04:32:34,300
Picture early humans gather 
around a fire as the sun sets 

4990
04:32:34,300 --> 04:32:38,700
casting orange light across the 
landscape, there's no table. 

4991
04:32:38,700 --> 04:32:42,800
Obviously that Innovation is 
still tens of thousands of years

4992
04:32:42,800 --> 04:32:47,100
away. 
Instead people Crouch or sit on 

4993
04:32:47,108 --> 04:32:50,500
the ground, probably on whatever
Flat Rock, seemed most 

4994
04:32:50,500 --> 04:32:53,000
comfortable that day. 
Meal is simple. 

4995
04:32:53,800 --> 04:32:57,200
Perhaps some roasted meat from 
the day's hunt, maybe hunts or 

4996
04:32:57,200 --> 04:33:00,100
berries gathered from the 
surrounding area, all eaten with

4997
04:33:00,100 --> 04:33:02,500
the original utensils. 
Your hands. 

4998
04:33:03,600 --> 04:33:05,500
There's a certain poetry to the 
simplicity. 

4999
04:33:06,400 --> 04:33:09,200
No one worried about which Fork 
to use because Forks, didn't 

5000
04:33:09,200 --> 04:33:11,700
exist. 
No one stressed about proper 

5001
04:33:11,700 --> 04:33:14,000
posture because there were no 
chairs to slouch in. 

5002
04:33:15,500 --> 04:33:18,200
The biggest etiquette concern 
was probably making sure 

5003
04:33:18,200 --> 04:33:21,800
everyone got their fair share. 
Which is actually a form of 

5004
04:33:21,808 --> 04:33:24,400
table manners. 
When you think about it, just 

5005
04:33:24,400 --> 04:33:28,599
the most fundamental kind. 
Fire crackle, Softly. 

5006
04:33:29,200 --> 04:33:31,800
Someone tears off a piece of 
meat and passes it along. 

5007
04:33:32,500 --> 04:33:35,300
Fingers, get greasy and that's 
perfectly fine. 

5008
04:33:35,300 --> 04:33:38,800
Because the concept of finger 
bowls won't be invented for 

5009
04:33:38,800 --> 04:33:41,800
another several millennia. 
When you're done eating, you 

5010
04:33:41,800 --> 04:33:45,200
might wipe your hands on grass, 
or simply lick them clean the 

5011
04:33:45,200 --> 04:33:47,200
evening areas. 
Cool, and belly is a full and 

5012
04:33:47,200 --> 04:33:51,300
that's really all that matters. 
There's thousands of years drift

5013
04:33:51,300 --> 04:33:54,800
by like lazy clouds. 
Human start developing small 

5014
04:33:54,800 --> 04:33:59,200
rituals around eating, not 
rules, exactly but patterns. 

5015
04:34:00,300 --> 04:34:04,400
Maybe the eldest person, eats 
first, maybe certain foods are 

5016
04:34:04,400 --> 04:34:06,099
shared While others are 
individually. 

5017
04:34:06,900 --> 04:34:10,200
These aren't written guidelines 
writing hasn't been invented yet

5018
04:34:10,200 --> 04:34:13,400
but they're the seeds of what 
will eventually become table 

5019
04:34:13,400 --> 04:34:16,000
manners. 
The rhythm of communal eating 

5020
04:34:16,000 --> 04:34:18,700
develops, its own. 
Gentle Cadence, there's 

5021
04:34:18,700 --> 04:34:22,300
something deeply soothing about 
eating together, sharing food 

5022
04:34:22,300 --> 04:34:25,800
prepared over the same fire. 
You can almost hear the soft 

5023
04:34:25,800 --> 04:34:30,599
sounds of prehistoric meals. 
The crackle of flames the murmur

5024
04:34:30,599 --> 04:34:34,500
of voices in early languages. 
We'd never recognized and the 

5025
04:34:34,500 --> 04:34:37,800
simple satisfaction of full 
stomachs and warm companionship 

5026
04:34:37,800 --> 04:34:43,400
in caves across Europe, Africa, 
and Asia, similar scenes play 

5027
04:34:43,400 --> 04:34:47,800
out night after night. the 
details vary different foods, 

5028
04:34:47,800 --> 04:34:51,500
different Landscapes, different 
faces around different fires, 

5029
04:34:52,400 --> 04:34:56,000
but the essence remains constant
humans eating together, 

5030
04:34:56,000 --> 04:34:59,500
developing the first social 
bonds that would eventually lead

5031
04:34:59,500 --> 04:35:03,000
to civilization. 
Table manners in their most 

5032
04:35:03,000 --> 04:35:05,700
primitive form. 
A really just the codification 

5033
04:35:05,700 --> 04:35:09,400
of respect and sharing. 
There's no stress in these 

5034
04:35:09,400 --> 04:35:12,099
ancient meals. 
No, one wondering if you are 

5035
04:35:12,099 --> 04:35:15,000
using the right spoon or whether
you're napkin, should go on your

5036
04:35:15,000 --> 04:35:18,400
left or right. 
Just the simple Act of eating 

5037
04:35:18,400 --> 04:35:24,000
together as Darkness, settles in
around the fires warm glow, let 

5038
04:35:24,000 --> 04:35:26,700
that Simplicity wash over you 
like a warm bath. 

5039
04:35:27,599 --> 04:35:30,700
Now we're going to fast forward 
and you can feel time flowing 

5040
04:35:30,700 --> 04:35:36,099
like honey slow and sweet to 
around 3,000 BC, ee when 

5041
04:35:36,099 --> 04:35:39,800
civilizations in Mesopotamia and
Egypt started getting Fancy with

5042
04:35:39,800 --> 04:35:42,700
their eating Arrangements. 
This is where things start 

5043
04:35:42,700 --> 04:35:45,400
getting interesting and a 
wonderfully drowsy, sort of way 

5044
04:35:45,400 --> 04:35:49,300
the Sumerians, those clever 
people who invented writing and 

5045
04:35:49,300 --> 04:35:53,599
the wheel and beer Truly 
Humanities Greatest Hits, All 

5046
04:35:53,599 --> 04:35:56,599
Began developing the first real 
dining customs. 

5047
04:35:57,700 --> 04:36:00,700
Imagine a wealthy Sumerian 
household where low tables 

5048
04:36:00,700 --> 04:36:04,099
appear for the first time. 
People still sit on the floor or

5049
04:36:04,099 --> 04:36:07,599
on, cushions, but now there's a 
designated surface for food. 

5050
04:36:08,500 --> 04:36:10,800
It's a small change that makes a
big difference. 

5051
04:36:10,800 --> 04:36:14,000
Like the first time someone 
decided beds were better than 

5052
04:36:14,000 --> 04:36:17,500
sleeping on bare ground. 
In these early Mesopotamian, 

5053
04:36:17,500 --> 04:36:20,400
homes bread served as both food 
and plate. 

5054
04:36:21,200 --> 04:36:23,800
You tear off a piece of 
flatbread and use it to scoop 

5055
04:36:23,800 --> 04:36:27,800
up, stews, vegetables, and 
meats, when you finish eating, 

5056
04:36:27,800 --> 04:36:30,700
you could eat your plate. 
It's brilliantly, efficient and 

5057
04:36:30,700 --> 04:36:33,800
remarkably tidy, no dishes to 
wash off afterward. 

5058
04:36:34,500 --> 04:36:37,500
The warm bread in your hands 
slightly oily from whatever it 

5059
04:36:37,500 --> 04:36:40,000
had. 
Scooped still, radiating gentle 

5060
04:36:40,000 --> 04:36:44,099
heat from the oven. 
Egyptian dining Customs evolved 

5061
04:36:44,099 --> 04:36:46,900
along similar lines, but with 
their own special flourishes. 

5062
04:36:47,700 --> 04:36:51,200
The wealthy Egyptians loved, a 
good feast and they developed 

5063
04:36:51,200 --> 04:36:55,099
elaborate protocols around these
meals. servants would bring 

5064
04:36:55,099 --> 04:36:58,500
water and nature on and 
naturally occurring salt for 

5065
04:36:58,500 --> 04:37:02,200
guests to wash their hands 
before eating It's the first 

5066
04:37:02,200 --> 04:37:05,300
recorded instance of Premium 
hand washing, which means 

5067
04:37:05,300 --> 04:37:10,599
somewhere around 2500 BCE. 
Someone decided Clean Hands made

5068
04:37:10,599 --> 04:37:13,700
for better dining. 
Picture yourself at an Egyptian,

5069
04:37:13,700 --> 04:37:16,400
banquet. 
The rumors cool, despite the 

5070
04:37:16,400 --> 04:37:19,099
desert heat outside. 
Thanks to thick, mud brick, 

5071
04:37:19,099 --> 04:37:23,700
walls palm fronds wave, gently 
overhead, creating shifting 

5072
04:37:23,700 --> 04:37:27,700
patterns of Shadow and Light. 
Your Seated on a low stool and 

5073
04:37:27,700 --> 04:37:31,500
before you is a small table 
Laden with food, roasted duck, 

5074
04:37:31,500 --> 04:37:36,500
fresh figs bread, still warm 
from the oven and bear in a clay

5075
04:37:36,500 --> 04:37:38,200
vessel that stays surprisingly 
cool. 

5076
04:37:39,599 --> 04:37:42,300
Servant approaches with a bowl 
of water and a clean cloth. 

5077
04:37:42,300 --> 04:37:44,300
You dip your fingers in the 
water. 

5078
04:37:44,300 --> 04:37:48,300
It's been infused with flower 
petals and it smells faintly of 

5079
04:37:48,300 --> 04:37:52,400
Lotus blossoms. 
The cloth is soft linen woven. 

5080
04:37:52,400 --> 04:37:55,800
So finally, it feels like a 
Whisperer against your skin. 

5081
04:37:56,800 --> 04:38:00,400
This is civilization's way of 
saying before we eat together, 

5082
04:38:00,400 --> 04:38:04,300
let's be cleaned together. 
It's a small gesture that 

5083
04:38:04,300 --> 04:38:08,700
carries enormous meaning. 
The Egyptians also pioneered the

5084
04:38:08,707 --> 04:38:11,599
concept of dining in courses 
rather than having everything 

5085
04:38:11,599 --> 04:38:14,700
presented at once. 
First might come fruits and 

5086
04:38:14,707 --> 04:38:19,200
vegetables, then fish then meet 
each course, arriving with its 

5087
04:38:19,200 --> 04:38:22,700
own subtle ceremony. 
There's a rhythm to this kind of

5088
04:38:22,700 --> 04:38:25,800
eating a gentle progression, 
that mirrors, the flow of the 

5089
04:38:25,808 --> 04:38:28,900
Nile itself. 
Steady predictable. 

5090
04:38:28,900 --> 04:38:35,000
Soothing in ancient China around
the same period entirely 

5091
04:38:35,000 --> 04:38:37,099
different dining Customs were 
emerging. 

5092
04:38:38,000 --> 04:38:42,300
The Chinese developed the use of
Chopsticks around 1200 BCE and 

5093
04:38:42,300 --> 04:38:45,400
with them came, a whole 
philosophy of eating Chopsticks 

5094
04:38:45,400 --> 04:38:47,700
required patience, precision and
practice. 

5095
04:38:48,500 --> 04:38:52,000
They slowed down the eating 
process, which the Chinese sages

5096
04:38:52,000 --> 04:38:55,099
believed was healthy for 
digestion and better for social 

5097
04:38:55,099 --> 04:38:58,300
interaction. 
Confucius that wise teacher 

5098
04:38:58,300 --> 04:39:00,900
whose thoughts would influence 
Asian culture for millennia? 

5099
04:39:01,599 --> 04:39:03,400
Had strong opinions about 
dining. 

5100
04:39:04,000 --> 04:39:06,300
He believed that the way you ate
revealed your character. 

5101
04:39:07,200 --> 04:39:10,000
Food should be cut into small 
manageable pieces in the 

5102
04:39:10,000 --> 04:39:12,700
kitchen. 
Never at the table when knives 

5103
04:39:12,700 --> 04:39:16,099
might suggest violets. 
Meals should be eaten slowly 

5104
04:39:16,099 --> 04:39:20,200
with attention to Flavors and 
textures conversation. 

5105
04:39:20,200 --> 04:39:23,500
Should be gentle and thoughtful,
can you feel how these ancient 

5106
04:39:23,500 --> 04:39:25,700
practices were already moving 
toward mindfulness? 

5107
04:39:27,000 --> 04:39:30,500
The Egyptians with their ritual 
hand washing the Chinese with 

5108
04:39:30,500 --> 04:39:33,800
their deliberate Chopsticks and 
the mess of pertains with their 

5109
04:39:33,800 --> 04:39:37,099
orderly progression of courses. 
All of them were discovering 

5110
04:39:37,099 --> 04:39:39,600
that eating could be more than 
just fuel consumption. 

5111
04:39:39,600 --> 04:39:43,100
It could be meditation, ceremony
or art. 

5112
04:39:44,300 --> 04:39:47,400
In ancient Greece, symposiums 
became the height of civilized 

5113
04:39:47,400 --> 04:39:50,400
dining. 
Men would recline on couches. 

5114
04:39:50,400 --> 04:39:54,900
Yes, lying down while eating the
Greeks really knew how to relax 

5115
04:39:54,900 --> 04:39:58,300
and enjoy course after course of
food, while discussing 

5116
04:39:58,300 --> 04:40:03,300
philosophy poetry and politics 
Wine was mixed with water in 

5117
04:40:03,300 --> 04:40:06,700
special vessels called craters. 
And there were specific 

5118
04:40:06,700 --> 04:40:10,200
protocols for how much water to 
add depending on the seriousness

5119
04:40:10,200 --> 04:40:13,800
of the discussion. 
The gentle clinking of ceramic 

5120
04:40:13,800 --> 04:40:17,700
cups, the soft rustle of robes 
as diners shifted on their 

5121
04:40:17,700 --> 04:40:20,900
couches and the murmur of 
thoughtful conversation 

5122
04:40:20,900 --> 04:40:24,500
punctuated by laughter. 
Greek dining rooms must have had

5123
04:40:24,500 --> 04:40:27,800
a wonderfully peaceful energy. 
Even the occasional heated 

5124
04:40:27,800 --> 04:40:30,500
debate would have eventually 
smooth out into philosophical 

5125
04:40:30,500 --> 04:40:34,300
contemplation as the evening 
wore on and the wine to water 

5126
04:40:34,300 --> 04:40:37,800
ratio shifted. 
Romans never, once to be 

5127
04:40:37,808 --> 04:40:41,800
outdone, by Greeks took the 
concept of elaborate dining and 

5128
04:40:41,800 --> 04:40:44,100
expanded it to almost absurd 
levels. 

5129
04:40:45,100 --> 04:40:48,800
A wealthy Roman dinner party 
called a convivium could last 

5130
04:40:48,800 --> 04:40:52,700
for hours featuring dozens of 
courses, entertainment between 

5131
04:40:52,700 --> 04:40:55,500
dishes and social. 
Rituals that made a modern 

5132
04:40:55,500 --> 04:40:57,200
etiquette look simple by 
comparison. 

5133
04:40:57,200 --> 04:41:01,700
But here's what's lovely about 
Roman dining Customs, despite 

5134
04:41:01,700 --> 04:41:04,900
all the elaborate protocols, the
underlying goal was comfort and 

5135
04:41:04,900 --> 04:41:07,400
pleasure. 
Couches were cushioned with the 

5136
04:41:07,400 --> 04:41:11,000
softest Fabrics rooms were 
designed to catch cooling 

5137
04:41:11,000 --> 04:41:13,300
breezes in summer and retain 
warmth in winter. 

5138
04:41:14,200 --> 04:41:17,400
Servants moved silently ensuring
guests. 

5139
04:41:17,400 --> 04:41:20,800
Never had to reach for anything.
The entire experience was 

5140
04:41:20,800 --> 04:41:23,300
engineered to help diners, 
relax, completely. 

5141
04:41:24,400 --> 04:41:27,500
Imagine reclining on one of 
those Roman dining couches 

5142
04:41:27,500 --> 04:41:31,100
propped up on your left elbow. 
As was customary leaving your 

5143
04:41:31,100 --> 04:41:35,000
right hand free for eating the 
cushions beneath, you are 

5144
04:41:35,000 --> 04:41:36,900
stuffed with wool and covered in
linen. 

5145
04:41:36,900 --> 04:41:38,400
That's been washed so many 
times. 

5146
04:41:38,400 --> 04:41:43,100
It feels like Silk The room 
smells of olive oil herbs and 

5147
04:41:43,100 --> 04:41:45,500
the faint smokiness of the 
kitchen fires. 

5148
04:41:46,300 --> 04:41:48,000
Someone is playing a liar in the
corner. 

5149
04:41:48,000 --> 04:41:51,700
Very softly, just loud enough to
fill the silence between 

5150
04:41:51,700 --> 04:41:55,200
conversations. 
These ancient civilizations were

5151
04:41:55,200 --> 04:41:57,300
discovering something profound 
that. 

5152
04:41:57,300 --> 04:41:59,900
How we eat together shape who we
become together? 

5153
04:42:01,100 --> 04:42:03,100
Table manners weren't just 
arbitrary rules. 

5154
04:42:03,100 --> 04:42:06,900
They were Frameworks for 
connection opportunities, for 

5155
04:42:06,900 --> 04:42:11,800
Artistry, and Pathways to peace.
As you drift deeper into 

5156
04:42:11,800 --> 04:42:15,100
relaxation, let that 
understanding settle over. 

5157
04:42:15,100 --> 04:42:19,700
You like a warm gentle blanket. 
We're moving forward now through

5158
04:42:19,700 --> 04:42:24,800
time like a slow River arriving 
in medieval Europe around 1,000 

5159
04:42:24,800 --> 04:42:27,600
CE. 
This is when table manners 

5160
04:42:27,600 --> 04:42:31,200
started becoming truly codified 
written down in manuscripts, 

5161
04:42:31,200 --> 04:42:34,500
that Nobles would study with the
same seriousness, we might apply

5162
04:42:34,500 --> 04:42:38,100
to learning a new language. 
The medieval period is 

5163
04:42:38,100 --> 04:42:41,400
fascinating for table manners 
because it represents a kind of 

5164
04:42:41,408 --> 04:42:44,200
bridge between ancient 
informality and modern 

5165
04:42:44,200 --> 04:42:47,500
refinement. 
Castle's and manor houses had 

5166
04:42:47,500 --> 04:42:51,300
great Halls where dozens, or 
even hundreds of people might 

5167
04:42:51,300 --> 04:42:53,900
eat together creating a need for
Clear. 

5168
04:42:53,900 --> 04:42:57,000
Social rules about how to behave
when you're sharing a trestle 

5169
04:42:57,000 --> 04:42:59,400
table with everyone, from 
knights to Kitchen staff. 

5170
04:43:00,300 --> 04:43:03,300
Try a great hall on a winter 
evil evening torches and 

5171
04:43:03,300 --> 04:43:05,200
candles. 
Provide flickering light that 

5172
04:43:05,200 --> 04:43:07,200
makes Shadows danced on stone 
walls. 

5173
04:43:08,000 --> 04:43:11,600
The fire in the central, half 
crackles and Pops sending 

5174
04:43:11,600 --> 04:43:16,400
occasional Sparks upward. 
Long wooden tables, run the 

5175
04:43:16,400 --> 04:43:19,200
length of the hall and people 
are beginning to gather for the 

5176
04:43:19,200 --> 04:43:22,700
evening meal. 
The air smells of wood smoke 

5177
04:43:22,700 --> 04:43:26,800
roasting meat and the musty 
center of the rushes scattered 

5178
04:43:26,800 --> 04:43:30,000
on the floor. 
You're Seated on a wooden bench.

5179
04:43:30,000 --> 04:43:33,000
Chairs with backs are still 
mostly reserved for the very 

5180
04:43:33,000 --> 04:43:34,300
important people at the high 
table. 

5181
04:43:35,700 --> 04:43:39,700
Before you is a trencher, which 
is a thick slice of stale bread 

5182
04:43:39,700 --> 04:43:42,800
that serves as your plate, it's 
going to soak up juices and 

5183
04:43:42,800 --> 04:43:45,800
gravies from your meal, and by 
the end of dinner, it will be 

5184
04:43:45,808 --> 04:43:47,800
thoroughly, saturated and 
delicious. 

5185
04:43:48,700 --> 04:43:51,400
Sometimes trenches were given to
the poor after meals. 

5186
04:43:51,400 --> 04:43:53,700
Other times. 
They were eaten by the diners 

5187
04:43:53,700 --> 04:43:57,900
themselves. 
Waste not want not Medieval 

5188
04:43:57,900 --> 04:44:00,400
table, manners, were spelled out
in text with wonderfully 

5189
04:44:00,400 --> 04:44:04,000
Specific Instructions. 13th 
century guide. 

5190
04:44:04,000 --> 04:44:07,500
Advised do not touch your ears 
or nose with your bare hands 

5191
04:44:07,500 --> 04:44:11,700
while eating another suggested 
refrain from picking your teeth 

5192
04:44:11,700 --> 04:44:13,900
with your knife. 
He's instructions. 

5193
04:44:13,900 --> 04:44:16,700
Tell us something important. 
They wouldn't need to write 

5194
04:44:16,700 --> 04:44:18,500
these rules down. 
If people weren't doing these 

5195
04:44:18,500 --> 04:44:22,300
things medieval dining was 
clearly a work in progress. 

5196
04:44:23,100 --> 04:44:26,000
The concept of sharing was 
Central to Medieval eating. 

5197
04:44:26,800 --> 04:44:29,200
You didn't have your own cup, 
you shared one with your 

5198
04:44:29,200 --> 04:44:31,700
neighbor. 
Large serving dishes called 

5199
04:44:31,700 --> 04:44:35,200
messes, were placed along the 
table, and groups of four to six

5200
04:44:35,200 --> 04:44:36,800
people would eat from the same 
mess. 

5201
04:44:36,800 --> 04:44:40,300
This required cooperation, and a
certain amount of consideration.

5202
04:44:41,500 --> 04:44:43,600
Taking too much meant your mess 
mates. 

5203
04:44:43,600 --> 04:44:46,400
Would go hungry hogging the 
shared cup. 

5204
04:44:46,400 --> 04:44:50,000
Meant thirsty neighbors. 
Etiquette manuals from this 

5205
04:44:50,000 --> 04:44:53,400
period emphasize cleanliness 
with an almost desperate 

5206
04:44:53,400 --> 04:44:56,500
urgency. 
Wash your hands before eating. 

5207
04:44:56,500 --> 04:45:00,000
They insist wipe your mouth 
before drinking from the shared 

5208
04:45:00,000 --> 04:45:02,700
cup. 
Don't put food back into the 

5209
04:45:02,700 --> 04:45:04,600
communal dish after you've 
bitten it. 

5210
04:45:05,300 --> 04:45:09,100
Reading between the lines, you 
can sense medieval people trying

5211
04:45:09,100 --> 04:45:12,200
very hard to make communal 
dining more pleasant while 

5212
04:45:12,200 --> 04:45:16,700
working with limited resources. 
Forks were virtually unknown in 

5213
04:45:16,700 --> 04:45:18,900
medieval Europe. 
They wouldn't become common 

5214
04:45:18,900 --> 04:45:22,700
until the Renaissance. 
Stead, you ate with a knife and 

5215
04:45:22,700 --> 04:45:25,200
your fingers, which required a 
certain delicacy. 

5216
04:45:26,200 --> 04:45:28,100
You were supposed to eat with 
your thumb in deck. 

5217
04:45:28,100 --> 04:45:32,000
So middle fingers, only using, 
all five fingers was considered 

5218
04:45:32,000 --> 04:45:37,200
boorish It's oddly specific, but
when you think about it, eating 

5219
04:45:37,200 --> 04:45:41,000
with just three fingers does 
require more precision and care 

5220
04:45:41,000 --> 04:45:44,800
and grabbing food with your 
whole hand, The rhythm of a 

5221
04:45:44,800 --> 04:45:47,100
medieval meal had its own 
soothing quality. 

5222
04:45:47,800 --> 04:45:51,400
First servants, brought basins 
of water around, for hand 

5223
04:45:51,400 --> 04:45:55,000
washing, then bread was placed 
on the table, not just the 

5224
04:45:55,000 --> 04:45:57,400
trentes, but fresh bread for 
eating. 

5225
04:45:58,900 --> 04:46:02,200
Then came the first course. 
Usually something in a source 

5226
04:46:02,200 --> 04:46:05,800
that could be scoped up with 
bread, Between courses, there 

5227
04:46:05,800 --> 04:46:08,200
might be entertainment a 
Minstrel singing. 

5228
04:46:08,200 --> 04:46:11,400
A juggler performing or simply 
conversation. 

5229
04:46:11,400 --> 04:46:13,300
Flowing up. 
And down the long tables. 

5230
04:46:13,300 --> 04:46:16,300
Drinking Customs have their own 
gentle ceremony. 

5231
04:46:16,900 --> 04:46:20,500
When you wanted wine or ale, you
didn't just grab the shared cup 

5232
04:46:20,500 --> 04:46:23,100
and drink. 
You were supposed to wipe your 

5233
04:46:23,100 --> 04:46:26,300
mouth first so you wouldn't 
leave food residue on the rim, 

5234
04:46:26,300 --> 04:46:30,300
then you drank wipe the Rim 
Clean and pass the cup to your 

5235
04:46:30,300 --> 04:46:33,500
neighbor. 
It created a rhythm white during

5236
04:46:33,500 --> 04:46:37,600
White Pass. 
Cup was making its way around 

5237
04:46:37,600 --> 04:46:40,300
the table like a slow 
companionable dance. 

5238
04:46:41,200 --> 04:46:45,300
One particularly Charming 
medieval custom was the voider a

5239
04:46:45,300 --> 04:46:48,500
bowl placed on the table for 
bones shells and other inedible 

5240
04:46:48,500 --> 04:46:51,100
scraps. 
The name itself is wonderful 

5241
04:46:51,100 --> 04:46:53,900
descriptive. 
It's where food goes to be 

5242
04:46:53,900 --> 04:46:57,000
voided from the meal. 
Servants would periodically, 

5243
04:46:57,000 --> 04:46:59,100
empty the void as and bring 
fresh ones. 

5244
04:46:59,100 --> 04:47:02,800
Keeping the table, relatively 
tidied, despite the absence of 

5245
04:47:02,800 --> 04:47:06,300
individual plaits, As the 
evening progressed and the meal 

5246
04:47:06,300 --> 04:47:09,500
moves through its horses. 
The Great Hall would grow warmer

5247
04:47:09,500 --> 04:47:12,600
from all the bodies and the fire
louder from wine and 

5248
04:47:12,600 --> 04:47:15,700
conversation and somehow more 
intimate despite the crowds. 

5249
04:47:16,700 --> 04:47:19,700
There's something about sharing 
food from communal dishes and 

5250
04:47:19,700 --> 04:47:22,800
drinking from shared cups that 
breaks down social barriers, 

5251
04:47:22,800 --> 04:47:26,100
even in hierarchical, medieval 
Society. 

5252
04:47:27,200 --> 04:47:30,700
The highest ranking people sat 
at the high table, which was 

5253
04:47:30,700 --> 04:47:33,800
literally elevated on a platform
so everyone could see them. 

5254
04:47:34,500 --> 04:47:38,500
This created a theater of 
dining, the noble family, eating

5255
04:47:38,500 --> 04:47:41,600
in full view while the rest of 
the hall watched and tried to 

5256
04:47:41,600 --> 04:47:44,700
emulate Their Manners. 
It was etiquette as performance 

5257
04:47:44,700 --> 04:47:47,400
art teaching, by example, rather
than lecture. 

5258
04:47:48,200 --> 04:47:51,400
By the end of a medieval Feast 
The Trenches would be soggy with

5259
04:47:51,400 --> 04:47:54,400
gravy the void as full and the 
shared cups. 

5260
04:47:54,400 --> 04:47:58,900
Well circulated More water would
be brought for hand washing even

5261
04:47:58,900 --> 04:48:01,800
more important. 
Now than before the meal herbs 

5262
04:48:01,800 --> 04:48:05,600
might be chewed to freshen 
breath Some households provided 

5263
04:48:05,600 --> 04:48:09,000
finger bowls centered with 
rosewater, a small luxury that 

5264
04:48:09,000 --> 04:48:11,900
made the cleanup process, feel 
less like a chore and more like 

5265
04:48:11,900 --> 04:48:15,300
a ritual. 
As you imagine all of this, the 

5266
04:48:15,300 --> 04:48:19,800
warm Hall, The Friendly chaos, 
the shared dishes and cuts the 

5267
04:48:19,800 --> 04:48:21,800
gentle rhythm of medieval 
dining. 

5268
04:48:21,800 --> 04:48:25,300
Let yourself relax in to the 
communal nature of it all 

5269
04:48:26,300 --> 04:48:29,000
There's something deeply 
comforting about eating together

5270
04:48:29,000 --> 04:48:32,900
like this connected by shared 
vessels and shared spaces. 

5271
04:48:32,900 --> 04:48:36,300
All of you experienced in the 
same meal in the same moment. 

5272
04:48:37,400 --> 04:48:40,500
Drift forward with me now 
through the 1400 and into the 

5273
04:48:40,508 --> 04:48:45,000
1500s as Europe, awakens from 
its medieval Slumber into the 

5274
04:48:45,000 --> 04:48:48,200
Renaissance. 
This is when table manners, 

5275
04:48:48,200 --> 04:48:52,200
transformed from practical 
guidelines for group eating into

5276
04:48:52,200 --> 04:48:56,000
an elaborate code that signaled 
education status and 

5277
04:48:56,000 --> 04:48:59,100
sophistication. 
It's also when dining becomes, 

5278
04:48:59,100 --> 04:49:02,100
genuinely beautiful. 
In ways that would have seemed 

5279
04:49:02,100 --> 04:49:05,400
impossibly fancy to, our 
medieval ancestors, the 

5280
04:49:05,400 --> 04:49:09,300
Renaissance began in Italy, and 
so did many dining Innovations, 

5281
04:49:10,200 --> 04:49:14,000
Italian Nobles flush with wealth
from trade and banking began 

5282
04:49:14,000 --> 04:49:16,800
competing to host the most 
impressive dinner parties. 

5283
04:49:17,500 --> 04:49:20,300
This competition drove 
innovation in everything from 

5284
04:49:20,300 --> 04:49:24,300
table, setting to menu planning 
to the physical act of eating 

5285
04:49:24,300 --> 04:49:27,500
itself. 
Imagine being invited to a 

5286
04:49:27,500 --> 04:49:30,000
dinner to Florentine Palazzo, in
1550. 

5287
04:49:30,800 --> 04:49:33,700
You enter a room that's been 
transformed into a work of art. 

5288
04:49:34,500 --> 04:49:37,300
The walls are hung with 
tapestries depicting classical 

5289
04:49:37,300 --> 04:49:40,000
scenes. 
The ceiling has been painted 

5290
04:49:40,000 --> 04:49:46,200
with clouds and cherubs Candles 
expensive wax candles not Smoky 

5291
04:49:46,200 --> 04:49:51,500
talo provide warm steady light 
from Silver candelabras. the 

5292
04:49:51,500 --> 04:49:55,700
table itself makes you pause, 
it's covered with white linen so

5293
04:49:55,700 --> 04:49:59,000
fine you can almost see through 
it and the cloth drapes to the 

5294
04:49:59,000 --> 04:50:03,800
floor in perfect folds on this 
pristine white canvas an entire 

5295
04:50:03,800 --> 04:50:08,400
landscape of dishes has been 
arranged Silver platters ceramic

5296
04:50:08,400 --> 04:50:12,400
bowls, painted with intricate 
designs and glass vessels that 

5297
04:50:12,400 --> 04:50:15,400
catch the candlelight and throw 
rainbow sparkles across the 

5298
04:50:15,408 --> 04:50:18,700
tablecloth. 
And here's something new each 

5299
04:50:18,700 --> 04:50:23,000
guest has their own plate. 
Not a bread trencher, but an 

5300
04:50:23,000 --> 04:50:25,800
actual plate made of pewter or 
ceramic. 

5301
04:50:26,600 --> 04:50:29,100
Individual plates were a 
Renaissance in Innovation that 

5302
04:50:29,100 --> 04:50:32,600
changed everything about how 
people ate even more 

5303
04:50:32,600 --> 04:50:35,400
revolutionary. 
You have your own cut made of 

5304
04:50:35,400 --> 04:50:38,900
glass perhaps or silver. 
If your host is particularly 

5305
04:50:38,900 --> 04:50:42,100
well fee. 
It sits to your right and it's 

5306
04:50:42,100 --> 04:50:47,500
yours alone for the entire meal,
no more wiping and passing, you 

5307
04:50:47,500 --> 04:50:49,900
can drink whenever you want 
without coordination or 

5308
04:50:49,900 --> 04:50:53,400
consideration for others. 
It's a small change that 

5309
04:50:53,400 --> 04:50:56,000
represents a massive shift in 
dining philosophy. 

5310
04:50:56,700 --> 04:51:00,100
From communal to individual from
shared to personal. 

5311
04:51:01,400 --> 04:51:03,800
But the most significant 
Innovation sits beside your 

5312
04:51:03,800 --> 04:51:07,000
plate looking Innocent. 
But carrying revolutionary 

5313
04:51:07,000 --> 04:51:11,300
implications, Fork. 
The fork had existed for 

5314
04:51:11,300 --> 04:51:14,800
centuries in the Byzantine 
Empire and parts of the Middle 

5315
04:51:14,800 --> 04:51:18,100
East, but it was Catherine de 
Medici, who really popularized 

5316
04:51:18,100 --> 04:51:21,300
it in Western Europe when she 
brought the custom from Italy to

5317
04:51:21,300 --> 04:51:26,000
France in 1533. 
At first people thought Forks 

5318
04:51:26,000 --> 04:51:30,900
were pretentious even sinful 
after all God Gave You fingers 

5319
04:51:30,900 --> 04:51:34,100
for eating? 
But slowly the forks 

5320
04:51:34,100 --> 04:51:37,100
practicality won out using a 
fork. 

5321
04:51:37,100 --> 04:51:39,200
Required learning entirely new 
skills. 

5322
04:51:39,200 --> 04:51:41,900
You couldn't just stab at your 
food randomly. 

5323
04:51:41,900 --> 04:51:43,800
There was a right way and a 
wrong way. 

5324
04:51:44,700 --> 04:51:48,100
The fork went in your left hand,
the knife in your right, you use

5325
04:51:48,100 --> 04:51:51,100
the knife to cut and the fork to
spear and lift your mouth. 

5326
04:51:51,100 --> 04:51:55,100
It was a kind of dance, 
according of both hands working 

5327
04:51:55,100 --> 04:51:57,900
together. 
Mastering it marked you as 

5328
04:51:57,900 --> 04:52:02,200
educated and refined Italian 
etiquette manuals from this 

5329
04:52:02,200 --> 04:52:05,800
period are wonderfully details. 
They explained not just what to 

5330
04:52:05,800 --> 04:52:09,300
do, but why? 
Don't blow on your food to cool 

5331
04:52:09,300 --> 04:52:11,500
it. 
Wait patiently for it to cool 

5332
04:52:11,500 --> 04:52:14,100
naturally. 
Don't make noise when you eat. 

5333
04:52:15,100 --> 04:52:18,900
Chew quietly and deliberately 
don't just your wildly with your

5334
04:52:18,900 --> 04:52:22,400
hands while talking. 
Keep your movements controlled 

5335
04:52:22,400 --> 04:52:26,900
and graceful every action should
demonstrate restraint patients 

5336
04:52:26,900 --> 04:52:30,700
and consideration. 
The Renaissance obsession with 

5337
04:52:30,700 --> 04:52:33,100
classical Antiquity extended to 
dining. 

5338
04:52:33,900 --> 04:52:37,500
Wealthy host, tried to recreate 
Roman, Banquets with similar, 

5339
04:52:37,500 --> 04:52:39,900
reclining, couches, and 
elaborate courses. 

5340
04:52:41,100 --> 04:52:45,000
But they also added new elements
printed menus describing each 

5341
04:52:45,000 --> 04:52:49,100
course, decorative, sculptures 
made of sugar or marzipan and 

5342
04:52:49,100 --> 04:52:51,900
even mechanical devices that 
move dishes around the table. 

5343
04:52:52,800 --> 04:52:55,500
Dining became theater spectacle 
and art. 

5344
04:52:56,500 --> 04:52:59,200
Picture yourself at one of these
elaborate Renaissance dinners. 

5345
04:52:59,800 --> 04:53:03,600
The first course arrives a 
delicate soup served in painted 

5346
04:53:03,600 --> 04:53:05,800
bowls. 
You notice everyone. 

5347
04:53:05,800 --> 04:53:09,200
Picking up the ball carefully, 
bringing it to their lips to sip

5348
04:53:09,200 --> 04:53:13,100
rather than slurping from a 
spoon, the warmth of the soup. 

5349
04:53:13,900 --> 04:53:15,800
Subtle flavors of herbs and 
cream. 

5350
04:53:15,800 --> 04:53:18,700
The gentle clink of ceramic 
against the table. 

5351
04:53:18,700 --> 04:53:22,700
It's all very refined, very 
controlled. 

5352
04:53:24,100 --> 04:53:27,300
Between courses servants appear 
with water and cloths for hand 

5353
04:53:27,300 --> 04:53:30,900
washing, even though you're 
using utensils and theoretically

5354
04:53:30,900 --> 04:53:34,300
not getting your hands dirty. 
It's become more ritual than 

5355
04:53:34,300 --> 04:53:37,200
necessity. 
A pause in the meal that allows 

5356
04:53:37,200 --> 04:53:41,900
for conversation and digestion. 
The water is centered perhaps 

5357
04:53:41,900 --> 04:53:45,100
with lavender or lemon and the 
cloths are warmed. 

5358
04:53:45,700 --> 04:53:49,000
Even the Practical aspects of 
dining have become luxurious. 

5359
04:53:49,800 --> 04:53:52,400
The French Court, took Italian 
refinement and elevated. 

5360
04:53:52,400 --> 04:53:56,600
It further under Louis the 14th 
dining at versaille became so 

5361
04:53:56,600 --> 04:53:58,700
elaborate that it required 
guidebooks. 

5362
04:53:59,600 --> 04:54:03,200
The Sun King dined in public 
like a medieval Lord, but with 

5363
04:54:03,200 --> 04:54:05,800
such ceremony that watching him 
eat was considered 

5364
04:54:05,800 --> 04:54:08,800
entertainment. 
There were officials, whose only

5365
04:54:08,800 --> 04:54:12,100
job was to carry the king's 
napkin others who tasted his 

5366
04:54:12,100 --> 04:54:15,100
food and still others, who 
managed the progression of 

5367
04:54:15,100 --> 04:54:18,200
courses. 
French etiquette introduced the 

5368
04:54:18,200 --> 04:54:22,700
concept of surveys lefante says,
French service, where all the 

5369
04:54:22,708 --> 04:54:24,600
dishes for each course were 
placed on the table 

5370
04:54:24,600 --> 04:54:27,900
simultaneously creating an 
impressive display. 

5371
04:54:28,800 --> 04:54:32,200
You didn't simply eat you 
surveyed, the optionals made 

5372
04:54:32,200 --> 04:54:35,400
choices and constructed your own
meal from the available dishes. 

5373
04:54:36,400 --> 04:54:39,000
It required, both 
decision-making and restrained, 

5374
04:54:39,000 --> 04:54:41,900
you couldn't try everything 
without appearing greedy. 

5375
04:54:43,100 --> 04:54:45,500
Napkins evolved during this 
period into something 

5376
04:54:45,500 --> 04:54:49,600
approaching what we used today. 
Renaissance napkins were large 

5377
04:54:49,600 --> 04:54:52,400
squares of linen. 
Often embroidered with family 

5378
04:54:52,400 --> 04:54:57,300
crests or decorative patterns. 
They had multiple uses wiping 

5379
04:54:57,300 --> 04:55:00,600
your fingers in the mouth, 
protecting your clothing and 

5380
04:55:00,600 --> 04:55:03,000
even being tied around your 
neck, like a bib for 

5381
04:55:03,000 --> 04:55:06,600
particularly Saucy dishes. 
Some etiquette manuals 

5382
04:55:06,600 --> 04:55:10,000
suggested, elaborate napkin 
folds that could take servants 

5383
04:55:10,000 --> 04:55:13,600
hours to perfect. 
The seating arrangement at 

5384
04:55:13,600 --> 04:55:15,100
Renaissance dinners, followed 
strict. 

5385
04:55:15,100 --> 04:55:18,400
Protocols, the most important 
guests sat to the hosts, right? 

5386
04:55:18,400 --> 04:55:22,500
The second most important to 
their left and so on down the 

5387
04:55:22,500 --> 04:55:24,200
table in descending order of 
rank. 

5388
04:55:25,200 --> 04:55:28,000
Where you sat announced your 
social status to everyone 

5389
04:55:28,000 --> 04:55:31,900
present. this created a physical
representation of social 

5390
04:55:31,900 --> 04:55:35,700
hierarchy, with the table 
itself, becoming a map of power 

5391
04:55:35,700 --> 04:55:39,400
and prestige, Music often 
accompanied these elaborate 

5392
04:55:39,400 --> 04:55:42,500
meals but it was carefully 
chosen to be soothing rather 

5393
04:55:42,500 --> 04:55:47,300
than stimulating. 
Soft lute, music, perhaps, or a 

5394
04:55:47,300 --> 04:55:51,100
small Ensemble, playing gentle. 
Madrigals The music filled the 

5395
04:55:51,100 --> 04:55:54,800
space is between conversational 
without overwhelming it like a 

5396
04:55:54,800 --> 04:55:57,600
Sonic tablecloth, underneath, 
the sound of dining. 

5397
04:55:58,400 --> 04:56:02,700
Even the music was refined 
controlled, and perfectly 

5398
04:56:02,700 --> 04:56:05,200
pitched to enhance rather than 
dominate. 

5399
04:56:06,000 --> 04:56:08,900
As you imagine yourself in this 
Renaissance dining room, the 

5400
04:56:08,900 --> 04:56:12,100
candlelight the music, the 
careful, choreography of 

5401
04:56:12,100 --> 04:56:15,900
utensils and courses. 
Notice how much more deliberate 

5402
04:56:15,900 --> 04:56:19,800
everything has become? 
Medieval dining was communal and

5403
04:56:19,800 --> 04:56:22,200
energetic. 
Renaissance, dining is 

5404
04:56:22,200 --> 04:56:26,400
individual and contemplative. 
Both have their charms, but 

5405
04:56:26,400 --> 04:56:29,400
there's something particularly 
peaceful about this new approach

5406
04:56:29,400 --> 04:56:32,700
where every movement is 
considered every gesture 

5407
04:56:32,700 --> 04:56:35,400
meaningful. 
Let the refinement of it all 

5408
04:56:35,400 --> 04:56:38,500
wash overview. 
The careful placement of forks 

5409
04:56:38,500 --> 04:56:41,300
and knives. 
The gentle rhythm of course, is 

5410
04:56:41,300 --> 04:56:43,800
the soft Candlelight reflecting 
off. 

5411
04:56:43,800 --> 04:56:47,600
Polished silver. 
This is dining as meditation 

5412
04:56:47,600 --> 04:56:51,700
eating as an art forum. 
Close your eyes and breathe in 

5413
04:56:51,700 --> 04:56:53,700
the lavender. 
Centered water from the finger 

5414
04:56:53,700 --> 04:56:57,800
Bowl, fill the smooth, linen of 
the napkin and hear the quiet, 

5415
04:56:57,800 --> 04:57:02,500
clink of silver against ceramic.
Everything is designed to create

5416
04:57:02,500 --> 04:57:07,700
peace, Beauty and harmony. 
Now, we're moving into the 19th 

5417
04:57:07,700 --> 04:57:10,200
century, and if you thought 
Renaissance dining was 

5418
04:57:10,200 --> 04:57:14,300
elaborate, just wait. 
The Victorian era took table 

5419
04:57:14,300 --> 04:57:17,000
manners and transformed them 
into something approaching 

5420
04:57:17,000 --> 04:57:19,900
rocket science. 
This was the peak of dining 

5421
04:57:19,900 --> 04:57:23,600
complexity when knowing which 
Fork to use could make or break 

5422
04:57:23,600 --> 04:57:26,700
your social standing. 
Settle deeper into your 

5423
04:57:26,708 --> 04:57:29,400
comfortable spot because 
understanding Victorian table 

5424
04:57:29,400 --> 04:57:32,200
manners, requires a kind of 
relaxed attention. 

5425
04:57:33,300 --> 04:57:37,600
You try to follow all the rules,
you'll just get confused better 

5426
04:57:37,600 --> 04:57:40,000
to let them wash over. 
You like a gentle very 

5427
04:57:40,000 --> 04:57:44,300
particular wave. 
In Victorian Britain and America

5428
04:57:44,300 --> 04:57:46,700
the middle class was expanding 
rapidly. 

5429
04:57:47,600 --> 04:57:50,600
Suddenly people who had grown 
up, eating simple meals. 

5430
04:57:50,600 --> 04:57:53,000
From simple. 
Dishes found themselves with 

5431
04:57:53,000 --> 04:57:56,200
enough, money to host, dinner 
parties but having money wasn't 

5432
04:57:56,200 --> 04:57:59,100
enough, he also needed to know 
how to behave properly. 

5433
04:58:00,500 --> 04:58:03,800
This created a massive market 
for etikette books, which 

5434
04:58:03,800 --> 04:58:07,400
multiplied like rabbits and 
filled pages with increasingly 

5435
04:58:07,400 --> 04:58:12,100
Specific Instructions. 
The Victorian dinner table was a

5436
04:58:12,100 --> 04:58:15,200
Marvel of organization. 
At a formal dinner, you might 

5437
04:58:15,200 --> 04:58:17,000
have six or seven different 
Forks. 

5438
04:58:17,000 --> 04:58:19,500
Each designed for a specific 
course. 

5439
04:58:19,500 --> 04:58:23,100
There was the fish fork with its
slightly wide attains. 

5440
04:58:23,100 --> 04:58:27,200
The salad fork is smaller than 
the dinner Fork, the oyster Fork

5441
04:58:27,200 --> 04:58:30,600
tiny and specialized the 
placement of these utensils 

5442
04:58:30,600 --> 04:58:33,200
communicated. 
The menu, you could read the 

5443
04:58:33,208 --> 04:58:35,000
table like a map of the meal to 
come. 

5444
04:58:35,000 --> 04:58:37,100
But Forks, were just the 
beginning. 

5445
04:58:37,900 --> 04:58:42,600
He also had multiple knives. 
A butter knife, a fish knife, a 

5446
04:58:42,600 --> 04:58:44,300
dinner, knife, and a cheese 
knife. 

5447
04:58:45,000 --> 04:58:50,100
Multiple spoons, soup spoon, 
desserts bun and demitasse Spoon

5448
04:58:50,100 --> 04:58:54,200
for coffee. 
Multiple glasses, water goblet 

5449
04:58:54,200 --> 04:58:59,600
red, wine glass, white wine 
glass, Sherry glass and 

5450
04:58:59,600 --> 04:59:03,300
champagne flute. 
He fully set, Victorian table 

5451
04:59:03,300 --> 04:59:06,200
could have 20 pieces of 
silverware and glassware per 

5452
04:59:06,200 --> 04:59:08,000
person. 
The rule for using. 

5453
04:59:08,000 --> 04:59:11,600
All these utensils, was actually
quite simple though, memorizing.

5454
04:59:11,600 --> 04:59:13,000
What went? 
Where was complex? 

5455
04:59:13,800 --> 04:59:16,000
Start from the outside and work 
your way in. 

5456
04:59:16,900 --> 04:59:20,300
The outermost Fork was for the 
first course, the next one in 

5457
04:59:20,300 --> 04:59:23,700
for the second course. 
And so on this meant, you didn't

5458
04:59:23,700 --> 04:59:25,500
need to know what each utensil 
was called. 

5459
04:59:25,500 --> 04:59:29,700
You just needed to know the 
sequence picture yourself at a 

5460
04:59:29,700 --> 04:59:32,400
Victorian dinner party. 
You're wearing formal clothing 

5461
04:59:32,400 --> 04:59:36,100
that slightly uncomfortable 
corsets for women tight collars 

5462
04:59:36,100 --> 04:59:38,900
for men. 
The dining room is elaborately 

5463
04:59:38,900 --> 04:59:43,100
decorated with heavy curtains or
Nate furniture and multiple 

5464
04:59:43,100 --> 04:59:47,400
layers of table Linens. 
The table itself is a landscape 

5465
04:59:47,400 --> 04:59:51,600
of China, Crystal and silver all
gleaming in the light from a 

5466
04:59:51,600 --> 04:59:55,000
chandelier overhead. 
The meal begins with soup served

5467
04:59:55,000 --> 04:59:57,700
by gloved servants, who Moved 
silently around the table. 

5468
04:59:58,500 --> 05:00:01,700
You pick up your soup spoon, the
larger spoon at your place 

5469
05:00:01,700 --> 05:00:03,900
setting and here's where it gets
specific. 

5470
05:00:04,900 --> 05:00:08,300
You're supposed to spoon, soup 
away from you, not toward you, 

5471
05:00:08,308 --> 05:00:11,500
this prevents drips from falling
on your clothing. 

5472
05:00:11,500 --> 05:00:14,900
You sip from the side of the 
spoon, not the tip. 

5473
05:00:14,900 --> 05:00:19,900
You never ever blow on the soup 
to cool it, no matter how hot it

5474
05:00:19,900 --> 05:00:22,500
is. 
When you finish your suit, you 

5475
05:00:22,500 --> 05:00:25,700
place the spoon on the plate 
beneath the bowl handle pointing

5476
05:00:25,700 --> 05:00:29,700
to the 4:00 position. 
This signals to the servants 

5477
05:00:29,700 --> 05:00:31,500
that you're done and they can 
clear your place. 

5478
05:00:32,400 --> 05:00:36,200
Every position of the utensils 
communicated, something resting 

5479
05:00:36,200 --> 05:00:39,400
position meant you were pausing 
and finished position meant, 

5480
05:00:39,400 --> 05:00:42,700
they could clear. 
Between each course, servants 

5481
05:00:42,700 --> 05:00:45,500
would change, not just the 
plate, but also the utensils. 

5482
05:00:45,500 --> 05:00:48,700
What you'd eaten fish with would
be replaced with fresh 

5483
05:00:48,700 --> 05:00:52,100
implements for the next course. 
This created a rhythm to the 

5484
05:00:52,100 --> 05:00:57,000
meal, eat pause while the table 
is cleared and reset, eat the 

5485
05:00:57,008 --> 05:01:01,600
next course pause again. 
The pauses were for conversation

5486
05:01:01,600 --> 05:01:03,900
which was as choreographed as 
the eating. 

5487
05:01:04,800 --> 05:01:07,000
Victorian conversation rules 
were elaborate. 

5488
05:01:07,000 --> 05:01:10,300
You were supposed to talk to the
person on your right during some

5489
05:01:10,300 --> 05:01:12,900
courses and the person on your 
left during others. 

5490
05:01:13,700 --> 05:01:15,400
Topics were carefully 
circumscribed. 

5491
05:01:15,400 --> 05:01:18,700
Nothing too political religious 
or personal. 

5492
05:01:18,700 --> 05:01:22,000
The weather was safe. 
Recent books were acceptable 

5493
05:01:22,000 --> 05:01:24,400
garden. 
Design was perfect. 

5494
05:01:25,400 --> 05:01:28,700
The goal was pleasant 
uncontroversial conversation 

5495
05:01:28,700 --> 05:01:32,300
that helped digestion rather 
than hindering it. 

5496
05:01:33,500 --> 05:01:35,800
Napkin uses evolved into an art 
form. 

5497
05:01:35,800 --> 05:01:39,700
When you sat down, you unfolded 
your napkin and placed it cross 

5498
05:01:39,700 --> 05:01:42,200
your lap. 
Never tucked into your collar 

5499
05:01:42,200 --> 05:01:44,900
like a bib. 
You use it to dab your mouth, 

5500
05:01:44,900 --> 05:01:48,900
not white vigorously. 
If you needed to leave the table

5501
05:01:48,900 --> 05:01:51,600
temporarily you place the napkin
on your chair. 

5502
05:01:51,600 --> 05:01:54,500
Only when the meal was 
completely finished? 

5503
05:01:54,500 --> 05:01:57,900
Did you put the napkin on the 
table and even then, you didn't 

5504
05:01:57,900 --> 05:02:01,000
Fold It neatly. 
That might suggest you expected 

5505
05:02:01,000 --> 05:02:04,200
to use the same napkin again. 
Implying, your host didn't have 

5506
05:02:04,200 --> 05:02:05,800
enough clean napkins for every 
meal. 

5507
05:02:07,400 --> 05:02:10,400
The Victorian era introduced, 
what the French called service 

5508
05:02:10,400 --> 05:02:14,300
salaries, Russian service, which
replaced the French style. 

5509
05:02:15,000 --> 05:02:17,000
Instead of all dishes appearing 
at once. 

5510
05:02:17,000 --> 05:02:20,800
Russian service brought one 
course at a time already plated.

5511
05:02:21,800 --> 05:02:24,500
This was more practical for 
homes without large staffs of 

5512
05:02:24,508 --> 05:02:28,300
servants and created a more 
controlled sequential dining 

5513
05:02:28,300 --> 05:02:31,600
experience. 
The meal became like a story 

5514
05:02:31,600 --> 05:02:35,600
unfolding chapter by chapter. 
Women's etiquette books had 

5515
05:02:35,600 --> 05:02:38,300
additional rules. 
You were never supposed to 

5516
05:02:38,300 --> 05:02:41,500
appear too hungry. 
You should eat slowly in small 

5517
05:02:41,508 --> 05:02:44,300
bites, showing restraint and 
delicacy. 

5518
05:02:45,000 --> 05:02:48,700
Foods that required messy eating
lobster artichokes. 

5519
05:02:48,700 --> 05:02:53,000
Hold fruits, should be 
approached with extreme care or 

5520
05:02:53,000 --> 05:02:55,400
avoided entirely informal 
situations. 

5521
05:02:55,400 --> 05:02:58,900
The goal was to eat sufficiently
without appearing to actually 

5522
05:02:58,900 --> 05:03:02,600
need food which is quite the 
mental gymnastics when you think

5523
05:03:02,600 --> 05:03:05,400
about it. 
Alcohol consumption was 

5524
05:03:05,400 --> 05:03:07,800
carefully regulated by social 
rules. 

5525
05:03:07,800 --> 05:03:11,300
Gentleman, could drink more 
freely, but even they were 

5526
05:03:11,300 --> 05:03:13,500
expected to maintain perfect 
composure. 

5527
05:03:14,300 --> 05:03:17,300
Ladies might have a glass of 
wine with dinner, but were 

5528
05:03:17,300 --> 05:03:20,900
encouraged to diluted with water
and sip rather than drink. 

5529
05:03:21,800 --> 05:03:25,800
Toasting was a complex ritual 
with its own protocols who could

5530
05:03:25,800 --> 05:03:29,600
propose toasts when and how 
everyone should respond? 

5531
05:03:30,600 --> 05:03:34,700
The length of Victorian formal 
dinners could be astonishing. 7 

5532
05:03:34,700 --> 05:03:36,800
or 8 causes spread over three or
four hours. 

5533
05:03:36,800 --> 05:03:39,000
Wasn't unusual for an important 
in a party. 

5534
05:03:39,000 --> 05:03:43,200
This required, enormous stamina 
from both hosts and guests. 

5535
05:03:43,700 --> 05:03:47,400
You had to pace yourself, eating
enough to be polite, but not so 

5536
05:03:47,400 --> 05:03:50,300
much that you'd be uncomfortably
full before the meal ended. 

5537
05:03:51,100 --> 05:03:54,700
Imagine how these long dinners 
must have felt the initial 

5538
05:03:54,700 --> 05:03:57,400
excitement of arriving and 
seeing the beautifully set 

5539
05:03:57,400 --> 05:04:00,200
table. 
The careful attention required 

5540
05:04:00,200 --> 05:04:03,200
for the first few courses, 
making sure you use the right 

5541
05:04:03,200 --> 05:04:06,900
utensils and followed all the 
rules, the gradual relaxation, 

5542
05:04:06,900 --> 05:04:11,800
as wine and conversation flowed.
The slight fatigue set in around

5543
05:04:11,800 --> 05:04:15,400
course, 5 or 6. 
The gentle relief when desert 

5544
05:04:15,400 --> 05:04:18,000
finally appeared signaling the 
approaching end. 

5545
05:04:19,600 --> 05:04:22,300
What's interesting about 
Victorian table, manners is how 

5546
05:04:22,300 --> 05:04:25,300
much they were about 
demonstrating control over your 

5547
05:04:25,300 --> 05:04:29,300
appetite, your emotions your 
movements and your conversation.

5548
05:04:30,400 --> 05:04:33,600
Every aspect of dining became an
opportunity to show that you 

5549
05:04:33,600 --> 05:04:36,800
were civilized educated and 
refined enough to belong in 

5550
05:04:36,800 --> 05:04:40,200
polite Society. 
It was exhausting, but it was 

5551
05:04:40,208 --> 05:04:44,400
also strangely meditative. 
When every action is prescribed,

5552
05:04:44,400 --> 05:04:47,200
you stop worrying about what to 
do and simply follow the 

5553
05:04:47,200 --> 05:04:50,000
pattern. 
As you drift in that Pleasant 

5554
05:04:50,000 --> 05:04:51,800
space between waking and 
sleeping. 

5555
05:04:52,500 --> 05:04:55,100
Imagine the soft clink of Fine 
China. 

5556
05:04:55,100 --> 05:04:59,500
The gentle murmur of appropriate
conversation and The Gleam of 

5557
05:04:59,508 --> 05:05:03,600
Candlelight on crystal. 
Victorian dining rooms must have

5558
05:05:03,600 --> 05:05:05,500
been peaceful in their own 
formal way. 

5559
05:05:05,500 --> 05:05:09,400
Everyone following the same 
elaborate choreography, moving 

5560
05:05:09,400 --> 05:05:12,600
through the meal, like dancers 
who all know the steps. 

5561
05:05:13,700 --> 05:05:16,700
Let that formality relax. 
You, rather than stress you 

5562
05:05:16,700 --> 05:05:20,600
this, something soothing about 
knowing exactly what is expected

5563
05:05:20,600 --> 05:05:23,600
about moving through prescribed 
patterns. 

5564
05:05:24,600 --> 05:05:27,400
Victorian table manners might 
have been complex, but they 

5565
05:05:27,400 --> 05:05:30,700
created a framework that made 
social interaction predictable 

5566
05:05:30,700 --> 05:05:34,100
and therefore in its way 
peaceful. 

5567
05:05:35,400 --> 05:05:38,300
As we move into the 20th 
century, something wonderful 

5568
05:05:38,300 --> 05:05:41,900
happens to table manners. 
They start absorbing influences 

5569
05:05:41,900 --> 05:05:45,300
from around the world. 
The elaborate European rules 

5570
05:05:45,300 --> 05:05:46,900
that are dominated for 
centuries. 

5571
05:05:46,900 --> 05:05:51,800
Begin mixing with Customs from 
Asia Africa, the Middle East and

5572
05:05:51,800 --> 05:05:56,200
the Americas creating a richer 
more diverse understanding of 

5573
05:05:56,200 --> 05:05:59,800
how people can eat together. 
Let your mind drift across the 

5574
05:05:59,800 --> 05:06:03,800
globe now, visiting different 
dining Traditions each with its 

5575
05:06:03,800 --> 05:06:08,000
own Beauty and logic. 
Will travel gently like a slow 

5576
05:06:08,000 --> 05:06:12,100
boat on a calm sea stopping at 
various ports to observe and 

5577
05:06:12,100 --> 05:06:15,800
appreciate. 
In Japan table manners, revolve 

5578
05:06:15,800 --> 05:06:19,600
around respect for the food for 
those who prepared it and for 

5579
05:06:19,600 --> 05:06:24,300
your dining companions. 
Before eating you say itadakimas

5580
05:06:24,300 --> 05:06:28,800
which roughly translates to. 
I humbly receive this food, it 

5581
05:06:28,800 --> 05:06:31,500
acknowledges the plants and 
animals that gave their lives, 

5582
05:06:31,500 --> 05:06:35,200
the people who prepared the meal
and the natural forces that made

5583
05:06:35,200 --> 05:06:38,400
it all possible. 
This single word, turns eating 

5584
05:06:38,400 --> 05:06:42,400
into gratitude Chopstick. 
Etiquette in Japan is one of the

5585
05:06:42,408 --> 05:06:46,300
specific never stick Chopsticks 
vertically into rice. 

5586
05:06:46,300 --> 05:06:48,400
That's how food is offered to 
the Dead. 

5587
05:06:49,200 --> 05:06:52,900
Never pass food from Chopstick 
to Chopstick, that resembles a 

5588
05:06:52,900 --> 05:06:56,900
funeral ritual. 
Never Point Chopsticks at people

5589
05:06:56,900 --> 05:06:58,800
or wave them around while 
talking. 

5590
05:06:59,700 --> 05:07:02,700
The rules aren't arbitrary. 
They all connect to deeper 

5591
05:07:02,700 --> 05:07:04,900
cultural meanings about respect 
and awareness. 

5592
05:07:06,300 --> 05:07:10,800
Picture a Japanese meal. 
Your sitting on a tatami mats 

5593
05:07:10,800 --> 05:07:14,400
with a low table before you 
Multiple small dishes are 

5594
05:07:14,400 --> 05:07:17,400
arranged beautifully. 
Each one a miniature work of 

5595
05:07:17,400 --> 05:07:19,600
art. 
There's rice in a lacquered 

5596
05:07:19,600 --> 05:07:24,300
bowl, miso soup steaming gently 
carefully arranged vegetables, 

5597
05:07:24,300 --> 05:07:27,400
and perhaps some fish. 
You pick up your chopsticks, 

5598
05:07:27,400 --> 05:07:31,900
hold them correctly, which takes
practice and begin eating slowly

5599
05:07:31,900 --> 05:07:34,600
appreciating each flavor 
separately. 

5600
05:07:34,600 --> 05:07:38,000
The pace of a traditional 
Japanese meal is beautifully. 

5601
05:07:38,000 --> 05:07:41,200
Meditative small portions mean, 
you eat slowly? 

5602
05:07:41,200 --> 05:07:44,500
The variety of dishes means 
you're constantly experiencing 

5603
05:07:44,500 --> 05:07:48,500
new flavors and textures. 
slurping noodles is not just 

5604
05:07:48,500 --> 05:07:53,200
acceptable, but encouraged it 
cools the noodles and enhances 

5605
05:07:53,200 --> 05:07:56,600
the flavor. 
The sound of slurping noodles in

5606
05:07:56,600 --> 05:07:59,300
a Japanese restaurant. 
Is the sound of appreciation, 

5607
05:07:59,300 --> 05:08:04,000
pleasure and enjoyment. 
Travel with me now to India 

5608
05:08:04,000 --> 05:08:07,100
where eating with your hands is 
not only common but also 

5609
05:08:07,100 --> 05:08:10,100
considered preferable for 
certain foods. there's a 

5610
05:08:10,100 --> 05:08:13,900
technique to it, you use your 
right hand only and specifically

5611
05:08:13,900 --> 05:08:18,300
your fingers, not your palm, You
mix the rice or bread with curry

5612
05:08:18,300 --> 05:08:21,800
or Dale forming a small ball and
lift it to your mouth with your 

5613
05:08:21,800 --> 05:08:25,500
thumb pushing from behind. 
This isn't careless or messy, 

5614
05:08:25,500 --> 05:08:29,900
it's actually quite precise. 
The temperature of the food, the

5615
05:08:29,900 --> 05:08:32,300
texture, the way flavors 
combined. 

5616
05:08:32,300 --> 05:08:36,000
All of this is enhanced by the 
tactile experience of eating 

5617
05:08:36,000 --> 05:08:40,300
with your hands Weston utensils.
Create a barrier between you and

5618
05:08:40,300 --> 05:08:44,500
your food in Indian eating 
customs, remove that barrier 

5619
05:08:44,500 --> 05:08:49,000
making the meal more intimate 
and immediate Indian dining 

5620
05:08:49,000 --> 05:08:51,900
etiquette emphasizes Hospitality
above almost. 

5621
05:08:51,900 --> 05:08:55,600
Everything else guests are 
served first and encouraged to 

5622
05:08:55,600 --> 05:08:58,400
eat their fill. 
Refusing food is considered 

5623
05:08:58,400 --> 05:09:03,200
insulting to The Host. 
There's a phrase in Hindi, a 

5624
05:09:03,200 --> 05:09:05,900
teethy devour, which means the 
guest is God. 

5625
05:09:06,600 --> 05:09:09,600
This philosophy shapes 
everything about how meals are 

5626
05:09:09,600 --> 05:09:12,900
served and shared. 
Drift now to Ethiopia, where 

5627
05:09:12,900 --> 05:09:15,600
communally, eating reaches a 
beautiful extreme with the 

5628
05:09:15,608 --> 05:09:20,100
practice of eating from a shared
platter in jera a spongy 

5629
05:09:20,100 --> 05:09:24,400
flatbread covers, a large plate 
and various stews and vegetables

5630
05:09:24,400 --> 05:09:27,400
are spooned onto it. 
Everyone eats from the same 

5631
05:09:27,400 --> 05:09:31,200
platter tearing off pieces of in
jira to scoop up the food. 

5632
05:09:32,000 --> 05:09:36,100
There are no individual plates. 
No personal portions just shared

5633
05:09:36,100 --> 05:09:40,100
abundance. there's even a 
practice called gusher where you

5634
05:09:40,100 --> 05:09:43,100
tear off a piece of engineer 
with food and feed it, directly 

5635
05:09:43,100 --> 05:09:46,500
to someone else at the table, 
usually a guest, or someone you 

5636
05:09:46,500 --> 05:09:50,000
want to honor This intimate Act 
of feeding. 

5637
05:09:50,000 --> 05:09:53,500
Another person is a gesture of 
love and respect it. 

5638
05:09:53,500 --> 05:09:56,500
Breaks down barriers between 
people more effectively than any

5639
05:09:56,500 --> 05:10:01,900
formal etiquette ruled could In 
the Middle East, hospitality and

5640
05:10:01,900 --> 05:10:04,300
generosity defined dining 
Customs. 

5641
05:10:04,300 --> 05:10:06,900
Coffee service. 
Becomes an elaborate ritual 

5642
05:10:06,900 --> 05:10:11,100
involving multiple rounds and 
specific protocols, Meals. 

5643
05:10:11,100 --> 05:10:14,200
Often begin with medzi small 
dishes of appetizers. 

5644
05:10:14,200 --> 05:10:17,300
That encourage lingering tasting
and conversation. 

5645
05:10:18,300 --> 05:10:21,700
Paces, unhurried, rushing 
through a meal would insult both

5646
05:10:21,700 --> 05:10:25,300
the food and your companions. 
Traditional Middle Eastern 

5647
05:10:25,300 --> 05:10:27,100
dining. 
Often happens on floor. 

5648
05:10:27,100 --> 05:10:30,500
Cushions around a low table or 
cloth spread on the ground. 

5649
05:10:31,600 --> 05:10:34,800
The posture itself sitting 
cross-legged or with legs to the

5650
05:10:34,800 --> 05:10:37,200
side creates a relaxed 
atmosphere. 

5651
05:10:38,100 --> 05:10:40,700
You can't eat formal course off 
to formal course, when your 

5652
05:10:40,700 --> 05:10:44,000
lounging on, cushions the 
environment encourages ease and 

5653
05:10:44,000 --> 05:10:49,700
comfort, Mexican dining Customs,
blend indigenous and Spanish 

5654
05:10:49,700 --> 05:10:51,600
influences into something 
unique. 

5655
05:10:52,800 --> 05:10:56,500
The concept of sobre. 
Maser, the time spent lingering 

5656
05:10:56,500 --> 05:10:59,900
at the table after a meal. 
Is Central to Mexican food 

5657
05:10:59,900 --> 05:11:02,100
culture? 
The melee itself. 

5658
05:11:02,100 --> 05:11:05,600
Might last an hour, the sober 
Maceo could last two or three. 

5659
05:11:06,400 --> 05:11:09,800
This isn't wasted time. 
It's when real conversation 

5660
05:11:09,800 --> 05:11:12,400
happens when relationships 
deepen. 

5661
05:11:12,400 --> 05:11:16,100
And when the community 
strengthens Chinese. 

5662
05:11:16,100 --> 05:11:20,200
Banquets introduce the Lazy. 
Susan, a rotating platform in 

5663
05:11:20,200 --> 05:11:23,500
the center of the table that 
makes sharing dishes effortless.

5664
05:11:24,300 --> 05:11:27,300
Everyone can access everything 
without reaching or asking for 

5665
05:11:27,300 --> 05:11:30,600
things to be passed. 
It's both practical and symbolic

5666
05:11:30,600 --> 05:11:35,200
representing the circular nature
of community and the idea that 

5667
05:11:35,200 --> 05:11:38,000
everyone has equal access to 
Shared resources. 

5668
05:11:39,800 --> 05:11:42,500
Korean dining brings side 
dishes, called banchan. 

5669
05:11:43,100 --> 05:11:46,300
Small portions of kimchi, 
vegetables and other items that 

5670
05:11:46,300 --> 05:11:49,200
accompany the main meal. 
These are communal and 

5671
05:11:49,200 --> 05:11:52,400
replenished throughout the meal.
The number of banchan, reflects 

5672
05:11:52,400 --> 05:11:56,000
the formality of the occasion, 
more banchan means more to the 

5673
05:11:56,000 --> 05:11:58,200
guests. 
It's a quantifiable 

5674
05:11:58,200 --> 05:11:59,900
demonstration of respect and 
care. 

5675
05:11:59,900 --> 05:12:03,100
What's beautiful about 
experiencing all these different

5676
05:12:03,100 --> 05:12:06,400
Traditions is realizing that 
table manners aren't about 

5677
05:12:06,400 --> 05:12:09,400
arbitrary European rules. 
There are about creating 

5678
05:12:09,400 --> 05:12:13,000
Frameworks for connection 
respect and community. 

5679
05:12:14,000 --> 05:12:17,400
Japanese Chopstick, etiquette, 
Indian handy, eating techniques,

5680
05:12:17,400 --> 05:12:21,400
Ethiopian communal platters and 
Middle Eastern Hospitality. 

5681
05:12:21,400 --> 05:12:24,700
They're all saying the same 
thing in different languages. 

5682
05:12:24,700 --> 05:12:28,600
Eating together matters and how 
we do it shapes who we become 

5683
05:12:28,600 --> 05:12:31,600
together. 
The 20th century saw these 

5684
05:12:31,600 --> 05:12:35,100
Traditions increasingly interact
as travel became easier. 

5685
05:12:35,100 --> 05:12:38,400
An immigration, brought new 
communities to new places. 

5686
05:12:39,400 --> 05:12:42,900
A child growing up in London, 
might experience Chopsticks at a

5687
05:12:42,900 --> 05:12:45,800
Chinese restaurant. 
Eat with their hands at an 

5688
05:12:45,800 --> 05:12:48,900
Indian friend's house, and use a
knife and fork at home. 

5689
05:12:49,600 --> 05:12:53,200
This mixing created people who 
were fluent in multiple dining 

5690
05:12:53,200 --> 05:12:56,400
languages and able to move 
comfortably between different 

5691
05:12:56,400 --> 05:12:58,800
food. 
Cultures, what emerges from this

5692
05:12:58,800 --> 05:13:02,300
Global exchange as a kind of 
meta, etiquette the 

5693
05:13:02,300 --> 05:13:04,800
understanding that different 
situations call for different 

5694
05:13:04,800 --> 05:13:08,500
manners and that being polite 
means adapting to the customs of

5695
05:13:08,500 --> 05:13:11,300
your hosts rather than insisting
on your own habits. 

5696
05:13:12,100 --> 05:13:15,100
If you're invited to a Japanese 
home, you remove your shoes and 

5697
05:13:15,100 --> 05:13:18,000
sit on the floor. 
If you're eating Ethiopian food,

5698
05:13:18,000 --> 05:13:19,800
you share from the communal 
platter. 

5699
05:13:20,600 --> 05:13:23,400
Flexibility become the highest 
form of good manners. 

5700
05:13:23,400 --> 05:13:26,600
This all means that the rigid 
Victorian Rules, start 

5701
05:13:26,600 --> 05:13:29,600
loosening. 
Yes, there are still formal 

5702
05:13:29,600 --> 05:13:33,400
dinners with specific protocols 
but their increasingly seen as 

5703
05:13:33,400 --> 05:13:36,400
one option among many rather 
than the only correct way to 

5704
05:13:36,400 --> 05:13:39,100
eat. 
A casual meal with friends, 

5705
05:13:39,100 --> 05:13:41,900
might involve Pizza eaten with 
hands straight from the box. 

5706
05:13:42,700 --> 05:13:45,000
A business lunch might be salad 
at a desk. 

5707
05:13:45,000 --> 05:13:48,600
A celebration dinner might be an
elaborate multi-course affair. 

5708
05:13:49,200 --> 05:13:53,300
Each context has its appropriate
customs and navigating them 

5709
05:13:53,300 --> 05:13:56,500
successfully requires awareness,
rather than memorization. 

5710
05:13:57,500 --> 05:14:00,400
As you imagine yourself moving 
between these different dining 

5711
05:14:00,400 --> 05:14:03,200
cultures the tatami mats of 
Japan. 

5712
05:14:03,200 --> 05:14:06,900
The cushioned floor of a 
Moroccan home, the communal 

5713
05:14:06,900 --> 05:14:08,700
table of an Ethiopian 
restaurant. 

5714
05:14:09,500 --> 05:14:12,300
The formal dining room of a 
European style dinner party. 

5715
05:14:13,000 --> 05:14:16,200
Feel how each environment invite
a different kind of presents. 

5716
05:14:17,000 --> 05:14:21,500
Summer meditative and precise. 
Others are warm and communal and

5717
05:14:21,500 --> 05:14:22,900
still. 
Others are formal and 

5718
05:14:22,900 --> 05:14:26,100
structured. 
All of them are valid, all of 

5719
05:14:26,100 --> 05:14:29,400
them have something to teach. 
The blending of global 

5720
05:14:29,400 --> 05:14:31,600
influences. 
All so brings new foods to new 

5721
05:14:31,600 --> 05:14:33,800
places. 
And with those Foods come new 

5722
05:14:33,800 --> 05:14:36,900
challenges for table manners. 
How do you eat sushi? 

5723
05:14:38,100 --> 05:14:40,100
Is it okay to use your hands for
tacos? 

5724
05:14:40,900 --> 05:14:43,700
What's the proper way to 
approach Poe with its 

5725
05:14:43,700 --> 05:14:47,100
complicated combination of 
noodles broth herbs and 

5726
05:14:47,100 --> 05:14:49,600
condiments? 
These questions don't have 

5727
05:14:49,600 --> 05:14:53,500
single answers, they depend on 
context company and cultural 

5728
05:14:53,500 --> 05:14:56,800
sensitivity. 
What's delightful is watching 

5729
05:14:56,800 --> 05:14:58,500
how different cultures handle 
the? 

5730
05:14:58,500 --> 05:15:00,100
Same practical problems in 
different ways. 

5731
05:15:00,100 --> 05:15:03,900
Everybody needs to clean their 
hands before and after eating, 

5732
05:15:04,700 --> 05:15:08,300
The Japanese use oshibori hot 
damp towels. 

5733
05:15:09,000 --> 05:15:12,800
Middle Eastern cultures offer 
rose water in beautiful bowls. 

5734
05:15:12,800 --> 05:15:17,100
Europeans provide finger bowls 
with lemon Americans. 

5735
05:15:17,100 --> 05:15:18,800
Might just gesture toward the 
bathroom. 

5736
05:15:19,600 --> 05:15:22,000
Same need different, elegant 
Solutions. 

5737
05:15:23,000 --> 05:15:25,700
Similarly, every culture has 
developed ways to show respect 

5738
05:15:25,700 --> 05:15:27,900
for food and those who prepared 
it. 

5739
05:15:28,600 --> 05:15:32,000
Saying, grace, before meals 
offering the first portion to 

5740
05:15:32,000 --> 05:15:36,000
Elders, complementing, the cook 
and leaving a small amount on 

5741
05:15:36,000 --> 05:15:37,600
your plate show. 
You've been well fed. 

5742
05:15:38,500 --> 05:15:42,600
These Customs vary in detail, 
but United purpose, they all 

5743
05:15:42,608 --> 05:15:45,100
acknowledge that eating is more 
than just a biological 

5744
05:15:45,100 --> 05:15:48,500
necessity. 
It's a spiritual and social Act.

5745
05:15:49,700 --> 05:15:52,400
Let yourself relax into this 
beautiful diversity. 

5746
05:15:53,400 --> 05:15:55,100
There's no single right way to 
eat. 

5747
05:15:55,100 --> 05:15:58,500
No universal code of table, 
manners, that applies 

5748
05:15:58,500 --> 05:16:01,700
everywhere. 
Instead, there's a rich tapestry

5749
05:16:01,700 --> 05:16:06,300
of Customs, each reflecting the 
values environment and history 

5750
05:16:06,300 --> 05:16:07,700
of the people who practiced 
them. 

5751
05:16:08,500 --> 05:16:10,600
Understanding, this can be 
liberating. 

5752
05:16:11,300 --> 05:16:14,400
You don't need to know every 
rule, just the willingness to 

5753
05:16:14,400 --> 05:16:20,000
observe adapt and show respect. 
As we drift into the 21st 

5754
05:16:20,000 --> 05:16:24,600
century, your time, the present 
moment table manners, find 

5755
05:16:24,600 --> 05:16:26,200
themselves in an interesting 
position. 

5756
05:16:27,300 --> 05:16:30,500
The elaborate Victorian rules 
still exist in certain contexts.

5757
05:16:31,300 --> 05:16:33,500
But they're no longer the 
default assumption for every 

5758
05:16:33,500 --> 05:16:36,800
meal. 
Instead modern table, manners 

5759
05:16:36,800 --> 05:16:40,300
are situational flexible and 
increasingly focused on 

5760
05:16:40,300 --> 05:16:44,000
practical considerations rather 
than arbitrary status markers. 

5761
05:16:44,900 --> 05:16:47,500
The pace of modern life has 
changed how we eat in 

5762
05:16:47,500 --> 05:16:51,500
fundamental ways quick. 
Lunches at desks grabbing dinner

5763
05:16:51,500 --> 05:16:56,100
between activities, eating while
commuting, these were options in

5764
05:16:56,100 --> 05:16:59,000
previous eras. 
This creates tension between 

5765
05:16:59,000 --> 05:17:02,100
traditional, Notions of proper 
dining and the reality of 

5766
05:17:02,100 --> 05:17:05,600
contemporary schedules. 
The result is a kind of 

5767
05:17:05,600 --> 05:17:08,600
bifurcation. 
Some meals are formal and 

5768
05:17:08,600 --> 05:17:13,200
traditional others are pragmatic
and Casual a navigating between 

5769
05:17:13,200 --> 05:17:15,700
them requires a different, kind 
of social intelligence. 

5770
05:17:16,600 --> 05:17:18,600
Think about your own meals over 
the past week. 

5771
05:17:19,400 --> 05:17:22,000
Probably somewhere you can 
quickly maybe while doing 

5772
05:17:22,000 --> 05:17:24,200
something else. 
Perhaps you had breakfast 

5773
05:17:24,200 --> 05:17:27,508
standing at the counter lunch at
your desk and dinner in front of

5774
05:17:27,516 --> 05:17:31,300
the television. these meals have
their own informal etiquette, 

5775
05:17:31,300 --> 05:17:34,600
not the kind written in books, 
but the kind that emerges from 

5776
05:17:34,600 --> 05:17:37,800
shared understanding about 
what's acceptable, but then, 

5777
05:17:37,800 --> 05:17:41,100
maybe you also had a meal that 
felt more significant Dinner 

5778
05:17:41,100 --> 05:17:44,600
with family, where everyone sat 
down together, lunch with a 

5779
05:17:44,600 --> 05:17:48,100
friend at a restaurant, a 
holiday gathering with extended 

5780
05:17:48,100 --> 05:17:51,400
family. 
For these meals, different rules

5781
05:17:51,400 --> 05:17:55,900
applied, not necessarily formal 
rules but rules nonetheless. 

5782
05:17:56,800 --> 05:18:01,100
You probably put your phone away
engaged in conversation and paid

5783
05:18:01,100 --> 05:18:03,700
attention to your eating Pace 
relative to others. 

5784
05:18:04,700 --> 05:18:08,400
This is the dance of modern 
table manners, knowing when to 

5785
05:18:08,400 --> 05:18:11,700
apply which standards 
understanding the unspoken 

5786
05:18:11,700 --> 05:18:15,300
expectations of different 
situations and being able to 

5787
05:18:15,300 --> 05:18:19,200
shift gears smoothly, It's 
actually more complex than 

5788
05:18:19,200 --> 05:18:22,700
Victorian etiquette, in some 
ways because at least victorians

5789
05:18:22,700 --> 05:18:24,100
knew the rules were always the 
same. 

5790
05:18:25,100 --> 05:18:28,200
Modern diners need to read 
contexts and adapt constantly. 

5791
05:18:29,400 --> 05:18:32,200
The smartphone is introduced 
entirely new etiquette 

5792
05:18:32,200 --> 05:18:36,400
questions, is it okay to check 
your phone during dinner to 

5793
05:18:36,400 --> 05:18:39,400
photograph your food? 
To scroll through social media 

5794
05:18:39,400 --> 05:18:43,000
between courses, the answers 
depend on, who you are, asking 

5795
05:18:43,000 --> 05:18:46,600
what the situation is. 
A casual lunch with close 

5796
05:18:46,600 --> 05:18:48,500
friends, might include phones on
the table. 

5797
05:18:48,500 --> 05:18:51,400
A formal business dinner. 
Definitely wouldn't. 

5798
05:18:52,400 --> 05:18:54,900
We're still collectively 
negotiating these norms. 

5799
05:18:55,600 --> 05:18:57,700
Food photography has become its 
own phenomenon. 

5800
05:18:57,700 --> 05:19:01,000
Millions of people photograph 
their meals and share them 

5801
05:19:01,000 --> 05:19:03,400
online. 
Turning every plate into 

5802
05:19:03,400 --> 05:19:06,500
potential content. 
Traditional etiquette would 

5803
05:19:06,500 --> 05:19:10,400
probably faint at this practice 
taking pictures of food before 

5804
05:19:10,400 --> 05:19:14,000
eating it delaying a hot meal to
get the right lighting. 

5805
05:19:14,900 --> 05:19:18,200
But modern manners are evolving 
to accommodate this new reality 

5806
05:19:18,200 --> 05:19:21,000
with some restaurants, even 
designing dishes to be 

5807
05:19:21,000 --> 05:19:24,300
photogenic. 
The rise of dietary restrictions

5808
05:19:24,300 --> 05:19:27,000
and food preferences as also 
changed table, manners. 

5809
05:19:27,800 --> 05:19:31,800
Vegetarians, vegans people with 
allergies and religious dietary 

5810
05:19:31,800 --> 05:19:34,300
requirements. 
All of these creates situations 

5811
05:19:34,300 --> 05:19:36,600
that require new forms of 
consideration. 

5812
05:19:37,500 --> 05:19:40,500
Good hosts are about dietary 
restriction as before planning 

5813
05:19:40,500 --> 05:19:43,200
menus. 
Good guests communicate their 

5814
05:19:43,200 --> 05:19:46,200
needs clearly and appreciate 
efforts made on their behalf. 

5815
05:19:46,200 --> 05:19:49,800
It's old-fashioned consideration
applied to new situations. 

5816
05:19:50,900 --> 05:19:54,200
Environmental Consciousness is 
influencing table manners, too 

5817
05:19:54,200 --> 05:19:57,100
reducing food. 
Waste has become a form of 

5818
05:19:57,100 --> 05:20:00,600
politeness using reusable 
containers, instead of 

5819
05:20:00,600 --> 05:20:03,600
disposables choosing sustainable
Foods. 

5820
05:20:03,600 --> 05:20:07,500
These might seem like personal 
choices rather than etiquette 

5821
05:20:07,500 --> 05:20:11,000
but their increasingly seen as 
part of being a considerate 

5822
05:20:11,000 --> 05:20:15,800
Diner and Community member The 
concept of mindfully eating has 

5823
05:20:15,800 --> 05:20:20,400
introduced meditative practices 
to meal time, eating slowly 

5824
05:20:20,400 --> 05:20:24,200
paying attention to Flavors and 
textures and being present with 

5825
05:20:24,200 --> 05:20:28,200
your food rather than distracted
by devices or thoughts, these 

5826
05:20:28,200 --> 05:20:31,100
practices borrow from Buddhist 
traditions, and, contemporary 

5827
05:20:31,100 --> 05:20:34,100
Wellness culture. 
They're not quite table manners 

5828
05:20:34,100 --> 05:20:37,500
in the traditional sense, but 
they're definitely etiquette for

5829
05:20:37,500 --> 05:20:39,500
how to relate to food and the 
act of eating. 

5830
05:20:40,400 --> 05:20:44,000
Tipping culture creates its own 
complex, etiquette varying 

5831
05:20:44,000 --> 05:20:46,700
dramatically by country and even
by City. 

5832
05:20:47,500 --> 05:20:51,300
In some places tipping is 
essential and expected in 

5833
05:20:51,300 --> 05:20:53,100
others. 
It's insulting. 

5834
05:20:54,000 --> 05:20:57,500
The amounts vary, the situations
where it's appropriate, fairy 

5835
05:20:57,500 --> 05:21:01,400
and even the method of tipping 
varies, it's a Minefield of 

5836
05:21:01,400 --> 05:21:04,900
social expectations that 
somehow, everyone is expected to

5837
05:21:04,900 --> 05:21:07,000
navigate without explicit 
instruction. 

5838
05:21:08,000 --> 05:21:09,900
Family dinner tables have 
changed dramatically. 

5839
05:21:11,200 --> 05:21:13,800
Were Victorian families. 
Might have formal dinner every 

5840
05:21:13,800 --> 05:21:17,700
night modern family's a lucky to
gather everyone for meals a few 

5841
05:21:17,708 --> 05:21:21,200
times a week. 
This scarcity makes shared meals

5842
05:21:21,200 --> 05:21:23,300
more precious but also less 
practiced. 

5843
05:21:24,100 --> 05:21:26,900
Children might grow up with 
fewer examples of table, 

5844
05:21:26,900 --> 05:21:30,300
manners, learning them in fits 
and starts rather than through 

5845
05:21:30,300 --> 05:21:33,600
daily repetition yet. 
There's also a counter movement 

5846
05:21:33,600 --> 05:21:35,000
toward reclaiming, the dinner 
table. 

5847
05:21:35,700 --> 05:21:39,400
Slow food movements Farm to 
Table restaurants, cooking, 

5848
05:21:39,400 --> 05:21:43,800
classes, and meal kit Services, 
all of these represent people 

5849
05:21:43,800 --> 05:21:47,300
trying to make eating together 
more intentional, more valued 

5850
05:21:47,300 --> 05:21:51,500
and more ceremonial. 
It's as if having gone through a

5851
05:21:51,500 --> 05:21:55,400
period of extreme casualisation,
we're collectively realizing 

5852
05:21:55,400 --> 05:21:57,800
that something important was 
lost and trying to get it back. 

5853
05:21:58,800 --> 05:22:02,700
Restaurant etiquette has evolved
to the rise of casual fine. 

5854
05:22:02,700 --> 05:22:06,200
Dining as created spaces, where 
you might encounter amazing food

5855
05:22:06,200 --> 05:22:10,500
without formal dress codes or 
elaborate protocols, you can eat

5856
05:22:10,500 --> 05:22:12,800
Michelin starred Cuisine while 
wearing jeans. 

5857
05:22:13,800 --> 05:22:16,900
This democratization of fancy 
food as made high quality, 

5858
05:22:16,900 --> 05:22:19,600
dining more accessible but also 
more confusing. 

5859
05:22:20,700 --> 05:22:22,600
How formal should you be in 
these spaces? 

5860
05:22:23,400 --> 05:22:26,600
Food delivery in takeout of 
created new situations with 

5861
05:22:26,600 --> 05:22:30,000
their own Unwritten rules. 
Do you tip delivery drivers? 

5862
05:22:30,000 --> 05:22:31,600
The same as a restaurant 
servers? 

5863
05:22:32,500 --> 05:22:33,700
How do you tip for pickup 
orders? 

5864
05:22:34,600 --> 05:22:37,600
What's appropriate when ordering
through apps vs calling 

5865
05:22:37,600 --> 05:22:42,000
directly. 
These questions didn't exist 20 

5866
05:22:42,000 --> 05:22:45,000
years ago, now they're part of 
everyday, dining life. 

5867
05:22:45,900 --> 05:22:49,700
A pandemic added another layer 
of complexity introducing 

5868
05:22:49,700 --> 05:22:53,600
Concepts, like outdoor dining, 
takeout, cocktails, and virtual 

5869
05:22:53,600 --> 05:22:56,600
dinner parties. 
Some of these Innovations will 

5870
05:22:56,600 --> 05:23:00,300
probably fade others, might 
become permanent parts of how we

5871
05:23:00,300 --> 05:23:03,600
share meals table. 
Manners are adapting in real 

5872
05:23:03,600 --> 05:23:07,300
time and we're all participating
in creating the new norms. 

5873
05:23:08,600 --> 05:23:11,500
What's interesting about modern 
table manners is that they're 

5874
05:23:11,500 --> 05:23:13,100
more democratic than they've 
ever been. 

5875
05:23:14,100 --> 05:23:16,900
Victorian etiquette was 
explicitly about class 

5876
05:23:16,900 --> 05:23:19,800
distinction. 
Knowing the rules Mark, you as 

5877
05:23:19,808 --> 05:23:22,900
upper class not knowing them 
Mark, you as an outsider. 

5878
05:23:23,800 --> 05:23:26,800
Modern etiquette is more about 
context and consideration. 

5879
05:23:26,800 --> 05:23:30,400
The goal isn't to demonstrate 
Superior breeding but to make 

5880
05:23:30,400 --> 05:23:34,900
everyone comfortable and show 
respect for the situation, This 

5881
05:23:34,900 --> 05:23:39,000
shift reflects broader, social 
changes, we're less hierarchical

5882
05:23:39,000 --> 05:23:43,000
than Victoria's more Global than
medieval Europeans and more 

5883
05:23:43,000 --> 05:23:44,700
diverse than Renaissance 
Italian. 

5884
05:23:45,800 --> 05:23:48,200
How table manners need to 
accommodate all of that 

5885
05:23:48,200 --> 05:23:52,000
complexity while still serving 
the fundamental purpose of 

5886
05:23:52,000 --> 05:23:56,600
making shared meals, Pleasant 
and meaningful. as you think 

5887
05:23:56,600 --> 05:23:59,900
about your own relationship to 
table, manners, notice how much 

5888
05:23:59,900 --> 05:24:03,000
unconscious knowledge, you 
actually have you probably know 

5889
05:24:03,000 --> 05:24:06,900
when to use formal manners and 
when to relax you likely adapt, 

5890
05:24:06,900 --> 05:24:09,700
your behavior based on who 
you're eating with and where 

5891
05:24:09,700 --> 05:24:13,000
you're eating, You've 
internalized thousands of small 

5892
05:24:13,000 --> 05:24:15,200
rules without ever explicitly 
learning them. 

5893
05:24:15,200 --> 05:24:19,500
This is how etiquette has always
worked, really, the written 

5894
05:24:19,500 --> 05:24:22,900
rules are just the tip of the 
iceberg beneath them as an ocean

5895
05:24:22,900 --> 05:24:27,400
of unspoken understanding about 
consideration, respect and 

5896
05:24:27,400 --> 05:24:30,900
social harmony. 
Modern table manners, might seem

5897
05:24:30,900 --> 05:24:34,100
chaotic compared to Victorian 
rigidity, but there are actually

5898
05:24:34,100 --> 05:24:37,300
quite sophisticated in their 
flexibility and adaptiveness. 

5899
05:24:38,600 --> 05:24:41,600
Let that understanding settle 
over you like a soft blanket. 

5900
05:24:41,600 --> 05:24:45,800
You already know how to navigate
these situations, you've been 

5901
05:24:45,800 --> 05:24:48,900
doing it, your whole life, 
learning and adapting and 

5902
05:24:48,900 --> 05:24:52,900
reading social cues. 
Table manners aren't attached to

5903
05:24:52,900 --> 05:24:54,600
pass. 
There are dance. 

5904
05:24:54,600 --> 05:24:57,800
You already know how to do even 
if you've never formally, 

5905
05:24:57,800 --> 05:25:00,800
studied the steps. 
As we approach the end of our 

5906
05:25:00,800 --> 05:25:02,300
journey, through the history of 
table. 

5907
05:25:02,300 --> 05:25:05,800
Manners, let's pause to consider
what all of this reveals about 

5908
05:25:05,800 --> 05:25:08,900
human nature. 
Because table manners, when you 

5909
05:25:08,900 --> 05:25:11,500
really think about them, are 
about much more than knowing, 

5910
05:25:11,500 --> 05:25:14,300
which Fork to use at their core 
table. 

5911
05:25:14,300 --> 05:25:18,100
Manners are about transforming a
biological necessity, eating 

5912
05:25:18,100 --> 05:25:22,100
into an opportunity for 
connection Beauty and meaning 

5913
05:25:23,300 --> 05:25:26,800
Every culture that has ever 
existed has developed some form 

5914
05:25:26,800 --> 05:25:29,200
of dining etiquette, which 
suggests that this 

5915
05:25:29,200 --> 05:25:31,000
transformation is something 
humans. 

5916
05:25:31,000 --> 05:25:34,800
Fundamentally need We're not 
content to Simply fuel our 

5917
05:25:34,800 --> 05:25:37,100
bodies. 
We want to make the process 

5918
05:25:37,100 --> 05:25:40,000
meaningful. 
Think about what table manners 

5919
05:25:40,000 --> 05:25:42,600
actually accomplish? 
They slow us down. 

5920
05:25:42,600 --> 05:25:47,000
Making us eat more deliberately 
they create predictable patterns

5921
05:25:47,000 --> 05:25:51,100
that reduce social anxiety when 
everyone follows the same rules,

5922
05:25:51,100 --> 05:25:55,100
there's less uncertainty about 
how to behave They demonstrate 

5923
05:25:55,100 --> 05:25:58,900
respect for food, for those who 
prepared it and for our dining 

5924
05:25:58,900 --> 05:26:01,900
companions. 
They turn eating from a solitary

5925
05:26:01,900 --> 05:26:06,100
act in to a communal ritual. 
The evolution of table, manners 

5926
05:26:06,100 --> 05:26:08,300
mirrors, the evolution of 
civilization itself. 

5927
05:26:09,300 --> 05:26:12,500
The society became more complex 
table manners, became more 

5928
05:26:12,500 --> 05:26:16,800
elaborate AS Global Connections 
increased table manners, 

5929
05:26:16,800 --> 05:26:18,300
absorbed more diverse 
influences. 

5930
05:26:19,300 --> 05:26:22,500
A social hierarchy is shifted 
table manners became more 

5931
05:26:22,500 --> 05:26:27,300
democratic the history of how we
eat together is in miniature, 

5932
05:26:27,300 --> 05:26:29,400
the history of how we've learned
to live together. 

5933
05:26:30,500 --> 05:26:32,500
There's something deeply 
comforting about this 

5934
05:26:32,500 --> 05:26:35,900
continuity. 
Your medieval ancestors worried 

5935
05:26:35,900 --> 05:26:38,200
about table manners. 
Your Victorian 

5936
05:26:38,200 --> 05:26:41,000
great-great-grandparents 
memorized Fork placement. 

5937
05:26:42,000 --> 05:26:44,500
Your parents taught you to chew 
with your mouth closed. 

5938
05:26:45,300 --> 05:26:48,900
This chain of transmission, 
stretching back, thousands of 

5939
05:26:48,900 --> 05:26:52,800
years, connect you to, every 
human, who has ever shared a 

5940
05:26:52,800 --> 05:26:55,200
meal and wondered about the 
right way to do it. 

5941
05:26:56,200 --> 05:26:58,400
The anxiety. 
Many people feel about table 

5942
05:26:58,400 --> 05:27:01,200
manners worrying about doing 
something wrong, feeling 

5943
05:27:01,200 --> 05:27:04,900
uncertain, informal dining 
situations is actually ever 

5944
05:27:04,900 --> 05:27:07,600
since of how much we care about 
connection and belonging. 

5945
05:27:08,500 --> 05:27:11,800
We worry because we want to show
respect because we want to be 

5946
05:27:11,800 --> 05:27:15,300
included and because we 
recognize that how we behave at 

5947
05:27:15,300 --> 05:27:18,500
the table signal, something 
important to about Who We Are. 

5948
05:27:19,600 --> 05:27:22,300
but here's the beautiful secret 
that becomes clear, when you 

5949
05:27:22,308 --> 05:27:26,400
study table manners across, 
cultures and centuries, Specific

5950
05:27:26,400 --> 05:27:29,600
rules matter, much less than the
spirit behind them. 

5951
05:27:30,400 --> 05:27:33,200
Victorian silver arrangements 
and Japanese Chopstick. 

5952
05:27:33,200 --> 05:27:36,200
Protocols, look completely 
different but they're both 

5953
05:27:36,208 --> 05:27:40,500
expressing the same values. 
Respect consideration, 

5954
05:27:40,500 --> 05:27:45,300
mindfulness and community. 
You can follow every rule 

5955
05:27:45,300 --> 05:27:47,800
perfectly and still be a 
terrible dinner companion. 

5956
05:27:47,800 --> 05:27:49,700
If you lack those underlying 
values. 

5957
05:27:50,500 --> 05:27:53,000
This means that good table 
manners are ultimately about 

5958
05:27:53,000 --> 05:27:57,600
awareness of the food of your 
fellow diners of the context and

5959
05:27:57,600 --> 05:28:00,900
of your own behavior. 
Whether you're using a fork or 

5960
05:28:00,908 --> 05:28:03,900
Chopsticks or your hands doesn't
matter as much as whether you're

5961
05:28:03,900 --> 05:28:06,400
being thoughtful, considerate 
and present. 

5962
05:28:07,400 --> 05:28:10,600
The most important table manner,
the one that transcends all 

5963
05:28:10,600 --> 05:28:14,100
cultural variations and 
historical changes might simply 

5964
05:28:14,100 --> 05:28:17,600
be this pay attention. 
Pay attention to what you're 

5965
05:28:17,600 --> 05:28:21,500
eating savoring flavors rather 
than mindlessly consuming. 

5966
05:28:22,500 --> 05:28:25,600
Pay attention to who you're 
eating with engaging with them 

5967
05:28:25,600 --> 05:28:29,300
rather than being distracted. 
Pay attention to the moment 

5968
05:28:29,300 --> 05:28:33,800
recognizing that this meal like 
all meals is temporary and 

5969
05:28:33,800 --> 05:28:36,400
therefore pressure. 
When you think about it this 

5970
05:28:36,400 --> 05:28:39,400
way, table manners become a form
of meditation. 

5971
05:28:39,400 --> 05:28:43,600
The careful placement of 
utensils, the deliberate pace of

5972
05:28:43,600 --> 05:28:45,900
eating and the mindful 
conversation. 

5973
05:28:45,900 --> 05:28:49,700
All of these Creator structured 
opportunity to be fully present.

5974
05:28:50,700 --> 05:28:53,200
In a world that constantly 
demands our attention and 

5975
05:28:53,200 --> 05:28:57,100
fragments our Focus mealtimes 
offer a rare chance to be 

5976
05:28:57,100 --> 05:29:00,600
completely here. 
Now engaged with the physical 

5977
05:29:00,600 --> 05:29:03,100
and social reality immediately 
in front of us. 

5978
05:29:04,000 --> 05:29:07,200
This is perhaps why so many 
spiritual Traditions include 

5979
05:29:07,200 --> 05:29:10,100
ritual meals. 
The Jewish Sabbath dinner 

5980
05:29:10,100 --> 05:29:14,500
Christian communion, Islamic 
iftar, and Buddhist monks meals.

5981
05:29:14,500 --> 05:29:18,100
All of these use food and 
communal eating as vehicles for 

5982
05:29:18,100 --> 05:29:21,800
something transcendent. 
Table manners at their best 

5983
05:29:21,800 --> 05:29:24,100
point toward this. 
Same Transcendence. 

5984
05:29:24,800 --> 05:29:27,700
They elevate the ordinary Act of
eating into something sacred 

5985
05:29:27,700 --> 05:29:31,200
even, casual modern meals. 
Can carry this quality of. 

5986
05:29:31,200 --> 05:29:34,400
We, let them that quick lunch 
with a colleague becomes an 

5987
05:29:34,400 --> 05:29:36,100
opportunity to strengthen a 
relationship. 

5988
05:29:37,300 --> 05:29:40,900
That family dinner even if 
everyone slightly distracted and

5989
05:29:40,900 --> 05:29:43,800
someone's checking their phone, 
still creates a moment of 

5990
05:29:43,800 --> 05:29:46,300
togetherness. 
That solo meal. 

5991
05:29:46,300 --> 05:29:50,000
If he eaten mindfully becomes a 
practice of self-care and 

5992
05:29:50,000 --> 05:29:52,800
presence. 
The future of table, manners is 

5993
05:29:52,800 --> 05:29:55,600
still being written. 
Will we return to more formal 

5994
05:29:55,600 --> 05:29:57,300
dining? 
As a reaction against modern 

5995
05:29:57,300 --> 05:30:00,400
casualness, will new 
technologies, create entirely 

5996
05:30:00,400 --> 05:30:03,300
new eating situations that 
require new etiquette. 

5997
05:30:04,200 --> 05:30:07,400
Will global integration create a
universal set of table. 

5998
05:30:07,400 --> 05:30:11,400
Manners, or will we maintain our
beautiful diversity of customs? 

5999
05:30:12,200 --> 05:30:15,100
Probably all of these things 
will happen in different ways in

6000
05:30:15,100 --> 05:30:16,600
different places for different 
people. 

6001
05:30:17,400 --> 05:30:20,300
Table manners will continue to 
evolve because they've always 

6002
05:30:20,300 --> 05:30:23,900
evolved adapting to new 
circumstances while maintaining 

6003
05:30:23,900 --> 05:30:27,200
their fundamental purpose. 
Making the act of eating 

6004
05:30:27,200 --> 05:30:31,900
together, more meaningful, more 
pleasant and more human. as you 

6005
05:30:31,900 --> 05:30:35,300
lie there in Comfort, full of 
new knowledge about how humans 

6006
05:30:35,300 --> 05:30:37,700
have tried to make eating 
civilized across the Millennia, 

6007
05:30:37,700 --> 05:30:41,100
let yourself appreciate the 
simple fact that your part of 

6008
05:30:41,108 --> 05:30:45,100
this long traditional, Every 
meal you share with others with 

6009
05:30:45,100 --> 05:30:48,300
a formal or casual, whether you 
follow every rule or make it up 

6010
05:30:48,300 --> 05:30:52,100
as you go, can connect you to 
every human who has ever broken 

6011
05:30:52,100 --> 05:30:55,900
bread with another person. 
Your table manners, whatever. 

6012
05:30:55,900 --> 05:30:59,800
They are a part of an ongoing 
human conversation about how we 

6013
05:30:59,800 --> 05:31:03,000
should live together. 
And that conversation that 

6014
05:31:03,000 --> 05:31:06,400
continuous attempt to transform 
biological, necessity into 

6015
05:31:06,400 --> 05:31:09,200
social, art is one of the things
that makes us most human. 

6016
05:31:10,100 --> 05:31:14,000
Let's end where we began 
imagining a meal but now with 

6017
05:31:14,000 --> 05:31:16,900
all the accumulated wisdom of 
human history and forming our 

6018
05:31:16,900 --> 05:31:19,800
vision. 
Picture the perfect meal 

6019
05:31:19,800 --> 05:31:24,300
combining everything. 
We've learned It takes place at 

6020
05:31:24,300 --> 05:31:28,900
a table, maybe High, maybe low. 
Maybe not a table at all, but a 

6021
05:31:28,900 --> 05:31:31,700
cloth on the ground. 
The setting is comfortable, 

6022
05:31:31,700 --> 05:31:34,900
whether that means formal 
chairs, or floor, cushions or 

6023
05:31:34,900 --> 05:31:38,400
something in between. 
The important thing is that you 

6024
05:31:38,400 --> 05:31:41,700
feel at ease able to relax into 
the experience. 

6025
05:31:42,500 --> 05:31:46,700
The lighting is gentle candles, 
perhaps or natural light, 

6026
05:31:46,700 --> 05:31:50,500
filtering through windows or the
soft glow of a Setting Sun, 

6027
05:31:51,400 --> 05:31:54,900
Nothing harsh or clinical, just 
enough light to see the food and

6028
05:31:54,900 --> 05:31:58,200
your companions clearly. 
The temperature is perfectly 

6029
05:31:58,200 --> 05:32:02,300
comfortable, not too hot or cold
with just enough air movement to

6030
05:32:02,300 --> 05:32:03,800
feel fresh without being 
drafted. 

6031
05:32:05,200 --> 05:32:09,600
For you is food that someone 
prepared with care. maybe it's 

6032
05:32:09,600 --> 05:32:13,400
simple, maybe elaborate maybe it
came from a cross, the world, 

6033
05:32:13,400 --> 05:32:17,700
maybe from just down the road. 
The specifics don't matter as 

6034
05:32:17,700 --> 05:32:19,500
much as the attention that went 
into it. 

6035
05:32:20,200 --> 05:32:23,100
Someone thought about what would
nourish and please and then made

6036
05:32:23,100 --> 05:32:25,700
it happen. 
You have the right implements 

6037
05:32:25,700 --> 05:32:29,500
for eating, whatever those are 
for this particular meal, fork 

6038
05:32:29,500 --> 05:32:33,400
and knife Chopsticks, a piece of
flatbread, your hands. 

6039
05:32:33,400 --> 05:32:37,000
It doesn't matter because, you 
know how to use them and they 

6040
05:32:37,000 --> 05:32:40,500
feel natural in your grass. 
The table is set appropriately 

6041
05:32:40,500 --> 05:32:43,700
for the occasion with everything
you need within easy. 

6042
05:32:43,700 --> 05:32:45,800
Reach around the table are 
people. 

6043
05:32:45,800 --> 05:32:48,800
You care about. 
They might be family, friends 

6044
05:32:48,800 --> 05:32:52,600
colleagues or even strangers who
will become friends by meals 

6045
05:32:52,600 --> 05:32:54,600
end. 
Their presence makes the food 

6046
05:32:54,600 --> 05:32:58,500
taste better the experience 
richer and the moment more 

6047
05:32:58,500 --> 05:33:01,500
complete. 
You can see their faces, clearly

6048
05:33:01,500 --> 05:33:05,400
hear their voices easily and 
feel their presence without 

6049
05:33:05,400 --> 05:33:10,500
crowding. 
The meal begins with stomachs 

6050
05:33:10,500 --> 05:33:13,100
formal Grace, perhaps a simple 
toast. 

6051
05:33:13,100 --> 05:33:16,800
Perhaps just a moment of shared 
appreciation before the first 

6052
05:33:16,800 --> 05:33:19,600
bite. 
This brief pause creates a 

6053
05:33:19,600 --> 05:33:23,900
threshold marking the transition
from ordinary time to meal time 

6054
05:33:23,900 --> 05:33:26,900
from scattered activity to 
Shared Focus. 

6055
05:33:27,800 --> 05:33:30,000
You eat slowly enough to taste 
what you're eating. 

6056
05:33:30,800 --> 05:33:35,300
The flavors register fully salt 
and Sweet Bitter and sour and 

6057
05:33:35,300 --> 05:33:37,900
the complex middle notes that 
make food, interesting. 

6058
05:33:39,100 --> 05:33:44,300
Textures matter to crisp and 
soft, smooth and rough, and the 

6059
05:33:44,300 --> 05:33:46,800
way different foods play against
each other in your mouth. 

6060
05:33:47,800 --> 05:33:50,800
You're not just consuming 
calories your experience in 

6061
05:33:50,800 --> 05:33:54,000
something. 
The conversation, flows, 

6062
05:33:54,000 --> 05:33:56,800
naturally with space for both 
talking and eating. 

6063
05:33:56,800 --> 05:33:59,700
No one dominates everyone 
contributes. 

6064
05:34:00,500 --> 05:34:03,000
Topics range freely but stay 
Pleasant. 

6065
05:34:03,000 --> 05:34:06,500
This isn't the place for 
argument or stress though. 

6066
05:34:06,500 --> 05:34:10,600
Real discussion is welcome. 
Laughter comes easily along with

6067
05:34:10,600 --> 05:34:13,400
the comfortable silences of 
people who don't need to fill 

6068
05:34:13,400 --> 05:34:17,100
every moment with noise. 
The pace is unhurried. 

6069
05:34:17,600 --> 05:34:20,400
If there are multiple courses, 
they arrived with enough time 

6070
05:34:20,400 --> 05:34:22,500
between them for digestion and 
conversation. 

6071
05:34:23,300 --> 05:34:27,300
If it's a single course everyone
eats at roughly the same speed 

6072
05:34:27,300 --> 05:34:29,800
with no one feeling rushed or 
held back. 

6073
05:34:30,700 --> 05:34:33,900
Time becomes a last elastic, 
expanding to fill, whatever 

6074
05:34:33,900 --> 05:34:38,200
space the meal, needs your 
presence not thinking about what

6075
05:34:38,200 --> 05:34:40,800
comes next. 
Not dwelling on what came 

6076
05:34:40,800 --> 05:34:43,200
before. 
Just hear in this moment with 

6077
05:34:43,200 --> 05:34:47,200
this food and these people. 
Your phone is somewhere else or 

6078
05:34:47,200 --> 05:34:51,500
at least silenced and ignored. 
The outside world can wait right

6079
05:34:51,500 --> 05:34:53,100
now. 
There's only this table. 

6080
05:34:53,100 --> 05:34:57,900
This meal this company. when the
meal ends and all meals must 

6081
05:34:57,900 --> 05:35:03,000
end, eventually it ends gently 
There's no abrupt transition, no

6082
05:35:03,000 --> 05:35:07,300
rushed clearing of plates, 
there's coffee or tea, perhaps 

6083
05:35:07,300 --> 05:35:11,100
just a lingering at the table. 
Extending the experience of few 

6084
05:35:11,100 --> 05:35:14,500
more precious minutes. 
Acknowledgment that it's ending 

6085
05:35:14,500 --> 05:35:18,800
makes the last moment sweeter. 
You leave the table satisfied 

6086
05:35:18,800 --> 05:35:22,200
but not overstuffed. 
Nourished in body and spirit and

6087
05:35:22,200 --> 05:35:24,900
grateful for the food and the 
company and the time. 

6088
05:35:25,600 --> 05:35:29,200
The memory of this meal will 
settle into, you becoming part 

6089
05:35:29,200 --> 05:35:33,000
of the accumulated experience of
all good meals you've ever had. 

6090
05:35:33,700 --> 05:35:36,500
All the moments, when eating 
together created something 

6091
05:35:36,500 --> 05:35:38,800
larger than the sum of its 
parts. 

6092
05:35:39,500 --> 05:35:42,300
This perfect meal doesn't 
require perfect manners in the 

6093
05:35:42,300 --> 05:35:44,700
Victorian sense. 
It doesn't need elaborate 

6094
05:35:44,700 --> 05:35:47,200
settings or expensive 
ingredients, or impeccable 

6095
05:35:47,200 --> 05:35:50,100
protocol. 
What it needs is attention 

6096
05:35:50,100 --> 05:35:55,400
consideration and presents. 
Everything else, the specific 

6097
05:35:55,400 --> 05:36:00,100
Customs, the particular Foods, 
the exact setting are just 

6098
05:36:00,108 --> 05:36:03,800
variations on these fundamental 
themes and here's the wonderful 

6099
05:36:03,800 --> 05:36:06,800
secret. 
You can create this perfect meal

6100
05:36:06,800 --> 05:36:11,500
or something close to it. 
Almost any time you choose, it 

6101
05:36:11,500 --> 05:36:14,300
doesn't require well or special 
knowledge or ideal 

6102
05:36:14,300 --> 05:36:18,100
circumstances, it just requires 
to deciding that this meal. 

6103
05:36:18,100 --> 05:36:21,900
This moment matters enough to 
give it your full attention. 

6104
05:36:23,000 --> 05:36:25,900
Because you drift now towards 
sleep, let yourself hold the 

6105
05:36:25,900 --> 05:36:29,400
image of that, perfect meal. 
Feel the contentment of a good 

6106
05:36:29,400 --> 05:36:33,600
meal shared with good company. 
Taste the flavors hear the 

6107
05:36:33,600 --> 05:36:36,700
gentle conversation and feel the
warmth of connection. 

6108
05:36:37,700 --> 05:36:42,100
Let it all settle into you like 
satisfaction after eating that 

6109
05:36:42,100 --> 05:36:46,100
sense of being well-fed. 
In every way that matters All 

6110
05:36:46,100 --> 05:36:47,900
around the world at this very 
moment. 

6111
05:36:47,900 --> 05:36:49,400
People are gathering to eat 
together. 

6112
05:36:49,400 --> 05:36:51,300
They're using different 
utensils. 

6113
05:36:51,300 --> 05:36:55,600
Following different customs and 
eating different foods. but 

6114
05:36:55,600 --> 05:36:58,600
there are all doing the same 
essential thing transforming, 

6115
05:36:58,600 --> 05:37:01,000
the act of eating into an 
opportunity for connection 

6116
05:37:01,000 --> 05:37:05,000
Beauty and meaning Your part of 
that Global community of eaters 

6117
05:37:05,000 --> 05:37:08,600
that vast, Human family that has
always gathered around fires and

6118
05:37:08,600 --> 05:37:12,200
tables and flaws and picnic 
blankets to share food and 

6119
05:37:12,200 --> 05:37:15,100
lives. 
Your table manners, whatever 

6120
05:37:15,100 --> 05:37:18,900
they are, are your contribution 
to this ongoing human project of

6121
05:37:18,900 --> 05:37:21,900
making eating together matter. 
Sleep. 

6122
05:37:21,900 --> 05:37:24,800
Well, knowing that tomorrow, 
there will be more meals, more 

6123
05:37:24,800 --> 05:37:28,100
opportunities to practice 
presence and consideration and 

6124
05:37:28,100 --> 05:37:31,800
more chances to turn the simple 
Act of eating into something 

6125
05:37:31,800 --> 05:37:35,900
approaching art. the history of 
table manners is still being 

6126
05:37:35,900 --> 05:37:39,900
written and you're one of its 
authors Dream of Feasts and 

6127
05:37:39,900 --> 05:37:43,400
quiet dinners of perfect 
moments, around imperfect. 

6128
05:37:43,400 --> 05:37:46,900
Tables of all the meals yet to 
come and all the ways, they'll 

6129
05:37:46,900 --> 05:37:48,200
connect you to your self and 
others. 

6130
05:37:48,900 --> 05:37:52,900
Dream of humanities long journey
from eating raw food with our 

6131
05:37:52,900 --> 05:37:55,500
fingers around. 
Prehistoric fires, to whatever 

6132
05:37:55,500 --> 05:38:00,000
beautiful new dining Customs, 
the future will bring And when 

6133
05:38:00,000 --> 05:38:04,100
you wake, remember the next meal
is a fresh opportunity to make 

6134
05:38:04,100 --> 05:38:06,200
that history. 
Just a little bit more peaceful,

6135
05:38:06,200 --> 05:38:09,600
a little bit more Mindful and a 
little bit more human. 

6136
05:38:10,400 --> 05:38:12,100
Sleep. 
Well, the table is always 

6137
05:38:12,100 --> 05:38:12,500
waiting.