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Sloth : Seven Sins For Summer

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Ex-convict, occasional magazine columnist and renowned cannabis user Howard Marks is most people’s idea of the archetypal lazy sloth. But, he asks, why is laziness seen as a sin at all? Of all the sins featured in Channel 4’s Seven Sins series, Howard is convinced that sloth is the most abhorred in our work-obsessed, consumerist society. Nine years in prison has given Marks plenty of time for reflection. It has led him to the conclusion that the Protestant work ethic is responsible for “overwork, unemployment and not a lot of joy in between.” Marks sets off to investigate the history of sloth and discovers that Egyptian monks in 400 AD defined it as futility, apathy and a lack of joy. So how has it become associated with idleness, laziness and putting your feet up?

Ex-convict, occasional magazine columnist and renowned cannabis user Howard Marks is most people’s idea of the archetypal lazy sloth. But, he asks, why is laziness seen as a sin at all? Of all the sins featured in Channel 4’s Seven Sins series, Howard is convinced that sloth is the most abhorred in our work-obsessed, consumerist society. Nine years in prison has given Marks plenty of time for reflection. It has led him to the conclusion that the Protestant work ethic is responsible for “overwork, unemployment and not a lot of joy in between.” Marks sets off to investigate the history of sloth and discovers that Egyptian monks in 400 AD defined it as futility, apathy and a lack of joy. So how has it become associated with idleness, laziness and putting your feet up?

Programme Information

  • Genre: Factual

  • Subgenre: Lifestyle

  • Producers: FULCRUM PRODUCTION LTD

  • Broadcaster: n/a

  • Duration: 1 x 26'

  • Tags: Reality Sin

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