It's Shrove Tuesday and if you're not in Britain, you might be wondering what Shrove Tuesday

is.

Even if you are British, you might be wondering why you're celebrating it.

So today we're doing a small bonus episode all about Shrove Tuesday.

So Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday and Ash Wednesday is the start of Lent.

And if you weren't raised within a society that observes these days, what I just said probably

sounded like a lot of gibberish.

So let's break this all down.

So Lent is a period of Christian religious observance that generally lasts 40 days.

And that period is most common in Catholicism and sects that closely align with Catholic

tradition.

As for why it's 40 days, well the number 40 has a particular resonance within Abrahamic

traditions.

As many biblical events lasted 40 days or even 40 years.

And the Bible even tends to divide things by 40.

You know how J.J. Abrams puts the Fibonacci sequence in a lot of his projects?

Well, 40 is kind of like that for the Bible.

And in general, 40 becomes sort of a biblical shorthand for a very, very long time.

So starting on Ash Wednesday, you're supposed to spend a long time.

40 days undergoing a religious observance.

And specifically, you're supposed to do penance.

As observed, these penances, especially in the medieval period, could actually be quite

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