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If you're new to Now I Know, you'll notice that today's format is different than the rest of the week. On Fridays, I take a pause to write the "Weekender," my "week in review" type of thing, or to share something else I think you may find interesting. Thanks for reading! -- Dan

The Now I Know Year-Ender

Hi!

This was a very slow week for Now I Know and, as I alluded to yesterday, I should have just taken the week off. The Christmas to New Year's span is always brutal for email newsletters; with so many people on vacation and so many offices closed, only a small percentage of people actually open their emails now. So I really feel bad about sharing new stories as I know that many of them will go unread. That's particularly true for stories that you all send to me -- if you're sharing an idea with me, it's because you want me to share it with as wide of an audience as I can, right? Using it now would be, well, not great.

Plus, it turned out I kind of needed the break. And I forgot how hard it is to write when school's not in session but the kids are around. (I've been doing this for 12+ years; I should know better by now.) So if you've been reading all week, I hope you enjoyed the one new story and that the re-runs were new to you (or at least a nice flashback).

I hope you had a great 2022 -- and I hope 2023 is even better.

The Now I Know Week in Review

Monday: How Paying Attention in Elementary School Can Save Lives: Learning the warning signs of tsunamis can make you a hero.

Tuesday: How a Failed Surgical Instrument Brought Santa Inside: The one non-rerun this week!

Wednesday: The American Penny That Told People to Not Be Nosy?: "Mind your business," it says.

Thursday: The Spam Text That Saved Lives: An unexpected New Year's greeting blew up a terror plot. Literally.

Some Other Newsletters to Check Out!

Here's a list of other email newsletters you should consider subscribing to. In the interest of full disclosure, these are paid placements -- the newsletters are paying me a small amount of money for each person who signs up. (The last one on the list is new this week.)

Important, Not Important: Science for people who give a you-know-what! The critically-acclaimed and “refreshingly snarky” newsletter and podcast help you think deeply and act decisively about the world’s make or break science news, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, and agriculture to AI ethics.

The Daily Upside: Insightful business news that respects your time and intelligence. The Daily Upside is a business newsletter that covers the most important stories in business in a style that's engaging, insightful, and fun. Started by a former investment banker, The Daily Upside delivers quality insights and surfaces unique stories you won't read elsewhere.

1440: 1440 is the daily newsletter helping 2M+ Americans stay informed—it’s news without motives, edited to be unbiased as humanly possible. The team at 1440 scours over 100+ sources so you don't have to. Culture, science, sports, politics, business, and everything in between - in a five-minute read each morning, 100% free.

Refind: Get smarter every day. Every day Refind picks 7 links from around the web for you, tailored to your interests. Loved by 50k+ curious minds. Subscribe for free today.

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And some other things you should check out:

Some long reads for the holiday weekend (that aren't holiday-themed, sorry):

1) "Where Does All the Cardboard Come From? I Had to Know" (New York Times, 23 minutes, November 2022). We use a lot of cardboard, and one writer asked the pretty simple-sounding question: where does it come from? The answer isn't so simple, though.

2) "A Plane of Monkeys, a Pandemic, and a Botched Deal: Inside the Science Crisis You’ve Never Heard Of" (Mother Jones, 29 minutes, June 2022). I don't even know how to describe this, so I'll just share the opening:

On May 15, 2020, a US-bound cargo plane was scheduled to depart Mauritius, an island about the size of Maui that’s just east of Madagascar. There were four key things I knew about the flight:

1) It involved the transportation of monkeys.

2) The monkeys were intended for Covid research.

3) The cost—to cover the fuel, crew, insurance, and other expenses—totaled nearly half a million dollars.

4) The public was never supposed to find out about it.

In a backward sort of way, the only reason I can tell you anything about the flight is because it never happened.

Yeah, it's weird.

3) "The Behind-The-Scenes Story Of ‘Real Genius’" (Uproxx, 18 minutes, April 2016). A great movie deserves a great oral history, and this is one. The explanation for how they did the popcorn scene is amazing.

Have a great weekend and happy new year!

Dan

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Now I Know - Now I Know: The Year-Ender

The Now I Know Year-Ender

The Now I Know Week in Review

Some Other Newsletters to Check Out!

And some other things you should check out:

Key phrases

Older messages

Now I Know: The Spam Text That Saved Lives

Now I Know: The American Penny That Told People to Not Be Nosy?

Now I Know: How a Failed Surgical Instrument Brought Santa Inside

Now I Know: How Paying Attention in Elementary School Can Save Lives

Now I Know: Why Does This Town Have a Creepy Statue of Ronald McDonald?

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