Hi — if you're new to Now I Know, you'll notice that today's format differs from the rest of the week. On Fridays, I 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 Weekender, December 27, 2024

Hi!

The week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is always an awkward one for a daily email newsletter like Now I Know, so I’m going to keep this one brief — it’s just a review of the re-runs I shared this week and three long reads. Next week’s Now I Know programming is up in the air as well; I’ll be back with something on Monday and Tuesday, off Wednesday, and probably back in full swing starting Thursday.

Happy holidays to you all, thank you for reading, and have a great 2025 (even though I’ll be in your inbox before then!).

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: Jólabókaflóð: An Icelandic tradition like no other.

Tuesday: Why The American Military Pretends to Track Santa Claus: A typo causes a neat American tradition.

Wednesday: Christmas Day — no Now I Know published. Hope you had a nice holiday.

Thursday: How Paying Attention in Elementary School Can Save Lives: Yesterday was the anniversary of a tragedy and an act of heroism.

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And thanks! — Dan

Long Reads and Other Things

Here are a few things you may want to check out over the weekend:

1) “Seeing America by Train” (Washington Post/gift link, 11 minutes, August 2024). The author-illustrator took a three-and-a-half day trip from Northern California to New York City, 100% by Amtrak. It’s a neat story about an experience I’d probably want to do one day, except that the last part didn’t seem so fun.

2) “Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers” (The Guardian, 25 minutes, July 2024). As Ukrainians evacuated their homes, they had to leave the items in their museums behind — until a group of people stepped in to save the art and the relics. This is their story.

3) “It was the best gelato I’d ever tasted. Was that because I’d survived a brain tumor?” (New York Times Magazine/gift link, 7 minutes, September 2024). I don’t think this story is as deep as its headline makes it sound, but I appreciated the effort to find the gelato again.

Have a great weekend!

Dan