Hi!

Monday is Labor Day so I’ll not be sharing a Now I Know that day — I’ll be back Tuesday with something new. This week and the one prior are some of the slowest in the email newsletter world — people are on vacation, not checking email, and even though I’m not sending business-relevant stuff, you see this trend reflected in my data. (The only worse week is the one between Christmas and New Year’s Day.) It also takes a lot of fun out of writing Now I Know, as fewer people read what I’m sharing.

But for those who tune in nonetheless, thanks! You’re pretty dedicated. And that is very much appreciated. And I invite you to take advantage of my appreciation :-)

I actually have a good amount of downtime this weekend and have wanted to think about what I can do for Now I Know readers more generally. I don’t know what that means, though. I’ve had a lot of ideas! For example, can I form some sort of affinity program that gets you access to things you’d probably like anyway. Or is there a podcast or long-form blog format you’d like me to explore? Or should I create a community recipe book or something, where readers contribute their favorite dishes? Or set up a Now I Know Secret Santa (which I’ve actually done in the past and now that I think about it again, I probably should do — it was fun!). I don’t know — this is as the imagination phase, and there are no bad ideas.

If you’re reading, you’re dedicated — and whatever I build, if anything, would be something you’d want. So, let me know if something pops into your head. Crazy is fine, I’m just trying to brainstorm. What better use of there is a three day weekend, after all?

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: To Protect and Swerve: Seriously, just turn your camera off! It’s OK!

Tuesday: All Price Tags Go To Heaven: The history of the price tag.

Wednesday: Denim Dresses Were the Old Black: A pants suit, literally.

Thursday: How Hippos Swim: They don’t. And it’s really cool what they do instead — but dangerous (for humans).

Long Reads and Other Things

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

1) “The Wayfinders” (Longreads, 20 minutes, April 2026). The subhead: “The Marshall Islands’ first national soccer team discovers what ‘home’ can mean—on a field in Arkansas.”

2) “I Study Successful People. They Have One Habit in Common.” (New York Times/gift link, 5 minutes, August 2026). The habit is asking for help when you get stuck.

3) ”As A Teen, I Wrote A Famous Musician A Fan Letter. 23 Years After His Death, I Finally Got A Response.” (HuffPost, 9 minutes, August 2026). At some point, probably in the 1992-1996 range, I sent a bunch of baseball cards to a bunch of baseball players — care of their then-current team — asking them to sign them and send them back I got a few responses, and one came like 7-10 months after I originally sent it. I thought that was an extraordinary delay.

Have a great weekend! Back on Tuesday.

Dan