Happy Friday! 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
But is it a Vehicle?
Hi!
The image above comes from a Instagrammer named Chris Nho. I don’t know him and before this week, hadn’t even heard of him. But he’s doing something interesting I wanted to share with you all today.
For the last week — and for the next few — he’s asking his followers a simple question: is the thing pictured above a vehicle? The item changes every day — day one was a horse, day two the carriage above. Two days ago was an escalator; yesterday’s was a staircase.
The question probably isn’t all that hard to answer — all you need to do is look up the definition of “vehicle” and see if it fits. But that’s boring — because that’s not really the question. The implied question, of course, is “why or why not?”
Asking “why” is what makes life fun and interesting, and we need to do it more often. When I write Now I Know stories, that’s something I always aim to do. For example, this week, I learned that for decades, college basketball players weren’t allowed to have the digits 6, 7, 8, or 9 as part of their uniform numbers. That’s kind of interesting on its own, I guess, but if you’re the type of person who doesn’t care about the reason for that rule, Now I Know probably isn’t for you. Because for me, the joy is in learning about the “why” behind the “what.” Curiosity drives me forward.
Earlier in the fall, I shared my new course on how to better unlock your own curiosity habit, and I’m thrilled that, to date, almost 150 of you have given it a go. I’ll have more to share on that in the upcoming weeks, but I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you who have given it a try. But today, I’ll ask you to do something else — think about the question above. Is it a vehicle? And then go to Chris Nho’s Instagram and leave your thoughts. It’s a good way to sharpen you curiosity skills, albeit in a kind of weird, indirect way.
What’s the “Curiosity Habit”?
Writing Now I Know for 15 years has taught me this: curiosity is a superpower. It makes life richer, work more creative, and challenges easier.
That’s why I created a 14-day, self-paced course to help you unlock it for yourself:
✨ Learn faster & remember more
🧠 Boost creativity & problem-solving
🌱 Find more joy in everyday life
You can start today → Enroll in The Curiosity Habit
The Now I Know Week In Review
Monday: The Slippers That Slam Dunked on Loopholes: Is it a vehicle? I mean, is it a sneaker?
Tuesday: Prison Food You'll Want to Eat: The restaurant that you’ll literally go to jail to try.
Wednesday: The Time Travel Trap: How Back to the Future protects the auto parts business.
Thursday: Basketball's Digital Problem: The story behind the NCAA uniform numbers alluded to above.
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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) “The Curious Case of Kaycee Nicole” (Switchboard, 44 minutes, November 2025). In 1999, Kaycee Nicole was diagnosed with cancer at age 17, and she shared her journey online for thousands to see. Two years later, the illness claimed her life, but not before she amassed a significant online following, something rare in the nascent days of the internet. Or, at least, that was the story. Upon Kaycee’s death, those following her started to realize things didn’t add up, and that Kaycee hadn’t died at all — she couldn’t’ have, because she never existed.
2) “The 2025 New York Times/New York Public Library Best Illustrated Children’s Books” (New York Times/gift link, 6 minutes, November 2025). This isn’t the type of stuff I usually share here, but I liked perusing this.
3) “Wilbur Huckle For President: Solving A 61-Year-Old Mets Mystery” (Decoder, 19 minutes, November 2025). I’m a die-hard Mets fan so this was an auto-click for me, but it’s not really about baseball or even the Mets. It’s just a weird trip into something arcane, fueled by the writer’s curiosity over why a fake political campaign pin exists.
Have a great weekend!
Dan