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

Hi!

Most days, this newsletter is about the world — a surprising fact, a hidden history, a story you didn't know you needed. But today, I'm asking for a favor.

Over the past several weeks, I've been doing something new: helping organizations figure out how to tell their stories better. Not in a vague, "let's workshop your brand voice" way — in a concrete, roll-up-your-sleeves way. How do you build a newsletter your employees actually open? How do you use AI to make your communications team faster and sharper without losing the human element? How do you take a company going through a major transition and help it say something coherent to the people who matter most?

That work has a name now: I'm consulting, and I'm enjoying it more than I expected.

Here's the thing about running Now I Know for 15+ years: you learn a lot about what makes people pay attention. What makes them open an email, share a story, come back tomorrow. I've spent my career applying those instincts inside some big organizations — Visa, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sesame Workshop — and now I'm bringing that to companies that need it but don't have it in-house, or need an outside perspective.

The three areas I'm focusing on: helping teams build owned media that actually grows (newsletters, email programs, content platforms), developing practical AI strategies for communications work, and sharpening the core narrative organizations use to talk about themselves — internally, externally, to anyone who can help carry that message forward.

I'm not here to do a hard sell. That's not really the Now I Know way. But I did want you to know, because many of you have been with me long enough that I trust you — and because some of you know (or even may yourself be!) the people I should probably meet.

If that's you, I'd love an introduction. Even just a "you should talk to this person" reply is genuinely helpful. And if you want to see what I'm working on, the full picture is on dlewis.net.

Thanks for the detour. Enjoy the long weekend — I'll be back in your inbox Tuesday with our regularly scheduled rabbit holes.

— Dan

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Monday: Breaking and ... Sweeping?: The driveway shoveling part… I don’t get it. If you knock on the door first and ask, a lot of people are going to take you up on the offer. People do that all the time.

Tuesday: Why You Can’t Visit Liberty’s Torch: There’s a stairway to it, but you can’t go in. Not even if you’re a Ghostbuster.

Wednesday: Don't Let the Moose Lick Your Car: Honestly, I’d be so terrified, I’d let it lick instead of trying to drive away.

Thursday: The Most Valuable Background Actor in History?: It’s Michael Jordan. But more importantly, I accidentally left a “TK” in this one. The good (?) news is that I’ve done that before, so I’ve already written an explanation about that — you can learn more here. Even my mistakes can lead to fun shares, I guess!

Now I Know is supported by readers like you. Yes, you! Many of my readers donate a few dollars a month to help Now I Know grow and thrive. And in exchange, they get an ad-free version!

And thanks! — Dan

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

1) “The Prehistory of A.I. Slop” (New Yorker, 16 minutes, May 2026). The subhead: “Before ChatGPT, there was the Plot Robot, Auto-Beatnik, and a century’s worth of schemes for automating authorship.” Auto-Beatnik sounds fun, for what it’s worth.

2) “‘The Worst Neighbor Ever’” (Slate, 26 minutes, March 2026). When I first saw this, the headline I grabbed was “Books usually bring people together. This bookstore tore a neighborhood apart.” It’s really a sad story, one that reflects poorly on us in general — I almost didn’t share it. I so desperately wanted it to end differently. Don’t read this if you’re not willing to end up feeling a bit worse for the wear.

3) “Inside the High-Tech World of Cattle Embryos on Snow” (Sentient Media, 8 minutes, May 2026). I had no idea this happened.

On this Memorial Day weekend, I also want to pause to thank all — and their families — who gave their lives to protect and defend others. I’ll be taking Monday off for the holiday — see you on Tuesday, and have a great weekend.

Dan