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

Results of the Now I Know Reader Survey

Hi!

Last Friday, I asked you to answer some questions so I could get to know you better. I promised I’d share the results, so: here we go!

Q1: How old are you?

This one wasn’t all that interesting — about 25% are in the 35-44 range, and a similar amount are in the 65+ range. Very few — only about 2.5% — are under 24. Everyone else was pretty evenly distributed.

Q2: How many books do you read a year (roughly), excluding textbooks and the like?

I’m going to share the pie chart on this one because, well, let’s just say Now I Know readers are not at all in sync with the rest of the world. According to the Washington Post, “Of 1,500 Americans surveyed, a less-than-ideal 46 percent finished zero books last year [2023] and 5 percent read just one. [ . . . ] Reading five books put you in the top 33 percent, while reading 10 books put you in the top 21 percent. Those of us who read more than 50 books are the true one-percenters: people who read more books than 99 percent of their fellow Americans.”

Our results? We read a LOT.

That’s astounding. In fact, I’m strongly considering starting a Now I Know Book Club. So, take a quick poll: Is that something you’d be interested in?

Q3: Do you regularly play any of these minigames?

This question was broken at first — I forgot to add an “Other/None” choice. And I don’t really like how Google Forms displays the info, so I’m going to list off the most popular instead of sharing the image.

• Wordle: 46.7%

• Crosswords: 37.5%

• Connections (NY Times): 35.3%

• In the low 20% range: Strands and the Mini Crossword in the NY Times, Sudoku

Nothing else cracked 10%, with variant sudokus at 7.4%. For what it’s worth, my minigames diet right now is Stands, the LinkedIn trio (but Queens is the only actually good one), and variant sudokus. Keyword (Washington Post) is a lot of fun but I can’t remember to play it; Connections was fun for a while but I’m over it.

Q4: Have you ever seen a reindeer in real life?

51.7% have, 48.3% haven’t. This shocked me. Here’s a map of reindeer and caribou habitats, via Wikipedia.

I guess people were counting zoos? Or…. I have no idea what? I have never seen a real-life reindeer myself, although if there was one at a zoo, I wouldn’t have remembered. I don’t think about reindeer a lot.

Q5: How many times a week do you read Now I Know? Please do not lie, it doesn't help me if you do.

Almost all of you read at least a few times a week — 94.4%. The vast majority of you — 71.2% — read every day. Thanks!

Q6: Where do you live?

This one requires some explanation, but it’s fun. Let’s start with the pie graph — and note the answer choices.

About two-thirds of you are in the United States and 80%+ are in North America. That’s the non-fun part of this question.

The fun part comes next.

Q7: Do you know why I picked those seven countries?

84.6% did not. 15.4% were in on the joke.

If you’re in the 84.6%, watch the above, from the 1990s cartoon Animaniacs. It’s brilliant. (Love it? There’s a U.S. state capitals song, too.)

Q8: How long have you been subscribed to Now I Know?

• Years: 91%

• Months: 6.8%

• Weeks: 1.3%

• Days: 0.9%

This didn’t surprise me — longtime readers are more likely to take the survey than others. Glad to know so many of you have made Now I Know a habit, though! 😀 

Q9: Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck?

A slight majority of you — 55.7% — chose the 100 mini horses. A physics professor disagrees. (That may be behind a paywall. Sorry.) The basic point: the skeletal system of a duck isn’t designed to support a duck the size of a horse — it definitely couldn’t fly and might not even be able to walk. Per the author, “I think this duck would just sit there quacking - but really loud quacks. I could just toss some rocks at it until I was declared the winner.”

Q10: If you're about to storm a castle, what weapon would you rely on the most?

I should have asked if you got the joke here. The question is about the fabulous movie, The Princess Bride. Let me explain.

No, there is too much. Let me sum up, by way of a movie clip:

The choices I gave you, and the results:

• A chocolate-covered pill and a mostly dead pirate: 36.4% This would have been my choice.

• A long, black cloak intended to be lit on fire: 33.1%

• A wheelbarrow: 30.5%

Have fun storming the castle!

Q11: How often do you read the long reads on the Friday emails?

This was kind of all over the place. Glad most of you spend some time on the longreads section, though — it takes me more time than I usually expect it too!

Q12: When was the last time you had your blood pressure checked?

I added this question because a few years ago, my dentist started checking his patients’ blood pressure during their semi-annual cleanings. I asked why and he said that people don’t check it often enough, it’s easy enough for him to do (he already had the equipment), so why not?

That stuck in my head so I figured I’d ask you all if you were checking it often enough — it’s easy enough for me to ask! — and the good news is that you do. More than 90% have gotten it checked at least once this year — that’s great! According to the Mayo Clinic, everyone over the age of 40 should have it checked at least annually.

Q13: When a skeleton sits down, does it have a lap?

80% yes, 20% no. This wasn’t as controversial as I had hoped.

Q14: A lot of readers suggested I consider adding other features. Which, if any, are you in favor of?

Nothing stood out — except for a punctuation mistake on my part. One of the choices is “A podcast (not likely to be honest)” which, as a few of you pointed out, is either a telling admission on my part or it’s missing a comma after the word “likely”. “Now I Made This Up” would be a fun podcast, though!

Q15: If you're not already financially supporting Now I Know, why not?

First off, thank you to the 18.1% who already are! I appreciate your support. Here’s the rest of the data — and I’ll toss an ask in afterward.

A lot of you — a combined 67.9% — seemed open to supporting this project with a couple of bucks a month, but don’t see the value. So, my humble request: What could I give to supporters that would change your mind? Just reply to this email with your ideas — thanks!

(And if you want to toss in those couple of dollars anyway, click here. Thanks!)

Q16: What's the best way to reheat leftover pizza?

I think I’m required to share the pie chart for this one, right? Because it’s about pizza?

I won’t argue with eating it cold — cold pizza is great. But if you want to warm it up, the best results I’ve gotten — and it isn’t close! — is the “on the stove, in a pan” method. The bottom stays crispy and the cheese melts nicely. Plus, there’s the element of control: you can just take it off the stove when it’s done to your liking. If you’re a “put it in the oven” person, give the stove method a try. And if you’re the “microwave it” person, well, I appreciate the impatience factor, but I’d just eat it cold.

Q17: Star ___

Oy.

I like Star Wars and, I admit, I liked Starlight Express when I saw it as a kid. Starry Night is good, of course. Star Search was a predecessor to all of the reality TV competition shows, and those aren’t my cup of tea, and neither was Star Search.

Star Trek, though, is my go-to. Many of you are missing out! Barely a quarter of you have it as your number one, and the rest of you won’t get that joke.

Q18: Which quartet is the best?

If I had to rank these four foursomes, this is how I’d rank them! So that’s pretty great. My follow-up question should have been: “Which is the best character in each of the four” but doing that as a multiple-choice chart would have been a mess. My responses would have probably been:

• Golden Girls: Too close to call. Rose, Dorothy, maybe Sofia. (Sorry, Blanche)

• Ghostbusters: Venkman, obviously.

• TMNT: I’ve always liked Michaelangelo.

• Fantastic Four: They all kind of stink, as superheroes go. The Silver Surfer is a bad guy (mostly) but he was always my favorite in their part of the universe. I guess, push come to shove, I’d go with the Invisible Woman, but I’d take Blanche first.

Q19: I'm considering giving a "shout out" on Fridays to anyone who has referred a new reader to Now I Know in the week or so prior. Would that make you more inclined to recommend Now I Know to a friend?

The vast majority of you — 82.3% — said “Not really.” Glad I asked before doing it!

Thanks for taking the survey!

The Now I Know Week In Review

Monday: The Fastest Human-Created Object is a … What?: The problem with nuclear bomb tests is that you might lose a manhole cover.

Tuesday: There Is No “Eye” in “Art”: The fact that this was a security guard… what a mess.

Wednesday: The Great Minnesota Goose Scandal of 2017: I wasn’t happy with how this story was coming out while writing it, and at the end, hit Send in part because I had nothing else written. So I was pleasantly surprised when a bunch of you wrote in to tell me this is one of your recent favorites.

Thursday: Why Barns are Red: It helps them not fall apart!

A Few Dollars = A Big Difference

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!

Interested in supporting Now I Know? Click here! 

And thanks! — Dan

Long Reads and Other Things

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

1) “Old books can be loaded with poison. Some collectors love the thrill.” (Washington Post, 8 minutes, July 2024). This is a gift link — it‘ll get you around their paywall. The subhead: “The Poison Book Project examines antique books for heavy metal pigments — including mercury, lead and arsenic — commonly used in Victorian bookbinding.”

2) “They Called It ‘Improper’ to Have Women in the Olympics. But She Persisted.” (New York Times, 11 minutes, July 2024). The Paris Games opens tonight — I thought this would be a timely share. It’s the story of Alice Milliat, who, in the 1920s, tried to get female athletes into the Games — and seeing no avenue to do so, started her own. Like the above, this is a gift link and should get you past the paywall.

3) “The Strange Saga of The Gods Must Be Crazy” (Slate, July 2024). The subhead: “The racist 1980s comedy broke box-office records worldwide—then promptly disappeared. The story behind it is revealing.”

Have a great weekend!

Dan