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!

It’s been a mess of a week for me — a week ago yesterday, I went to Florida to see the Mets at their spring training facility. The plan was to fly back to New York on Sunday, and if you’re in New York, you know that didn't happen. A blizzard shut down all the airports from Sunday afternoon (when I was supposed to land) until early Tuesday in some cases. We were stuck in Florida — nice weather, so I can’t complain too much — until yesterday. So I don't have much to share with you today (unless you want to hear about the Mets).

Given that, let’s keep today’s weekender short, and hop right into the Week in Review.

Monday: Not Even Time Machines Can Drive in Snowstorms?: Public art turns into a public nuisance, momentarily.

Tuesday: The "Lion" Whose Bark Was Bigger Than Its Bite: More like “lying.”

Wednesday: Dinner and a Backup Plan: The co-pilot on your last long-haul flight doesn’t get to choose what he eats — and that’s a good thing.

Thursday: The $200 Apple You Don't Get to Eat: Why you shouldn’t bring an apple to New Zealand.

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And thanks! — Dan

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

1) “Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong” (The Guardian, 20 minutes, February 2026). The subhead: “For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centered upon why their civilization collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?”

2) “How selfish are we?” (Aeon, 24 minutes, February 2026). One of my pet peeves is that we had kids read Lord of the Flies in school. It’s a good book but the lesson is all wrong — in general, when people are put in to a position where cooperation will lead to better survival chances, we cooperate. This essay explores that tension between cooperation and competition, and our ability do do both as conditions dictate.

3) “Living in Tracy Chapman’s House” (The New Yorker, 17 minutes, February 2026). A personal memoir about the years the author spent living in a chaotic, run-down communal house in Somerville, Massachusetts — a place once inhabited by the young Tracy Chapman before she became famous

Have a great weekend!

Dan