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How does Today You Should Know work?

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📓 The short answer

Fueled by reader-submitted questions, I work on Today You Should Know nearly every morning — researching, creating custom diagrams, writing, editing, and managing the website. Over the past three years, I've learned a variety of lessons from keeping a schedule, finding reputable sources, and brute-forcing my way to a first draft. It's a joy and privilege to write to you all every week. Thank you.

📚 The long answer

In this special behind-the-scenes edition, I share with you my routine, writing process, and the actual numbers of how much money I make running this newsletter. If you read nothing else, please scroll down to take a quick, anonymous 1-question poll. Thank you!

How is a Today You Should Know newsletter made each week?

Every morning I get up between 6:00-7:00am, chug a glass of water, stretch and breathe a bit, and then sit down to work on Today You Should Know for anywhere from 45-90 minutes. I developed this routine after learning two valuable lessons in the three years I've been running this newsletter:

Lesson #1: My brain works best in the morning.

If I try to do anything related to this newsletter after work, I'm wildly unproductive. I literally send emails for a living, so my brain has had enough of this by the time I sign off.

Lesson #2: If I'm not in the mood to work, I do the easiest possible thing.

My first year, I would end up stressfully cramming the newsletter, send it with relief, and spend a few days not working on it. Then the cycle would repeat. Since then, I've learned that the only way to manage this weekly deadline with peace is to chip away at it every day. If I get in a groove and write a whole first draft in one sitting, awesome! If I feel like a zombie and can only select images, all good. But the point is, I have to do something, however small, to keep making progress.

Here are all the steps I take to go from a blank page to a polished newsletter dropped in your inbox each Friday:

Part #1: Selecting a question

Thanks to a bunch of you, I have a healthy backlog of questions to choose from each week. The two most common areas of interest in reader-submitted questions? Animals and human anatomy (e.g. "Why do dogs stick their head out the window?" and "Why do we get muscle cramps after heavy exercise?") As much as I enjoy both, I try to space apart question topics each week to maintain variety.

I'll pick a question based on how ambitious I'm feeling that week. But sometimes a question I think might be simple ends up being complicated (like "Why does glass break so easily?") Every so often I do a question that I've personally wondered about to reward my own curiosity (like "Why does salt make food taste better?")

Part #2: Research

After I've selected a question, I start digging for answers. When selecting sources, I prioritize those from academic, research, or trade institutions. I've found that sometimes the most common answer circulated around the internet isn't the full picture.

For example, when I was researching "Do elevator “Close Door” buttons really work?", basically every top search result declared 80% of elevators in the U.S. don't have a functional "Close Door" button. That "fact" came from a single NPR interview of one guy who runs an elevator museum, yet it was spread across the internet like wildfire. The actual answer is far more complicated and far less click-baity.

As I research, I drop in quotes from my sources in my email draft and start to form an outline of how I'll write out the full answer. My preferred outline is ordered lists of theories, reasons, and ... parts. This helps keep my own thinking organized, and I like how someone could skim this email, only read the headings, and probably still get a good answer.

Importantly, I've found I can't skimp on research. I need to follow each question that pops into my head to ensure I don't feel a lingering sense of incompletion of my answer. If I still have questions while I'm writing, there's no doubt a reader will still have questions they're while reading.

Part #3: Images

I love finding images that bring to life what I'm writing about because they always help me understand concepts better. But my favorite is when I've searched for an ideal image, I find it doesn't exist, and so I make it myself.

When I was figuring out "Why is it easier to balance a bike in motion?" I literally had to act out the motions of balancing a bike in my kitchen before the concepts clicked (which is ironic because I ride my bike quite often). There was no existing diagram to convey this information, so I made my own.

I'll leverage the fullest extent of my digital illustration prowess (which isn't a lot) and whip up something in Figma, a free design tool. I'm sure I've made some designers flinch at my stray pixels.

Part #4: Writing

Now that I've got my outline and supporting images, I regret to inform myself it's time to actually write the newsletter. As much as I do generally enjoy the writing process, man, those first minutes are rough.

I often start with the opener and need to write at least two or three wince-worthy hooks before I land on something decently well-written. I've accepted that I just have to get through these initial, garbage-grade attempts at writing before I type out something I actually like. I find it similar to starting a run — you've got to loosen up before finding a rhythm.

And by the time I've fleshed out the full newsletter, I'm relieved! I made it through the hardest part, and I've earned the rest of the day off to let the words simmer before moving on to the next step.

Part #5: Editing

When I return to my draft, I've usually created something way too long. Time to put some words on the chopping block. I try to keep in mind some of my favorite writing books, Smart Brevity and The Elements of Style, and do my very best aim to use as few words as humanly possible.

Sometimes that involves crafting a more concise sentence. Other times, I remove tangential facts I came across that don't directly answer the question at hand. And, probably for the best, I mourn the loss of some dumb joke that likely would only make me laugh (for example, while editing "Where does "hunky-dory" come from?" I cut a link to this clip from Real Housewives of Somewhere when that newsletter got too long).

Part #6: Formatting the blog

While I send out the newsletter from Kit, I also cross-post the article on my blog to share my findings with the world wide web. I use Squarespace for this, and basically copy over the paragraphs and re-upload the images. I'm sure I could find a way to automate this process, but it adds an extra layer of editing to catch any lingering issues or needless words.

Part #7: Replying to emails

Did you know you can hit "Reply" on this newsletter? I cherish receiving your feedback, questions, funny pictures, etc. I may not respond in a timely manner, but, since you took the time to send me a note, I always write back in a grateful manner.

💰 How much does it cost to run Today You Should Know?

In the spirit of transparency, I want to share with you the actual numbers of running this newsletter. Besides my time (I spend ~10 hours/week working on Today You Should Know), here are the annual operating costs:

And here are the current revenue streams I have with Today You Should Know:

*Note: I've also made $9 in Bookshop affiliate revenue (since starting the newsletter), but I when I cross $10 will be donating 100% of that to Room to Read as part of Today You Should Know's mission.

That leaves an annual loss of around -$145. Today You Should Know has always been a labor of love for me, so I'm not stressing much about this, but I'd love to at least cover my costs.

So I've got a question for you: If I started including an ad in the Today You Should Know newsletter from a brand that I know and trust, how would you feel about that? It would look something like this:

If you vote, you will see the live results!

🙏 Bonus gratitude

Thank you to everyone who has ever submitted questions. I truly couldn't come up with such fabulous topics without you! And if I haven't covered your topic yet, know that it's in my backlog of questions to write about.

Thank you to: Rodrigo, Aastha, Zuzu, Mom, Dad, Matt, Kritika, Roger, Bill, Rowie, Rene, Genie, Keri, Leah, Michael, Derrick, Samir, Omar, Kayli, Nikilah, Dani, Lauran, Raquel, Laura, Jatin, Liam, Natalie, Arushi, Patty, Noor, Chiranjib, Joseph, Jake, Chendur, Kaylah, Justine, Rajesh, Charli, Marc, David, Tej, Kathy, Kris, Ali, Aleefra, Livia, Mark, Will, Sean, Lisa, Georgia, S Nair, Alanna, Jane, Claire, Steve, Sis, Aaron, Aud, Thomas, Duncan, Erin, Kristine, Jake, Gary, Vinay, Meg, Rayvan, Adish, Maximillian, George, David, Andrea, Ana, Shi So, Rugia, Cory, Jana, Bhargavi, Linux, Frances, Becky, Jason, Stephen, Danny, Hannah, Sonja, Miguel, Christian, David, Lynne-Ann, Yefi, Cindy, Jane, Lisa, Louis, Beluga, Pedro, Jacqui, several anonymous folks, and my question-submitter, editor, and wildly accurate guesser of answers, Saurav ❤️.

--- Thanks for reading this week's newsletter! If you have any thoughts, questions, or favorite GIFs, my inbox is always open. Just hit reply to send me a note! :) ​ All my best, Caitlin ​Click here to read five facts about Caitlin​

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🌐 Wikipedia article of the week

​Memetics​

"Memetics is a theory of the evolution of culture based on Darwinian principles with the meme as the unit of culture. The term "meme" was coined by biologist Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, to illustrate the principle that he later called "Universal Darwinism". All evolutionary processes depend on information being copied, varied, and selected, a process also known as variation with selective retention....

Like genes, memes are selfish replicators and have causal efficacy; in other words, their properties influence their chances of being copied and passed on. Some succeed because they are valuable or useful to their human hosts while others are more like viruses."

📚 Did you know all affiliate revenue from book purchases is donated to charity? Today You Should Know is an affiliate for Bookshop, an online book marketplace that supports local, independent bookstores. I frequently update the Today You Should Know recommended reading list with my favorite fiction and nonfiction books. And I donate all affiliate proceeds to Room to Read, a leading nonprofit for children's literacy and girls' education across Asia and Africa. It's a win-win-win: you get to read a book, small bookstores get some business, and money is donated to a great cause. ​ Find your next read

👀 Catch up on other curious questions

• ​Why are hot dogs called hot dogs?​​
• ​Why do we get goosebumps?​​
• ​How is non-alcoholic beer made?​​

P.S. 🤔 Do you have a question for the newsletter? Click here to submit your question (or reply to this email!)