One Day Smarter

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Dominate trivia night, liven up a date, and impress everyone you know with this funny, weird, smart book of little-known facts.

Did you know a group of bunnies is called a fluffle? Or that the people who voiced Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life? How about this one: In ancient Persia, government officials debated laws twice—once sober and once drunk?
 
We could all use a little good news right now. Comedian and writer Emily Winter is here to tell you confidently that there is kindness, beauty, empathy, humor, resilience, wonder, silliness, cuteness, strength, hope, and joy in our world. With this book in hand, you can make yourself that much smarter while also lighting up your brain with positivity.”You can dip into this book, but I found myself reading it cover to cover with glee. The facts are fun, unique, make you laugh, think, and even feel better about humanity.”—Ophira Eisenberg, host of NPR’s Ask Me Another

“One Day Smarter is addictive bite-sized content in book form. Take that, TikTok. Charmingly funny, spanning a wealth of information, and brimming with scrumptious tidbits, consider it the Lonely Planet guide for how to make it through a dinner party where you barely know anyone.”—Aparna Nancherla

“Emily Winter is the warm, hilarious and thoughtful friend you call for an honest yet affirming pep talk. How lucky are we to have that sunny candor captured in a book? This a treasure trove of trivia for those moments in life when you don’t know what else to say.”—Alicia Menendez, MSNBC; host of Latina to Latina; author of The Likeability Trap: How to Break Free and Succeed as You Are

“Fact: Emily Winter’s compendium of bite-size pieces of bliss is beautifully researched and presented. Not only will this book make you smarter, but the money you win at your favorite bar’s trivia night makes it a good investment as well.”—Cary McNeal, creator of the Scared Sh*tless seriesEmily Winter is a comedian and writer for the NPR trivia show Ask Me Another. She’s also written for The New Yorker’s Daily Shouts, TV Land, Fusion TV, Glamour, The Barnes & Noble Review, and The New York Times. Her stand-up comedy plays on Sirius XM, and she emcees and produces an annual, sixty-four-comedian one-liner joke contest called One Liner Madness in New York. Winter is also a judge for NBC’s Late Night Writers Workshop and the Women in Comedy Festival, and she hosts the podcast Comedians with Ghost Stories. Winter has appeared on the Today show and the TED WorkLife with Adam Grant podcast, and her work has been written about on or in Buzzfeed, the AV Club, Lifehacker, The Boston Globe, the Miami New Times, The Brooklyn Paper, Bustle, HelloGiggles, and others. She lives in Brooklyn.
 

“Never stop learning. Because when you stop learning, you stop growing.”

Those were the words of the SCUBA dive master who certified me for the sport when I was twelve. That was a long time ago, but I remember his advice exactly. For years, I ruminated on it. I journaled about it. It stuck with me because it was so simple, yet so profound, and the dive master was hot.

Even though that dive master is now approximately one thou­sand years old and seemingly off social media (What? A good writer always does her research!), I still keep his words in my mind. They’ve helped me often throughout my career as a writer and a comedian. There’s always more to learn, more to discover, new meta­phorical mountains to climb. Admittedly, sometimes thinking about the inexhaustible amount of information in the world stresses me out, but more often it makes me feel excited, determined, and ener­gized. I’m lucky that I work in a field that encourages fresh ideas.

Stand‑up comedy, in fact, demands it. And as a game and joke writer for the NPR trivia show Ask Me Another, I’m constantly going down encyclopedic rabbit holes in search of fascinating, oft- forgotten tidbits.

I’m very excited about this book, and grateful to be researching uplifting facts during turbulent times. So often, it seems as though all the news, all the history, all the information, is negative. And when it feels like I’m trapped in a tumble dryer with only bad news, I get depressed and panicked, stuck in an unproductive, unhealthy combination of anxious paralysis. In short, I become a Quivering Puddle Person. And I wonder if there’s any good left in this world.

But today I’m happy to report: There is. In my research, I have discovered that there is kindness, beauty, empathy, humor, resilience, wonder, silliness, cuteness, strength, hope, and joy in our world. Thank friggin’ goodness.

And thank you. Thank you for considering reading this book of my favorite trivia, as well as cherished facts from bona fide experts, and the smarty- pants who walk among us, former Jeopardy! con­testants. My aims for this project are twofold: to make you one day smarter every time you read it, and to light up your brain in a posi­tive way. While we can’t— and shouldn’t— ignore all the problems in our world, it’s also helpful, calming, inspirational, and necessary to learn about the good stuff, too.

I think we all could use a little good stuff right now.

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