The Know Daily - Wednesday 3 April 2024

_{Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Harry Styles ∙}

An indoor bouldering centre is offering free climbing sessions to refugees and asylum seekers, as part of a pioneering scheme aimed at fostering community. The Climbing Hangar - which has a number of venues around the UK - puts on monthly sessions which provide “belonging, support and connection” while making the physical benefits of exercise more accessible. 

🗳️ Protecting local democracy

Ahead of the local elections in England on 2 May, ministers are being urged to scrap a law requiring councillors to publish their home addresses.

What’s the reason? 
The Local Government Association (LGA) argues that the 1972 law, which requires local councillors to publish their home addresses by default, is out-of-date and leaves those in local government feeling unsafe. 

It comes amid a reported upsurge in the abuse and intimidation of councillors, driven in part by social media. LGA research from July 2023 found that 82% of all councillors feel at risk “at least sometimes” in their roles - up from 73% the year before.

There are particular concerns about the impact of such abuse on women, who are already a minority in local government and may be less inclined to stand in the next election, reported The Guardian. 

How have ministers responded?
In response to calls to overhaul the 1972 law, a government spokesperson pointed out that since 2011 councillors have been able to opt out of having their addresses published if there are concerns about threats. However, the LGA argues that not publishing addresses should become the default. 

What’s the bigger picture?
The call for greater protection for those in local government comes amid a recent focus on the safety of those in Westminster. In February, Labour MP Harriet Harman called on Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak to agree on ensuring that the next general election - which is widely expected to be held by the end of 2024 - is not marred by threats of violence against MPs.

The same month, the government announced that MPs facing threats would get extra security as part of a £31m package to help protect the UK’s democratic processes from disruption.

🎵 Change your tune

Song lyrics have become simpler and more repetitive over the past 40 years, a new study has found.

Go on…
A team of European researchers analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs - across the genres of rap, country, pop, R&B and rock - from 1980 to 2020. They found that song lyrics had not only become “simpler” over the past four decades, but also angrier and more personal, with words such as “me” or “mine” becoming more popular.

What’s behind the shift?
Senior study author Eva Zangerle emphasised that lyrics can be a “mirror of society”, reflecting how a culture’s values, emotions and preoccupations change over time. Lyrics becoming simpler may also reflect a change in how music is enjoyed, such as increases in songs being used as background music, Sky News pointed out.

What else is going on?
The study - published in the journal Scientific Reports - also identified big shifts in the way people listen to music, from the vinyls and cassettes of the 1980s, to the CDs of the 90s, to the streaming platforms of today.

At the same time, the physical music market is going through a revival. Vinyl sales in the UK hit their highest level since 1990 last year, as fans are drawn to the collectability, sound quality and nostalgia of records.

💰 Billionaire boom: Forbes’ annual ranking of the super-rich revealed that there are more billionaires than ever before - with Taylor Swift joining the list.

🌏 Taiwan earthquake: The island experienced its strongest earthquake in 25 years this morning.

🗣️ Speaking out: OpenAI’s new voice cloning tool has been deemed too risky for general release, amid concerns about misinformation and deepfakes in a global year of elections. 

🎾 Eye on the ball: If you’re especially good at tennis or video games, you might be seeing more “images per second”, a new study suggests.

🕺 Harry’s house: So many Harry Styles fans have descended on his hometown of Holmes Chapel in recent years that a local community group has decided to launch its own official tours. And it’s looking for superfans to lead them.

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Trivia answer: B) 23 Japanese words have been added to the Oxford English dictionary - with more than half of the borrowed words relating to cooking. How many do you know?

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