The Know Daily - Wednesday 5 August 2026

_{Read in 4m 11s ∙ Listening to Brian Collins ∙}

These fun facts about animals have made the team's day. I mean, platypuses glowing under UV light? That's something we need to see! It's such a fun reminder of how magical the world around us can be ✨

🎤 Olivia Rodrigo proves you actually can use your platform for good 

Written by Holly Beddingfield — yes, that Holly, The Know’s original co-founder. She’s back with Capsule, a newsletter serving sharp takes on pop culture, fashion, and modern life. 

In today’s world, celebrities are increasingly cautious about sharing a point of view. But Olivia Rodrigo is proving that there is a way to advocate for causes you believe in that feels both authentic and valuable for the communities they affect. 

Let’s start with the cautious. 
It’s easy to see why stars often steer clear from having opinions on anything political or controversial. We live in an era of interviews being clipped into punchy quotes, devoid of context, and social media generally encourages unsympathetic reads on a situation. Take Kendall Jenner’s 2017 Pepsi advert – the ultimate cautionary tale of performative activism gone wrong. Intended to create unity, the ad trivialised real-world protest movements, resulting in global backlash and pushing Kendall (along with plenty of other A-listers) towards the safety net of neutral PR and brand-safe silence. Other examples include: 

• Taylor Swift: She retreated from the public eye for a year, and admitted in her Miss Americana documentary that a deep-seated fear of public exile (shaped in part by watching the industry destroy The Chicks in the 2000s) kept her politically silent for years.

• Selena Gomez and Chappell Roan: Both stars have faced fierce criticism when trying to navigate nuanced or cautious statements on complex global conflicts, resulting in "taking a break from social media" announcements and retreats to the background.

Despite this landscape, Olivia Rodrigo is speaking up.  
Given the experiences of stars before her, you might expect a young star with such a massive platform to play it safe and focus on her music. But her recent actions are quite the opposite. To name just a few: 

• She is putting on Daisy Chain Fields, a festival with an all-female lineup in which all proceeds go to organisations advocating for women and girls.

• She recently visited and created content with the Center for Reproductive Rights, focusing on dispelling myths around their work.

• Her festival merch is created by women-owned Etsy shops. 

In a divided world, and a particularly divided America, Olivia is choosing to align with a certain side of history. But her activism does not feel performative like the blunders before her. Her actions are so embedded into her work and brand identity that they feel like a natural extension of who she is, making it clear that whether she had a massive platform or not, she’d care about these causes anyway.

So, is the risk worth it?
I think so. The response to Olivia’s recent advocacy has been overwhelmingly positive. Of course, not everyone agrees with her politics, and some may choose to avoid her work because of it. But for the people who genuinely do care, these actions cement a much deeper connection to Olivia’s output. It feels less like art for art’s sake, and more like art for good. And in a largely neutral, PR-safe landscape, striving to do good is something the pop landscape needs more of.

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💻 Apple is challenging a new UK government request for access to encrypted iCloud data, taking the dispute over digital privacy back to court.

• The bigger story: The legal challenge follows a fresh Home Office request for access to encrypted iCloud data belonging to UK users. Apple argues that creating a way to access protected data could weaken privacy and security for everyone, while the government says its powers are only used in cases involving serious crimes such as terrorism and child exploitation, with legal safeguards in place. The case is expected to play an important role in shaping the balance between privacy and law enforcement in the UK.

⚽️ FIFA’s plan to sell private stakes in upcoming World Cup tournaments has been scrapped following widespread criticism from the rest of the football community.

🍷 Worldwide wine consumption has fallen to its lowest level since 1961, a new report has shown. 

📝 Scottish exam pass rates have increased as students across the country received their results yesterday.

👁️ A “cochlear implant for vision” can restore some sight for people with age-related macular degeneration, meaning they can read books and see road signs more clearly. 

🪸 500 new bacterial species have been discovered after scientists mapped the Great Barrier Reef’s “invisible” microbiome for the first time.

✈️ A second runway is set to open at Gatwick that will allow the airport to accommodate roughly 100,000 more flights a year.

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Trivia answer: C) The European country has come out on top of the Rumavi Global Relocation Index 2026.

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