The Know Daily - Friday 15 September 2023

_{Friday 15 September ∙ Read in 5m 24s ∙ Listening to Mariah Carey}

Happy Friday, readers!

This working week has been a relatively short one for me, as I got back from an eye-opening trip to the Czech Republic on Monday night. I spent four days in Děčín (a city north of Prague) with my partner and his family, exploring the city where my soon-to-be father-in-law spent the first 18 years of his life.

In 1968, he was able to leave the country during the Prague Spring - and went on holiday to England. When the Soviet Union sent tanks into the Czech Republic to crush the protests, he decided it would be safer to stay in the UK and claimed asylum here (later becoming a professor of neuro-oncology!). He rarely goes back, so it felt like a privilege to see the places that shaped his early life and to learn more about his experiences during this turbulent time.

This week, I’m wondering whether you’ve ever been on a meaningful, perspective-shifting trip like this one? If you have, I’d love to hear about it - feel free to reply to this email if you have a story to share!

In this edition, you’ll find our usual roundup of this week’s biggest global stories, our news quiz and some culture recs, to help you start your weekend feeling informed and hopeful.

Have a good one!

Kate x
Editor-in-Chief

Our newsletters are free, but consider becoming a friend of The Know to back independent, female-founded journalism. You’ll also get exclusive editions, supporter-only giveaways and more - all for just £1.25 a week!

POLITICS & GLOBAL AFFAIRS

🤝 Russia’s Vladimir Putin discussed “possibilities” for military cooperation with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un in a meeting between the two leaders in Russia on Wednesday.

🇱🇾 The international community has rallied to aid rescue efforts in Derna, Libya, following catastrophic floods which burst dams protecting the port city.

🇬🇧 Senior Conservative MPs urged the government to take stronger action against Beijing, after it emerged that a parliamentary researcher was arrested in March over allegations that he had been spying for China.

CULTURE

🖋️ The Pulitzer Prize will now consider authors, playwrights and composers who are not US citizens, after the board expanded eligibility requirements.

🛍️ Fast fashion brands Shein and Forever21 are set to become “even more popular” after they announced a new “strategic partnership”. The move has sparked criticism from climate activists.

💃 Vogue World - hailed as London’s answer to the Met Gala and a fundraiser for Britain’s struggling arts scene - took place last night. Check out this roundup of the star-studded event.

WORK & INNOVATION

🍼 New mothers may have an enhanced ability to see faces in inanimate objects, researchers have found - and higher oxytocin levels could be behind it.

🐽 Scientists have grown humanised kidneys in pigs for the first time. This raises the prospect of “human organs being grown inside animals” for transplants, said The Guardian.

🍏 Apple unveiled its iPhone 15 and confirmed that it would use a USB-C cable. ICYMI, here’s our explainer on why this is such a big deal - and good news!

UPLIFTING STUFF

⚽ Women are set to referee football matches at the men’s Asian Cup 2024 for the first time ever, officials said on Thursday.

📺 A 12-year-old boy in Florida who saved a man from drowning said he learned life-saving CPR from watching the hit show Stranger Things.

🐨 Logging was halted in koala-rich areas of Australia’s New South Wales coast, as the state government consults on plans to establish a koala national park.

📰 Read: This wonderfully-illustrated dive into a new tongue-in-cheek board game called No Worries If Not!. Playing on the tricky scenarios that women face every day, “the whole project is a hoot – if a slightly depressing one at that”, writes Olivia Hingley for the creative publication It’s Nice That.

🎧 Listen to: All The Small Things, a weekly podcast which sees host Venetia La Manna chat to writers and activists about what makes their minds tick - and the seemingly small moments which turn out to be life-changing.

📺 Watch: A Haunting in Venice (out in cinemas now), The Morning Show S3 (Apple TV+), Thursday’s Widows (Netflix).

😋 Check out: The Good Food Guide’s list of Britain’s best restaurants and wine bars for soaking up the last of the summer sun.

We list jobs with qualities we know our readers are looking for: purpose-driven opportunities, flexible and female-founded environments, and employers who champion mental health.

Our top jobs this week include roles at group adventure travel company Intrepid Travel, nutrition platform ZOE and London Business School.
 
Want to reach 200,000 women with your latest roles? Email [email protected] if you’d like to list a job with us.

Get your friends, family and colleagues to sign up for The Know using your personalised code - https://theknowmedia.beehiiv.com/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER - and we’ll reward you with goodies from HURR, Grubby and CRU Kafe! Just copy and paste your code into an email, chat or even an Instagram story.

You’ve signed up 0 friends so far.

The Know is an independent media company on a mission to help everyone start their day feeling informed and hopeful. Our daily newsletter always features the day’s top stories broken down without jargon, uplifting news and hand-picked recs we think you’ll love. We only recommend things we genuinely love but sometimes we make money out of the links we share. This directly supports keeping our journalism free for all.

How did you find today’s email?
😍 Loved it 😕 Could be better

^{Daily emails too much for you? Switch to our Friday weekly edition. Support The Know here.}