The Know Daily - Wednesday 19 April 2023

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The Woodland Trust is planning to restore the forested landscape of an ancient glacial valley in Yorkshire. The valley, measuring 561 hectares, is “almost completely barren”, reported Sky News. The conservation charity aims to plant 291 hectares with saplings, which will protect endangered red squirrels and create the largest continuous native woodland in England. We love to see charities branching out like this!

🏳️‍🌈 How accepted do LGBT+ young adults feel?

Almost half (46%) of LGBT+ young adults in the UK are estranged from at least one family member because of their sexuality or gender identity, a new survey has found.

Wait - almost half?
Sadly, yes. 3,695 young people aged 18 to 25 were polled in January 2023 by the LGBT+ young people’s charity Just Like Us. The study also found that LGBT+ young adults are more than twice as likely (15% vs 6%) to say they are not close with their immediate family than their straight, cisgender peers.

What else?
The report found that lesbians and gay men were the most confident that their parents or carers would accept them when they came out (at 72% and 68% respectively). More than a third of non-binary (39%) and transgender (37%) young adults said they were not confident they would be accepted. This handy graphic from The Guardian breaks down the data.

What do the findings tell us?
Amy Ashenden, interim CEO of Just Like Us, said the statistics show how difficult it still is for many LGBT+ people to simply be who they are. “It’s sadly a common myth that being LGBT+ is easier today, when in fact many LGBT+ young adults remain fearful of their parents not accepting them,” she added.

Ashenden also stressed the important role that schools have to play. “LGBT+ young people should know that their identities are valid and deserve to be celebrated,” she said. “We hope more parents and teachers will show them that this is the case.”

📺 The reality of reality TV

With the launch of Scared of the Dark - a new game show where famous faces are plunged into complete darkness - we’re wondering: can reality TV actually help raise awareness of the issues people face?

Okay, I’ll bite. Is that a real TV show?
Hell yes. In Channel 4’s latest reality series, eight celebrities (including Love Islander Chloe Burrows and former boxer Chris Eubank) spend seven days in the pitch black, performing challenges to earn rewards.

Critics have been divided over the televised social experiment, with reviews describing it as “the stupidest show of all time”, as well as “TV gold”.

But what’s the point of it?
Aside from the entertainment factor, the team behind the show have described it as an opportunity to study what happens “emotionally and physiologically” when people endure the “psychological pressures of light deprivation”.

And one contestant, the visually impaired comedian Chris McCausland, said that the programme would help audiences understand sight loss by raising the subject in a “powerful, genuine and authentic” way.

This point of view was echoed by the Royal National Institute of Blind People, which told The Guardian that they hoped the show would “help challenge misconceptions the public might have about disabled people”.

And have these misconceptions been challenged?
It’s hard to say right now, but a quick sweep of social media and newspaper reviews suggests that there’s much more interest in Chris Eubank’s behaviour in the bunker than in what the series reveals about blindness and nyctophobia (an extreme fear of the dark).

Like former health minister Matt Hancock’s much-mocked claim that his foray into the I’m a Celebrity jungle would help raise awareness of dyslexia, positive messages often get lost amid the headline-grabbing drama of reality shows, especially ones involving celebrities.

Can reality shows help raise awareness?
The best reality shows hold a mirror up to society and can “accelerate positive change”, reported the BBC in 2021. In recent years, programmes have sought to diversify contestants (Love Island’s most recent runner up, for example, is partially-sighted), but there is a fine line between tokenism and a genuine commitment to helping the public understand - and therefore empathise with - different lived experiences.

Whether C4’s new show will actually raise awareness about the realities of sight loss remains to be seen - but perhaps it’s a step in the right direction, rather than a mere stab in the dark.

♻️ Planet-friendly poppies: A new plastic-free Remembrance Day poppy - made of coffee cup waste - has been launched in what is the biggest revamp to the poppy design since 1995.

💰 Fox News settles: The US network has agreed to pay £634m to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by a voting machine company. The company, Dominion, had argued that its business had been harmed by Fox’s false claims about rigging the vote against Donald Trump.

🏃‍♀️ Marathon on alert: The London Marathon is “working closely” with police to prevent this Sunday’s race from being disrupted by environmental activists. Just Stop Oil, which protested at the World Snooker Championship on Monday, has vowed to continue targeting sporting events.

😮‍💨 Live like Kendall Roy: The three-story New York City apartment used by Succession’s Kendall Roy in the hit HBO series is up for sale for £23m. The penthouse features five bedrooms, four bathrooms and 3,500 sq ft of outdoor space.

🎡 Claw machine rescue: A 13-year-old boy became trapped inside a claw machine at a North Carolina amusement park after he climbed inside hoping to score a prize. He was rescued by a medical response team and banned from the park for a year.

Trivia answer: A) Mischa Barton, best known for playing the troubled Marissa Cooper in 00s smash hit The OC, has been confirmed as a Neighbours guest star. Barton will play Reece, an American who is new to Melbourne and is “not quite who she appears to be”.

Got a friend who might love The Know? As a tiny team with a big mission, we’re so grateful when readers spread the word about us - and we’ll reward you with things like a £30 HURR gift card, free Grubby recipe kits, CRU Kafe coffee and merch to say thanks.

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