The Know Daily - Friday 24 November 2023

_{Read in 5m 34s ∙ Listening to The Weeknd}

Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve all had wonderful weeks. The absolute highlight of mine was getting to meet so many of our wonderful readers IRL when we hosted The Know’s first-ever “pub” quiz at AllBright’s gorgeous space in central London on Wednesday!

The evening was full of laughs (and plenty of trivia, of course!), and had a real sense of community - making it a powerful reminder of why I decided to found The Know back in 2021. I’m so grateful to each and every one of you for being on this journey with me. 

Keep scrolling for the usual roundup of the week’s biggest headlines, our Friday quiz and all the culture recs you need to see you through the weekend.

Love,

Lynn x 

PS: For those of you who are not in London, drop us your location here so we can plan more events for you!

POLITICS & GLOBAL AFFAIRS

🗞️ Middle East latest: A four-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas has come into effect. Under the deal, which was mediated by Qatar, 50 Israeli hostages are due to be released, as well as 150 Palestinian prisoners. The BBC is live blogging the latest events.

🇳🇱 The far-right populist Geert Wilders won the Dutch election, in what Euronews described as “one of the biggest political earthquakes in the Netherlands since World War II”. Wilders will now need to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition.

💼 UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered his autumn statement on Wednesday. He announced larger than expected tax cuts for workers - “fuelling speculation about a snap spring general election”, said The Guardian.

CULTURE

🎧 Spotify announced plans to phase out its service in Uruguay after the country’s parliament passed a new music copyright bill requiring “fair and equitable remuneration” for artists.

🎥 Plans to build a film studio in Sunderland were submitted to the city council for approval. The studios - described as a “Hollywood for the North” - would be among the biggest in Europe. 

🎖 Blackpink’s members were presented with honorary MBEs during a state visit by South Korea’s president to the UK. King Charles said he could “only admire” how the K-pop girl group supported environmental causes “as well as being global superstars”.

WORK & INNOVATION

🚀 The UK said it will join Spain and Portugal in building a new spacecraft to monitor the climate crisis and reduce the risk of natural disasters. 

🤖 ChatGPT developer Sam Altman was reinstated as CEO of OpenAI after overcoming an “attempted boardroom coup” that “sent the company into chaos”, said The Verge. 

🛍️ Fast fashion giant Shein is planning a new office in Manchester as it “eyes UK expansion”, reported Retail Gazette. The firm already has a London office, which employs around 40 staff.

UPLIFTING STUFF

🔬 A gene-editing drug that aims to cure two blood disorders was licensed for use in the UK, marking a world first.

🇩🇿 In Algeria, work is restarting on a green mega-project that aims to reforest over one million hectares of land. Afrik21 said the initiative - first announced 53 years ago - aims to combat desertification and improve living conditions by creating “jobs, income and services”.

🇨🇦 Canada banned domestic trade in elephant ivory and rhino horn, a move hailed by activists as a “critical step” towards protecting these “iconic species”.

📰 Read: Burnout is the number one reason why women are leaving jobs, research has found - but how do we tackle this? In this mindset-shifting article, Charley Ross - columnist for AllBright - argues that joy is the antidote, as well as the key to career success.

📺 Watch: Saltburn and Napoleon (out in cinemas now), The Curse (Paramount+), Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix). Ready for some festive flicks? Check out Variety’s list of the 25 best Christmas movies of all time. 

🎧 Listen to: Where It’s At: A Short History of Girlbands. Hosted by The Saturdays’ Mollie King and featuring archive clips and interviews, this fun podcast is the perfect way to brighten up these cold and dark days. 

❤️ Sign up for: 21 Days Of Self-Discovery - an opportunity to get clear, connected and confident about where you’re going in 2024, hosted by The Know’s very own career expert, Calypso Barnum-Bobb. The challenge begins this Monday and our readers can get an exclusive 50% off with the code THEKNOW50 - so sign up today!

🧑‍🍳 Cook: Literally any of Yotam Ottolenghi’s delicious-sounding recipes for Thanksgiving sides. Even if you’re not planning on celebrating the US holiday, we reckon the parsnip and pecorino stuffing would make a great Sunday dinner accompaniment 👀

🎁 Make: Your own Christmas present! Specifically, craft your own pair of gorgeous ceramic coasters under the expert guidance of ceramicist Florence in London. Based outside the capital? Get creative with this DIY clay kit.

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 Hotpod Yoga, feminist NGO The Circle and Gingerbread, the charity that advocates for single-parent families.
 
Want to reach 200,000+ women with your latest roles? Email [email protected] if you’d like to list a job with us.

In our Wednesday edition, we covered a report by the Fawcett Society which argued that making flexible working the default in “high-quality, high-paid jobs” is essential to closing the gender pay gap more quickly. Off the back of that, we asked whether you’re able to work flexible hours in your job:

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 Yes, I can easily (112)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes, but it hasn’t been easy (16)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I’m in the process of making it happen (7)

🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ No, I can’t or don’t want to (47)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ I don’t work (9)

191 Votes

We were interested (and actually pretty pleased!) to see that many of you are able to have some sort of flexibility in your work. “Ultimately as long as I get the work done, they don't care when I’m working,” wrote one reader.

Another had a less positive experience, writing: “I wish! I used to be able to and then a new boss was hired who allows for zero flexibility.”

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