The Know Daily - Thursday 30 July 2026

_{Read in 4m 23s ∙ Listening to Zach Brown Band ∙}

We love a poem over here and, clearly, our algorithm knows it! This carousel of haikus for each birth month popped up on our feed and we just had to share it to brighten your Thursday morning 🪻

🗞️ In case you missed it

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been following a fresh chapter in UK politics with Andy Burnham becoming the country’s new Prime Minister, while the heat dome continues to shape conversations around the world. We also dug into the idea of lifestyle creep and how our spending habits can quietly shift over time, plus explored why procrastination isn’t one-size-fits-all. Before July wraps up, we’re sharing a few of the stories that had the team’s Slack channel (and our reader inbox!) popping off.

🧳 Andy Burnham moved into No. 10: Britain's new Prime Minister has set out plans for a different style of government, promising a long-term approach focused on stability, living costs and giving communities more power. His proposed 10-year vision includes more council homes, education and mental health reform, boosting UK industry and bringing key services under stronger public control. Supporters say the plans could help tackle regional inequality and ease pressure on households, while critics are questioning how they will be funded and delivered. Burnham has also begun shaping his new Cabinet, with figures including John Healey as Chancellor, Ed Miliband as Foreign Secretary, Shabana Mahmood remaining as Home Secretary and Angela Rayner returning as Housing Secretary.

☀️ Beating the heat: As heat domes drive record temperatures across parts of the world, governments and communities are rethinking how to adapt to a hotter future. These periods of trapped, intense heat can put pressure on health services, transport, energy and agriculture, with the biggest risks facing vulnerable groups. The UK is investing in better warnings and climate planning, from cooler homes and greener cities to more resilient infrastructure. While extreme heat is becoming a bigger challenge, smarter design and preparation can help communities stay safer and more comfortable.

Our inbox has been overflowing…
Some stories this month sparked a whole lot of conversation amongst The Know’s community. Here are some of your thoughts: 

🛍️ Lifestyle creep: It’s that feeling when your spending increases alongside your income. We asked if anyone from the community has experienced it, and out of respondents to our poll, 89% said they have.

🙇‍♀️ 9 types of procrastinator: A Cambridge University lecturer recently identified 9 types of procrastinator. When we asked for your own experiences, 66% identified as procrastinators, whilst just 6% said they aren’t.

Drum roll please 🥁 These are the most clicked stories this month:
❣️A work trend called “bubble wrapping”
❣️The UK’s most popular baby names in 2025
❣️The happiest cities in the world (according to locals!)

🎓 New apprenticeship bursaries of up to £4,500 and technical education pathways for 14-year-olds have been unveiled by the government as part of plans to help more young people into work.

• The bigger story: The Prime Minister says the reforms are designed to tackle rising youth unemployment by giving teenagers more routes into skilled jobs alongside traditional academic study. From 2028, pupils will be able to combine core subjects with technical training linked to local employers. Ministers also hope a new bursary for apprentices from families receiving Universal Credit will encourage more young people to apply by helping to offset concerns that taking up an apprenticeship could leave their household worse off financially through loss of benefits. The government says the changes will encourage more young people into education, training and employment, though some education groups say more detail is needed on how the plans will work in practice.

🧬 The first direct evidence that genetic makeup influences how cancer tumours form after environmental damage to DNA has been found by scientists, which could explain why smoking and UV rays cause cancer in some and not others.

⚽️ FIFA has announced plans to sell off stakes in its football competitions – including the World Cup – to private investors.

📺 The BBC is neck-and neck with Netflix as the go-to streaming service for Brits, new research has found.

🤖 New Chinese humanoid robots are set to be subject to import bans in the US, the Trump administration has announced.

📖 Dua Lipa has curated the line-up for the London Literary Festival, announcing she will be in conversation with author Zadie Smith and singer Patti Smith.

🚙 The best European islands for a road trip have been ranked by a car rental company. (Note to self: remember to pack lots of snacks!)

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Trivia answer: A) The children’s author produced more than 250 paintings and drawings of her special interest.

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