The Know Daily - Friday 8 March

_{Read in 5m 32s ∙ Listening to FARR ∙}

It’s Lynn here, stopping by on this sunny Friday to remind you what The Know is all about: we bring you the week’s top stories without jargon, bias or sensationalism - along with a hefty dose of good news - to keep you informed and hopeful about the world. 

We also love to centre women-focused stories, artists and creators. And while that’s something we do all day every day, the fact it’s International Women’s Day means we’re bringing you a bumper roundup of our fave culture content right now.

Finally - if you know someone who would love what we do, get them to sign up for free to our newsletters! We’re only able to produce free content because of the support of our friends - so if you value what we do and want to support a female-founded business, please consider becoming a friend of The Know here. We couldn’t do this without you.

Love,

Lynn x
Co-founder

POLITICS AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS

🇮🇪 Ireland votes today in two referendums: one on removing “sexist” language from the country’s constitution, the other on expanding the constitutional definition of a family. The BBC has this helpful explainer. 

🧊 Ice-free summers in the Arctic are possible within the next decade, a new report revealed - but there is “potential to fix this issue”.  

🇺🇸 A Trump-Biden rematch in November’s US presidential election became a near certainty this week, after both men triumphed in their respective nomination contests on Super Tuesday.

CULTURE

🏆 The Oscars take place on Sunday and this year’s ceremony should be “a whole lot of fun”, says The Independent’s Adam White. Here’s why. 

👏 Free, reusable period products will be made available to around 2.5 million people in Catalonia in Spain, in a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at tackling period poverty. 

🇯🇵 Mount Fuji hikers will have to pay a fee starting this summer, as Japan looks to manage overcrowding at one of the country’s most iconic landmarks.

WORK & INNOVATION

💰 The price of Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, briefly soared to a new all-time high of over $69,000.

🫁 “Mini organs” were grown for the first time using human stem cells taken during pregnancy, “potentially leading to advances in prenatal medicine”. 

📱iPhone sales in China fell by 24% in the first six weeks of 2024 compared with the previous year, as Apple faces “fierce competition” from local rivals such as Huawei.

UPLIFTING STUFF

Click on our Instagram post for five good news stories in celebration of International Women’s Day 👇

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🙋‍♀️ A recs roundup - International Women’s Day edition

Searching for your next read, podcast or series to binge? We’ve got you. Last week, we asked for your fave books and films that put women front-and-centre - and we were blown away by the response! We’ve put your recs into one big list, so you can come back to it time and time again:

📰 READ

“Why Women Are Poorer Than Men and What We Can Do About It” by Annabelle Williams should definitely be on the list.”

“Meet Me at the Surface, the debut novel by Jodie Matthews. Cornish folklore tied with women’s stories.”

You’re also loving: Mary Oliver’s poetry, Matrescence by Lucy Jones, Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo, Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez, Takeaway by Angela Hui. 

📽️ WATCH

“Wingwomen is a French movie directed by Mélanie Laurent and starring three strong female leads. It’s sensational - full of humour, strength and vulnerability.” 

“The series Boo, Bitch! is a great tale of female friendship, adolescence and mortality.”

You’re also loving: Copa 71 (out in cinemas now), Anatomy of a Fall (Amazon Prime), In Bed with Victoria (MUBI), Deadloch (Amazon Prime). 

🎧 LISTEN

“Tough Girl Podcast features almost 700 episodes of interviews with inspiring women from around the world. Warning: after listening you may catch the adventure bug!” 

“All The Small Things, hosted by Venetia La Manna - it’s full of insightful conversations and musings.” 

You’re also loving: Why Women Grow by Alice Vincent, Sentimental Garbage hosted by Caroline O'Donoghue, Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak’s Poog.  

📲 CHECK OUT

“41 Forty One - I bought a beautiful handmade 3-piece holiday set from there. Excellent quality clothing from an independent female-led business!” 

“Natalia Bagniewska - I have a few of her art pieces in my home and I love them!" 

You’re also loving: Anna Jones’ cookbooks, @katcancook and @sluttycheff - “seriously funny writing about food, sex and being a woman in the male-dominated restaurant world”.

This week, we reported on two very different trends gaining traction on social media: chronoworking - where you sync your work hours to your personal energy levels - and a new fitness craze called Hyrox. Here’s what you made of them:

And now to finally settle a very important debate: would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or 1 horse-sized duck? 

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ 1 horse-sized duck (42%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 100 duck-sized horses (58%)

We were impressed by how well thought out your horse-duck defense strategies were. One reader in the duck-sized horse camp would “tame and ride the horse-sized duck instead of feeling 100 annoying horses nip at my legs”. Food for thought.

And now, over to you! It’s the Oscars on Sunday, with some big names up for Best Picture…

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