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Here’s what you need to know
The UK reaches a “critical point” in the pandemic. In a rare televised address, senior government scientists will urge the public to take extra precautions amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases and ahead of what’s expected to be a challenging winter period.
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addresses the EU. The exiled Belarusian opposition leader will discuss the latest developments in her home country, and hold a meeting with European parliament president David Sassoli. The EU is likely to miss its deadline to impose sanctions on Minsk, as Cyprus vowed use its veto over a dispute with Turkey.
The US lost a giant. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passed away aged 87. As a feminist icon and women’s rights champion, she showed the power of patience in the fight for equality, and was full of wisdom on how to live a full life. President Donald Trump could name a nominee as early as tomorrow.
TikTok won’t get the US’s axe. Trump said he gave his “blessing” to an Oracle-Walmart partnership to support the app’s US operations, but China’s ByteDance will remain a majority owner. Meanwhile, a federal judge temporarily blocked the executive order that sought to ban WeChat downloads in the US.
Major global banks were implicated in suspicious transactions. A huge trove of leaked documents reportedly shows that some of the world’s biggest lenders facilitated illicit money transfers anyway, helping suspected terrorists, drug traffickers, and corrupt foreign officials move trillions of dollars.
Protesters in Thailand challenged the monarchy. Huge crowds demanded reforms, and a “people’s plaque” installed by protesters near the royal palace, declaring that the country belongs to the people and not the king, was removed by police this morning.
What to watch for this week
Monday: Results from Italy’s regional elections are expected. The UN marks its 75th anniversary. LVMH and Tiffany are back in court in the US over an acquisition deal.
Tuesday: The UN General Assembly opens. Tesla could unveil a new type of battery cell.
Wednesday: Apple’s online store opens in India.
Thursday: EU leaders begin a two-day meeting to discuss relations with Turkey and China.
Friday: Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro undergoes surgery.
Charting unemployment’s effect on sleep
In a new paper, Danny Blanchflower, a Dartmouth economist, and Alex Bryson, a social scientist at University College London, document the impact of joblessness on sleep. Perhaps predictably, the unemployed sleep less than the overall population, likely a result of anxiety and worry. About 13% of the newly unemployed, for example, report getting four hours of sleep or less a night.
But the study authors discovered the unemployed also sleep more than normal, what social scientists call “long sleep,” which is associated with the use of anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medication, as well as illnesses such as lupus. Among the population unable to work—either because of health, family, or other reasons—9% report sleeping 10 or more hours per night, almost three times the rate of the general population.
Both under- and over-sleeping make it harder to find work, and can lead to a wide range of other health problems.
Read more about how sleep relates to joblessness.
Home offices, by the numbers
29%—Percentage of remote workers in the US who say they struggle with work-life balance
4—Number of extra hours Microsoft employees worked each week during the Covid-19 lockdown
$20.70—Cost of a three-minute call from New York to San Francisco in 1915. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $530 today
$850—Average cost of a fax machine for the home in 1991. That’s $1,600 today
23 hours, 39 minutes—Standing record for world’s longest Zoom meeting
$20,000—Average cost of building a standard 12×12 ft (3.65×3.65 m) home office in the US
85.02 mbps—Average download speed in Taiwan, the country with the fastest internet currently
3%—Increase in value for a single family home in the US with access to broadband internet prior to the pandemic
100 inches—Or 2.5 m, the diameter of Hugh Hefner’s bed, which doubled as a desk
$24,000—Auction price of an Algeco 1969 pre-fab home office pod
More than ever, it’s become clear that the established templates for office architecture—from open-plan layouts to cubicle farms—need a rethink. Our latest field guide explores how a home office, in essence, offers a testing ground for figuring out how, where, and when we do our best work.
Obsession interlude: Future of work
Automation, remote work, the gig economy, and AI are dramatically changing the nature of work. And as the pandemic forces so much of hiring online, it’s possible to encounter AI at every step of the process, including:
✍️ Writing job descriptions. AI firm Textio claims it can optimize every word of a job posting, using a machine learning model that correlates certain turns of phrase with better hiring outcomes.
🗣️ Herding applicants. There are AI services that automate the task of reaching out to candidates, scheduling interviews, fielding applicants’ questions, and even conducting basic screeners.
✅ Evaluating interviews. Recruiting firm HireVue sells an AI tool that analyzes interviewees’ facial movements, word choice, and speaking voices to assign them an “employability” score. The platform is ubiquitous in industries like finance and hospitality.
Keep tabs on our Future of Work obsession here.
Surprising discoveries
Twitter’s algorithm appears to be racist. The platform says it’s looking into why its preview feature seems to show white people more frequently than Black ones.
A Turkish artist gave iconic masterpieces furry makeovers. The Starry Night and Mona Lisa are reimagined as hairy abstractions.
Carpenters rebuilding the Notre Dame are using medieval techniques. The methods for shaping and installing massive oak beams were used to build the Paris cathedral 800 years ago.
A surfer’s board floated from Hawaii to the Philippines. It resurfaced near a remote island across the Pacific, two years after the board went missing in a wipeout.
The Emmy Awards featured hazmat tuxedos. Some winners received hand-delivered awards from presenters in protective suits.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, inclusive photo previews, and artisan hewn oak beams to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Mary Hui, Isabella Steger, Tim McDonnell, and David Yanofsky.