Speedrunning Tesco (Odds and Ends #93)

Plus mixed feelings about Artemis, Mormon gambling, and a council finance nightmare.

Artemis II on the pad. (Photo: NASA.)

POD! On YIMBY Pod this week, we speak to former TfL head of innovation Thomas Ableman about why Swiss buses and trains work in perfect harmony – and why we need to build our own ‘mini-Switzerland’ in Britain. Plus Martin digs into the wild success of the British wine industry, and how it’s all thanks to robots. Listen/subscribe here.

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Hello, it’s time for Odds and Ends, your semi-regular round-up of the most interesting links I’ve seen this week, plus some shorter takes. Don’t worry, I’ve got a new essay post dropping tomorrow – I just need to add the finishing touches and brace for the reaction.

So in the meantime, here’s some links. This time I’m featuring:

• Why running a council is a nightmare game you simply cannot win.

• Everything you need to know ahead of the imminent launch of Artemis II.

• An awesome map revealing how grimly expensive your local area is.

• Why the Iran war makes things… even worse than you thought.

• A prototype for how the National Data Library could work.

• How hearing aid technology is about to become dramatically better.

• What happened when a practicing Mormon was given $10,000 to gamble.

• And a guy who is attempting to speed-run Tesco.

And don’t forget, this is your last chance to take advantage of my biggest special offer ever – click this button and you can bag yourself 25% off an annual subscription so you can read Odds and Ends every week! If you value my work, I really appreciate the support.

See me on a panel with... Jimmy Wales!

One last plug before we hit the links, as it’s pretty mad – I’ve been invited to join a panel discussion on AI at King’s College London on 24th April, with Professor Elena Simperl and none other than... Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia!

It’s an event to discuss Jimmy’s new book, The Seven Rules of Trust, and tickets are free. So do come along and watch as I try to think of something clever to say in the presence of an internet legend and an eminent academic.

Now let’s get on with the links!