The government is fixing something I complained about (Odds and Ends #91)

Plus fiscal devolution, robot tennis and why I am not a fan of David Hockney.

I know we’re supposed to hate the controversial prediction market company Polymarket, but I can’t help but like the concept of their new bar in DC called The Situation Room, which will be like a sports bar but for watching news coverage, with feeds of Flight Radar 24, and stocks and so on. I realise this is now my worst opinion.

POD! On YIMBY Pod this week: I rather controversially arguing that Reform has a point about one, very specific policy proposal. Martin tells the story of a playground that has been closed for over two years for a maddening planning reason. And we speak to Laurel Boxall and Neil Ross from Public First, who make the case for opening up the copyright laws for AI training. Aim your pitchforks at them, not me! Listen here, or wherever you get your pods!

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ESSAY! Don’t forget to catch up with my big essay this week, arguing that Britain’s geospatial data is a total mess.

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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.

This time I’m featuring:

• How the government is going to fix something I complained about just this week!

• Why good government is about choosing winners and losers

• The news you may have missed from Rachel Reeves’ EU alignment speech

• Why the unprecedented AI investment may not be a bubble after all

• The strange nature of open source software in 2026

• Robots playing tennis

• What to do with NCP car parks now the company has gone bust

• And I bravely tell the truth about David Hockney (that his most recent art is crap).

Now let’s get started!