Trains are a critical part of an abundant future (Odds and Ends #77)

Plus a promising sign the government is planning to fix the Sunday trading laws! And more!

Photo by Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages on Unsplash

POD! On The Abundance Agenda podcast this week, Martin digs into how the Reform Party in Lincolnshire is building… a bat tunnel of its own. Plus we speak to Executive Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering, Dr Alicia Greated, about industrial policy and immigration. Oh, and I talk more about… this whole thing below. Listen on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Substack, or wherever you get your pods!

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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, plus some shorter takes. This week I’m featuring:

• Some very promising news about reform of the Sunday trading laws.

• An extremely chilling piece about Trump’s authoritarian take-over of America.

• Why trains are a crucial part of an abundance future.

• What the arrest of a notorious gender-critical activist says about free speech.

• A new AI thing that – if it works (a very, very big ‘if’) – may be the closest we’ll ever get to telepathy.

• How the energy transition will transform the economics of the energy market.

• A very funny story about Jeremy Corbyn and Zara Sultana’s new party.

• What Seal Team Six have been doing in North Korea.

• What the UK should learn from Dutch urbanism.

• How the government could make wifi work better across the country.

• And an adorable Legend of Zelda fan-film.

But first, a quick plug:

Pre-order Hayley’s book! My friend Hayley Gullen’s breast cancer memoir, a graphic novel titled This Might Surprise You, is out later this month. It’s a funny, moving read and you should order it now to get it on launch day!

Now let’s get on with the links!