Watch my acting debut (Odds and Ends #98)

Plus more HS2 problems, AI fixing Britain's plumbing, and Palantir... working as intended?

The Osaka skyline. That’s some nice urbanism.

POD! On YIMBY Pod this week, we dig into another example of BBC local journalism having a weird NIMBY bias, in this case against the new Universal Theme Park. Then I speak to Dan Mead from ThinkLabour, about the case against nationalising Thames Water. Listen here, 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 lately.

I’m still on holiday, so there won’t be a ‘proper’ essay post for a couple of weeks. But next week I’ll be dropping something I hope you’ll find fun or interesting. And in the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed the excellent guest posts on how Openreach might be inadvertently helping Reform, and on how Chinese robotaxis could create a big security problem for Britain.

Anyway, let’s get on with a slightly shorter selection of links than usual. This time I’m featuring…

• A video featuring my acting debut (!)

• Palantir seemingly working as it should do...

• How AI is helping tackle ‘fatbergs’ in our drains

• Yet another reason Rishi’s HS2 cancellations were disastrous

• And another grim example of the BBC’s NIMBY bias

The road that fell down a cliff (Martin Robbins)

Before the paywall, I wanted to feature my YIMBY Pod co-host Martin’s lates YouTube video. He’s been down to Galley Hill Road, which I wrote about last year, and you might spot a familiar face if you look carefully…