Explore every episode of the podcast YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda

We discuss a new paper looking at what went wrong with grand plans to link up an area of central England with enormous growth potential – and how we could finally, finally build it. And then we speak to Hannah Camilleri on her pitch to sell infrastructure bonds to build public support for building the bridges, roads and railway lines we need.

Hannah’s piece on Arguably is here.

The KCL paper on the Oxford-Cambridge Arc we discuss is here.

James’s Substack is here, and this week he’ll hopefully post an article.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his latest video on Scotland’s self-destructive approach to nuclear power is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about the seismic shift in British energy policy announced during the budget – and wonder if the shift in priorities from ‘clean’ to ‘cheap’ means the grid decarbonisation pledge is dead. Then we speak to returning champion Thomas Ableman, who has been thinking about AI and what we can learn from the tech revolutions that gave us the railways and cars. Plus he updates on the exciting progress he’s making on his Mini Switzerland plan.

Thomas’s piece on lessons on AI from a 200-year-old industry is here.

James’s exhaustive long-read on how energy bills are calculated and the political choices around Net Zero are here.

James’s Substack is here, and this week he wrote more about how he’s personally using AI.

Martin’s Substack is here, and this week he wrote about the government’s attitude to disaster preparedness. His latest video on the Rainham Volcano is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James tells Martin about how Transport for London is upgrading almost 9,000 buses – and why there’s an extremely tight deadline. And then we’re joined by freelance transport consultant Jon Worth to talk about his epic journey on the longest train trip it is possible to ride inside the European Union – and he tells us what he’s learned about just how integrated Europe’s railways are.

Jon Worth’s #CrossBorderRail blog is here, and the video of his journey is here.

James’s Substack is here, and his big iBus write-up is here.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his latest video on the Rainham Volcano is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about how thanks to Britain’s lack of grid infrastructure, we’re spending millions of pounds every day on ‘balancing payments’ on the grid, and James gets surprisingly mad about it. And then former West Midlands Walking and Cycling Commissioner Adam Tranter joins us to explain why James is completely wrong in his enthusiasm for pavement robots.

Pavement Overload can be found here. Our previous episode about pavement robots is here.

James’s Substack is here, and he picked a fight with Amol Rajan here.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his blockbuster new video on the Rainham Volcano is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about the Green Party’s surprising kinda-sorta-endorsement of nuclear energy, and whether it’s a big deal or not. And then we speak to Aaron Gould, CEO of the Association for Decentralised Energy all about the prospects for building more heat networks in Britain!

Martin’s Substack is here, and his blockbuster new video on the Rainham Volcano is here.

James’s Substack is here, and his recent essay on AI and government is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk through two of the highlights in Andy Burnham’s conference speech – his pitch to build historic quantities of council housing, and plans to create “GB Grid’. Martin gets a birthday treat in the form of some intriguing news about enemies of the pod Natural England. And we speak to economist Omer Bor about his fascinating piece ‘Britain wants to build homes near trains it can’t afford to run’.

James wrote up his longer thoughts on Andy Burnham’s conference speech, and a deep dive into which MPs are the most and least memorable in Westminster.

Martin wrote ‘The AI Apocalypse is Extremely Boring Now’, and his YouTube channel is here – a new video is dropping tomorrow!

Try James’s two stupid games: MP Recall and MP Chain!

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about how progress sometimes has winner and losers, by looking at the case of someone who is almost uniquely screwed by the new Universal theme park. Then we follow up on three things we’ve talked about on the pod – on-street EV charging, environmental delivery plans and… how the bloody Prime Minister has cast doubt on Heathrow’s third runway again, after it all seemed like it was happening. And we speak to Anya Martin about her fascinating new paper, arguing that we need to create an autonomous vehicle tax now – before it’s too late!

James wrote up his Guardian debunking here, and covers two other bad data centres stories too.

James wrote about how access to AI compute is a social justice issue (and don’t forget to check out last week’s post about why we should turn East Anglia into Britain’s Shenzhen.)

Martin’s wrote ‘The AI Apocalypse is Extremely Boring Now’, and his YouTube channel is here.

And try James’s two stupid games: MP Recall and MP Chain!

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We try to channel the spirit of Tim Harford and debunk some rather strange numbers in the Guardian’s data centre reporting. Then we speak to James Howat from ThinkLabour about how bringing back municipal bond markets to get Britain building again.

James wrote up his Guardian debunking here, and covers two other bad data centres stories too.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

The government has discovered a new weapon to fight the British state’s sluggishness – an angry letter. And we speak to policy consultant Adam Tyndall about the latest on Heathrow’s third runway, and just how close we are to it actually happening.

James recently wrote about data centres again, picking a fight with the Guardian in the process.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

The letter we discussed on the show is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about the security implications of the latest AI advances – and how the British government should respond to threat. And more importantly, James claims victory in his argument with Martin over AI. Then we speak to the brilliant Jonn Elledge about his new book, 31 Inventions that Built Our World.

James recently wrote about the national security case for building data centres, and how to fix Top Gear.

Martin’s Substack is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

It turns out it is literally illegal to recycle rainwater and use it to flush your toilet – and this is causing problems in Cambridge. And we speak to Sunny Hundal about his new campaign to make energy both cheap and clean at the same time!

The Guardian reporting on Cambridge’s grey water problem is here.

The Cheap Clean Energy Alliance is here.

This week James wrote about the national security case for building data centres.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

The government’s latest planning rules are making building near train stations easier – hurrah! And we speak to Nick Maini about his proposal to build a new autonomous transport system to cross the beleaguered Hammersmith Bridge.

The Sam Dumitriu post on the NPPF we talk about is here.

Barnes Hammersmith Electric Light Transit are here.

This week James wrote about principles and the death of Jason Arday.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We try to uncover the truth about the electricity interconnection that was supposedly diverted by Dobby’s grave. And we speak to London Assembly Member Neil Garratt about his fantastic London travel times map, and his Euston, we have a problem: Mind the funding gap report on why infrastructure is so damn expensive.

This week James made the case for why the AI ‘bubble’ narrative might be nonsense.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We talk about Andy Burnham’s big plans to devolve power across the country – and focus on the most important issues, like integrated transport ticketing and whether or not the boundary lines are consistent. And we speak to Jamie Airnes, CEO of Cornish Lithium, about his ambitious plan to make Cornwall central to the battery supply chain.

This week James wrote about why people are arguing about Net Zero badly – and what the real debate over the policy is about.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We discuss why both of our respective households have pulled the trigger on getting solar panels installed – and we detail our experiences during the installation process. And we speak to Ben Garratt from Logistics UK about why getting goods from A to B is critical to a growing economy.

This week James totally failed to publish anything, but will have something landing early next week. In the meantime, his links newsletter has more on his solar journey.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James and Martin review Andy Burnham’s first policy and personnel moves – and ask whether Britain is really ready for a Northern Prime Minister. Then we speak to Michael Dnes about his big plan to solve one of Britain’s biggest transport bottlenecks… with dynamite.

You can find out more about the proposed Trans-Pennine Connect tunnel here, and on Michael’s fantastic Substack here.

The Centre for Cities report on fiscal devolution in England that Martin mentions is here.

This week James wrote about why he’s worried that Andy Burnham isn’t serious, and offered some broader takes on Burnham’s cabinet here.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Should the British government create an open source AI lab? We speak to Guy Ward-Jackson and Elizabeth Seger from the Tony Blair Institute. Is Britain’s regulatory system out of control? Re:state’s Joe Hill tells us what to do about it.

The TBI paper on open source AI is here, and Re:state’s paper on the ‘law of rule’ is here.

This week James wrote about how Britain is fixing it’s airspace problem, and also why he’s worried that Andy Burnham isn’t serious.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James pitches Martin on an idea he has had to solve the problem of congestion caused by robotaxis. And we speak to Sky News Technology Correspondent Rowland Manthorpe, who has been reporting on the data centre water usage controversy – and has been figuring out what the situation is here in the UK.

Rowland’s Substack piece on AI water usage is here, and he made a fantastic video about it here. The film he mentioned on ‘A machine to watch the world’ is here.

James picking a fight with half of the internet over robotaxis is here.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James and Martin talk about a new campaign to ban delivery robots – and why it may prefigure a future political realignment. And then we speak to Labour MP Dr Jeevun Sandher about his recent posts on good growth in every postcode, and how Britain’s growth problem isn’t what we think it is.

James’s undercover reporting from his tour of the Amazon warehouse is here.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James and Martin talk about some exciting new energy storage schemes to help us during the next heatwave. And we speak to Michael Hill from Britain Remade about Manchester’s theory of growth, and what the much-discussed ‘Manchesterism’ could actually be.

James’s piece reflecting on the Londependence movement is here, and his argument for a Gamer’s Charter is here.

Martin’s piece on ‘picky bits’ and national decline is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Picture credit: Peter McDermott (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We explore why has the government given Cherwell Council a big slap on the wrist? James tries to sell Martin on the idea that AI can fix the planning system… And then we speak to Paul Maltby from Faculty AI about how, well, he is using AI to fix the planning system.

Paul Maltby’s blog post on Augmented Planning Decisions (APD) is here.

James’s deep dive into Extract and APD is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James and Martin discuss Zack Polanski’s claim that food is too expensive – and why politicians should face up to difficult trade-offs. And James makes himself popular by defending the poor, beleaguer mega-corporations that own supermarkets. And then we speak to the excellent Thomas Ableman about how Switzerland would have built HS2 – and why it wouldn’t have been a disaster.

James’s post about Liam Byrne, which was discussed in the episode is here.

James’s newsletter is here, and his post about the Elon Musk debate is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James tries to persuade Martin that he’s solved the mystery of the National Data Library. And we speak to Andrew Hunter Murray about his big day out at the EV charging select committee!

Andrew’s new book, Bad Deeds is out this week! Make sure you buy it!

James’s newsletter is here, and his post about the National Data Library is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

The government is proposing new measures to stop NIMBYs vexatiously taking energy projects to judicial review! And James tries to persuade Martin that space-based data centres aren’t a completely ridiculous idea.

The Ben Thompson article making the case for space data centres is here.

James’s newsletter is here, and his post about Japan (including the train-bus!) is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

On YIMBY Pod this week:

* For the first time on the pod, James makes the case for liberating the Postcode Address File.

* And we speak to Lord Mark Pack about how Secondary Legislation is a hidden problem that is slowing down the business of government.

Mark’s excellent Lord’s Eye View newsletter is here, and The Week In Polls is here.

James’s newsletter is here, and he’ll have a guest post up by the time you’re reading this.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Martin reveals the extraordinary grip one Bedfordshire councillor has on BBC coverage of the new Universal theme park. And James speaks to Dan Mead from Labour Together about why nationalising Thames Water might not be the best use of the cash, when can build trams instead.

Dan’s post about Thames Water is here.

James’s newsletter is here, and he’ll have a guest post up by the time you’re reading this.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James and Martin dig into some astonishing YouGov polling that reveals a huge gender gap in support for nuclear energy… and desperately try not to get cancelled while talking about it. And we speak to Tym Syrytczyk from the Institute for Driverless Transport to check in on Britain’s autonomous vehicle progress.

James’s newsletter is here, and by the time you’re reading this, he’ll hopefully have something published!

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video will be here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James talks about Technology Secretary Liz Kendall’s speech last week, which essentially sets out Britain’s AI strategy – and he explains why the strategy is determined by some rather limited choices. And then we speak to Hannah Keenan, from the Institute for Government, who takes James to task over an incredibly bad take on the pod from a few weeks ago.

James’s newsletter is here, and he’ll have something new up about Palantir by the time you’re reading this.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his YouTube channel is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Why Green Party complaints about “industrial scale” solar farms are fundamentally unserious. Martin visits the actual Bat Tunnel – and returns with a crazy plot twist. And we speak to Dan Davies about his pitch for a less combative planning system, Build the Rail! Save The Snails!

(Image credit: ANeely2020 on Wikicommons.)

Dan Davies’s book, The Unaccountability Machine can be found here.

James’s newsletter is here, and his latest post is a deep dive into the arguments against solar farms – and he explains why none of them hold up.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video, visiting the Bat Tunnel, is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Why it’s patriotic duty to switch on our air conditioners this summer. The NIMBY battle against a cancer hospital. And we speak to Maxwell Marlow from TYI Strategy about why phone signal in Britain is so crap – and how we can fix it.

James’s newsletter is here, and his latest is about his most left-wing opinion.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video, visiting the actual Bat Tunnel, is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

On YIMBY Pod this week:

* James and Martin get unusually mad about the latest developments in the West Yorkshire team saga. We just want a tram!

* Then James speaks to Andrew Greenway, a partner at Public Digital about his fantastic essay on fixing the Civil Service, titled ‘In Permanence Crisis’.

Noah Vickers’ reporting on the West Yorkshire tram is here.

James’s newsletter is here, his latest is not as billed on the show, but actually all about Artemis II, and why he’s still inspired despite, well, you know…

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video, visiting the actual Bat Tunnel, is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

On YIMBY Pod this week:

* James talks about Tory plans for a ‘National Pothole Patrol’, and explains how AI can be used to detect potholes.

* Martin tells the story of a big NIMBY campaign to save… a car park.

* And we speak to Asif Ghafoor, CEO of BE.EV, about the bureaucratic and political challenges of rolling out electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

James’s newsletter is here, his latest on the AI/copyright debate is here.

You might also like his written piece on how AI can be used to spot potholes is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James gets annoyed his new build was saddled with old technology. Martin tells the story of the surprisingly futuristic British wine industry. And we speak to Thomas Ableman about his proposal for Mini-Switzerland, a plan that could make rural trains and buses… actually good?!

James’s newsletter is here, his latest on our geospatial data mess is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James talks about how Rachel Reeves’ plan to give mayor a slice of income tax could help get infrastructure built. Martin digs into two more BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service stories with an alarming NIMBY slant. And we speak to Simon Kaye, Director of Policy and Research at Re:State, about his new report, arguing for a more powerful London Mayor and fewer London boroughs!

James’s newsletter is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James argues that Reform’s idea about politicising the Civil Service could be good, and begs everyone not to hate him. Martin tells the maddening story of his local playground, and how two years on kids are still not allowed to use it. And we speak to Laurel Boxall and Neil Ross from Public First about text and data mining (TDM), aka the eternal AI/copyright debate.

Laurel and Neil’s TDM report is here.

James’s newsletter is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his latest video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James tells Martin the story of Open Safely, an incredible tool that scientists can now use to research country-wide NHS GP data. And we speak to energy policy guru Adam Bell, partner at Stonehaven, ex-head of the government’s energy strategy, and writer of the excellent Unbalancing Mechanism Substack about the wild complexity of pricing energy as we transition to Net Zero.

James’s newsletter is here. This week he wrote about proportional representation.

James wrote about Open Safely here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his Old Bridge Way video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

On YIMBY Pod this week, James and Martin have good news for once: Cornwall might be about to become Britain’s lithium-and-geothermal powerhouse, and London is (finally) getting a pedestrianised Oxford Street — after years of institutional gridlock.

Plus: a celebrity guest! James speaks to Prof. Chris Lintott (Oxford astrophysicist and The Sky at Night presenter) about looming UK science funding cuts that could gut astronomy — and why “curiosity-driven research” is anything but a luxury.

Chris’s piece on the threat to astronomy funding is here.

Chris’s book Our Accidental Universe is here, and details on his upcoming talk in London is here.

James’s newsletter is here. His piece on why we should abolish Natural England is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his Old Bridge Way video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Arch-Remainer James discovers why re-aligning with Europe could spell doom for Britain’s critical fixes to how we build nuclear power plants. Martin updates us on the drama at Dobbins Lane in Wendover, and how HS2 and the council have landed on an insane solution to a stupid problem. And we speak to Phil Tinline about his fascinating new paper, Power Failure: A new theory of Power.

James’s newsletter is here. His piece on vibe-coding is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his big pothole video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

How just one planning objection scuppered a neighbourhood battery storage project in Banbury – and what this says about how much money councils are wasting on vexatious complaints. Why Europe needs its own independent space launch capability if we want an abundant future. And we speak to Zion Lights, author of the new book Energy is Life, about how we’re already living abundant lives – and how we can persuade degrowthers of the error of their ways.

James’s newsletter is here. His piece on whether Reform can ever be YIMBY is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here, and his big pothole video is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

A new study casts doubt on whether AI really will be a big productivity boost, so Martin and James have their AI argument again. A small tweak in how the government determines value for money could have big implications for new infrastructure like railways.

And we speak to Alexander Iosad and Eleni Arzoglou from the Tony Blair Institute about their fascinating new paper, Public Service Reform in the Age of AI.

Our previous AI episode is here, and our previous discussion about the cancelled plans to move Cambridge Sewage Works is here.

James’s newsletter is here. His piece on AI growth zones is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Martin bursts open the maddening story of how the new Universal theme park is worrying Anglian Water… and how nobody seems to have anticipated this? James talks about his big day grandstanding at the London Assembly’s Planning and Regeneration Committee – and explains how he was almost thwarted by a spider. And we speak to Eamonn Ives from The Entrepreneurs Network about his new research into the contribution of foreign-born founders to the British economy – and how we can make our immigration regime actually support growth.

Martin’s latest video, on the Badger Road, is here.

James’s newsletter is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Martin digs into the NIMBY drama at Bristol Zoo… and then enters the lion’s den himself, and attends a meeting of his Parish Council. James goes full neoliberal shill talking about Darren Jones’ proposals for fixing the Civil Service. And we speak to policy guru Tim Leunig, Chief Economist at NESTA, to learn how he thinks about policymaking, and why we should build a massive electricity cable from Texas to the UK.

Martin’s latest video, on the Badger Road, is here.

Darren Jones’s speech is here.

An explanation of the Postcode Address File issue is here.

James’s newsletter is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James argues the digital ID U-turn doesn’t deserve the hysterical coverage that Westminster lobby journalists have been giving it. Martin concludes the incredible story of a 17th century engineering project – and how it is weirdly similar to HS2 today. And we speak to transport guru Michael Dnes to break down the news that Northern Powerhouse Rail is back – and that there’s going to be a strangely familiar new railway line built between Birmingham and Manchester.

Our original Britcard interview is here.

The Stepchange podcast on the history of coal, which James mentions, is here.

James’s newsletter is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We explain why The Abundance Agenda has a new name! James digs into a crazy story about how about how one village was almost cut off from civilisation for an entire year by… badgers. And the reason why is more infuriating than you think. And Martin tells the story of the biggest infrastructure project you’ve never heard of.

* Plus we speak to Michael Hill from Britain Remade, about how to reconcile the need for Net Zero with the reality that China manufactures almost all of our renewable energy technology.

Michael has written five pieces on China and energy – the first one is here. (Then check out parts two, three, four and five!)

James’s post on how he rebooted his social life is here.

Martin’s newsletter is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

YIMBY Pod is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

On The Abundance Agenda this week, a special look back at four of our favourite segments from the show in 2025.

James’s newsletter is here. (He wrote last week about why it’s time to reboot Back to The Future…)

You can find Martin’s newsletter here, and his YouTube channel here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

This week, we’re hosting a Christmas Quiz – all about transport, infrastructure, urbanism… and all the stuff we usually talk about, basically.

The quiz master is Only Connect question-writer Stephen Jorgenson-Murray.

On James’s team we have the excellent YouTuber CityEd! (We particularly love his video about Manchester.)

And Martin is joined by comedian, author, and QI Elf Andrew Hunter Murray! His most recent book is A Beginner’s Guide To Breaking And Entering.

James’s newsletter is here. (He wrote about how Labour should reach out to gamers this week…)

You can find Martin’s newsletter here, and his YouTube channel here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

James explains why the National Grid’s queuing system is maddeningly broken – and how the government is trying to fix it. Martin takes us back to World War II to tell the story of an extraordinary railway bridge in Weston-super-Mare. And we speak London Assembly Member James Small-Edwards to dig into his new report, Gridlocked, which explains why data centres and new homes are forced to fight for a constrained electricity supply in London.

James’s newsletter is here, and his post about tech that annoys him is here.

You can find Martin’s newsletter here, and his YouTube channel here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

The London Assembly has called for the Mayor to restart HS2 planning, so we dig into Crossrail 2 – and how construction has already (sort of) started. Martin has been down in the dumps, literally, and has been figuring out why Oxfordshire has an enormous pile of rubbish dumped just off the A34. We have a very quick chat with Chris Curtis MP, who has been down to Ebbsfleet to see where the ‘jumping spiders’ have thwarted building a major new town centre. And we speak to Laura Ryan from the Tony Blair Institute about her important new paper, proposing new national laboratories designed to create new ‘disruptive’ technologies.

James’s piece on how he uses AI (and why the haters are wrong) is here.

You can find Martin’s newsletter here, and his YouTube channel here.

Our episode where we have a big fight about AI is here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

We dig into the findings from the Independent Nuclear Taskforce led by John Fingleton, on why Britain is so bad at building nuclear energy, and what we can do to fix it. And we speak to Shadow Secretary of State For Energy Security and Net Zero, Claire Coutinho, about why she has taken the abundance pill, why she advocates making energy cheap – and why she wants to repeal the Climate Change Act.

You can find Martin’s newsletter here, and his YouTube channel here.

James’s piece on why everyone is getting the new Twitter geolocation feature wrong is here, and what he liked – and loathed – about the Budget here.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

Martin digs into fascinating new public opinion research from CaSE about attitudes towards research and development. James looks at newly announced planning changes to make it easier to build near train stations – and why the government wants to stop theatres from vetoing development. And we speak to Fabian Chessell from the DATA Alliance about why the government needs to get better at sharing data… with itself.

Martin’s fantastic video on the HS2 ‘Bridge to Nowhere’ is here, and his newsletter is here.

James’s piece on why he’s worried about who follows Starmer is here.

Tym’s piece on self-driving cars is here.

Morgan Wild on municipal bond markets is here.

Relevant previous episodes:

* Our interview with CaSE’s Alicia Greated – which also features a section on the Cambridge Sewage Works we mentioned.

* Why Fabian made a deep-cut reference to Old Bridge Way.

Don’t forget to tell your friends about the pod – and leave us a nice review on Apple Podcasts!

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.