James O'Malley
@jamesomalley.co.uk
@Psythor on Twitter. Freelance writer covering politics/tech/nerd stuff.
Read my content: takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
Yes, I inevitably have a podcast too: abundancepod.com
Free the Postcode Address File!
Read my content: takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
Yes, I inevitably have a podcast too: abundancepod.com
Free the Postcode Address File!
Somehow months of Mamdani discourse have taken place without anyone pointing out that his mum is an Oscar-nominated director and his dad is also famous enough to have a Wikipedia page.
TIL: In his previous incarnation as a hip-hop artist, Zohran Mamdani managed to talk the incredibly grand Madhur Jaffrey (I have met her; she is VERY grand) to star in one of his videos and I'm not sure my brain can cope with this www.theguardian.com/music/2019/m...
How Mr Cardamom convinced 85-year-old Madhur Jaffrey to swear
A tribute to his maternal grandmother, Nani’s foul-mouthed celebrity connection has transformed the rapper’s career
www.theguardian.com
January 13, 2026 at 10:27 PM
Somehow months of Mamdani discourse have taken place without anyone pointing out that his mum is an Oscar-nominated director and his dad is also famous enough to have a Wikipedia page.
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.
The interview with Legend in the Radio Times is absolutely brilliant
January 13, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Starmer should try this as the communications strategy after the next relaunch.
Very curious about this as I'd heard that Streeting is the most abundance-curious of the possible successors.
Streeting says: "Bafflingly, some on my own side [...] complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture. This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours. If we tell the public that we can’t make anything work, then why on earth would they vote to keep us in charge?"
January 13, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Very curious about this as I'd heard that Streeting is the most abundance-curious of the possible successors.
Suspect the digital ID climbdown will mean that eventually 98% of people just use the GOV.UK app to prove their right to work (aka ‘digital ID’), and the remaining 2% will be the weirdos who opt for convoluted alternative checks.
January 13, 2026 at 6:42 PM
Suspect the digital ID climbdown will mean that eventually 98% of people just use the GOV.UK app to prove their right to work (aka ‘digital ID’), and the remaining 2% will be the weirdos who opt for convoluted alternative checks.
Reposted by James O'Malley
HOLY SHIT!
Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester!!!
(I suspect it will be not quite as gold-plated as the original HS2 plan.)
www.ft.com/content/a8be...
Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester!!!
(I suspect it will be not quite as gold-plated as the original HS2 plan.)
www.ft.com/content/a8be...
Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester
Government will reveal much-delayed plans for major new and upgraded rail links in north of England
www.ft.com
January 13, 2026 at 1:44 PM
HOLY SHIT!
Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester!!!
(I suspect it will be not quite as gold-plated as the original HS2 plan.)
www.ft.com/content/a8be...
Ministers to announce new rail link between Birmingham and Manchester!!!
(I suspect it will be not quite as gold-plated as the original HS2 plan.)
www.ft.com/content/a8be...
Reposted by James O'Malley
A random bit of banter from the Radio 1 Zoe Ball breakfast show immortalised on last week’s #totp repeats. This is Broadcast Assistant Zoe Alpass after she was told she could have a pay rise if she managed to get on TV. I have no idea why I remember this stuff
January 12, 2026 at 8:55 PM
A random bit of banter from the Radio 1 Zoe Ball breakfast show immortalised on last week’s #totp repeats. This is Broadcast Assistant Zoe Alpass after she was told she could have a pay rise if she managed to get on TV. I have no idea why I remember this stuff
ICYMI, the pod has a new name! (And this week's show is particularly good I think!)
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda | James O'Malley | Substack
A podcast about growth and progress. Click to read YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
yimbypod.com
January 13, 2026 at 9:50 AM
ICYMI, the pod has a new name! (And this week's show is particularly good I think!)
It's a real mystery why Apple didn't go with Grok for this.
January 12, 2026 at 8:16 PM
It's a real mystery why Apple didn't go with Grok for this.
Reposted by James O'Malley
🧵 Why does politics feel so stuck? Why does everyone think the government is useless?
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
January 12, 2026 at 1:03 PM
🧵 Why does politics feel so stuck? Why does everyone think the government is useless?
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Over on the Other Place where everyone has gone mental, it ”says it all” that the Golden Globes didn’t mention… Iran.
January 12, 2026 at 7:26 PM
Over on the Other Place where everyone has gone mental, it ”says it all” that the Golden Globes didn’t mention… Iran.
A podcast for the commute home!
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda | James O'Malley | Substack
A podcast about growth and progress. Click to read YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
yimbypod.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:28 PM
A podcast for the commute home!
Reposted by James O'Malley
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda | James O'Malley | Substack
A podcast about growth and progress. Click to read YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
yimbypod.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
Reposted by James O'Malley
Energy is Life, out 3rd Feb. Order your copy > www.unicornpublishing.org/page/detail/...
January 8, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Energy is Life, out 3rd Feb. Order your copy > www.unicornpublishing.org/page/detail/...
🧵 Why does politics feel so stuck? Why does everyone think the government is useless?
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
January 12, 2026 at 1:03 PM
🧵 Why does politics feel so stuck? Why does everyone think the government is useless?
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Here's a short thread on why badgers are they key to understanding why.
Nadhim Zahawi MP: In Farage’s Britain, it would be legal to discriminate against me on the grounds of race
conservativehome.com/2015/03/23/n...
conservativehome.com/2015/03/23/n...
January 12, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Nadhim Zahawi MP: In Farage’s Britain, it would be legal to discriminate against me on the grounds of race
conservativehome.com/2015/03/23/n...
conservativehome.com/2015/03/23/n...
An excuse to plug this, one of my favourite things I’ve written!
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/tories-goi...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/tories-goi...
January 12, 2026 at 11:24 AM
An excuse to plug this, one of my favourite things I’ve written!
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/tories-goi...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/tories-goi...
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda | James O'Malley | Substack
A podcast about growth and progress. Click to read YIMBY Pod – formerly The Abundance Agenda, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.
yimbypod.com
January 12, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Big news from me and @mjrobbins.com - The Abundance Agenda podcast has a new name!
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
From today, we're calling the show YIMBY Pod.
If you've never had a listen, this week's show is an excellent place to start. Go have a listen!
yimbypod.com
Reposted by James O'Malley
People think that factional infighting is a distraction from actual politics. But actually organisations like Your Party exist *principally* as places where factional infighting can happen. This is the purpose they serve for activists. "Changing stuff" is not what they are about.
New: Sources close to Jeremy Corbyn said he didn’t give permission for his name to be used on this slate and a specific request was put in that his name was not included. Sources said Corbyn is “very upset” that this was done without his consent.
New: A new group - Grassroots Left - has launched a slate of candidates ahead of Your Party’s central executive committee elections. The slate is backed by Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana and has called for “no more top-down party”.
Nominations for the CEC elections close next week.
Nominations for the CEC elections close next week.
January 12, 2026 at 9:55 AM
People think that factional infighting is a distraction from actual politics. But actually organisations like Your Party exist *principally* as places where factional infighting can happen. This is the purpose they serve for activists. "Changing stuff" is not what they are about.
Another day, another example of BBC News's jarring Buzzfeed-esque feature content butting up against the real news.
Apatow "says the quiet part out loud" about America being a dictatorship, apparently.
Apatow "says the quiet part out loud" about America being a dictatorship, apparently.
January 12, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Another day, another example of BBC News's jarring Buzzfeed-esque feature content butting up against the real news.
Apatow "says the quiet part out loud" about America being a dictatorship, apparently.
Apatow "says the quiet part out loud" about America being a dictatorship, apparently.
As a moderate, I think it would be more sensible to leave dating apps up to the private sector, but with a publicly owned dating service of last resort run by the Post Office, to match up people who are particularly ugly or unpleasant.
Just read a substack by a young policy type advocating for a "government-run dating service"
to support "couple creation" to address the fertility crisis and honestly I can think of nothing worse or more *incredibly* risky on the zero-to-eugenics front
to support "couple creation" to address the fertility crisis and honestly I can think of nothing worse or more *incredibly* risky on the zero-to-eugenics front
January 12, 2026 at 12:06 AM
As a moderate, I think it would be more sensible to leave dating apps up to the private sector, but with a publicly owned dating service of last resort run by the Post Office, to match up people who are particularly ugly or unpleasant.
Reposted by James O'Malley
Basic intellectual hygiene is when you see a screenshot of something where someone you disapprove of or dislike or think is evil or any of the above is doing something worth mocking, you should go check first. In this case, it appears she was answering an Iranian Harry Potter fan.
January 11, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Basic intellectual hygiene is when you see a screenshot of something where someone you disapprove of or dislike or think is evil or any of the above is doing something worth mocking, you should go check first. In this case, it appears she was answering an Iranian Harry Potter fan.
This seems like a particularly weird year to feel nostalgic about given… everything.
Guys, can we please not have nostalgia for a year I consider to have been ‘basically the other day’?
Why 2016 nostalgia is taking over social media in 2026
Fidget spinners, filters and feeds that worked. Why are young people pining to go back a decade?
www.bbc.co.uk
January 10, 2026 at 3:39 PM
This seems like a particularly weird year to feel nostalgic about given… everything.
Hello new followers, I would to know which Starter Pack I was in!
January 10, 2026 at 1:58 PM
Hello new followers, I would to know which Starter Pack I was in!
Reposted by James O'Malley
Astonishing both-sidesing in The Times
January 10, 2026 at 8:40 AM
Astonishing both-sidesing in The Times