Martin Robbins
@mjrobbins.com
Substack: mjrobbins.com
Podcast: abundancepod.com
Podcast: abundancepod.com
Pinned
Martin Robbins
@mjrobbins.com
· Dec 2
Rubbish Mountain
A gigantic pile of rubbish was dumped in a field in Oxfordshire. The response sums up everything wrong with British bureaucracy.
martinrobbins.substack.com
My latest: in which I visit Oxfordshire's 'Rubbish Mountain', buy a Twirl in the country's most violent Sainsbury's, and explore the absolutely dismal response of the Environment Agency.
Reposted by Martin Robbins
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 Martin Robbins
Let’s not allow the Americans to dominate today’s discourse when we’ve got meat on the table.
Drew a definitive map of the regions of the UK in a group chat earlier. I will not be accepting questions at this time.
January 9, 2026 at 12:44 PM
Let’s not allow the Americans to dominate today’s discourse when we’ve got meat on the table.
Drew a definitive map of the regions of the UK in a group chat earlier. I will not be accepting questions at this time.
January 8, 2026 at 6:34 PM
Drew a definitive map of the regions of the UK in a group chat earlier. I will not be accepting questions at this time.
Reposted by Martin Robbins
Used to play this as a teenager and it’s a misguided work of old British internet, relaunched after 15 years offline. sim.roads.org.uk
Today I'm launching a silly roads-related side project - the Simulator, that will let you take journeys around the UK's major roads from the comfort of your chair. And to explain why I have invested so much effort in something so pointless, I wrote this. open.substack.com/pub/roadsorg...
Hello, here's my ridiculous side project
An introduction to what I write, and why I write it, and where my strange new road sign simulator fits in to all this.
open.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 6:41 PM
Used to play this as a teenager and it’s a misguided work of old British internet, relaunched after 15 years offline. sim.roads.org.uk
The Rehearsal, season 2, the most insane finale of any series of all time, just jaws to the floor from the first minute to the genius final line.
Given that apparently the Stranger Things finale was meh (idk, didn't watch it, just the scuttlebutt) and we're not that far removed from the disastrous GOT finale that retroactively made everyone have never cared about the show:
What's the *best* ending to a show you've ever seen? Quote/reply etc
What's the *best* ending to a show you've ever seen? Quote/reply etc
January 6, 2026 at 11:02 PM
The Rehearsal, season 2, the most insane finale of any series of all time, just jaws to the floor from the first minute to the genius final line.
Yeah, PSA do not let your cats out in this weather 🥶
New level of garden-related horror unlocked on the local Facebook page 😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬😬
January 6, 2026 at 10:02 PM
Yeah, PSA do not let your cats out in this weather 🥶
I feel like we should just declare a bank holiday when it’s below -5c outside 🥶
January 6, 2026 at 7:55 AM
I feel like we should just declare a bank holiday when it’s below -5c outside 🥶
Reposted by Martin Robbins
London writers please boost: our workshop is always open to new members and anyone who would like help getting their novel over the line please get in touch
We are big believers in following through on new year's resolutions, so if you have a novel/some short stories you are looking for a workshop to take to the next level please get in touch! Www.blackheathwriters.com
December 29, 2025 at 9:36 AM
London writers please boost: our workshop is always open to new members and anyone who would like help getting their novel over the line please get in touch
I mean I literally once opened a bottle of wine with a wire coat hanger in a hotel room so probably that.
What would you be doing in your #TheTraitors clip when they show you in your hotel room? I'd be trying to make Super Noodles in the kettle.
January 2, 2026 at 5:43 PM
I mean I literally once opened a bottle of wine with a wire coat hanger in a hotel room so probably that.
Reposted by Martin Robbins
@kevinerdmann.bsky.social has dropped a bomb on the housing discourse today www.mercatus.org/research/res...
"We Are Not as Wealthy as We Thought We Were": Elevated American Household Net Worth Reflects Poverty, Not Wealth
Abstract
www.mercatus.org
January 2, 2026 at 4:16 PM
@kevinerdmann.bsky.social has dropped a bomb on the housing discourse today www.mercatus.org/research/res...
Reposted by Martin Robbins
On this point, I know BSky has little sympathy for farmers, but now that the government has effectively admitted it got the policy wrong, it's worth revisiting a moment from 14 months ago that stuck in my mind, because it said a lot about how the government was developing policy...
All this government's humiliating retreats could have been avoided if ministers had listened to lobby groups before announcing the policy, rather than waiting until afterwards.
January 2, 2026 at 8:31 AM
On this point, I know BSky has little sympathy for farmers, but now that the government has effectively admitted it got the policy wrong, it's worth revisiting a moment from 14 months ago that stuck in my mind, because it said a lot about how the government was developing policy...
Reposted by Martin Robbins
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
December 31, 2025 at 6:15 PM
pound for pound this might be the funniest thing ever written
Reposted by Martin Robbins
It's been brilliant seeing Martin's success this year with his blog, podcast and also now a book deal. Subscribe to his Substack and rummage through the archives to see what all the fuss is about.
Merry Yearmas! Last January I started a Substack with the goal of reaching 1,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Here's a quick thread of some of the pieces that helped me reach - and exceed by a considerable margin - that target:
December 31, 2025 at 8:00 PM
It's been brilliant seeing Martin's success this year with his blog, podcast and also now a book deal. Subscribe to his Substack and rummage through the archives to see what all the fuss is about.
Merry Yearmas! Last January I started a Substack with the goal of reaching 1,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Here's a quick thread of some of the pieces that helped me reach - and exceed by a considerable margin - that target:
December 31, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Merry Yearmas! Last January I started a Substack with the goal of reaching 1,000 subscribers by the end of the year. Here's a quick thread of some of the pieces that helped me reach - and exceed by a considerable margin - that target:
The time @jamesomalley.co.uk and I went into a bar in Manhattan and Alan Yentob was having lunch at a nearby table
Please quote this with the time you didn’t interact with someone famous - eg one time I was in Cardiff the same weekend as Willem Dafoe (but I didn’t see him or even know he was there until he appeared on the telly later)
Please quote this with your major interactions with massive celebrities. eg “I was married to the pope for fifteen years”
December 30, 2025 at 11:20 PM
The time @jamesomalley.co.uk and I went into a bar in Manhattan and Alan Yentob was having lunch at a nearby table
Reposted by Martin Robbins
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Just watched the new Knives Out and I think it's really important you know that the scene in the Seminary's Gym is filmed in the same place Rick Astley filmed the music video for Never Gonna Give You Up.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
I saw the window tracery and immediately made my friends pause the film so I could tell them.
December 30, 2025 at 4:21 AM
This is true and I was the only one on set excited about it (and playing the song on my phone to blank stares)
Yeah this is unhinged behaviour, if someone did this to a relative I’d be pushing to have their contact cut off.
The comments on this are all about how sweet it is and I feel insane. Using AI to make fake memories of your grandma with dementia and telling her they happened and then filming her reaction
December 26, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Yeah this is unhinged behaviour, if someone did this to a relative I’d be pushing to have their contact cut off.
Dinner has survived the night…
December 25, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Dinner has survived the night…
Going to be cooking Xmas dinner for 11 people in one of these, and I’ll be honest there are some raised eyebrows.
December 23, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Going to be cooking Xmas dinner for 11 people in one of these, and I’ll be honest there are some raised eyebrows.
Reposted by Martin Robbins
Can't believe @mjrobbins.com's Bedfordshire supremacist views have cost us a listener.
December 22, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Can't believe @mjrobbins.com's Bedfordshire supremacist views have cost us a listener.
Reposted by Martin Robbins
It’s here! We were joined by @andrewhunterm.bsky.social, @stejormur.bsky.social and YouTuber CityEd for The Abundance Agenda Christmas Quiz!
Go have a listen as it is super fun!
www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...
Go have a listen as it is super fun!
www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...
The Abundance Christmas Quiz!
Listen now | With Andrew Hunter Murray and CityEd!
www.abundancepod.com
December 22, 2025 at 8:52 AM
It’s here! We were joined by @andrewhunterm.bsky.social, @stejormur.bsky.social and YouTuber CityEd for The Abundance Agenda Christmas Quiz!
Go have a listen as it is super fun!
www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...
Go have a listen as it is super fun!
www.abundancepod.com/p/the-abunda...
Go big or home
Now he has returned from the Big Shop, it turns out my OH and I have radically different definitions of "some mince pies"...
December 20, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Go big or home
Reposted by Martin Robbins
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
December 17, 2025 at 4:38 PM
If we are banning cell phones for kids we need to be talking about banning chatbots for boomers
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
www.persuasion.community/p/my-chatgpt...
Reposted by Martin Robbins
Just seen the video of Ahmed al Ahmed tackling the gunman and BLOODY HELL, what a hero!
He's been identified. He was shot twice in the arm and hand, but it is doing well and expected to recover fine. His name is Ahmed al Ahmed
www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/bon...
www.perthnow.com.au/news/nsw/bon...
Bondi hero who tackled shooter suffered two gunshot wounds
The hero who disarmed one of the Bondi Beach shooters has been identified as a father-of-two.
www.perthnow.com.au
December 14, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Just seen the video of Ahmed al Ahmed tackling the gunman and BLOODY HELL, what a hero!
“People are not adults and should not be held to adult standards” is starting to feel like the endgame of 21st century American culture.
Still laughing at this. Cannot imagine a more self-discrediting argument for socialism than “under socialism, you should be able to gesture to your crotch, tell a customer to suck it and keep your job”.
“Those of us on the left should be fighting to improve protections for workers of all races, and thereby for the betterment of people’s material conditions regardless of their views,” Arash Azizi argues:
December 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
“People are not adults and should not be held to adult standards” is starting to feel like the endgame of 21st century American culture.