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Alys Key

@alys.bsky.social
401 followers 287 following 87 posts

Editor of @the-londoner.bsky.social the-londoner.co.uk UK20.substack.com sorrywereprosed.substack.com

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Reposted by Alys Key
The Londoner @the-londoner.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
In April 2025, the businesses of Gabriel’s Wharf were told 2026 would be their last year of trading. Since then, the relationship between tenants and landlords has fallen apart. So why is a community non-profit bulldozing this artsy South Bank market? www.the-londoner.co.uk/gabriels-wha...
the-londoner.co.uk
Why is a community non-profit bulldozing this artsy South Bank market?
How things fell apart between a social enterprise landlord and the businesses of Gabriel’s Wharf
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Reposted by Alys Key
The Londoner @the-londoner.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
It's the most sought-after spot for a London food business. So who gets to stay in Borough Market? And who should have to go? www.the-londoner.co.uk/bread-ahead-...
the-londoner.co.uk
London’s most-hyped bakery faces off against London’s most-hyped market
Who is ‘too successful’ to sell their wares at Borough Market?
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Reposted by Alys Key
James O'Malley @jamesomalley.co.uk · 10/09/2026
The Guardian’s data centre reporting is needlessly hysterical (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/the-guardi...
takes.jamesomalley.co.uk
The Guardian’s data centre reporting is needlessly hysterical
Less talk, more context.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Some news from me: I've joined @millmedia.bsky.social as editor of @londonermag.bsky.social I'll be editing, commissioning and writing great stories from across the capital. If there's something you think we should be digging into, get in touch editor@the-londoner.co.uk
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
My theory about where people will accept increasing automation (as long as the branding is good), as seen through the lens of Blank Street Coffee uk20.substack.com/p/a-blank-st...
uk20.substack.com
A Blank Street theory of automation
Everyday robotics will be about branding and little luxuries
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
I wrote a short history of a now defunct government department. "Perhaps the legacy of DSIT will be made or lost in whether the machinery of government can repeat its occasional magic tricks of empowering capable people to deliver projects quickly." uk20.substack.com/p/a-short-hi...
uk20.substack.com
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
Wrote this week about the rollout of digital planning tools and the possible significance for startups, planning pros, and the general public. uk20.substack.com/p/best-laid-...
uk20.substack.com
Best laid plans
New planning tools are rolling out to local authorities. It's a big test of AI for government.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
Bluesky is "the best place for crunchy policy debates". That's according to @georgeeaton.bsky.social in the first edition of a new interview series I'm editing for the Centre for British Progress. Out today! britishprogress.substack.com/p/pen-portra...
britishprogress.substack.com
Pen Portrait: George Eaton on food, film, and the discourse
An interview with the journalist and Arguably co-founder
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Reposted by Alys Key
Nick Hilton @nickfthilton.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
My little pod, The Ned Ludd Radio Hour, will be weekly for the next couple of months. This week's episode is with @alys.bsky.social talking about London's anti-AI protests and whether the movement is ever going to go global...
open.spotify.com
Inside the Anti-AI Protests
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Reposted by Alys Key
sarcastic parrot @monkchips.com · 13/03/2026
fun piece by @alys.bsky.social about "Londonmaxxing" I was doing it before it was cool. 🤣
uk20.substack.com
The long life of Londonmaxxing
The cringedom, the power, and the glory
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
This week, I spoke to @cesifoti.bsky.social about knowledge, the perpetual rebuilding of a Japanese shrine, and how he would turn $1bn into a sustainable national innovation strategy uk20.substack.com/p/cesar-hida...
uk20.substack.com
Mapping the geography of knowledge with César Hidalgo
The author explains what policy-makers can learn from the 'rules of knowledge'
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 11/11/2025
This week I interviewed the chief medical officer of Heidi AI about how usage of the app spread quickly through NHS clinicians. Bottom-up adoption is often seen as a good thing in AI. Can it work in a medical setting?
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
I put together a bunch of recommendations from cool people that should see you through to the end of the summer uk20.substack.com/p/the-uk-20-...
uk20.substack.com
The UK 2.0 summer reading list
Books on technology and politics, history and the future, and everything in-between
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
Yaccarino was the only one of those Lindas I knew. Not sure whether to be proud or ashamed #OnlyConnect
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 04/08/2025
The news is out: UK 2.0 is going independent. But I need your help! Rebooting this newsletter about UK tech policy, progress and growth means rebuilding the mailing list from scratch. Sign up via the link below and please share it with anyone who might be interested. uk20.substack.com
UK 2.0: Sign up

Background image of futuristic London landscape featuring gardens, pools and a high speed train
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
"I can't remember the title, but the cover is blue with yellow writing". A wall of thriller book covers that match the description.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
In which I implore you to please be nice to the machines digitalfrontier.com/articles/pol...
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
This was pretty good. Intriguing, innovative sentence-making. The denouement felt a bit unimaginative.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 20/06/2025
This was a sweet read. It also made me think a lot about the role podcasts can play in our lives as a stand-in for conversation with friends. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/m...
nytimes.com
Where Have All My Deep Male Friendships Gone?
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 17/06/2025
Thinking about the sweet dog who I used to see sitting calmly outside the stationery shop in Brussels today. The owners had a little sign saying "le chien de la papeterie" so people would know she wasn't lost.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 16/06/2025
I wrote about my favourite session at SXSW London: a solo talk from Mubi founder Efe Çakarel. He spoke about algorithms, AI dubbing and the future of cinemas digitalfrontier.com/articles/mub...
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Reposted by Alys Key
Centre for British Progress @britishprogress.org · 03/04/2025
💫 We’re launching the Centre for British Progress Our founding essay: Rediscovering British Progress is a case for growth that drives shared progress, rooted in Britain's values and industrial heritage. It all starts with a postcard from 1870 👇 britishprogress.org/articles/red...
Cover of the essay Rediscovering British Progress available at https://britishprogress.org/articles/rediscovering-british-progress
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
My full interview with Cory Doctorow, including why he won't join Bluesky despite trusting the team implicitly digitalfrontier.com/articles/cor...
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
We need to reinforce a bit of strictness on the buzzing here. You can't come in to stop the timer then turn and ask your teammates "what do you think"? #OnlyConnect
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
Feel sad for whoever wrote that video game round, cut off so abruptly. Sounded like it was going to be interesting. #UniversityChallenge
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 25/01/2025
This year I've only seen 1/10 Best Picture nominees. Hoping I can rectify that by the time of the awards, keeping track on this thread🧵
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Croque madame / Welsh rarebit crossover. Croque Menyw?
Fried egg on two Welsh rarebit toasts
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
I spoke to Cory Doctorow yesterday (full interview coming soon) and we had an interesting chat on his thoughts about Bluesky. He goes into it at length here and it's worth taking a minute to think about. pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/c...
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 21/01/2025
This Sunday is the annual parade commemorating Charles I. It's put on by the English Civil War society and is a bizarre and brilliant thing to go and see if you want to do something different with your weekend. I went last year.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
This was a great read from @lydmorrish.bsky.social about all the work that goes into archiving our internet digitalfrontier.com/articles/way... with a beautiful illustration by Karina Cao!
A library stretching into oblivion
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 06/01/2025
Amol has such an easy demeanour that it feels so much more dramatic when he has to tell them off for rules infractions. Like the nice teacher who only reprimands when it's really serious. #UniversityChallenge
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Elizabeth Line has a RIBA award but no way to clean the ghostly outlines of passengers off its walls apparently
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 03/01/2025
Any suggestions for a bakery to find Galette des Rois in London this weekend? Been to Miel before, have got Jolene and Eric's on the list. Any others?
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Reposted by Alys Key
Simon Hunt @simon-hunt.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
New around here? Interested in tech? I've compiled a list of 50 or so UK technology journo accounts. Let me know if you'd like to be added! go.bsky.app/5s9g2Rn
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 19/12/2024
Why do we dislike art that we previously rated highly when we realise it's made by AI? @stokel.bsky.social investigates, feat. some uncanny AI-made imitations of Henry Moore sculptures digitalfrontier.com/articles/hum...
Figure-like abstract sculptures
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 12/12/2024
Our attempt to make a Christmas-themed Elphaba at last night's bake-off challenge. ELFaba, if you will.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
I'm bidding to host a session at the first ever SXSW London, all about how tech can play a part in finding solutions to the UK housing crisis. Please check it out and vote for it! sxswlondon.awardsplatform.com/entry/vote/l...
Session description: The UK’s housing shortage demands urgent action, yet the current planning system slows progress. This session explores how cutting-edge technologies like AI, machine learning, and modular construction are unlocking innovative ways to build faster and smarter. Discover how digital tech can streamline planning, tackle land misallocations, and reimagine urban density to address the housing crisis while making homes more sustainable and affordable. Join our panel of entrepreneurs, led by Digital Frontier’s Alys Key, and discover how innovation is unlocking solutions for generation rent.Speaker names: Mollie Claypool, Jamie Rumbelow, Andrew Bailie
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Granola, the AI note-taking app, has established a dedicated and evangelical user base in just a few months since launch. I sat down with co-founder Chris Pedregal to learn more digitalfrontier.com/articles/gra...
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
This piece by @everydayanalysis.bsky.social expresses perfectly how little common media we have between us now. digitalfrontier.com/articles/Exp... What were the shows you discussed the next day at school? Mine were Scrubs, The Apprentice and Glee.
Picture of Homer Simpson up close. Title: Unshared Experiences. Standfirst: Infinite personalisation is divorcing us from the daily rhythms of common culture. Can technology be used to bring us back together?
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Always wish I knew more of the classical music questions. Is there a good documentary series or something I can learn about the canon composers? I find Radio 3 too niche and Classic FM too top-level. #UniversityChallenge
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Reposted by Alys Key
Hip Priest @hippriest.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
"Twisted flax, please" #OnlyConnect
Big Kier Starmer
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
I always try to think what my #OnlyConnect random fact intro would be, but can never come up with anything to the show's standard of deadpan comedy and whimsy.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Do you ever just cry on the Overground reading a moving and sensitive longread? An I.V.F. Mix-Up, a Shocking Discovery and an Unbearable Choice www.nytimes.com/2024/11/25/m... via @nytimes.com
nytimes.com
An I.V.F. Mix-Up, a Shocking Discovery and an Unbearable Choice
Two couples in California discovered they were raising each other’s genetic children. Should they switch their girls?
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 26/11/2024
Beautiful buildings of Helsinki
Old fire station in red brick with a tall central towerCentral station with stone figures holding lampsWhite neoclassical cathedralStockmann department store in the snow, as a green and yellow tram passes by
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
Scenes from Slush
Helsinki conference centre in the snowInformation desk with large signFood court with decorative ceiling hangingsSleeping pods and a waterfall wall
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
My latest for Digital Frontier is all about how an orange grove tycoon and the 1920s Florida land boom gave rise to a legal precedent that, today, is a thorn in the side of crypto companies digitalfrontier.com/articles/How... if you love an esoteric deep dive, this is for you
digitalfrontier.com
Digital Frontier
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 19/11/2024
On my way to Helsinki for Slush 2024. Drop me a note if you're going.
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 13/11/2024
God forgive me I'm becoming a Radio 2 person
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 24/12/2023
Ferrell-rari
Buddy the Elf peeks through a gaping hole in a poster for Michael Mann's Ferrari (2023)
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Alys Key @alys.bsky.social · 22/11/2023
Spooky walk in the woods over the weekend
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