Notes and links - 19th April

Russell Davies

19 Apr 2026 — 1 min read

Maggie Appleton is so good. A great writer. A great thinker. A great designer. And this seems v smart about how developers + AI will work. And, probably, how many other things will work too.

"The hard question is no longer how to build it. It’s should we build it.

Agreeing on what to build is the new bottleneck.

Everyone on the team needs to be involved in asking: Are we making the right thing? Are we spending our energy in the right place? How do we have the most impact?"

Unexpected benefits to the averagingness effect of AI?

A still of Kevin Costner from JFK, in sunglasses, holding his hands up, explaining something

Up is down, dogs and cats living together

Whenever something threatens to go mildly wrong in work or life I find this incoherent tumble of words on the tip of my tongue. Some variant of 'up is down, left is right, dogs and cats living together, world turned upside down, we're through the looking glass

The London Review of TikToks - 15th April 2026

@knownsource_official The forefather of modern day technical wear - Tony Spackman 🏃🏽 #tonyspackman #nikecode #archivenike #archivefashion #fyp ♬ Elevator Vibes - The Brothers Nylon @mirandadoesbrands Why are marketing jobs are being rebranded using masculinised, technical language and how does this compare to what happened with software engineering in the 80a? #marketing

Are any two words more unwanted than 'sponsorship opportunity'?

I am once again exploring the connection between physical activity and emotional blackmail. You know the drill. Russell’s Race for LifeCancer is happening right now, which is why I’m taking part in a Race for Life 10k to raise money and save lives. 1 in 2 people will

Notes and links - 12th April

the antidote to AI foolishness is intellectual seriousnessseven principles for creative people (and everyone else). it’s not *difficult* but you have to *use your brain and think about it*Whatever WorksNaomi AldermanAn AI bot invited me to its party in Manchester. It was a pretty good nightAfter forgetting the

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Up is down, dogs and cats living together

The London Review of TikToks - 15th April 2026

Are any two words more unwanted than 'sponsorship opportunity'?

Notes and links - 12th April