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We're not egotistical, but we firmly believe you, our readers, should know who's behind the fantastic journalism we bring you. What makes us tick, where our passions lie and the back stories that underpin all that.

Brad talks: 🤝 The Leeds-Bradford tug of war (a West Yorkshire derby identity crisis) 🗞Life as a journalist in a new setting 🏟The future of Elland Road 💒 And too much matrimony

Welcome to our first ever writer's edition, this one from @braddeasjourno.bsky.social ✍️. Get to know one of our two staff writers a bit more intimately. No prizes for guessing one of Brad's biggest passions.

Here's today's briefing, with some huge news: 🏗 Sky Gardens is in jeopardy with the Leeds-based construction firm behind it on the brink of "collapse" 🐑 An interesting plea from PETA for the owner of a former textile mill in Bradford theexchange.news/sky-gardens-...

Cities dismantled their tram networks to become “motor cities of the future”. The result? You could travel further within 30 mins via public transport in 1957 than you can in 2026. Cities are seeking billions to rebuild networks. Incredible piece of work this.

Shoot us an email: editor@theexchange.news!

This matters most because of who lost the most: Middleton, Belle Isle, Hunslet, Harehills and Chapeltown. In 1957, the city’s best infrastructure catered to its poorest residents. Read Samuel's full analysis now.

The public transport network of 1957 would put 433,000 of today’s residents within 30 minutes of Briggate. The network that actually exists in 2026, however, reaches only 256,000.

If you stood on Briggate at 8am on a weekday in 1957, and stood there again in 2026, in which year could you reach more of the city in half an hour? Samuel Bancroft has crunched the numbers. Since the 1950s, Leeds has got bigger - but the city has effectively shrunk.

Conservative group leader John Taylor knew Kirklees needed a resolution: Vote in Wood, or Greens group leader Andrew Cooper. “I’d rather Reform were not the administration,” he told The Exchange after the vote. "And I’ll be doing my damnedest to remove them from the administration next year."

After an eight-week standoff, Kirklees Council finally has a leader — Reform's Sarah Wood, who got over the line with the help of a handful of Tory votes. We got behind the scenes of the decision that broke the stalemate: theexchange.news/kirklees-tor...

Your West Yorkshire briefing for today: 💾 Skelton Grange data centre plan sees massive pushback 💧The US company paying less than £10k/year for West Yorkshire spring water 📱Reform councillors under scrutiny for posts 🚴‍♂️ The Jo Cox Way is ready to set off again theexchange.news/skelton-gran...

Leeds West and Pudsey MP Rachel Reeves is out as Chancellor

“Sometimes I massively regret being the face,” says Myers of his business. This is unexpected: GetBaked might just be Leeds’ biggest export since Tom Zanetti. But Myers himself is no hometown hero. “Cunt,” is the verdict on Reddit.

Absolutely riveting stuff from my colleagues @braddeasjourno.bsky.social and Moya Lothian-Mclean for @theexchangeleeds.bsky.social: What really drives Get Baked’s Rich Myers? And who is really baiting him? theexchange.news/getfaked-how...

“I’m an insecure guy to be completely honest". GetBaked's personality-based marketing is amazingly effective. But who is the real Rich Myers, the one who wanted to be a comedian and finds his hometown hate "most painful thing in the world?" Find out in today's weekend read.

"It went as far as getting death threats. People saying they would desecrate my dad’s grave.” Myers' cakes are so popular he has major supermarket copycats. All his dreams have come true. But his marketing strategy blurs the line between what's real and what's not.

Rich Myers is Leeds' biggest export since Tom Zanetti. GetBaked, his bakery business, is huge, with viral cakes and £10m turnover. He's known as the 'UK's rudest baker' for his abrasive online exchanges. Thing is, a lot of them are made up, he reveals.

This is the Old Red Lion, one of the Smith's pubs in Leeds, closed since Covid. @miajankowicz.bsky.social gives a beautiful description of the "eerie sense of the uncanny" generated when looking through its window.