Novara Media

Novara Media is an independent media organisation addressing the issues—from a crisis of capitalism to racism and climate change—that are set to define the 21st century.

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301 episodes
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Episodes301

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Nov 18, 2024 · 36 min
Downstream IRL: There’s No Such Thing As Green Capitalism w/ Andreas Malm
Global heating is a serious problem, but the question of just how urgently to fight it is a fraught one. Should 2C or 1.5C of warming be our limit? Or can we blow past these limits now, and come back down to them later, using technology to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere? There’s only one problem: those technologies don’t yet exist. In this Downstream, Andreas Malm, human ecologist and author with Wim Carton of Overshoot: How the World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown spoke with Ash Sarkar about the delusions of climate change politics, if we should put a big mirror in space to reflect sunlight, and whether the politics of Colombia might be our best hope. Recorded at Peckham Levels in front of a live audience on November 5th 2024. Set decoration provided by After Noah. Stills by Blaze A. Emin.
Nov 17, 2024 · 1 hr 28 min
ACFM Trip 47: Disruption
Disruption is a byword for success in the tech industry, but when it affects people’s daily routines – say, when JSO activists are slow-marching down a road – it becomes nothing short of criminal. On this Trip, Jem, Nadia and Keir unpack the political uses and abuses of disruption and the ‘creative destruction’ inherent to capitalism. Featuring music from Björk, Disrupters and Stormzy and ideas from Joseph Schumpeter, Michał Kalecki and the Communist Manifesto. Find the books and music mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Follow our ever-expanding playlist on Spotify by searching “ACFM”. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Nov 15, 2024 · 1 hr 18 min
Novara FM: How MAGA Went Mainstream w/ Joshua Citarella
In 2016, the alt-right seemed to come from the internet and infest politics. In 2024, the internet and politics have become identical. Are we swimming in the world the alt-right built for us? Perhaps no one knows the world of online politics better than Joshua Citarella, an artist and political theorist whose 2018 book Politigram and the Post-Left kickstarted a flurry of investigations into new political cultures. His Doomscroll podcast looks at the development of online politics now. As the results of the US election were still coming in, he spoke to Richard Hames about the disasters of vibes-based liberal politics, how the Trump campaign spoke to a bloodlust in the American people, and where the American left goes from here. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Nov 13, 2024 · 1 hr 30 min
Downstream: What the Roman Empire Tells Us About the Collapse of the West W/ Peter Heather and John Rapley
Everyone knows that the Roman Empire rose, then fell. Historians don’t all agree on the reasons for the collapse, but their misunderstandings can shed plenty of light on the current state of the world, according to the authors of How Empires Fall: Rome, America and the Future of the West. Peter Heather, a historian of antiquity, and John Rapley, a political economist, talk to Aaron about the uncanny parallels and productive differences between ancient history and the present day. What do most historians get wrong about the fall of Rome? Was 1999 the peak of civilisation? And can anything stop western decline? Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Nov 7, 2024 · 1 hr 24 min
Novara FM: What’s Next for AI Now It’s Ingested the Entire Internet? w/ Marek Poliks
The rise of artificial intelligence will bring about a planetary-scale shift in human life and politics – and, it seems, a lot of weird social media spam. But for all the grand pronouncements from techno-utopians and pessimists alike, the reality is that there’s still much to be decided about the future that AI portends. At the forefront of those investigations is Marek Poliks, a composer, theorist and co-host of the Disintegrator podcast, where he and Roberto Alonso explore the frontiers of human-AI relations with guests from all disciplines. He joins Richard Hames to talk about what’s next for AI now that it’s ingested the entire internet, how the concept of ‘lift’ helps us understand how AI will impact capitalism, and why there’s no point asking if AI is capable of ‘creativity’. Marek and Roberto’s book, Choreomata: Performance and Performativity After AI, is published by CRC/Taylor and Francis. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Nov 5, 2024 · 1 hr 21 min
Downstream: Could Israel Become A Failed State? w/ Ilan Pappé
War is spreading throughout West Asia, a situation understood by many observers as an outgrowth of Israeli expansionism. In a return visit to Downstream, historian Ilan Pappé provides a century’s worth of context to the unfolding crisis. He talks to Aaron to talk about the lack of a viable left in Israel, why nation-states haven’t worked in the Middle East, and why the British Empire is ultimately to blame. Pappé’s new book, A Very Short History of Israel-Palestine Conflict, is available now. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 31, 2024 · 59 min
Novara FM: How Do We Liberate People From Bad Ideas? w/ adrienne maree brown
In their new book Loving Corrections, adrienne maree brown poses a crucial conundrum for all progressive thinkers: how do we liberate people from bad ideas? One of America’s most energetic thinkers talks to Rivkah Brown about putting the pol back in idpol, understanding the IDF, navigating the US election, and why we might need to suck it up and ‘bear hug’ our enemies. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 28, 2024 · 1 hr 1 min
Downstream: How War, Trade and Farming Changed the Planet Forever w/ Sunil Amrith
What if instead of talking about history from the perspective of humanity, we told it from the perspective of the resources that made human expansion possible? Sunil Amrith is a historian and author of The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of The Last 500 Years. He sat down with Ash to explain how a bumper crop of grass powered the Mongol empire, how the two world wars irreversibly changed the planet, and to wonderif the global north can ever come to terms with the need to consume fewer resources. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 24, 2024 · 1 hr 34 min
Novara FM: The Age of Disaster Nationalism w/ Richard Seymour
Around the world, far-right movements are mobilising support by placing the blame for real catastrophes – Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, their own riots and insurrections – on entirely made-up enemies, among them Muslims, immigrants and feminists. This is what Richard Seymour, a writer, theorist and founding editor of Salvage magazine, calls disaster nationalism. He joins Richard Hames to discuss the current irruption of riots, pogroms and genocide, the global south’s incipient fascism, the far-right impulse towards a ‘heroic death’, and why the left must to harness popular resentments to bring about a ‘sober class hatred’. His new book, Disaster Nationalism, is published on 29 October by Verso. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 22, 2024 · 1 hr 50 min
Downstream: Insects Are Disappearing and We Should Be Very Worried w/ Dave Goulson
From pollinating crops to managing organic waste on a continental scale, insects are vital to life on Earth. They are also disappearing. Dave Goulson is an entomologist and ecologist whose books communicate the majesty of insects and arthropods – along with a grave warning about their demise. He talks to Aaron to Bastani talk about the critical lack of scientific expertise in government, the allure of dung beetles, and how to make your garden a haven for insect life. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 17, 2024 · 1 hr 19 min
Novara FM: Understanding Hezbollah, Israel’s ‘Best Enemy’ w/ Elia Ayoub
What does Israel hope to achieve this time, nearly 20 years after its last failed ground offensive in Lebanon? And how should we understand its adversary, a political party that also functions as a fighting force, a historical movement, and a regional power? Richard Hames is joined by Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese-Palestinian researcher and writer based in the UK, to sketch the political roots and strategic goals of Hezbollah. He explains the group’s complex links with Iran and Syria, why the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah was a PR win, and how Hezbollah became Israel’s ‘best enemy’. Elia is the author of the Hauntologies newsletter, the founder of The Fire These Times podcast and a co-founder of the From the Periphery media collective. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 14, 2024 · 59 min
Downstream: Do We Really Need to Tax the Rich? w/ Stephanie Kelton
Stephanie Kelton is an author and economist, and subject of the new film ‘Finding The Money’. Her work as a proponent of Modern Monetary Theory and as an advisor to Bernie Sanders has put her front and center of the debate around government debt, taxation and the potential green industrial revolution. She sat down for a remote conversation with Ash to discuss debt, Liz Truss and whether you really need to tax the rich. You can watch the trailer for ‘Finding The Money’ here. And you can learn more about the film and watch it in it’s entirety here.
Oct 13, 2024 · 1 hr 43 min
ACFM Trip 46: Death
Of all the unseen forces that shape human society, could death be the most powerful? The ACFM crew take a leftwing look at mortality in this Trip, asking how capitalism has altered our approach to the inevitable. Jem, Nadia and Keir think about how industrialised workers were taught to prepare for death, why powerful men are obsessed with their legacies, why we failed to ritualise or remember the Covid dead, and their fear of being desensitised to killing. Find the books and music mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Follow our ever-expanding playlist on Spotify by searching “ACFM”. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 10, 2024 · 1 hr 15 min
Novara FM: When Does A Crowd Become A Mob? w/ Dan Hancox
The English language is full of pejoratives for large groups of people: mob mentality. Herd behaviour. Crowd contagion. Much of this apprehension stems from one of the most influential works of psychology ever written, Gustave Le Bon’s The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Unfortunately, Le Bon’s big idea – that crowds produce derangement and violence in even the most rational subject – was not based on any actual research. So why the lingering suspicion? In his new book, Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World, journalist and author Dan Hancox traces our fear and attraction to mass gatherings. He talks to Eleanor Penny about how mass crowds take shape – from Nazi rallies and student protests to urban riots and insurrections – and how the state tries to stamp them out. Help us build people-powered media: http://novara.media/support
Oct 9, 2024 · 1 hr 28 min
Downstream: Everything You Need to Know About China & Xi Jinping w/ Olivia Cheung
Xi Jinping is possibly the most powerful person in the world, but what do we know about his origins, ways of thinking and goals for China and the human race in general? To answer these questions and more, Aaron is joined by Olivia Cheung, author of “The Political Thought of Xi Jinping”. They discuss his early difficulties with the CCP, his treatment of the Uyghurs and how China is manoeuvring it’s soft power in Africa. You can buy Olivia’s book here: https://novara.media/BuyCheung
Oct 3, 2024 · 1 hr 36 min
Novara FM: How the British State Is Trying to Crush the Palestine Movement
The Palestine solidarity movement is the largest movement in British politics for a century. Yet has been vilified and policed as if it were a tiny group of extremists. In this investigative episode of Novara FM, series producer Richard Hames is joined by Simon Childs, commissioning editor at Novara Media, to expose the authoritarian turn inside the British state that is driving the crackdown on Palestine solidarity. From Suella Braverman’s demonisation of “hate marchers” to Michael Gove’s attempts to redefine extremism, from Britain’s collusion with Israeli arms manufacturers to its special treatment for probable war criminals, this is a story about how the supposedly neutral institutions of the state have been used to silence a movement. Featuring Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Kevin Blowe from police monitoring organisation Netpol, and Tim Crosland from the Defend Our Juries campaign. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Oct 1, 2024 · 52 min
Downstream: India Was the Epicentre of the Ancient World w/ William Dalrymple
The Silk Road has dominated the way we imagine the trading relationship between Europe and Asia to have worked in antiquity. In his new book, The Golden Road, William Dalrymple busts that myth. He sat down with Ash to talk about the origins of algebra, Indian gems in Anglo-Saxon Britain and why Genghis Khan was scared of India.
Sep 27, 2024 · 1 hr 17 min
Novara FM: Our New Cyberboss Overlords w/ Craig Gent
How can we resist exploitation when the boss has been replaced by a computer? That’s the premise of Cyberboss, a new book by Craig Gent, North of England editor for Novara Media, which explains how “algorithmic management” is being rolled out in the workplace, starting with Amazon packers, Deliveroo drivers and online supermarket shoppers. He talks to NM’s head of audio Chal Ravens about the strange forms of resistance that emerge when even your boss has no idea how the system actually works. Cyberboss: The Rise of Algorithmic Management and the New Struggle for Control at Work is available now through Verso Books. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Sep 23, 2024 · 1 hr 44 min
Downstream: The UK’s Landowning Elite Are Destroying the Countryside w/ Guy Shrubsole
Guy Shrubsole is an author and campaigner whose new book The Lie of the Land seeks to expose the history of the British elite’s relationship to the land they own and debunk the myths that they perpetuate. He sat down with Aaron to talk about grouse moors, planning permission and exactly what we should do about The Fens.
Sep 16, 2024 · 58 min
Downstream: This Is the Reality for Palestinian Christians w/ Dr. Munther Isaac
Dr. Munther Isaac is the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, serving a community of Christians that dates back to the time of Jesus. He joins Ash to discuss Israel’s continuing annexation of the West Bank, the role of Christian Zionists, and the origins of western hypocrisy.