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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Sep 15, 2024 · 1 hr 26 min
ACFM Microdose: The Joy Of Fascism
A month after racist riots engulfed the country, the ACFM crew ask what fascism – and antifascism – look like in Britain today. Do the riots and counter-protests mark a return to “street politics”? Why didn’t the Labour party align itself with opponents of the pogroms? And how popular are extreme rightwing views among Britain’s frustrated youth? Jem, Nadia and Keir take a closer look at the make-up of the rioters and the reaction from the public, the media and politicians. Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Follow our ever-expanding playlist on Spotify by searching “ACFM”. Produced by Matt Huxley.
Sep 12, 2024 · 1 hr 13 min
Novara FM: Mourn the Dead, Fight Like Hell for the Living w/ Sarah Jaffe
“Don’t mourn, organise” were the final words of American labour activist Joe Hill before his execution in 1915. But sometimes our feelings of grief don’t lend themselves to good organising – sometimes we might just want revenge. In her forthcoming book, critic and journalist Sarah Jaffe looks at the many kinds of grief that shape our social and political lives, from family bereavement and mass death during a pandemic, to factory closures and the spectre of climate breakdown. She joins Eleanor Penny to talks about the ghosts of the industrial worker, the fate of capital’s “sacrifice zones”, how Israel tries to weaponise Jewish grief, and what to do when we are denied the means of mourning our lost futures. From the Ashes: Grief and Revolution in a World on Fire is out in the UK on 10 October. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Sep 10, 2024 · 59 min
Downstream: We Have Enabled Putin w/ Anne Appelbaum
Political scientists agree that we are now living in a “multipolar” world, with power contested by multiple states and blocs. But how we arrived at this formation, and whether the newly powerful actors on the global stage are inherently problematic, remain areas of disagreement. Someone with has a distinct perspective on this new world order is Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the author of Autocracy, Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World. Anne sat down with Aaron to discuss Putin’s rise to power, the problem of misinformation, and how Israel fits into the network of autocratic states who share little but a desire to consolidate each other’s power. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Aug 29, 2024 · 1 hr 18 min
Novara FM: Motherhood In and Against the State w/ Helen Charman
Motherhood was once at the centre of the feminist movement’s demands, from campaigns for reproductive rights to the mobilisation of anti-nuclear mums at Greenham Common. But in the 21st century, the politicisation of mothering seems to have shrunk in its ambition. In her new book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood, literary scholar and historian Helen Charman tells the story of motherhood in the UK and Ireland from the 1970s to the 2010s. From Margaret Thatcher’s weaponisation of femininity to Stella Creasy’s support for the capping child benefit, she explains how the relationship between mothers and the state is never anything but awkward – and often violent. Charman joins Rivkah Brown to talk about both the repressive uses of mothering and its liberatory potential. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Aug 25, 2024 · 1 hr 48 min
ACFM Trip 45: Holidays
Everybody hates a tourist, as Jarvis Cocker once pointed out, and the ACFM gang are no exception in this ACFM Trip exploring the allure of holidays. Keir, Jem and Nadia consider all the different ways we avoid work, from holy days and vay-cays to grand tours and gap yahs. Does travel make fools of us all, or is there a smarter, more ethical way to go sightseeing? Is the promise of an annual getaway the only thing keeping the working population docile? Featuring ideas from John Urry, David Harvey and Arun Saldanha, plus music from Dead Kennedys, Cliff Richard and Madonna. 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”.
Aug 22, 2024 · 1 hr 34 min
Novara FM: Clean Energy Is Already Terraforming the Earth w/ Thea Riofrancos
In 2019, mines expelled 100 billion tonnes of solid waste. Vast and destructive almost beyond imagination, mining is nevertheless essential to the green transition: without the minerals that we pull from the Earth, we cannot wean ourselves off fossil fuels. Thea Riofrancos is associate professor of political science at Providence College and an expert on the politics of resource extraction, green energy transition, the global lithium sector and the Latin American left. She tells Eleanor Penny about the contradictions that mining throws up for the left, how our mining operations have already started terraforming the Earth, and the surprisingly radical history of Opec. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Aug 20, 2024 · 1 hr 52 min
Downstream: Is Humanity Really Heading for Population Collapse?! w/ Paul Morland
During 1960s, fears of planetary ‘overpopulation’ became widespread. And yet, in more recent years, an altogether different worry has emerged: future population decline. Fertility rates have fallen for decades – and in some places centuries – as humans live in cities, gender equality improves and access to birth control becomes widespread. But, according to some, if they fall too far, and too fast, the basis of the modern welfare state is in jeopardy – not to mention our entire economic order. Could falling birth rates, combined with increased life expectancy, even if not universal, really be as big a challenge in the 21st century as climate breakdown and runaway inequality? Or is this just another moral panic with no basis in fact? To discuss all of that Aaron Bastani is joined by Dr Paul Morland, a demographer whose latest book is titled “No One Left”. Dr Morland’s previous books include “The Human Tide” and “Tomorrow’s People: The Future of Humanity in Ten Numbers.
Aug 15, 2024 · 57 min
Novara FM: Fear and Loathing in Silicon Valley w/ Malcolm Harris
People walk around San Francisco in Make America Great Again hats. Major CEOs endorse Trump. JD Vance is a hit among the crypto whales. So what? It’s part, perhaps, of a cultural change in Silicon Valley: a swing decisively to the right in a state famed for its contributions to radical politics, from the Black Panthers to the counterculture. There’s no one better to understand this change than Malcolm Harris, author of Palo Alto: A History of California, Capitalism, and the World. He explains to Richard Hames how military tech links the sunny settler colonies of California and Israel, how Elon Musk became indispensable to NATO, and whether or not computer have their own politics, man.
Aug 5, 2024 · 1 hr 11 min
Downstream: Can The Green Party Keep Winning? w/ Carla Denyer
The Green Party of England and Wales now has four MPs in Parliament, and even more impressively has doubled its vote share to 7%, coming second in 39 other seats. So what happens now? How will the Greens exercise their new agency in government, and how can they navigate a biased media landscape and increase their influence? Aaron is joined by Carla Denyer, co-leader of the Green Party and MP for Bristol Central, to talk about the challenges ahead. Help us build people-powered media: novara.media/support
Aug 4, 2024 · 1 hr 16 min
ACFM Trip 44: Humility
What happens when you lose? In this Trip, the ACFM crew explore the role of humility – and humiliation – in politics. Should we cultivate humility to cope with political weakness? Is fear of humiliation a product of patriarchy? Can humility help us be better political thinkers and organisers? And who’s the humblest ACFM host of them all? Nadia, Keir and Jem apply their weird-left lens to the topic with ideas from Nietzsche and Lyotard, and music from Erik Satie, Kendrick Lamar, Ravi Shankar and Joni Mitchell. 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”. Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. PRS licence number: LE-0016481 * Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Jul 22, 2024 · 1 hr 5 min
Downstream: Arab Jews, The Hidden History w/ Avi Shlaim
A foundational principle of the state of Israel is that it keeps Jews safe. This principle has been profoundly challenged in the last nine or so months. But what if Israel never really had the will or capacity to keep all Jews safe and, in fact, has made them less safe? Avi Shlaim is a historian and author of “Three Worlds: Memoirs of an Arab-Jew”. He joined Ash to talk about the Israeli right, Mossad’s covert operations in Baghdad and what it means to have hyphenated identities.
Jul 16, 2024 · 59 min
Pro Revolution Soccer 2.6: The Misfit Visionaries Who Invented Modern Football
It’s part of the national myth: the English invented football and to England it will return (next time!). But if football is part of what makes England England, it’s equally part of the story of how Europe became Europe. In this Pro Revolution Soccer season finale, Tom Williams and Juliet Jacques tell this story of oddballs, war, oligarchs, dodgy deals and footballing genius. Along the way, they discuss how football relates to what is ‘pragmatic’ in politics, why Gareth Southgate is a bit like a good David Cameron, and explain the only certainty in the beautiful game: that there will always be more football. Music by Matt Huxley.
Jul 15, 2024 · 51 min
Downstream: Party Politics is Broken w/ Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn was a Labour MP for almost four decades – and led the party at two general elections. This year however, and despite still being a party member, Corbyn was blocked from standing again in his seat of Islington North. As soon as Rishi Sunak declared a snap general election, and the Labour leadership chose a different candidate, Corbyn announced he would stand as an independent. He was consequently expelled as a party member. Defying all the odds Corbyn managed to keep his seat, winning almost fifty percent of the vote. He sat down with Aaron Bastani to discuss that achievement, Labour’s performance more generally, the success of other independents elsewhere – and what the future holds for party politics in the UK. Are we moving towards a different kind of politics? One rooted in community, local networks and public service?
Jul 11, 2024 · 1 hr 11 min
Novara FM: Macron’s Own Goal w/ Olly Haynes
The French left have played a blinder. Or, at least, the centre-right chaos agent and French President Emmanuel Macron has played it for them. Macron called snap elections, hoping to crush both the left and right. He failed. Instead, the far right briefly surged, coming top in the first round before a newly cohesive French left took the largest share in the second, decisive round. Is this the end of the Fifth Republic? Olly Haynes tells Richard Hames about the long crises of French politics, the absurdities of Macronism and whether France is heading for a fascist party in power. Listen to our previous podcast on the French left, Tout Le Monde Déteste La Police (everyone hates the police)
Jul 10, 2024 · 47 min
Pro Revolution Soccer 2.5: Can Football Be Part of Political Resistance?
Tom and Juliet expose the surprisingly rich history of football as a wing of political resistance, from Algeria to Palestine to the growing power of the grassroots game in Britain. They also process England’s shock win against Switzerland, TV pundits’ criticism of Southgate, and the silence around Cristiano Ronaldo. Music by Matt Huxley. Help us build people-powered media: http://novara.media/support
Jul 9, 2024 · 1 hr
ACFM Microdose: Election ’24 Vibecheck
The ACFM crew offer their first reactions to Labour’s landslide election win. Can Starmer’s government rescue the public sector? Where will the money come from? And can they make it to a second term? Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Produced and edited by Matt Huxley and Chal Ravens. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Jul 8, 2024 · 1 hr 12 min
Downstream: Here’s How America Really Runs Britain w/ Angus Hanton
The United States’ impact on British culture and foreign policy is obvious. But its influence on our domestic politics, business, and daily lives warrants closer examination. To discuss this, Aaron is joined by Angus Hanton, author of ‘Vassal State: How America Runs Britain’.
Jul 4, 2024 · 1 hr
Novara FM: Britain is Broken. Can Anyone Fix It? w/ Dom Davies
Asked in a recent poll to summarise Britain in a word, ‘broken’ was the people’s top choice. This brokenness is concrete stuff: crumbling bridges, sewage-filled rivers, failing computer systems, cancelled rail projects. But it’s also bundled with the collective stories we tell about what it means to be a nation, and who belongs in it. To find out why it feels like nothing works in Britain anymore, Moya Lothian-McLean talks to Dom Davies, author of The Broken Promise of Infrastructure. He explains how democratic ‘public works’ were replaced by neoliberal ‘infrastructure’, why colonial railways linger in our collective imagination, and whether Labour can get Britain running again. Watch our rolling #ElectionSesh coverage on 4 July from 9.30pm on Novara Media’s YouTube. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Jul 3, 2024 · 49 min
Pro Revolution Soccer 2.4: In the Iron Grip of the Big Five
Tom and Juliet are joined by Keir Milburn to take the long view on the Premier League. Juliet explains how ’80s hooliganism and stadium disasters led to the formation of a new top flight, boosted by Rupert Murdoch’s TV empire and resulting in the iron grip of the Big Five clubs today. Are we stuck like this? They also discuss the incoming Labour government’s vision for football and take a moment to dwell on England v Slovakia. Tune in next Wednesday for the final episode in our Euro 2024 miniseries. Music by Matt Huxley.
Jul 1, 2024 · 1 hr 12 min
Downstream: This Is How Propaganda Actually Works w/ Matt Kennard
If you want to understand how power works in our society, you can’t just examine what journalists say – you have to pay attention to what they’re silent about. To discuss the world of corporate media, secret intelligence services and the problem with liberal think tanks, Ash is joined by Matt Kennard, head of investigations for Declassified UK and author of The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs The American Empire.