Jan 30, 2025 · 1 hr 36 min
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Novara Media
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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- NM
Jan 27, 2025 · 1 hr 36 minDownstream: Everything They Tell You About the Economy Is Wrong w/ Gary Stevenson
Fourteen years ago Gary Stevenson was one of Citibank’s best performing traders. The bet that brought him success was one few foresaw: that despite record low interest rates, Britain’s economy would stay in the doldrums. He wrote about that, and his time at Citi, in his bestselling memoir ‘The Trading Game’. In this, his third Downstream with Aaron, Gary talks about the rise of Reform, why the political establishment could be facing extinction; why Elon Musk’s wealth is a threat to democracy; and how the plan is to make you poorer – forever.
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Jan 26, 2025 · 1 hr 51 minACFM Trip 49: Debt
The concept of debt is as slippery as it is powerful. In this Trip episode, Keir, Nadia and Jem explain why debt is more like a belief than a calculation, and wonder how to imagine a society without it. From credit cards to dowries, they discuss the reality and fantasy of debt, with ideas from David Graeber and Deleuze and music from Crass and Gwen Guthrie. 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
- NMJan 23, 2025 · 1 hr 14 min
Novara FM: What Will ‘Technoking’ Elon Musk Do in the White House? w/ Quinn Slobodian
Elon Musk is the most symptomatic capitalist of our era: obsessed with publicity, by many accounts a fanatical workaholic, and increasingly in bed with the far right. But how did he go from Obama-era liberal darling to giving a Nazi salute at Trump’s second inauguration? Historian of ideas Quinn Slobodian has traced the relationship between big tech and the far right for years. His books include Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism and Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. He speaks to Eleanor Penny about the world that made Elon Musk possible. Quinn Slobodian previously appeared on Novara FM in late 2023.
- NMJan 21, 2025 · 1 hr 23 min
Downstream: Who’s Behind the Institute of Economic Affairs? w/ Kristian Niemietz
The Institute of Economic Affairs is one of the most powerful and secretive think tanks in the UK, known for promoting free-market Thatcherism as a solution to all of our economic woes. Who’s behind it? This week, Kristian Niemietz, a director at the IEA and a long-time Novara Media hater, sits down with Aaron for a debate about trickle-down economics, why he’s a neoliberal, and who really funds his employer. And who funds Novara Media? That’s easier to answer: you. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
- NMJan 16, 2025 · 1 hr 29 min
Downstream: Woke Capitalism Just Collapsed. Here’s Why w/ Brett Christophers
Donald Trump is the next president. Meta, Walmart and McDonald’s have forsaken their diversity policies. Elon Musk is demanding that Keir Starmer be removed as PM. Why is this all happening at the same time? And why do progressives have so little to offer when it comes to the economy and people’s everyday lives? Brett Christophers is a geographer, author and former management consultant. According to him, it’s the commitment of parties like Labour and the US Democrats to the prevailing economic orthodoxy that has brought about the collapse of ‘woke capitalism’. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
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Jan 3, 2025 · 1 hr 31 minACFM Microdose: The Communist Manifesto
The ACFM gang gather for a midwinter reading of one of the most influential political tracts ever written. Download a version online and follow along as Nadia, Keir and Jem reassess The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. 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 – pledge your support from as little as £1 a month: https://novara.media/support
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Jan 2, 2025 · 1 hr 13 minNovara FM: Why The Left Needs To Care About Crypto w/ Sam Hart
Having long promised to decentralise power, Bitcoin is looking more and more like it will end up as a tool of American power under Trump. But blockchains could also be used to empower local economies. And why should the left stay attached to a money system controlled by the state? Sam Hart is a developer, writer, and editor of the Cryptoeconomic Systems journal. He spoke to Richard Hames about the promises and perils of the new era of blockchain technologies. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
- NMDec 24, 2024 · 58 min
Novara FM: Love Actually w/ Nathalie Olah
In Richard Curtis’ Love Actually, a selection of mainly white and middle-class Londoners seem to be living in a parallel universe – one in which the war on terror never happened and the ’90s never ended. What kinds of love are really on offer in this misty-eyed vision of modern Britain? Following Novara FM’s investigation into Die Hard, Eleanor Penny tackles another festive Alan Rickman vehicle with Nathalie Olah, author of Bad Taste and Steal As Much As You Can. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media.com/support
- NMDec 23, 2024 · 1 hr 36 min
Downstream: 2024 Round Up: Gaza, Starmer and the Death of Woke
On 10 December, Ash Sarkar, Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani discussed an epoch-defining year and its implications for the future. Is Starmer screwed? Are expansionist wars back? Has ‘woke’ died? Find out in our end-of-year Downstream special. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
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Dec 19, 2024 · 1 hr 11 minNovara FM: Die Hard w/ James Butler
Die Hard is a perennial of festive TV, but is it really a Christmas movie? James Butler and Eleanor Penny explore what the 1988 action comedy reveals about corporate power, class antagonism, mid-century terrorism and women in the workplace. Who is Bruce Willis’ shoeless cowboy cop out to rescue? And what is going on with Hans Gruber’s accent? Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
- NMDec 16, 2024 · 1 hr 48 min
Downstream: Is Germany’s Economy Heading for Collapse? w/ Wolfgang Münchau
Just two months before a general election, Germany finds itself in a precarious position. The European project is fragile, the country’s manufacturing innovation has stalled, and Germany’s dependence on Russian resources has become, quite obviously, disastrous. So what will happen to this once deeply consequential world power, and what does its story tell us about the future of Europe and the upending of global power in the 21st century? Wolfgang Münchau has a thorough understanding of this story. A writer for the FT on European and German matters for over 20 years, his new book Kaput tells us an awful lot about why Germany is in the state it currently is. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
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Dec 13, 2024 · 1 hr 27 minNovara FM: We Need a New Wikileaks w/ Stefania Maurizi
In the 2010s, we found out that we were all being watched. A series of leaks, from Wikileaks and others, revealed that our governments were conducting mass surveillance operations on their own populations. But what were the longer term consequences of those leaks? And why hasn’t something of equivalent size stepped in to replace Wikileaks since? Stefania Maurizi is a journalist who worked with Wikileaks and Glenn Greenwald on the Edward Snowden revelations. She’s also the author of Secret Power: Wikileaks and Its Enemies. She sat down with Richard Hames to explain how Wikileaks achieved so much, how the state tried to destroy them, and how they fought back and won. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
- NMDec 9, 2024 · 53 min
Downstream: The Journalist Who Spent A Year With The Taliban w/ Ibrahim Nash’at
When the Taliban retook all of Afghanistan in 2021, it came as a shock to much of the West. The day after the last American soldier left, journalist and filmmaker Ibrahim Nash’at flew into Kabul to spend a year filming with the Taliban’s senior military leadership. What he found was a regime drunk on power, in control of far more territory and with better weaponry than ever – courtesy of the Americans, who left it all behind. Ibrahim joins Ash to talk about the making of Hollywoodgate, which is currently available to watch in the UK on BBC iPlayer as part of the Storyville series. * People-powered media needs people to power it. Please consider supporting Novara Media by donating an hour’s wage per month, or whatever you can afford. Head to https://novaramedia.com/support
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Dec 8, 2024 · 1 hr 43 minACFM Trip 48: Political Commitment
Which side are you on? Keir, Nadia and Jem consider the ebb and flow of political commitment with ideas and music from Jodi Dean, Gramsci, John Coltrane and the Raincoats. Is cultural production the same as political action? What’s the difference between an ally and a comrade? And why do some communists end up as right-wing turncoats? 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
- NMDec 5, 2024 · 1 hr 22 min
Novara FM: The New Scramble for Africa in the Vacuum of Empire w/ James Pogue
In 1891, the French drew the borders of what became Mali. Like many colonial borders, they were arbitrary, absurd to the many nomads who supposedly lived within them. Now climate change is ravaging the Sahel region, and many of those nomads are being forced to settle down. And Russia and China have arrived to replace the long tail of French colonial domination. As has Al-Qaeda. So what does this all have to do with the far-right anti-imperialism of Steve Bannon? James Pogue is a journalist with an extraordinary range. He has reported from Mauritania and the Central African Republic, from the private gatherings of JD Vance and the militias of Oregon. In this episode, he tells Richard Hames about how violence, money, racism weave together at the end of an empire – and perhaps the beginning of another.
- NMDec 2, 2024 · 1 hr 17 min
Downstream: Humans Could Become Immortal This Century w/ Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston
Humanity has long pursued an elixir of youth and dreamed of eternal life. For the Abrahamic faiths, physical immortality was lost in the Garden of Eden, with only the soul remaining of permanence. More recently, futurists and thinkers have speculated about the possibilities of radical life extension. For neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston there is another alternative, however. He believes that the human brain could be fully mapped and digitally reproduced – with the first part of that process possible within a century. He talks to Aaron Bastani about living forever. * People-powered media needs people to power it. Please consider supporting Novara Media by donating an hour’s wage per month, or whatever you can afford. Head to https://novaramedia.com/support
- NMNov 28, 2024 · 1 hr
Novara FM: Protect or Punish? The Stakes of Sex Worker Activism w/ Laura Watson
Imagine a person arrested for keeping a brothel. Who are they? An abusive pimp? Such people exist, no doubt, but the law isn’t set up just to catch abusers: it also targets sex workers working together to stay safe. With Labour in power, big changes could be afoot, but legalising sex work could harm sex workers as well. That’s the view of the English Collective of Prostitutes, one of the leading sex worker right organisations in the UK. Their new report ‘Proceed Without Caution’ shows how the law keeps women in sex work, and keeps punishing them for being there. Their spokeswoman Laura Watson joined Eleanor Penny to discuss poverty, power, whether sex work can ever be abolished, and the case for decriminalisation.
- NMNov 25, 2024 · 1 hr 34 min
Downstream: Trains Are Better Than Cars. Here’s Why w/ Gareth Dennis
While the first modern trains were built in the early 19th century – more people travel by rail today than ever before. Not only have passenger numbers risen in the UK but the likes of China, Iran and Uzbekistan now have high-speed networks. On this episode of Downstream, Aaron Bastani is joined by author and railway engineer Gareth Dennis. They discuss the rationale behind HS2, why Hyperloop was always destined to fail and the real reason Britain has so many potholes. Plus: does every major city really need a tram system? And how come Britain is so bad at building new infrastructure?
- NMNov 22, 2024 · 1 hr 7 min
Novara FM: The New Space Race Is an Arms Race w/ Daniel Deudney
In October 2024, SpaceX caught a rocket. An astonishing feat of engineering, it took humanity one giant leap closer to the era of everyday space travel – and possibly one small step closer to its own obliteration. Despite a long list of treaties attempting to prevent it, space is now a militarised zone. Nuclear-laden ICBMs and weapons systems on satellites are just the tip of a secretive iceberg of new risks, whose enormous power threatens us all. And next year Elon Musk, avatar for this new era of space expansion, will take up a key position alongside the Trump administration. Eleanor Penny sat down with Daniel Deudney, author of Dark Skies: Space Expansionism, Planetary Geopolitics, and the Ends of Humanity to talk about the perils, promises and progress of our expansion out into our vast and indifferent universe. Comments, questions, corrections? fm@novaramedia.com Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support