Podcast
Novara Media
Hosted by Novara Media · EN
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.
27episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Downstream: You Will Rent Forever. Here’s Why. w/ Peter Apps
6d ago01:48:00Tap to summarizeWe live in times of crisis. But perhaps none of the crises affect so many people in the here and now, as the housing crisis. Solving it could provide the skeleton key to unlocking so many of society’s problems. Despite this, decades of successive governments in the UK have failed to bring housing under control. The social contract which told us that if we worked hard all our lives, we can own a home and be secure in retirement, has been completely broken. To discuss the crisis in Britain and beyond, Aaron Bastani sat down with Peter Apps. He is an award-winning journalist who knows the field of housing – its failures and its potential fixes – better than almost anyone. He wrote an article about the threat of flammable cladding a month before Grenfell caught fire. How has housing policy shaped Britain in the last 50 years? Who did more to damage the housing system, Labour or the Tories? Is more housing supply always the solution? And why is no one talking about the crisis facing our ageing population, one million of whom will be in housing insecurity and poverty by 2030?
Transcribe →Downstream: The Middle Class Will Collapse Unless We Tax the Rich w/ Gary Stevenson
2w ago01:36:38Tap to summarizeThe idea of a wealth tax has never been more popular in Britain, and while many have campaigned for it, none have done more to boost the demand than one man: Gary Stevenson. The former city trader first joined us on Downstream four years ago. A lot has changed since then. This week, after a bruising round of media including attacks from Piers Morgan and the Guardian, Gary sat down to give his side of the story to Novara Media’s Aaron Bastani. What are the fair critiques of a wealth tax, and how does Gary engage with them? What would he say to Andy Burnham? What does he think needs to be done to keep out Farage and Reform? And do the recent spate of attacks in the media show that Gary’s actually winning the argument?
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ACFM Microdose: Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations
2w ago01:36:46Tap to summarizeThe Meditations of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are perhaps the best-selling self-help book of all time. Rooted in the rational philosophy of the Stoics, the 12 books offer a stream of personal musings on everything from cultivating self-discipline to being a successful leader. Following their episode on Resilience, Nadia, Keir and Jem offer a weird-left perspective on the Meditations, looking at their influence on western thought and current popularity among tech bros and the alt-right. Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
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Do Your Own Research: The True Cost of AI Girlfriends w/ James Muldoon
2w ago01:15:25Tap to summarizeAI boyfriends and girlfriends are all the rage – for some. For others, they just inspire rage. So what’s the truth about these seductive machines? Do they open up our erotic potential, or are they just an absurd fantasy? And how are they even made? James Muldoon is the author of Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Our Relationships and co-author of Feeding the Machine: The Hidden Human Labour Powering AI. Put these two books together, and his work takes us along the strange journey of AI from deeply exploited workers in the slums of East Africa to the cores of our deepest desires.
Transcribe →Downstream: Who Really Won the War on Drugs? w/ Kojo Koram
3w ago01:20:40Tap to summarizeLast year, Zack Polanski’s Green Party suggested changes could be made to Britain’s prohibitionist approach to drugs – and felt the full force of the mainstream media’s indignation. But all over the world, the War on Drugs is shifting shape. Drugs are being legalised and commercialised. America now has its first legal weed-selling billionaire, while others serve out huge prison sentences for possession. Ash Sarkar sat down with Professor Kojo Koram, to discuss his latest book The Next Fix: The Winners and Losers in the Future of Drugs, which travels from a plantation-turned-prison in Louisiana to the psychedelic boom of Silicon Valley. So what does a drug policy fit for the 21st century actually look like?
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119: I know I should forgive my enemies… but what if I don’t want to?
4w ago01:04:34Tap to summarize* Last call for our show at Crossed Wires in Sheffield this Saturday, 4th July! Final tickets: https://crossedwires.live * A brush with an old enemy brings up big questions about letting go and moving on. What does forgiveness really mean in a secular society? Is punishment ever the answer? Plus: advice for a special one who fears they’ve outgrown their 15-year relationship. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.
Transcribe →Do Your Own Research: How China Wins the Resource War w/ Thea Riofrancos
4w ago01:32:45Tap to summarizeWe need critical minerals for the green transition, the military and the AI boom. In barely a year, lithium and the rare earths have become some of the most fought-over objects on earth. But the scarcity is manufactured — by refineries, choke points and the states that control them. Richard talks to Thea Riofrancos, author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, about what these minerals really are, the gutted landscapes the green transition runs on, and the new geopolitics of extraction, from Trumpian state capitalism to Latin America to China.
Transcribe →Downstream: Governments Do Capitalism Wrong. Here’s How We Fix It. w/ Mariana Mazzucato
4w ago01:08:07Summary readyMariana Mazzucato is a towering figure in contemporary economics, best known for her work on the entrepreneurial state and mission-oriented economics. Her congregation is broad, ranging from an ascendant Andy Burnham, to the Pope, to Marco Rubio. Ash Sarkar sat down with her in front of a live audience at EartH Theatre in Hackney to test the ideas in her new book, The Common Good Economy. Support
SummaryACFM Trip 61: Resilience
4w ago01:38:28Summary readyA weird-left look at the magical properties of resilience, from the colonial legacy of the stiff upper lip to contemporary narratives of trauma and victimhood. Nadia, Keir and Jem wonder whether humans and animals can flourish in the ruins of capitalism, and what a left politics of resilience could look like in an era of constant economic and climate shocks. No tunes in this show, but plenty of ideas from Catherine Liu, Sheryl Sandberg, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing and more. Find the books 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
SummaryDownstream: What the US-Iran Peace Negotiations are Really About w/ Daniel Levy
Jun 2601:37:53Tap to summarizeDaniel Levy is a British-Israeli analyst, commentator, and former Israeli government negotiator whose biography reads like a map of the peace process’s rise and fall. Ash Sarkar sat down with him as a new Iran deal is announced, with shipping through the Strait of Hormuz set to reopen and the US-Iran ceasefire extended for 60 days. In this conversation, Daniel picks apart what these peace negotiations are really about. What does Israel really want? Who blinked first, the US or Iran? And how does a ceasefire announcement from the Oval Office differ fundamentally from long and lasting peace? Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
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