Podcast
Novara Media
Hosted by Novara Media · EN
Media for a different Politics.
17episodes
Episodes
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ACFM: Marcus Aurelius' 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. Translations abound, but the George Long translation is freely available from MIT.
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120: Help! I’m dreading moving to the suburbs with my partner
2w ago00:57:03Tap to summarizeAsh and Moya get stuck into your dilemmas. Featuring: a POC friend whose new boyfriend votes Reform, an attractive male coworker who’s gone from supportive to creepy, a woman who’s struggling to think before she speaks, an independent woman who’s dreading suburban life with her boyfriend, and an environmentalist weighing up a job in big tech. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.
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Downstream: The Middle Class Will Collapse Unless We Tax the Rich w/ Gary Stevenson
2w ago01:36:37Tap 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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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.
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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 to ask what drug policy fit for the 21st century actually looks like.
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119: I know I should forgive my enemies… but what if I don’t want to?
4w ago01:04:33Tap 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.
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Do Your Own Research: How China Wins the Resource War w/ Thea Riofrancos
4w ago01:32:44Tap 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 ago01:08:06Tap to summarizeMariana Mazzucato is a towering figure in contemporary economics, known best for her work on the entrepreneurial state and mission-oriented, ‘moonshot’ economics. Her congregation is broad, ranging from an ascendant Andy Burnham, to the Pope, to the organisers of Brazil’s carnival, and Marco Rubio on the right of US politics. Ash Sarkar sat down with Mariana Mazzucato in front of a live audience at EartH Theatre in Hackney, to test out the ideas in her new book, The Common Good Economy.
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ACFM Trip 61: Resilience
4w ago01:38:28Tap to summarizeA 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
Transcribe →118: Can a hen party ever be chic?
Jun 2300:55:56Tap to summarize* We'll be at Crossed Wires festival in Sheffield on 4th July! Final tickets: https://crossedwires.live * 'Tis the season! Moya and Ash explore the etiquette of the modern wedding, from cringey hen do to lavish ceremony to nightmare groupchat. And how does anyone afford it?! Plus: are we expecting too much from single straight men? Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.
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