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Greens Leader Zack Polanski attempts to apply pressure on the PM to move the climate crisis up his agenda. Plus: The Israel Lobby finally loses a race in the US senate & we speak to an expert about the latest AI powered security breaches. With Michael Walker, Aaron Bastani, James Meadway & Dr Adel Bibi.

Andy Burnham has tightened the rules on early prison releases, preventing serious sex offenders from being freed under the scheme. Plus: A Cambridge plagiarism scandal enters the political mainstream, and former cabinet minister Harriet Harman says men should be barred from the next Labour leadership race. With Aaron Bastani & Michael Walker.
Trapped in the attention economy, Moya wonders if our reading habits are affecting our sense of self, and Ash offers a feminist analysis of ‘main character’ versus ‘NPC’. Plus: what to do when your politics drift away from your friends’. Get tickets for Ash at the Southbank Centre on 26 September. Get tickets for Heated: Carnival Afters at Vespers on 30 August. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

The Ceuta migrant crisis effects continue to ripple throughout politics at home and abroad. Plus: Detained Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been pictured meeting with the Red Cross, her first sighting in over two years. Is the Burmese military leadership finally softening its stance on the controversial figure? With Michael Walker & Barry Malone.
In the years since October 7th, the world has been bitterly polarised over how to make sense of the violence. While polling shows that a majority of people do believe Israel’s actions amount to genocide – having witnessed it with their own eyes via their smartphones – it has been woefully hard to find mainstream media outlets in the West prepared to use this language. On Downstream this week, Aaron Bastani sat down with Indian essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra. His most recent book, ‘The World After Gaza’ takes stock of a world order shattered by the genocide, and a media class unprepared to recognise the truth. In response to these crises, Mishra and colleagues have just launched Equator magazine, pulling together leading writers from across the globe who are unafraid to tell the truth. When did the so-called West first begin to lose standing in the eyes of the rest of the world? Why is the British media class positioned so uniquely close to power, so delusional, and so compromised over Gaza? Will China replace America, in the coming century, as the new hegemonic power? Has it already?

Joshua Citarella built his reputation by mapping synthetic e-deologies of terminally online politics, expressed in memes, micro-disputes and merch drops. Now the artist, Doomscroll host and Do Not Research founder has come to a blunter conclusion: it’s time to lock in. Behind the seeming diversity of online politics, one ideology has already won: the technolibertarianism of the platforms and supply chains that actually make it all run. So maybe it’s time to get serious, tune out the noise, and get back to basics: workers versus capital. This episode is the finale of Do Your Own Research Series 1. We’ll be back soon. Get the map: novaramedia.com/dyor Music by Iglooghost.

Burnham and Louise Haigh have unveiled their plans for funding devolution, do they stack up? Plus: A number of Burnham’s new ministers are under scrutiny for historic statements on Israel’s genocide, Spain’s army tries to stop African migrants entering its African enclave, and Diane Abbott has been re-admitted into the Labour Party. With Steven Methven & Paul Holden.

We look at Andy Burnham’s proposals for fixing a care system that is universally regarded as unfit for purpose. Plus: We ask The Greens’ Manchester Mayoral candidate about the latest controversy surrounding her party, FIFA President Infantino can’t stop/won’t stop making headlines and is the Anthropic CEO going to be the first person to rise up against our new digital overlords, even as he builds them? With Michael Walker & Aaron Bastani.

Andy Burnham has said he is “on a mission” to reduce the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEETs), but has stopped short of pledging a concrete target. Plus: The number of millionaires in Britain is falling, Reform UK appears to be having a complete meltdown, With Aaron Bastani & Michael Walker.
Ash dreams up a whole new category – Disasterclass – in order to talk about inevitable pain of rejection. Whether it’s jobs, romance, friends or success, how much damage can rejection ultimately cause? Plus: early reviews of the Andy Burnham era. Get tickets for Ash at the Southbank Centre on 26 September. Get tickets for Symeon Brown in conversation at the Bernie Grant Arts Centre in North London on 5 August. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.