Novara Media

Latest Episodes:

Novara FM: Understanding Hezbollah, Israel’s ‘Best Enemy’ w/ Elia Ayoub Oct 17, 2024

Show notes

What does Israel hope to achieve this time, nearly 20 years after its last failed ground offensive in Lebanon? And how should we understand its adversary, a political party that also functions as a fighting force, a historical movement, and a regional power?

Richard Hames is joined by Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese-Palestinian researcher and writer based in the UK, to sketch the political roots and strategic goals of Hezbollah.

He explains the group’s complex links with Iran and Syria, why the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah was a PR win, and how Hezbollah became Israel’s ‘best enemy’.

Elia is the author of the Hauntologies newsletter, the founder of The Fire These Times podcast and a co-founder of the From the Periphery media collective.

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Downstream: Do We Really Need to Tax the Rich? w/ Stephanie Kelton Oct 14, 2024

Show notes

Stephanie Kelton is an author and economist, and subject of the new film ‘Finding The Money’. Her work as a proponent of Modern Monetary Theory and as an advisor to Bernie Sanders has put her front and center of the debate around government debt, taxation and the potential green industrial revolution.

She sat down for a remote conversation with Ash to discuss debt, Liz Truss and whether you really need to tax the rich.

You can watch the trailer for ‘Finding The Money’ here.

And you can learn more about the film and watch it in it’s entirety here.

ACFM Trip 46: Death Oct 13, 2024

Show notes

Of all the unseen forces that shape human society, could death be the most powerful? The ACFM crew take a leftwing look at mortality in this Trip, asking how capitalism has altered our approach to the inevitable.

Jem, Nadia and Keir think about how industrialised workers were taught to prepare for death, why powerful men are obsessed with their legacies, why we failed to ritualise or remember the Covid dead, and their fear of being desensitised to killing.

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

Novara FM: When Does A Crowd Become A Mob? w/ Dan Hancox Oct 10, 2024

Show notes

The English language is full of pejoratives for large groups of people: mob mentality. Herd behaviour. Crowd contagion.

Much of this apprehension stems from one of the most influential works of psychology ever written, Gustave Le Bon’s The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind. Unfortunately, Le Bon’s big idea – that crowds produce derangement and violence in even the most rational subject – was not based on any actual research.

So why the lingering suspicion? In his new book, Multitudes: How Crowds Made the Modern World, journalist and author Dan Hancox traces our fear and attraction to mass gatherings.

He talks to Eleanor Penny about how mass crowds take shape – from Nazi rallies and student protests to urban riots and insurrections – and how the state tries to stamp them out.

Help us build people-powered media: http://novara.media/support

Downstream: Everything You Need to Know About China & Xi Jinping w/ Olivia Cheung Oct 09, 2024

Show notes

Xi Jinping is possibly the most powerful person in the world, but what do we know about his origins, ways of thinking and goals for China and the human race in general?

To answer these questions and more, Aaron is joined by Olivia Cheung, author of “The Political Thought of Xi Jinping”. They discuss his early difficulties with the CCP, his treatment of the Uyghurs and how China is manoeuvring it’s soft power in Africa.

You can buy Olivia’s book here: https://novara.media/BuyCheung

Novara FM: How the British State Is Trying to Crush the Palestine Movement Oct 03, 2024

Show notes

The Palestine solidarity movement is the largest movement in British politics for a century. Yet has been vilified and policed as if it were a tiny group of extremists.

In this investigative episode of Novara FM, series producer Richard Hames is joined by Simon Childs, commissioning editor at Novara Media, to expose the authoritarian turn inside the British state that is driving the crackdown on Palestine solidarity.

From Suella Braverman’s demonisation of “hate marchers” to Michael Gove’s attempts to redefine extremism, from Britain’s collusion with Israeli arms manufacturers to its special treatment for probable war criminals, this is a story about how the supposedly neutral institutions of the state have been used to silence a movement.

Featuring Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Kevin Blowe from police monitoring organisation Netpol, and Tim Crosland from the Defend Our Juries campaign.

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Downstream: India Was the Epicentre of the Ancient World w/ William Dalrymple Oct 01, 2024

Show notes

The Silk Road has dominated the way we imagine the trading relationship between Europe and Asia to have worked in antiquity.

In his new book, The Golden Road, William Dalrymple busts that myth. He sat down with Ash to talk about the origins of algebra, Indian gems in Anglo-Saxon Britain and why Genghis Khan was scared of India.

Novara FM: Our New Cyberboss Overlords w/ Craig Gent Sep 27, 2024

Show notes

How can we resist exploitation when the boss has been replaced by a computer? That’s the premise of Cyberboss, a new book by Craig Gent, North of England editor for Novara Media, which explains how “algorithmic management” is being rolled out in the workplace, starting with Amazon packers, Deliveroo drivers and online supermarket shoppers.

He talks to NM’s head of audio Chal Ravens about the strange forms of resistance that emerge when even your boss has no idea how the system actually works. Cyberboss: The Rise of Algorithmic Management and the New Struggle for Control at Work is available now through Verso Books.

Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support

Downstream: The UK’s Landowning Elite Are Destroying the Countryside w/ Guy Shrubsole Sep 23, 2024

Show notes

Guy Shrubsole is an author and campaigner whose new book The Lie of the Land seeks to expose the history of the British elite’s relationship to the land they own and debunk the myths that they perpetuate. He sat down with Aaron to talk about grouse moors, planning permission and exactly what we should do about The Fens.

Downstream: This Is the Reality for Palestinian Christians w/ Dr. Munther Isaac Sep 16, 2024

Show notes

Dr. Munther Isaac is the pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bethlehem, serving a community of Christians that dates back to the time of Jesus.

He joins Ash to discuss Israel’s continuing annexation of the West Bank, the role of Christian Zionists, and the origins of western hypocrisy.