Novara Media

Latest Episodes:

Downstream: Britain’s Economy Will Only Get Worse Forever w/ Gary Stevenson Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

Gary Stevenson went from being Citibank’s most profitable trader to one of the world’s most incisive critics of the financial system. Gary sat down with Aaron to discuss the lightbulb moment that led him away from trading, why economists can’t predict anything and why the UK middle class is doomed.

Novara FM: Russia After Navalny w/ Tony Wood Mar 01, 2024

Show notes

As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, the question of what Russia is really thinking remains as crucial, and mysterious, as ever. To paint a picture of the current political climate, Richard Hames talks to Tony Wood, author of Russia Without Putin and an assistant professor of history at the University of Colorado Boulder, to follow up on his New Left Review article from 2022, ‘Matrix of War’.

They discuss the death of Alexei Navalny and the prospects for Putin’s opposition, the impact of Nato expansion on Russian nationalism, and the demise of Wagner PMC chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose ill-fated rebellion strikes Wood as “one of the craziest things ever to happen.”

Apologies for the uneven sound quality in this episode.

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Downstream IRL: We Are in a New Cold War w/ Yanis Varoufakis Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

Yanis Varoufakis is an economist and author who served as Greek Finance Minister in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crash. Since then, he has become one of the most sought after public speakers on the left. He joined Aaron Bastani for an IRL edition of Downstream at EartH in Hackney, North-East London to talk about China, Gaza and the new cold war being waged in ‘the cloud’. Set decoration was provided by After Noah.

ACFM Microdose: Aliens On Screen Feb 25, 2024

Show notes

Last time on ACFM, the gang explored the impact of UFOs on politics, from deep-state conspiracies to the Posadists.

But to really understand how aliens influence our thought – and what our belief in E.T. says about ourselves – we have to go to the movies.

In this Microdose, Keir, Jem and Nadia sweep through a century of aliens on screen, from Martian invaders to Mulder & Scully to talking heptapods.

Films, TV & Books: H. G. Wells – The War of the Worlds / The Day the Earth Stood Still / Invasion of the Body Snatchers / Quatermass / The Midwich Cuckoos / The Blob / Solaris / Close Encounters of the Third Kind / Alien / The Thing / E.T. / They Live / The X-Files / Men in Black / The Host / Godzilla / Cloverfield / District 9 / Sector Zero / The Expanse / Arrival / Nope

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Novara FM: The Nasty Noughties w/ Owen Hatherley & Ash Sarkar Feb 22, 2024

Show notes

The 2000s in Britain was a decade of education, regeneration, falling inequality and Dizzee Rascal.

But beneath the fleeting prosperity lurked a culture of cruelty. It was palpable in politicians’ disdain for single mothers, in the media’s vilification of chavs, and in TV producers’ obsession with pointing and laughing at just about everyone – but don’t worry, it’s only a joke.

Juliet Jacques is joined by cultural critic Owen Hatherley and Novara Media’s Ash Sarkar to talk about why the Noughties were so nasty, from TV and music to architecture and politics.

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The US Must Stop Funding Israel | Bernie Sanders meets Ash Sarkar Feb 20, 2024

Show notes

Bernie Sanders needs no introduction. Ash caught up with the senator to talk about his new book ‘It’s OK To Be Angry About Capitalism’, the speed of political change and whether what is happening in Gaza constitutes a genocide.

Downstream: Israel Will Never Be Safe While Occupying Palestine w/ Yousef Alhelou Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

Yousef Alhelou has spent the four or so months since October 7th covering the Israeli assault on Gaza through his Instagram account. In that time, his audience has grown by hundreds of thousands. Aaron sat down with Yousef to talk about international law, the genocide in Gaza and Britain’s complicity in it.

Novara FM: Can International Law Protect Gaza? w/ Rob Knox Feb 15, 2024

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As Israel extends its bombardment of Gaza into Rafah – a supposed safe zone where 1.7 million Palestinians are seeking refuge – the limits of the “laws” of war seem horribly apparent.

Following South Africa’s case against Israel at the ICJ last month, legal scholar Rob Knox joins Eleanor Penny to offer an urgent account of the logic and limitations of international law.

What makes war legal – or illegal? Why do powerful states bother with international law? How does the language of humanitarianism end up producing violence? And can international courts do anything to protect the people of Gaza?

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Novara FM: How To Be Honest About Empire w/ Sathnam Sanghera Feb 08, 2024

Show notes

Certain historians and politicians like to claim that the British Empire was “on balance” a good thing. Slavery was evil, they admit, but abolition was good. Racism was wrong, but free markets are desirable.

In his new book Empireworld, journalist and historian Sathnam Sanghera rejects this “balance sheet” reading of history in order to wrestle with the contradictory legacies of imperialism. But does the obvious complexity of this history really make it impossible to make any moral claims about the empire overall?

Eleanor Penny finds out, asking Sathnam about our different interpretations of historical legacies, how Britain exported racism around the world, and the ecological impacts of empire, from national parks to quinine production.

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Downstream: Why No One Should Have More Than £10 Million w/ Ingrid Robeyns Feb 05, 2024

Show notes

Should there be a cap on how much wealth one person can have? If we’re serious about tackling poverty, the answer can only be yes, says Ingrid Robeyns, author of Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth.

Robeyns tells Ash Sarkar what a wealth cap could do for the world, how the global north is living off stolen money, and why she’s reluctant to call herself a communist.

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