

Novara Media
Novara Media
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.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 31, 2023 • 2h 3min
Downstream: Social Mobility Is A Lie w/ Dan Evans
Has the left misunderstood the state of our nation? Sociologist and trade unionist Dan Evans thinks so. He talks to Aaron about the unexpected power of the petty bourgeoisie – the insecure class between the working class and the bourgeoisie – and how its Thatcherite values of home ownership and entrepreneurialism have reshaped British politics in the last […]

Jul 28, 2023 • 50min
Novara FM: The Empty Promise of Ethical Meat w/ Amber Husain
The global meat industry has grown fivefold since the 1960s and is still growing. Yet sales of vegan and so-called ‘plant-based’ alternatives are soaring, as more of us question our relationship with meat and our attitudes towards animal life and the planet’s health. In her provocative new book Meat Love, writer Amber Husain plucks examples […]

Jul 24, 2023 • 57min
Downstream: Going Undercover With Extremists w/ Julia Ebner
Since 2016 we’ve seen mainstream politics take a turn for the weird, epitomised by the surprise success of populist projects like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. Since then, fringe views have continued to muscle into the middle ground, with conspiracy theories and far-right talking points trickling into political discourse. Julia Ebner has been […]

Jul 20, 2023 • 1h 32min
Novara FM: We Were Promised Robot Butlers w/ Helen Hester & Nick Srnicek
Helen Hester and Nick Srnicek discuss the challenges of automating care work, the changing dynamics of domestic work between genders, the privatization of social reproduction in the neoliberal era, the history of collective laundries, the concept of a post-work society, the redistribution of necessary labor, and the steps towards a post-work world.

Jul 17, 2023 • 1h 3min
Downstream: What Have We Got Wrong About Antiracism? w/ Arun Kundnani
After the summer of 2020, the liberal consensus was that in order to tackle racism, white people would have to look inside themselves and ‘do the work’. In 2023, this idea has spread from well-meaning allies on Twitter to the HR departments of corporate behemoths – all while the institutions that consolidate and expand systemic […]

Jul 13, 2023 • 1h 7min
Novara FM: Revenge of the Commoners w/ Jon Moses
Several years ago, Jon Moses realised that the stunning nature he could see from his house in rural Herefordshire was inaccessible to him. From the nearby riverbanks to the local oak woodlands, the countryside revealed itself to be a private fortress. Now, as an organiser of the Right To Roam campaign, he’s leading the call […]

Jul 11, 2023 • 1h 3min
Downstream: Is It Time for a Universal Basic Income? w/ Will Stronge
Most people’s lives are defined by the exchange of labour for a wage. But what if the state gave us all a regular wage, with zero strings attached, to spend as we wish? That’s the core idea behind universal basic income, or UBI. With England’s first UBI pilot programme now underway, Aaron talks to Will […]

6 snips
Jul 3, 2023 • 1h 28min
Downstream: Leaving London’s Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community w/ Izzy Posen
Izzy Posen grew up in London’s Hasidic Jewish community in Stamford Hill, receiving the bare minimum of secular education in a school that still practiced corporal punishment. Even with the strictures of this insular community, he developed an acute curiosity about the world, resulting in him teaching himself English and eventually leaving the community to […]

Jun 26, 2023 • 1h 28min
Downstream: Can The Green Party Transform British Politics? w/ Zack Polanski
The Green Party of England and Wales has made extraordinary gains in the last two decades, especially in the last round of local elections. As well as its one MP – Caroline Lucas – the Greens are also the biggest party on several councils and have a majority on Mid Suffolk District Council. Aaron is […]

Jun 25, 2023 • 1h 23min
ACFM Trip 34: The Outdoors
As the longest day arrives in the northern hemisphere, Jeremy, Nadia and Keir ponder our obsession with the great outdoors. How did parks become political? Why do we seek out the strenuous discomforts of hiking, camping and cold water? And what does Jem have against music festivals? They look back on a century of changing […]