Shows / Novara Media
Episodes
Novara MediaDownstream: Why Don’t We Have Any Hope? w/ Jonathan White
When we talk about politics – whether it’s the climate, the economy or constitutional reform – the thing that’s at stake is an idea of ‘the future’. These…
Novara MediaNovara FM: The Absurdity of Rearmament w/ Khem Rogaly
The US is no longer supporting Ukraine. And, in response, the UK and Europe are rearming. The Germans are taking off their hallowed debt brake to allow it. The…
Novara Media55: Joy is an act of resistance... right?
55: Joy is an act of resistance... right? by Novara Media
Novara MediaACFM Microdose: Making Art in a World on Fire w/ Amber Massie-Blomfield
What's the point of the arts when the world is on fire? To follow the pipeline from creativity to activism and back again, Nadia Idle is joined by Amber…
Novara MediaNovara FM: Did Pandemics Make the Modern World? w/ Edna Bonhomme
Lockdown was one of the defining experiences of our lives, but it was far from unique in history. From the plantation to the infirmary and from the leper…
- Novara Media
54: Forget the boycott, gimme that brand deal
Why did Stormzy delete his pro-Palestine posts just before unveiling a Happy Meal tie-in with McDonald's? Ash asks Moya if big artists are all just businesses…
Novara MediaDownstream: Everything We’re Told About the History of the West Is Wrong w/ Josephine Quinn
In 1996 Samuel Huntington published ‘The Clash of Civilizations’. At the time its hypothesis was counter-intuitive. Despite the supremacy of the United States…
Novara MediaNovara FM: The Decades Long Plan that Made Trump Possible w/ David Adler
Read any of the mainstream press at the moment and you'll hear the same thing: major things are happening in America. But what if this sudden shift was an…
- Novara Media
53: Getting 'the ick'
When did we all start 'getting the ick'? And why does it mainly seem to be women who get it? Ash and Moya unpack the gender politics behind the 'ick-course'…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Europe's Political Elite Are Completely Finished w/ Philip Pilkington
For almost six centuries Europe has been at the centre of world affairs. While the days of Empire are long gone, over the last several decades the importance…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: The Green Party vs Something New w/ James Schneider and Zack Polanski
This part two of our discussion about a new left party. You can listen to part 1 here: https://novaramedia.com/2025/01/30/time-for-a-new-left-party/ James…
- Novara Media
52: Happy birthday IIS! Now ask us anything...
One whole year of If I Speak! Moya and Ash celebrate with an #AMA, tackling your questions on career growth, love songs, role models, Irish politics and…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: Two Years to See a Specialist, Two Weeks to Die: Against Assisted Death w/ Ellen Clifford
Your death should be your own, as much as possible. That’s one of the principles behind the Assisted Dying Bill. It lets adults with less than 6 months to live…
Novara Media51: Am I feminine enough for you?
Ash and Moya respond to a mystery question about femininity with a chat about desire, agency and sexual politics. Plus: advice for a listener tangled up in…
Novara MediaDownstream: Why Are So Many People Lonely? with Shon Faye
Love is supposed to be the most universal human experience after death and taxes. So why do so many people feel like they’re failing in it? Ash Sarkar is…
- Novara Media
50: The return of the slur
After hearing the R-word on a comedy podcast, Moya offers an intrusive thought about the limits of language policing. Plus: what to do about a horrible…
- Novara Media
ACFM Microdose: Making Sense of Sovereign Debt w/ Heidi Chow
Following last week's ACFM on the meaning and morality of personal debt, Keir and Nadia return to investigate the macroeconomics of debt. Joining them to make…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: Time for a New Left Party? w/ Oliver Eagleton, Rachel Godfrey Wood and Joe Todd
It’s been five long years since the decisive defeat of Corbynism at the ballot box. How, if at all, should the left reconstitute itself? Should everyone join…
- Novara Media
49: We need more wrinkles on screen!
Ash and Moya discuss women’s changing faces on screen and the intensifying obsession with ageing. Plus: tough love for a Special One who’s getting in their own…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Everything They Tell You About the Economy Is Wrong w/ Gary Stevenson
Fourteen years ago Gary Stevenson was one of Citibank’s best performing traders. The bet that brought him success was one few foresaw: that despite record low…
Novara MediaACFM Trip 49: Debt
The concept of debt is as slippery as it is powerful. In this Trip episode, Keir, Nadia and Jem explain why debt is more like a belief than a calculation, and…
Novara MediaNovara FM: What Will 'Technoking' Elon Musk Do in the White House? w/ Quinn Slobodian
Elon Musk is the most symptomatic capitalist of our era: obsessed with publicity, by many accounts a fanatical workaholic, and increasingly in bed with the far…
Novara Media25: I hate the way that you walk, I hate the way that you talk
Prompted by Kendrick’s anthemic Drake diss, Ash claims it's the summer of the hater. But what does it mean to hate so hard? Plus: a listener who feels rejected…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Who's Behind the Institute of Economic Affairs? w/ Kristian Niemietz
The Institute of Economic Affairs is one of the most powerful and secretive think tanks in the UK, known for promoting free-market Thatcherism as a solution to…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Why Woke Capitalism Has Collapsed w/ Brett Christophers
Donald Trump is the next president. Meta, Walmart and McDonald’s have forsaken their diversity policies. Elon Musk has demanded that Keir Starmer be removed as…
- Novara Media
48: Is it time to cut off my lying dad?
Ash and Moya tackle a mailbag full of dilemmas, including a committed couple disagreeing over money, a daughter considering cutting off her dad, and a student…
Novara Media47: Is the era of public shaming over? w/ Yomi Adegoke at London Podcast Festival
Recorded live at London Podcast Festival last September, Ash and Moya are joined by Yomi Adegoke – author of The List and Slay In Your Lane – to talk about…
- Novara Media
46: Porn is everywhere. How damaging is it really?
What happens when sex becomes an online stunt? Ash and Moya discuss OnlyFans creator Lily Phillips, who challenged herself to have sex with 100 men in one day…
Novara MediaACFM Microdose: The Communist Manifesto
The AFCM gang gather for a midwinter reading of The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Download a version online and…
Novara MediaNovara FM: Why The Left Needs To Care About Crypto w/ Sam Hart
Having long promised to decentralise power, Bitcoin is looking more and more like it will end up as a tool of American power under Trump. But blockchains could…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: Love Actually w/ Nathalie Olah
Following Novara FM's investigation into Die Hard, Eleanor Penny tackles another festive Alan Rickman vehicle with Nathalie Olah, author of Bad Taste and Steal…
- Novara Media
Downstream: End of Year 2024: Gaza, Starmer and the Death of 'Woke'
On the 10th of December, Ash Sarkar, Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani discussed an epoch-defining year and its implications for the future. Is Keir Starmer…
- Novara Media
44. How to deal with people who can’t deal with you
Moya and Ash swerve the fuzzy festive feelings in order to get some things off their chest. Plus, advice for a listener who feels trapped in their happy…
- Novara Media
45: Surviving end-of-year burnout
What has 2024 taught us? Ash and Moya reflect on a year of discomfort and grief, from personal challenges to political setbacks. Plus: what classic dance track…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: Die Hard w/ James Butler
Die Hard is a perennial of festive TV, but is it really a Christmas movie? James Butler and Eleanor Penny explore what the 1988 action comedy reveals about…
- Novara Media
43: How far would you go to be yourself? w/ Amrou Al-Kadhi
Moya and Ash talk to writer and director Amrou Al-Kadhi about his brilliant debut film, Layla, which follows a young drag queen in chaotic pursuit of…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Germany, Russia and the Death of Europe w/ Wolfgang Munchau
Almost 140 or so years ago, Germany invented the car. In the subsequent century, it was central to two world wars; its manufacturing was the envy of much of…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: We Need a New Wikileaks w/ Stefania Maurizi
Novara FM: We Need a New Wikileaks w/ Stefania Maurizi by Novara Media
- Novara Media
42: Why won't they just break up?
Moya has a theory for Ash about unhappy couples who will do anything except break up. Why are we sometimes so hesitant to pull the plug? Plus, advice for a…
- Novara Media
Downstream: A Year Embedded With The Taliban w/ Ibrahim Nash'at
When the Taliban retook all of Afghanistan in 2021, it came as a shock to much of the west. The day after the last American soldier left, journalist and…
Novara MediaACFM Trip 48: Political Commitment
Which side are you on? Keir, Nadia and Jem consider the ebb and flow of political commitment with ideas and music from Jodi Dean, Gramsci, John Coltrane and…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: The New Scramble for Africa in the Vacuum of Empire w/ James Pogue
In 1891, the French drew the borders of what became Mali. Like many colonial borders, they were arbitrary, absurd to the many nomads who supposedly lived…
- Novara Media
41: When do good habits become dark obsessions?
Moya and Ash tackle a mystery question about breaking bad habits, with a frank discussion about open relationships, exercise and disordered eating (content…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Humans Could Become Immortal This Century w/ Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston
Humanity has long pursued an elixir of youth, and dreamed of eternal life. For the Abrahamic faiths physical immortality was lost in the Garden of Eden, with…
Novara MediaNovara FM: Protect or Punish? The Stakes of Sex Worker Activism w/ Laura Watson
Imagine a person arrested for keeping a brothel. Who are they? An abusive pimp? Such people exist, no doubt, but the law isn't set up just to catch abusers: it…
Novara Media40: Do aesthetic trends offer clues to political shifts?
Moya has a big theory for Ash about aesthetic trends as a harbinger of the US election results, which prompts a very adult discussion (read: argument) about…
Novara MediaNovara FM: The New Space Race Is An Arms Race w/ Daniel Deudney
In October 2024, SpaceX caught a rocket. An astonishing feat of engineering, it took humanity one giant leap closer to the era of everyday space travel – and…
- Novara Media
39: I'm in big trouble! Your dilemmas answered
Ash and Moya tackle another bumper crop of your dilemmas, including a special one who wants to stop mothering her friends, a burned-out student struggling to…
- Novara Media
ACFM Trip 47: Disruption
Disruption is a byword for success in the tech industry, but when it affects our daily routines – say, because Just Stop Oil are slow-marching down the high…
Novara MediaNovara FM: How MAGA Went Mainstream w/ Joshua Citarella
In 2016, the alt-right seemed to come from the internet and infest politics. In 2024, the internet and politics have become identical. Are we swimming in the…
- Novara Media
Downstream: What the Roman Empire Tells Us About the Collapse of the West W/ Peter Heather and John Rapley
Downstream: What the Roman Empire Tells Us About the Collapse of the West W/ Peter Heather and John Rapley by Novara Media
- Novara Media
38: Why is Andrew Tate’s manosphere so seductive? w/ Matt Shea and Jamie Tahsin
Moya and Ash are joined by the authors of Clown World, a new book exposing influencer Andrew Tate’s grip on his followers around the world, to talk about why…
Novara MediaNovara FM: What's Next for AI Now It's Ingested the Entire Internet? w/ Marek Poliks
The rise of artificial intelligence will bring about an irreversible, planetary-scale shift in human life and politics. But for all the grand pronouncements…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Could Israel Become A Failed State? w/ Ilan Pappé
War is spreading throughout West Asia, a situation understood by many observers as an outgrowth of Israeli expansionism. In a return visit to Downstream…
- Novara Media
37: Do you believe in ghosts?
The veil is thin at this time of year, so Moya and Ash tackle a mystery question about the spirit realm. Plus, neighbourhood cat panics and advice for a…
Novara MediaNovara FM: How Do We Liberate People From Bad Ideas? w/ adrienne maree brown
The left needs more people. Our progressive movements have to grow if we want to win, but the recent tendency towards cancel culture has not broadened our…
- Novara Media
36: Should Being a Girlboss Earn Me a Break From Cleaning?
Ash and Moya wonder why women still shoulder the burden of housework, even when they're #leaningin to their careers. Plus, a listener who doesn't know how to…
- Novara Media
Novara FM: The Age of Disaster Nationalism w/ Richard Seymour
Around the world, far-right movements are mobilising support by placing the blame for real catastrophes – Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, their own riots and…
- Novara Media
Downstream: Insects Are Disappearing and We Should Be Very Worried w/ Dave Goulson
From pollinating crops to managing organic waste on a continental scale, insects are vital to life on Earth. They are also disappearing. Dave Goulson is an…
Novara Media35: Help! My scatty friends can't meet my standards
Are you a Black Cat? Or a #cleangirl? Do you have Main Character Energy? Moya has a big theory about the urge to give ourselves new labels. Plus, a listener…