Novara Media

4.8 (162)
Politics
Updated Semiweekly

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.

6d ago

Downstream: Former Scottish Leader: How My Family Escaped Gaza & Why I Can’t Forgive Starmer w/ Humza Yousaf

This week marked three years since the Hamas attack of October 7th, and the beginning of the Israeli state’s genocidal onslaught against the Palestinian people. In that time, Western leaders from Joe Biden and Donald Trump to Keir Starmer and now Andy Burnham have refused to call the genocide what it is, despite the consensus of genocide scholars. One outlier among Western leaders during this period has been Humza Yousaf. The former first minister of Scotland, and first Muslim leader of a Western nation, has written a book about his time in government, ‘Under Fire: My Family’s Escape from Gaza and the Cost of Leadership’. On Downstream this week, Aaron Bastani sat down with him to hear first-hand what it was like governing Scotland, while his family were trapped in Gaza. How did he and his family manage the first few days and weeks of the genocide, while balancing his responsibilities as Scotland’s leader? What kind of pressures did he face internally, and externally, to support Israel? How did he make decisions in government, and how did he take the decision to stand down? What does good leadership require? And what does he think about the fate of the union, and the direction of travel in Britain today?
6d ago

Do Your Own Research: The Chinese Company That Terrifies the West w/ Eva Dou

Huawei makes the pipes and cables that power the Chinese internet. Its global reach has made China into a superpower. Huawei is often accused of spying for China. But how was the US so sure that Huawei’s technology could be used for spying? Because the US had already hacked Huawei’s technology and were using it to spy themselves. That’s not even the strangest episode in the company’s history. Its installations in Iraq were bombed by the UK and US before 9/11. In 2018, its infrastructure allegedly pinged back the secrets of the Africa Union to China overnight. And it now stands accused of doing business in Iran. Eva Dou is the author of the deeply researched House of Huawei: The Secret History of China’s Most Powerful Company. She spoke to Richard Hames about the geopolitics of telecommunications, how Huawei made China into a global superpower, and whether or not Huawei is, in fact, a wing of the Chinese state. And we’ll be making our map of everything that has ever mattered and ever will: this new edition focused on China, available here: novaramedia.com/dyor 0:00 Intro 3:57 Huawei’s Current Legal Battle 14:14 Huawei & Espionage 24:34 Huawei in Africa and Iraq 33:07 The Great Firewall and Tech Rivalry 46:40 The Mysterious CEO: Ren Zhengfei and Shenzhen 55:04 Who Owns Huawei? 1:03:09 How Tiananmen Square Changed Chinese Tech 1:11:19 AI and Microchips 1:19:46 Sanctions, the UK and Huawei’s future Support our work: https://novaramedia.com/support
Oct 5

Downstream: Trauma Farming and the Politics of Public Suffering w/ Catherine Liu

Are we in the era of trauma Top Trumps? ‘Lived Experience’ has become a byword for standpoint authority and progressive politics. It has allowed people from marginalised groups to speak and be heard, and forced us to confront how power plays out in interpersonal dynamics. But it has also become a way for people to brand themselves online, and excuse antisocial or even downright nasty behaviours. Has ‘lived experience’ helped the left, or turned us into self-obsessed therapy-speakers, incapable of communicating with the majority of people? At the latest Downstream IRL, Ash Sarkar sat down with Catherine Liu – cultural theorist, professor and author of Virtue Hoarders – to discuss her new book, Traumatized: The New Politics of Public Suffering. Liu argues that as class politics has declined, the language of psychology has stepped in to explain problems rooted in capitalism. But what happens when trauma becomes content and politics gives way to what Liu calls the ‘gentrification of pain’? Is ‘lived experience’ a prerequisite for legitimate political analysis? Why do movements so often end up policing each other rather than confronting power? And if politics becomes about who’s hurting most, who benefits?
Oct 3

Do Your Own Research: Secrets of the Chinese Internet w/ Tianyu Fang

Welcome to Series 2 of Do Your Own Research. Until the end of the year, I will be focusing on the most important and interesting country in the world: China. We’re starting with Tianyu Fang, an editor of Chaoyang Trap, a newsletter all about the Chinese internet. We’re starting with the internet because that’s so much of what we see of China: fragments of life online. What’s the reality behind them, and how do we square these beguiling, details with the vast story of China’s rise? What is happening online in China is often reduced to a few memes or movements. We see the dazzling skyline and we stop thinking, and start gawping: that’s what I call the gawp-zone. How do we get out of it? In this conversation, we go deep into the circuits and technology of the Chinese internet, from its earliest utopian moments to the hemisphere-spanning computing stack we see today. And we’ll be making our map of everything that has ever mattered and ever will: this new edition focused on China, available here: novaramedia.com/dyor
Sep 28

Downstream: Porn Addiction Defines Our Political Age. Here’s How w/ Ash Sarkar

The effect of pornography on the people who consume it is often moralised about, generally due to its influence over the nascent sexuality of young men. But the business model, technological innovations and broader, parasexual, cultural effects go crucially underexamined. This week’s guest, investigative reporter for the Financial Times, Patricia Nilsson, has written a new book unearthing exactly the ways in which these underexamined forces emerged and how they continue to exert influence on society. She spoke to Ash about pioneering camgirl entrepreneurs, the sado-masochistic-inflected rise of Andrew Tate, and how algorithms have entered the bedroom. Support our work: https://novara.media/support
Sep 27

ACFM Microdose: Reading The Society of the Spectacle

Following their recent Trip episode on Situationism, the gang offer a close reading of The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord, first published in France in 1967. Nadia, Jem and Keir explore the layered references and subversions throughout Debord’s extremely quotable aphorisms, focusing on the first three chapters of the book. Find a PDF of the book at Libcom.org Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Sep 21

Downstream: AI Will Destroy Liberal Democracy w/ Daron Acemoglu

When and why did liberal democracy stop working for the many? On Downstream this week is Daron Acemoglu, joint recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, whose 2012 book Why Nations Fail has sold over a million copies. He talks to Aaron Bastani about his data-packed new book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy?, which seeks to diagnose and remedy democracy before it’s too late. They talk about the transition to a post-industrial economy, the loss of community, how progressive politics became overrun by middle-class interests, and how AI further threatens our capacity to self-govern and lead flourishing lives. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Sep 14

Downstream: The Next Big Shock Is Coming. Green Energy Is the Only Way Out w/ Tessa Khan

This summer’s extreme heat, wildfires and thousands of excess deaths have shown that the climate is destabilising faster than predicted. In the face of this undeniable crisis, what should be done? Tessa Khan is the founder of Uplift, an organisation working to decarbonise our energy system before it’s too late. The former human rights lawyer realised a decade ago that none of the other social questions matter if we don’t address the climate crisis. Tessa talks to Aaron Bastani about the calls to keep drilling in the North Sea, whether renewables are susceptible to economic shocks, and how an ageing population impacts climate politics. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support

See All (300)

Aaron Bastani

Host
Ash Sarkar

Host
Carl Cattermole

Host
James Butler

Host
Michael Walker

Host
Oonagh Ryder

Host
Eva Dou

Guest
Catherine Liu

Guest
Tianyu Fang

Guest
Patricia Nilsson

Guest

4.8

out of 5

162 Ratings

Big fan from the states

Aug 18

podcastfan1984

A great leftwing media organization in the making. Fantastic interviews across their shows
Listen up!

Jun 25

Lord Dizzle

Participating in Novara Media functions will take you from the mouth breathing dummy you are, to a productive member of society. It’s punk rock to be smart now kids!!!!!
Obama administration?

06/16/2025

witch paper

I like the podcast generally, but noticed in the description of the latest episode that it says “in 2008 the Obama administration…” Obama was elected in Nov 2008, surely, and not inaugurated until 2009. Bush was still president in 2008. Unless I’m losing my mind. (I haven’t listened to the episode yet). The podcast is generally good & interesting.
Outstanding

02/23/2025

kfixbwhdisa

Thoughtful and morally grounded - an invaluable combination now more than ever.

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.