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 within them. Now climate change is ravaging the Sahel region,

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 only the soul remaining of permanence. More recently,

Novara 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 also targets sex workers working together to stay safe. With Labour in power,

Downstream: Trains Are Better Than Cars. Here’s Why w/ Gareth Dennis

While the first modern trains were built in the early 19th century – more people travel by rail today than ever before. Not only have passenger numbers risen in the UK but the likes of China, Iran and Uzbekistan now have high-speed networks.

Novara 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 possibly one small step closer to its own obliteration.

Downstream IRL: There’s No Such Thing As Green Capitalism w/ Andreas Malm

Global heating is a serious problem, but the question of just how urgently to fight it is a fraught one. Should 2C or 1.5C of warming be our limit? Or can we blow past these limits now, and come back down to them later,

ACFM Trip 47: Disruption

Disruption is a byword for success in the tech industry, but when it affects people’s daily routines – say, when JSO activists are slow-marching down a road – it becomes nothing short of criminal. On this Trip, Jem,

Novara 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 world the alt-right built for us? Perhaps no one knows the world of online politics better t…

Downstream: What the Roman Empire Tells Us About the Collapse of the West W/ Peter Heather and John Rapley

Everyone knows that the Roman Empire rose, then fell. Historians don’t all agree on the reasons for the collapse, but their misunderstandings can shed plenty of light on the current state of the world, according to the authors of How Empires Fall: Ro…

Novara FM: What’s Next for AI Now It’s Ingested the Entire Internet? w/ Marek Poliks

The rise of artificial intelligence will bring about a planetary-scale shift in human life and politics – and, it seems, a lot of weird social media spam. But for all the grand pronouncements from techno-utopians and pessimists alike,