Novara Media

Novara FM: Palestine as Showroom

Israel needs friends. And one of the main tools it has used to get them is its arms industry. The 10th biggest in the world, it increasingly specialises in the kind of digital surveillance technology European governments love to pretend they never us…

Downstream: God-Like AI Is Closer Than You Think w/ Ian Hogarth

Ian Hogarth has invested in more than 50 artificial intelligence companies and is co-author of the annual State of AI report. And he’s worried. Not only about the disruptive consequences of machine learning for human employment,

ACFM Microdose: Sitcoms At Work

After last week’s look at the politics of comedy, this time the gang turn to the gogglebox for a Microdose about sitcoms. Specifically, we’re watching comedy shows set in the workplace – from shoddy B&Bs to big-box superstores,

Novara FM: Tout Le Monde Déteste La Police

The French left is in its most explosive state for a generation. In response to the pension reforms pushed through by Emmanuel Macron’s government, the Yellow Vests, unions, students and environmentalists alike are linking up their struggles.

ACFM Trip 33: Comedy

What’s the point of comedy? Stand-ups were at the forefront of the cultural backlash against Thatcherism, but today’s meme-driven lols are rarely in the service of left-wing politics. Meanwhile, the world’s most powerful people seem intent on having …

Downstream: The Country Where Communism Almost Worked w/ Katja Hoyer

In 1990, the Berlin Wall came down and the experiment of communist East Germany came to an end. Yet for a while it was a successful project, raising living standards against massive odds and providing stability for the first time in half a century.

Novara FM: Much More Freedom Is Necessary W/ Sophie K. Rosa

Despite the gains won by a century of feminism, the conveyor belt of normie life still pushes us towards the nuclear family and the picket fence. We can sense that our freedom is still limited by our material conditions – the prohibitive cost of hous…

Downstream: How the Media Lies About Palestine w/ Mohammed el-Kurd

Palestinians don’t often get to tell their own stories, and on the rare occasion they do it’s on highly limited terms. Ash Sarkar speaks to writer and poet Mohammed el-Kurd, Palestine correspondent for The Nation,

Novara FM: Atomic Split w/ Matthew T. Huber and Andrea Vetter

Since the 1950s, nuclear power has been met with a resounding “nein danke!” from many left-wing campaigners, even as it has become a fixture of the energy mix, powering 15% of the UK grid today – down from 25% in the 1990s.

Downstream: Is the World Really Run by a ‘Leftist Elite?’ w/ Matthew Goodwin

Everyone rails against the elite, but who are they? The left would say it’s the billionaires, the media barons, the oil tycoons, and the 1% – those who control our economy, our housing, and basic necessities. However,