Downstream – Novara Media Podcasts

Should we all be vegan or vegetarian? Does climate change require a new relationship to nature and non-human animals? And will Covid-19 be the moment when we realise industrial farming carries devastating, unacceptable risks? Aaron Bastani speaks to the author of ‘Animal Liberation’ and professor of bioethics at Princeton University, Peter Singer.

Does the right actually care about free speech? Why do many think Britain has a unique history of defending freedom of expression when evidence suggests otherwise? And why should free speech matter to the left? Aaron Bastani speaks to the editor of Tribune magazine, Ronan Burtenshaw.

Can the BBC be trusted to fight for its own survival? Television has become ground zero in the reactionary backlash against liberal norms and, for some reason, current affairs comedy has found itself in the crosshairs. This week on Downstream, Ash Sarkar meets Nish Kumar – comedian and host of The Mash Report – to talk about how he became the accidental face of the Defund the BBC movem...

What can the Apollo missions teach us about dealing with the major crises of the 21st century? And why are politicians so eager to dwell on caricatures of the public rather than engage in problem-solving – from climate change to housing and education? Aaron Bastani speaks to author and academic Mariana Mazzucato to find out.

A year after the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a pandemic, with Britain enduring more than 100,000 deaths since, major questions remain unanswered. Why was the response of the UK among the worst in the world? How is it possible that the death toll of countries in Europe and North America is so much higher than poorer countries such as Thailand and Vietnam? And when will things go ‘ba...

The last few years have heralded the rise of the influencer: social media users who have, in essence, found a way to get paid for being themselves on the internet. But has this commodification of the self poisoned the public sphere? Or are we witnessing the end of gatekeeping – and the beginnings of a new, more democratic kind of celebrity? Moya Lothian-McLean, politics editor at gal-dem mag...

RuPaul has turned drag into a multi-million dollar industry and a global TV franchise, but has that meant that the art of drag has lost its claim to being punk? Ash Sarkar is joined by Divina De Campo, first runner up from RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 1, to talk about drag, gender identity, and the brass bands of Brighouse.

Was the Corbyn leadership a complete failure for the left – and what can be learned for next time? What are the chances of a socialist Labour government implementing the kinds of policies seen in the 2017 and 2019 manifestos? And can the left trust Keir Starmer as party leader after a disappointing first year? Aaron Bastani talks to Richard Burgon, Labour MP for Leeds East and Secretary of the par...

On Monday a British judge ruled that Julian Assange should not be extradited to the United States on charges of espionage and computer hacking. Yet despite that verdict the judgment arguably represented a blow to freedom of the press – with the judge accepting the substance of the case made by the US state department. On this episode of Downstream, Aaron Bastani is joined by Yanis Varoufakis, form...

Nearly 12 months ago some said that we were on the verge of entering a new Roaring ’20s. How prescient they turned out to be. One pandemic and a global economic freefall later, all the assumptions we started out with in January have turned to dust. In their place are pressing questions. Did Boris Johnson’s landslide breathe a new lease of life into the Conservative Party? Has coronavir...

After Singapore became the first country in the world to legislate for cultured meat, it’s time to ask whether cellular agriculture, and meat without animals, is the future of food. Is it really possible that lab grown beef, chicken and fish could replace the ‘real’ thing? And could cellular agriculture be a major weapon in the fight against climate change? On this week’s Downstream, Aaron Bastani...