Novara Media

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 insurrections – on entirely made-up enemies, among them Muslims, immigrants and feminists. This is what Richard Seymour, a writer, theorist and founding editor of Salvage magazine, calls 'disaster nationalism'. He joins Richard Hames to discuss...

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 entomologist and ecologist whose books communicate the majesty of insects and arthropods – along with a grave warning about their demise. He talks to Aaron to Bastani talk about the critical lack of scientific expertise in government, the allur...

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 hates that her friends and family can't meet her high standards. Email your missed connections and dilemmas to ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

What does Israel hope to achieve this time, nearly 20 years after its last failed ground offensive in Lebanon? And how should we understand its adversary, a political party that also functions as a fighting force, a historical movement, and a regional power? Richard Hames is joined by Elia Ayoub, a Lebanese-Palestinian researcher and writer based in the UK, to sketch the political roots and strate...

Ash and Moya channel their inner Clint Eastwoods to lament the rise of trick or treating and consider how to interact with other people’s children. Plus, a listener dealing with confusing feelings after a difficult abortion. Email your missed connections and dilemmas to ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

Of all the unseen forces that shape human society, could death be the most powerful? The ACFM crew take a leftwing look at mortality in this Trip, asking how capitalism has altered our approach to the inevitable. Jem, Nadia and Keir discuss how industrialised workers were taught to prepare for death, why powerful men are obsessed with their legacies, why we failed to ritualise or remember the Covi...

The English language is full of pejoratives for large groups of people: mob mentality. Herd behaviour. Crowd contagion. Much of this apprehension stems from one of the most influential works of psychology ever written, Gustave Le Bon’s The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind . Unfortunately, Le Bon’s big idea – that crowds produce derangement and violence in even the most rational subject – was not...

Moya and Ash turn the weapon on themselves with a Mystery Question about the lows of being on the left – haters and losers, pyrrhic victories, strategic balls-ups and the rest. Plus, a listener who's falling out of love just as their partner needs support. Email your missed connections and dilemmas to ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

The Palestine Movement is the largest movement in British politics for a century. Yet it has been vilified and policed as if it were a tiny group of extremists. In this investigative episode of Novara FM, series producer Richard Hames is joined by Simon Childs, commissioning editor at Novara Media, to expose the authoritarian turn inside the British state that is driving the crackdown on Palestine...

Inspired by Moya’s big move, Ash wonders what the necessary ingredients are to turn a house share into a home. Plus, advice for a listener whose friend is infatuated with her lecturer. Email your missed connections and dilemmas to ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support

How can we resist exploitation when our boss has been replaced by a computer? That's the premise of Cyberboss, a new book by Craig Gent, North of England editor for Novara Media, explaining how "algorithmic management" is being tested on Amazon packers, Deliveroo drivers and supermarket shoppers. He talks to NM's head of audio Chal Ravens about the strange forms of resistance that emerge when even...

Guy Shrubsole is an author and campaigner whose new book The Lie of the Land seeks to expose the history of the British elite’s relationship to the land they own and debunk the myths that they perpetuate. He sat down with Aaron to talk about grouse moors, planning permission and exactly what we should do about The Fens.

Moya and Ash argue over a big theory about our need for surprise. Has modern life killed off spontaneity in everything from dating to holidays? Plus: advice for a listener who’s wondering why an old friend isn’t more excited to be his best man. Email your missed connections and dilemmas to ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

Are you sitting comfortably? Because Moya has come to a big realisation – and some new rules for dating etiquette. Plus: a new batch of your Missed Connections! Get in touch if you recognise any of these objects of our affection. Send your dilemmas and missed connections: ifispeak@novaramedia.com

A month after racist riots engulfed the country, the ACFM crew ask what fascism – and antifascism – look like in Britain today. Do the riots and counter-protests mark a return to "street politics"? Why didn't the Labour party align itself with opponents of the pogroms? And how popular are extreme rightwing views among Britain's frustrated youth? Jem, Nadia and Keir take a closer look at the make-u...

"Don’t mourn, organise" were the final words of American labour activist Joe Hill before his execution in 1915. But sometimes our feelings of grief don't lend themselves to good organising – sometimes we might just want revenge. In her forthcoming book, critic and journalist Sarah Jaffe looks at the many kinds of grief that shape our social and political lives, from family bereavement and mass dea...

Political scientists agree that we are now living in a "multipolar" world, with power contested by multiple states and blocs. But how we arrived at this formation, and whether the newly powerful actors on the global stage are inherently problematic, remain areas of disagreement. Someone with has a distinct perspective on this new world order is Anne Applebaum, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist a...

Does knowing your attachment style make life easier? Moya and Ash tackle a mystery question about our newfound fluency in the language of therapy. Plus: advice for a listener who’s becoming estranged from his sister. Only two weeks to go until our live show at the London Podcast Festival! Join Moya, Ash and special guest Yomi Adegoke, author of The List, for an intimate conversation on 15th Septem...

Motherhood was once at the centre of the feminist movement's demands, from campaigns for reproductive rights and Wages For Housework, to the mobilisation of anti-nuclear mums at Greenham Common. But in the 21st century, the politicisation of mothering seems to have shrunk in its ambition. In her new book Mother State: A Political History of Motherhood , literary scholar and historian Helen Charman...

Moya is on the brink of change – but can she trust her gut on the biggest decision of her adult life? Plus, advice for a listener confused about their lifelong lack of sex. You've only got a few weeks to grab your ticket for our live show at the London Podcast Festival on 15th September, with a very special guest... available from kingsplace.co.uk . Email your missed connections and dilemmas to if...

Everybody hates a tourist, as Jarvis Cocker once pointed out, and the ACFM gang are no exception in this ACFM Trip exploring the allure of holidays. Keir, Jem and Nadia consider all the different ways we avoid work, from holy days and vay-cays to grand tours and gap yahs. Does travel make fools of us all, or is there a smarter, more ethical way to go sightseeing? Is the promise of an annual getawa...

In 2019, mines expelled 100 billion tonnes of solid waste. Vast and destructive almost beyond imagination, mining is nevertheless essential to the green transition: without the minerals that we pull from the earth, we cannot wean ourselves off fossil fuels. Thea Riofrancos is associate professor of political science at Providence College and an expert on the politics of resource extraction, green...

Ash and Moya dedicate the whole show to answering your dilemmas! Featuring a woman questioning her age-gap relationship, an infuriating parent who won’t budge on politics, a ghosted lover plotting her revenge, a loner who wants to start socialising, and a low-earner who resents her rich friends. There's still a few weeks to grab your ticket for our live show at the London Podcast Festival on 15th...

People walk around San Francisco in Make America Great Again hats. Major CEOs endorse Trump. JD Vance is a hit among the crypto whales.  So what? It's part, perhaps, of a cultural change in Silicon Valley: a swing decisively to the right in a state famed for its contributions to radical politics, from the Black Panthers to the counterculture. There's no one better to understand this change than Ma...

Moya has a big theory for Ash – but the script goes out the window when they start talking about the far-right violence engulfing the UK and unpacking their own emotional reactions to English racism. After that: playing matchmaker with the first batch of Missed Connections. Content note: This episode includes discussion of racist language and violence. Remember, we'll be at the London Podcast Fest...