Novara Media

Moya is worried about status – and so are increasing numbers of men in therapy, according to a recent report. So what does status look like in this economy? How are men adapting to not being guaranteed breadwinners? Can you be both downwardly mobile and satisfied with your life? Plus: what to do when you suspect your friend is in love with you. Read the article on men in therapy: https://www.thegu...

AI is set to take all of our jobs. It will irrevocably transform our relationships - and it might even kill us all. These are some of the big claims made about artificial intelligence today. And they are claims that on Novara, we take seriously. This week's Downstream guest thinks that giving weight to those grand concerns is a mistake. He believes that by talking up the possibility that AI could...

We live in a moment when the working class is fractured along a great many lines. Gone are the days of solidarity built around a shared experience of factory work that formed the bedrock of Karl Marx’s analysis of class struggle – and his vision of emancipation. Meanwhile in the halls of power, elites in our politics have failed for decades now to really grasp what people in Britain care about and...

The amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2026 is roughly the same as when, in the very, very distant past, the Earth was between 6 and 8 degrees warmer. If the Earth were to reach those temperatures again, the majority of mammals would go extinct. While we’re not at those temperatures now, the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could cause the climate to accelerate towards planetar...

126: What if you don't have to feel anxious 24/7? by Novara Media

The genocide of Palestinians, carried out by the Israeli army with backing from the US and the British state, has lead to an almighty breakdown in public trust in the West. Now more than ever, citizens are turning away from establishment media sources in search of journalism that more closely resembles the world as we see it.  This week on Downstream, Ash Sarkar sits down with Amy Goodman, veteran...

Nadia visits reporter and author Hazel Sheffield in her Hastings beach hut to talk about the coastal communities that are reimagining their economies in the face of government neglect and climate breakdown. They talk about the Hastings Commons project, a constellation of community-owned buildings in a deprived part of the town, and the seaside village in Somerset that built itself a £7m art galler...

Have we finally had enough of hyper-consumerism? Moya and Ash confront the political crises that are changing our attitudes to spending, and what that’s got to do with the World Cup and cerulean sweaters. Plus: what to do when you've lost all motivation. Read the Vulture article about lifestyle influencers mentioned in the show: https://www.vulture.com/article/influencer-recession-audrey-peters-in...

The summer of 2026 will go down in history books as the hottest, driest and most deadly set of heatwaves Britain has ever experienced. This weather isn’t normal – but it is predictable according to a global consensus of scientists. And yet this summer, according to the science, will be one of the coolest summers we ever have again. Things will only get hotter from here. Beginning his career as an...

Nadia, Keir and Jem wonder why humans are drawn to the beach, in a weird-left conversation about geological deep-time, the birth of surf culture, the politics of faded seaside towns and more, plus music from 808 State and The B-52’s. Find the books mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters Follow our ever-expanding playlist...

Trapped in the attention economy, Moya wonders if our reading habits are affecting our sense of self, and Ash offers a feminist analysis of ‘main character’ versus ‘NPC’. Plus: what to do when your politics drift away from your friends'. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

In the years since October 7th, the world has been bitterly polarised over how to make sense of the violence. While polling shows that a majority of people do believe Israel’s actions amount to genocide - having witnessed it with their own eyes via their smartphones - it has been woefully hard to find mainstream media outlets in the West prepared to use this language. On Downstream this week, Aaro...

Joshua Citarella built his reputation by mapping synthetic e-deologies of terminally online politics, expressed in memes, micro-disputes and merch drops. Now the artist, Doomscroll host and Do Not Research founder has come to a blunter conclusion: it's time to lock in. Behind the seeming diversity of online politics, one ideology has already won: the technolibertarianism of the platforms and suppl...

The American empire is in crisis – and there is a new generation of more vocal critics coming from the right. So what do JD Vance and Tucker Carlson actually believe about American power? James Pogue has reported on empires and their decline for years, from West and Central Africa, where Wagner Group picked over the corpse of French neo-colonialism, to California's secessionist fringe and the absu...

A new consensus has emerged in Westminster, seemingly overnight: we need more defence spending, and we need it now. But the Ministry of Defence has a record for waste that would put Tony Soprano to shame. £13 billion down the drain, since 2010, at the very least. Aircraft carriers that come in late, overbudget, and beset by mechanical failures. IT systems that cost millions, and are wildly out of...

Former Vogue agony aunt Annie Lord joins Ash and Moya to talk about what happens if you let go of your ‘type’ and allow your romantic ideals to change. Her debut novel, The Project, is out now. (NB: Annie recommends Sharon Olds’ poetry collection Stag’s Leap.) Plus: advice for a man who’s feeling romantically jaded. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

We live in times of crisis. But perhaps none of the crises affect so many people in the here and now, as the housing crisis. Solving it could provide the skeleton key to unlocking so many of society’s problems. Despite this, decades of successive governments in the UK have failed to bring housing under control. The social contract which told us that if we worked hard all our lives, we can own a ho...

Ash and Moya answer a not-so-mystery question about male self-image and whether short kings really do lose out in the dating market. How does modern masculinity look and dress? Plus: advice for a listener fantasising about a romantic spark with a former colleague. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music by Matt Huxley.

The Meditations of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are perhaps the best-selling self-help book of all time. Rooted in the rational philosophy of the Stoics, the 12 books offer a stream of personal musings on everything from cultivating self-discipline to being a successful leader. Following their episode on Resilience, Nadia, Keir and Jem offer a weird-left perspective on the Meditations, looking at...

Ash and Moya get stuck into your dilemmas. Featuring: a POC friend whose new boyfriend votes Reform, an attractive male coworker who’s gone from supportive to creepy, a woman who’s struggling to think before she speaks, an independent woman who’s dreading suburban life with her boyfriend, and an environmentalist weighing up a job in big tech. Send us your dilemmas: ifispeak@novaramedia.com Music b...

The idea of a wealth tax has never been more popular in Britain, and while many have campaigned for it, none have done more to boost the demand than one man: Gary Stevenson. The former city trader first joined us on Downstream four years ago. A lot has changed since then. This week, after a bruising round of media including attacks from Piers Morgan and the Guardian, Gary sat down to give his side...

AI boyfriends and girlfriends are all the rage – for some. For others, they just inspire rage. So what's the truth about these seductive machines? Do they open up our erotic potential, or are they just an absurd fantasy? And how are they even made? James Muldoon is the author of Love Machines: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Our Relationships and co-author of Feeding the Machine: The H...

Last year, Zack Polanski’s Green Party suggested changes could be made to Britain’s prohibitionist approach to drugs – and felt the full force of the mainstream media’s indignation. But all over the world, the War on Drugs is shifting shape. Drugs are being legalised and commercialised. America now has its first legal weed-selling billionaire, while others serve out huge prison sentences for posse...

* Last call for our show at Crossed Wires in Sheffield this Saturday, 4th July! Final tickets: https://crossedwires.live * A brush with an old enemy brings up big questions about letting go and moving on. What does forgiveness really mean in a secular society? Is punishment ever the answer? Plus: advice for a special one who fears they’ve outgrown their 15-year relationship. Send us your dilemmas:...

We need critical minerals for the green transition, the military and the AI boom. In barely a year, lithium and the rare earths have become some of the most fought-over objects on earth. But the scarcity is manufactured — by refineries, choke points and the states that control them. Richard talks to Thea Riofrancos, author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, about what these minerals...