Novara Media

Love is supposed to be the most universal human experience after death and taxes. So why do so many people feel like they’re failing in it? Ash Sarkar is joined by Shon Faye, author of the bestselling book The Transgender Issue, to discuss her new book Love In Exile. They talk about how marriage has changed since their grandmothers’ day, the crisis of lonely young men, and whether secularism is to blame for relationship breakdown.

After last week’s ACFM on the meaning and morality of personal debt, Keir and Nadia zoom out to the macroeconomics of debt.

Joining them to make sense of concepts like sovereign debt, structural adjustment and international ratings agencies is Heidi Chow, executive director of Debt Justice. She explains how and why countries borrow money, why Global South countries end up mired in debt, and how the climate crisis will affect national borrowing.

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It’s been five long years since the decisive defeat of Corbynism at the ballot box.

How, if at all, should the left reconstitute itself? Should everyone join the Greens? Or do we just need Mick Lynch to start a new party?

In this episode, Richard Hames is joined by Rachel Godfrey Wood, Joe Todd, and Oliver Eagleton to thrash it all out and arrive at the One True Answer.

We’re keen to hear from you on this topic! Lets us know your comments, criticisms and key strategic insights at [email protected]

Fourteen years ago Gary Stevenson was one of Citibank’s best performing traders. The bet that brought him success was one few foresaw: that despite record low interest rates, Britain’s economy would stay in the doldrums.

He wrote about that, and his time at Citi, in his bestselling memoir ‘The Trading Game’. In this, his third Downstream with Aaron, Gary talks about the rise of Reform, why the political establishment could be facing extinction; why Elon Musk’s wealth is a threat to democracy; and how the plan is to make you poorer – forever.

The concept of debt is as slippery as it is powerful. In this Trip episode, Keir, Nadia and Jem explain why debt is more like a belief than a calculation, and wonder how to imagine a society without it.

From credit cards to dowries, they discuss the reality and fantasy of debt, with ideas from David Graeber and Deleuze and music from Crass and Gwen Guthrie.

Find the books and music mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm

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Elon Musk is the most symptomatic capitalist of our era: obsessed with publicity, by many accounts a fanatical workaholic, and increasingly in bed with the far right.

But how did he go from Obama-era liberal darling to giving a Nazi salute at Trump’s second inauguration?

Historian of ideas Quinn Slobodian has traced the relationship between big tech and the far right for years. His books include Globalists: The End of Empire and the Birth of Neoliberalism and Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy.

He speaks to Eleanor Penny about the world that made Elon Musk possible.

Quinn Slobodian previously appeared on Novara FM in late 2023.

The Institute of Economic Affairs is one of the most powerful and secretive think tanks in the UK, known for promoting free-market Thatcherism as a solution to all of our economic woes. Who’s behind it?

This week, Kristian Niemietz, a director at the IEA and a long-time Novara Media hater, sits down with Aaron for a debate about trickle-down economics, why he’s a neoliberal, and who really funds his employer.

And who funds Novara Media? That’s easier to answer: you. Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support

Donald Trump is the next president. Meta, Walmart and McDonald’s have forsaken their diversity policies. Elon Musk is demanding that Keir Starmer be removed as PM. Why is this all happening at the same time? And why do progressives have so little to offer when it comes to the economy and people’s everyday lives?

Brett Christophers is a geographer, author and former management consultant. According to him, it’s the commitment of parties like Labour and the US Democrats to the prevailing economic orthodoxy that has brought about the collapse of ‘woke capitalism’.

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The ACFM gang gather for a midwinter reading of one of the most influential political tracts ever written. Download a version online and follow along as Nadia, Keir and Jem reassess The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

Find the books and music mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm

Help us build people-powered media – pledge your support from as little as £1 a month: https://novara.media/support

Having long promised to decentralise power, Bitcoin is looking more and more like it will end up as a tool of American power under Trump.

But blockchains could also be used to empower local economies. And why should the left stay attached to a money system controlled by the state?

Sam Hart is a developer, writer, and editor of the Cryptoeconomic Systems journal. He spoke to Richard Hames about the promises and perils of the new era of blockchain technologies.

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