Novara Media

Asked in a recent poll to summarise Britain in a word, ‘broken’ was the people’s top choice. This brokenness is concrete stuff: crumbling bridges, sewage-filled rivers, failing computer systems, cancelled rail projects. But it’s also bundled with the collective stories we tell about what it means to be a nation, and who belongs in it.

To find out why it feels like nothing works in Britain anymore, Moya Lothian-McLean talks to Dom Davies, author of The Broken Promise of Infrastructure. He explains how democratic ‘public works’ were replaced by neoliberal ‘infrastructure’, why colonial railways linger in our collective imagination, and whether Labour can get Britain running again.

Watch our rolling #ElectionSesh coverage on 4 July from 9.30pm on Novara Media’s YouTube.

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Tom and Juliet are joined by Keir Milburn to take the long view on the Premier League. Juliet explains how ’80s hooliganism and stadium disasters led to the formation of a new top flight, boosted by Rupert Murdoch’s TV empire and resulting in the iron grip of the Big Five clubs today. Are we stuck like this?

They also discuss the incoming Labour government’s vision for football and take a moment to dwell on England v Slovakia.

Tune in next Wednesday for the final episode in our Euro 2024 miniseries.

Music by Matt Huxley.

If you want to understand how power works in our society, you can’t just examine what journalists say – you have to pay attention to what they’re silent about.

To discuss the world of corporate media, secret intelligence services and the problem with liberal think tanks, Ash is joined by Matt Kennard, head of investigations for Declassified UK and author of The Racket: A Rogue Reporter vs The American Empire.

This time next week, Keir Starmer will likely be settling into No 10 with a thumping majority. Yet Labour has largely avoided the question of what they’re going to do with all that power once they get it, and the political media has barely posed the question. Meanwhile the Conservative party as we know it has shattered into pieces, and the far-right is filling the vacuum.

To paint a picture of Britain at this historic crossroads, Eleanor Penny is joined by Novara Media co-founder and LRB contributing editor James Butler.

Watch our rolling #ElectionSesh coverage on 4 July from 9.30pm on Novara Media’s YouTube.

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This week Tom and Juliet are joined by David Goldblatt, author of The Ball Is Round, to answer a seemingly simple question: who runs football? David explains why billionaires and foreign investors love sinking their money into football, and what accusations of “sportswashing” leave out.

Plus, we talk about what’s going on with Southgate’s strategy. Has pragmatism become dogmatism for England?

Music by Matt Huxley. Design by Pietro Garrone. Produced by Chal Ravens.

If you mention the Israel lobby in the mainstream media then, more often than not, you’ll face accusations of antisemitism. There are of course people who talk about the Israel lobby in antisemitic terms, but that doesn’t undermine the fact that it exists, and has existed for well over a century.

This week’s guest is Israeli historian and author Ilan Pappé. His new book details the origins of zionism and the struggles against it throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. He joins Aaron to discuss Harold Wilson, Nye Bevan, AIPAC, Labour Friends of Israel and the Christian roots of Zionism.

Ilan’s new book is ‘Lobbying for Zionism on Both Sides of the Atlantic’

Mick Lynch is the General Secretary of the RMT.

He joined Ash Sarkar to discuss leveraging Keir Starmer, the importance of council housing and why it’s vital that people vote for the Labour Party.

Former chief political correspondent for The Daily Telegraph and self proclaimed conservative, Peter Oborne, speaks to Aaron Bastani about the collapse of the conservative party.

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It’s easy to think that the Labour left is gone for good. But it’s not so certain.

From the 80s to the 10s, the Labour left endured almost three decades of isolation and exile.

The difference this time is that their ideas are still popular.

Will they be back once more, or have they now truly been left for dead?

To find out, Eleanor spoke to Andy Beckett, author of The Searchers: Five Rebels, Their Dream of a Different Britain, and Their Many Enemies

Was the Iraq War the exception or the rule?

Throughout the twentieth century, Labour governments have been involved in some of Britain’s most disastrous colonial acts: the partition of India, the counter-insurgency in Malaya, and the Nakba.

So, what can we expect this time?

Eleanor Penny asks David Wearing, author of AngloArabia: Why Gulf Wealth Matters to Britain.

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