Novara Media Podcasts

What did the Situationists actually achieve? Nadia, Jem and Keir look back on the antics and manifestos of the socialist revolutionaries who gathered under the banner of the Situationist International.

With ideas from Debord and Khayati and music from the KLF and Negativland, the gang chart the SI’s influence on politics and media theory, from the central concept of the Spectacle to their lingering influence on pop music, psychogeography and political organising.

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

Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support

The Lifeboat charity RNLI has warned its volunteers against wearing its branding in public in light of harassment from far right agitators.

Plus: Albanians have been protesting for over 100 days against a luxury hotel development by the Trump family, we speak to veteran science writer Robert Wright about the growing panic over AI & Hilary Clinton has a surprising stance on October 7. 

With Michael Walker, Barry Malone & Robert Wright.

Donald Trump has promised a $5000 check to every American if the Republicans win the mid-terms. Now, JD Vance has appeared to walk back that offer.

Plus: Kemi Badenoch defends massive proposed cuts to benefits, we speak to a Palestine Action activist’s mother who was denied a mortgage by her bank, new far right poster boy Danny Tommo embarrasses himself in front of his footsoldiers, and two of the Inbetweeners declare intergenerational war.

With NoJusticeMTG & Dalia Gebrial, & Emma Kamio.

As the UK’s Chief Rabbi decries the new settler sanctions, we speak to Palestine’s UK ambassador for his reaction.  

Plus: England’s youth are (nearly) leading the western world in reading, science & maths, and Anthropic loses an employee over their reckless race to AIG.

With Michael Walker, Aaron Bastani, Husam Zomlot & Garrison Lovely.

Foreign secretary Ed Miliband has announced new economic sanctions against illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Plus: Billionaire Chris Rokos makes headlines as he plans to leave for Greece, but is the UK tax system really to blame?

With Steven Methven, Banseka Kaymebe, Daniel Levy & Tom Guha.

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.theguardian.com/society/ng-interactive/2026/aug/19/men-therapy-achievement-grief

Read John Burn-Murdoch on women breadwinners: https://www.ft.com/content/4b7b8d3f-5625-4dba-ad90-66192c101956?syn-25a6b1a6=1

Get tickets for Ash at the Southbank Centre on 26 September: https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/ash-sarkar-the-future-of-relationships

Send us your dilemmas: [email protected]

Masked far right thugs gathered in Portsmouth to intimidate a group of asylum seekers last night, organised by a close connection of Tommy Robinson. 

Plus: A shock win for the AfD in German elections has rattled the incumbents, we speak to a climate protestor who helped organise the action at the Reform conference & we stand in solidarity with a great British pint!

With Michael Walker, Ash Sarkar & Isabella Weber.

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 replace significant amounts of labour – or develop an agency of its own – only serves to exaggerate the capacity of AI – and therefore just helps tech CEOs drive more investors to buy their already overpriced stocks.

Cory Doctorow is a writer and activist – who’s written 36 books – spanning non-fiction and science fiction. He famously coined the term “ensh*ttification” to describe the modern trajectory of the internet. And he has a new book on AI – it’s called the “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI”. As Aaron Bastani takes time off on paternity leave, Michael Walker, host of Novara Live, sat down with Cory to ask one of the world’s leading tech writers his burning questions about AI.

Is Cory surprised at the speed of AI’s so-called “evolution”? What does the latest AI “Hugging Face” tell us about AI? Does the AI presented to us in 2026 present a threat to life on Earth, or is that just hype? Is it really intelligent, or just a simulacrum of intelligence? Does it matter?

The fallout from a Channel 4 undercover exposé on Reform has enveloped the nation, but has anyone at their conference noticed?

Plus: Could the failings of Open AI’s security broker a rapprochement with China? Finally, we do some soul searching on our coverage of China. 

With Michael Walker, Jonny Ball & Kyle Chan.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski has announced his plan to stand in Keir Starmer’s vacated seat of Holborn and St Pancras.

Plus: The bond markets are already punishing Andy Burnham, Novara’s Harriet Williamson reports from a Palestine Action press conference, and CBS joins Fox News in mounting Islamophobic attacks on Abdul El-Sayed.

Downstream IRL Tickets:

https://dice.fm/event/bb9wxv-novara-medias-downstream-irl-trauma-farming-21st-sep-earth-london-tickets

Read Harriet Williamson’s reporting here:

https://novaramedia.com/2026/09/03/palestine-action-prisoners-to-appeal-terrorist-sentences/

https://novaramedia.com/2026/07/20/were-the-canary-in-the-coal-mine-palestine-action-activists-sentenced-as-terrorists-speak-out/

With NoJusticeMTG, Dalia Gebrial & James Meadway.