Downstream – Novara Media Podcasts

Dec 16 2024 155 ep. 68 mins 152

Downstream – Novara Media Podcasts artwork

Novara Media is an independent media organisation addressing the issues - from a crisis of capitalism to racism and climate change - that are set to define the 21st century.

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Downstream: Germany, Russia and the Death of Europe w/ Wolfgang Munchau

Dec 16 2024 108 mins

Almost 140 or so years ago, Germany invented the car. In the subsequent century, it was central to two world wars; its manufacturing was the envy of much of the world, and in the latter half of the 20th century, it was vital to European integration. Now, just 2 months before a general election, Germany […]

Downstream: The Journalist Who Spent A Year With The Taliban w/ Ibrahim Nash’at

Dec 09 2024 53 mins

When the Taliban retook all of Afghanistan in 2021, it came as a shock to much of the West. The day after the last American soldier left, journalist and filmmaker Ibrahim Nash’at flew into Kabul to spend a year filming with their senior military leadership. What he found was a Taliban drunk on power, in […]

Downstream: Humans Could Become Immortal This Century w/ Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston

Dec 02 2024 77 mins

Humanity has long pursued an elixir of youth, and dreamed of eternal life. For the Abrahamic faiths physical immortality was lost in the Garden of Eden, with only the soul remaining of permanence. More recently, futurists and thinkers have speculated about the possibilities of radical life extension. For neuroscientist Ariel Zeleznikow-Johnston there is another alternative, […]

Downstream: Trains Are Better Than Cars. Here’s Why w/ Gareth Dennis

Nov 25 2024 94 mins

While the first modern trains were built in the early 19th century – more people travel by rail today than ever before. Not only have passenger numbers risen in the UK but the likes of China, Iran and Uzbekistan now have high-speed networks. On this episode of Downstream, Aaron Bastani is joined by author and […]

Downstream IRL: There’s No Such Thing As Green Capitalism w/ Andreas Malm

Nov 18 2024 36 mins

Global heating is a serious problem, but the question of just how urgently to fight it is a fraught one. Should 2C or 1.5C of warming be our limit? Or can we blow past these limits now, and come back down to them later, using technology to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere? There’s […]

Downstream: What the Roman Empire Tells Us About the Collapse of the West W/ Peter Heather and John Rapley

Nov 13 2024 90 mins

Everyone knows that the Roman Empire rose, then fell. Historians don’t all agree on the reasons for the collapse, but their misunderstandings can shed plenty of light on the current state of the world, according to the authors of How Empires Fall: Rome, America and the Future of the West. Peter Heather, a historian of […]

Downstream: Could Israel Become A Failed State? w/ Ilan Pappé

Nov 05 2024 81 mins

War is spreading throughout West Asia, a situation understood by many observers as an outgrowth of Israeli expansionism. In a return visit to Downstream, historian Ilan Pappé provides a century’s worth of context to the unfolding crisis. He talks to Aaron to talk about the lack of a viable left in Israel, why nation-states haven’t […]

Downstream: How War, Trade and Farming Changed the Planet Forever w/ Sunil Amrith

Oct 28 2024 61 mins

What if instead of talking about history from the perspective of humanity, we told it from the perspective of the resources that made human expansion possible? Sunil Amrith is a historian and author of The Burning Earth: An Environmental History of The Last 500 Years. He sat down with Ash to explain how a bumper […]

Downstream: Insects Are Disappearing and We Should Be Very Worried w/ Dave Goulson

Oct 22 2024 110 mins

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 […]

Downstream: Do We Really Need to Tax the Rich? w/ Stephanie Kelton

Oct 13 2024 59 mins

Stephanie Kelton is an author and economist, and subject of the new film ‘Finding The Money’. Her work as a proponent of Modern Monetary Theory and as an advisor to Bernie Sanders has put her front and center of the debate around government debt, taxation and the potential green industrial revolution. She sat down for […]