Most peoples lives are defined by the exchange of labour for a wage – but what if they weren’t? What if the state gave us a regular wage with zero strings attached, to spend as we wish? Proponents of this idea call it ‘Universal Basic Income’. Aaron is joined by Will Stronge, Director of Research […]
Izzy Posen grew up in London’s Hasidic Jewish community in Stamford Hill, receiving the bare minimum of secular education in an illegal school which still practiced corporal punishment. Even with the strictures of this insular community, he developed an acute curiosity about the world, resulting in him teaching himself English and eventually leaving the community […]
The Green Party of England and Wales has made extraordinary gains in the last two decades, especially in the last round of local elections. As well as its one MP – Caroline Lucas – the Greens are also the biggest party on several councils and have a majority on Mid Suffolk District Council. Aaron is […]
History is not just one thing after another. Historians spend lifetimes figuring out how X event in medieval France impacted Y event in 20th century Polynesia – but none of these historians have truly ‘done the math’ like this week’s guest. Coming from a background in applied mathematics, Peter Turchin has gathered an unprecedented amount […]
For this Downstream family special, Ash is joined by Moya and Michael – contributing editors at Novara – to discuss their lives as journalists, the scandal surrounding Nick Cohen, the combustion of Vice and gal-dem and why Novara is uniquely placed to take on the mainstream media in the UK.
Most of you will agree that corporations have undue influence over our democracies, but exactly how this influence is exerted is tricky to illustrate – and that is by design. Behind innocuous sounding acronyms and worthy sounding trade agreements are the real cogs that allow the global corporate machine to corrupt societies and our guest […]
Ash Sarkar is joined by Abigail Thorn ( @PhilosophyTube ) to discuss the differences between content creation on YouTube and performing at the theatre, Shakespeare and the experiences of being a trans content creator.
In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down and the experiment of communist East Germany drew to an end. Yet for a time it was a successful project, raising living standards against massive odds and providing stability for the first time in half a century. So is it time to re-assess Europe’s most wealthy, and advanced […]
Palestinians rarely get to tell their own stories, and on the rare occasion they do it’s on highly limited terms. Ash Sarkar speaks to writer and poet Mohammed el-Kurd, Palestine correspondent for The Nation, about growing up in occupied territory and why journalists fail to tell the truth about Israel.
Everyone rails against the elite, but who are they? The left would say it’s the billionaires, the media barons, the oil tycoons, and the 1% – those who control our economy, our housing, and basic necessities. However, the right increasingly insists on the existence of a “new elite” of woke corporations, SJW celebrities, and snowflake […]
In The UK, the last few decades have shown the steepest decline in trust in the media globally, second only to Egypt. How did we get here? Is it as simple as Rupert Murdoch wielding his malice more fervently here then elsewhere? Or are there insidious cultural factors that meant our newspapers, and increasingly our […]
Vicky Spratt is a London-based journalist and campaigner who writes on housing and the rental crisis. Her book Tenants is out now with Profile Books.
Britain is unique in the way that public schools (that’s private schools to anyone outside of Britain) have a stranglehold on the establishment. Alumni of these schools are massively overrepresented in the upper echelons of society – so is it any wonder that the media, the judicial system and the political class treat normal people […]
This weeks guest was released from jail a few weeks before the interview. He was held on remand for 109 days after being charged for ‘conspiracy to cause a public nuisance’ – all for giving a speech. He has been part of some of the most influential activist groups of the last few years including […]
Mehdi Hasan discusses the challenges facing the world today, including authoritarianism, the role of media in shaping public opinion, and the need for a more equitable society. His new book “Win Every Argument” is out now.
The media is awash with allegations of censorship. The works of Roald Dahl and Ian Fleming have been combed through to rid them of offensive tropes and language. Who is this seemingly gratuitous raft of cultural editing in service of? A lot of the media will have you believe that it’s the ‘snowflake’. The younger […]
We are always working to improve this website for our users. To do this we use usage data facilitated by cookies and external services. For more information read our Privacy Policy