‘Working Class’ Is Not an Identity. Ash Sarkar Meets China Miéville
The author of The City & The City joins Ash Sarkar on Downstream to discuss sadism, sci-fi, blockchain utopias, Lord of the Rings and the politics of Sally Rooney’s fiction.
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Animal Agriculture Is the New Crude Oil. Aaron Bastani Meets George Monbiot
In his new book George Monbiot warns that we’re approaching a tipping point in the fight to protect the planet. Can changing what we eat bring us back from the brink? Aaron Bastani speaks Britain’s foremost environmental campaigner about what to do when the worst possible people are in charge at the worst possible time.
21st Century Child Homelessness in New York City. Ash Sarkar Meets Andrea Elliot
In 2012 a New York Times journalist met 11 year old Dasani Coates. Over the next 8 years the journalist followed Dasani and her family as they navigated social services, the cascade of generational trauma and the attention of a New York City Mayor. Ash Sarkar meets Andrea Elliott author of Invisible Child: Poverty, Survival & Hope in an American City.
An Era-Defining Political Comeback—Aaron Bastani Meets Lutfur Rahman
In the 2022 local elections, something unprecedented happened in Tower Hamlets, a borough in East London. Not only did the constituents elect a mayor previously banned from taking part in politics, but that candiate’s party, Aspire, took the council from Labour. Aaron Bastani speaks to Lutfur Rahman, the new mayor of Tower Hamlets.
What Does Keir Starmer Actually Believe? Aaron Bastani Meets Oliver Eagleton
Is he a managerial Machiavelli? A moral crusader? Or just an opportunist with a decent haircut? Aaron Bastani talks to Oliver Eagleton about the Labour leader.
How Britain Starved Ireland
Today the island of Ireland has a smaller population than it did 200 years ago. How did that happen, and what has it got to do with free market capitalism? Aaron Bastani explains how London politicians and Irish landlords exploited a crisis in the name of an ideology – in the process wrecking the lives […]
Something Sinister Is Happening in the Labour Party. Aaron Bastani Meets Len McCluskey
Known for his steadfast support of Jeremy Corbyn whilst heading up the biggest private sector union in the country, Len McCluskey has a uniquely intimate knowledge of both Labour Party politics and the organised labour movement.
Why Libertarians Agree With Putin | Ash Sarkar
There’s a clear split between rightwing commentators, and Putin’s war on Ukraine. But between pundits and Putin’s war on woke? Not so much!
Liberalism Is in Trouble. Aaron Bastani Meets Francis Fukuyama
Few political thinkers exert such an influence that their work becomes synonymous with a historic era. Francis Fukuyama’s declaration of “the end of history” after the fall of the Soviet Union made him one. Aaron Bastani speaks to Fukuyama on the publication of his new book, Liberalism and its Discontents.
How Racism Affects Our Sex Lives
Does love transcend everything? What does it mean to fall in love in an unequal world? Dalia Gebrial looks at how race shapes our experiences of sex and desire, and asks: what would it take to create better conditions for loving one another?
Do I Think About Rape Too Much?
Why are women more afraid of violence from strangers on the street when – statistically speaking – home is the place where they’re most unsafe? Ash Sarkar takes a look at how rational fears are used to justify irrational policy decisions, and what we miss when we talk about ‘rape culture’.
Influencers, Exploitation and Capitalism. Ash Sarkar Meets Symeon Brown
How far would you go to get famous and escape poverty? Ash Sarkar is joined by Symeon Brown to discuss how the democratic promise of the internet has reinvented the pyramid scheme. From cryptocurrencies to botched Brazilian butt lifts, they look at how the new clout economy has created a digital lumpenproletariat.
Were Trans People “Born This Way”?
In debates around the rights of transgender people, a charge often levelled at those fighting for trans inclusion is that their arguments rest on a denial of biological facts. Michael Walker speaks to biologist Julia Serano about what so-called ‘gender critical’ thinkers get wrong about sex and gender, and whether trans activists should embrace the argument that they were “born this way”.
Was Jesus Christ a Socialist Revolutionary?
For conservatives he is viewed as a source of inspiration, with some even claiming he was an advocate of the free market. But what did Jesus really preach two thousand years ago? Despite the rise of the religious right in recent decades, Aaron Bastani asks whether the central figure in the Christian faith was in […]
How the Mainstream Media Enabled Climate Denial
Aaron Bastani speaks to George Monbiot about COP26, which countries are climate change leaders and how the mainstream media enabled a culture of climate denial when it mattered most.
Why Are All the Baddies Disabled?
From ancient myths through to the Batman trilogy, pop culture is littered with disabled people and those with facial differences being cast as villains. Why does disability feature so heavily in literary and cinematic traditions, and how has this hypervisiblity had the ironic effect of erasing the experiences of disabled people? Ash Sarkar is joined […]
The Capitalist War Being Waged on Disabled People
Ellen Clifford speaks to Michael Walker about her book “The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of Human Catastrophe”, including an explanation of the Social Model of Disability, the history of the Disabled People’s Movement, and the disastrous consequences of austerity policies.
Veterans: Rightwing or Radical?
They are claimed from all sides and by all parties. But who are Britain’s ex-service personnel? What do they want? And what do their politics – whether conservative, liberal or socialist – tell us about Britain as a post-imperial country? Aaron Bastani speaks to Joe Glenton, journalist and author of ‘Veteranhood’.