ACFM Trip 58: Boredom

ACFM Trip 58: Boredom

Author: Novara Media March 29, 2026 Duration: 1:39:58

When was the last time you were bored? Nadia, Jem and Keir wonder if ennui is a feeling that belongs in the past – and what a boredom-free life might be missing.

Is compulsive scrolling a modern symptom of boredom? Why are spiritual practices often based around tedious repetition? Do bored workers make better organisers? What about the “stuckness” experienced by migrants, or the drudgery of housework?

The gang offer their theories of Boredism (and Post-Boredism) in a perfectly mind-numbing Trip, with ideas from Lukács, Gramsci, the Pet Shop Boys and loads of 1970s punk.

Find the books and music mentioned in the show: https://novara.media/acfm
Sign up to the ACFM newsletter: https://novaramedia.com/newsletters
Follow our ever-expanding playlist on Spotify by searching ‘ACFM’.

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


Tune in to Novara Media for a distinct and probing take on the world as it is, and as it could be. This independent podcast offers a necessary space for the conversations often sidelined elsewhere, weaving together sharp analysis of current affairs with deeper explorations of culture, philosophy and power. Each episode naturally delves into the interconnected crises shaping our time-be it the fraying edges of our economic system, the urgent fight for climate justice, or the enduring struggles against structural inequality. The discussions are built on a foundation of radical thought and a commitment to imagining alternatives, moving beyond the day's headlines to examine the root causes and potential futures. Hosted by the team at Novara Media, the audio format brings a direct, engaging and often challenging perspective, featuring interviews, panel debates and solo commentaries that refuse simplistic answers. It’s for anyone who finds mainstream narratives insufficient and is looking for a podcast that treats politics, society and culture as the complex, urgent and deeply human matters they truly are.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 306

Novara Media
Podcast Episodes
Downstream: How to Be a Morally Effective Person w/ Rutger Bregman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:39
This week’s guest is best known for hijacking a panel at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting at Davos, where he told a room full of billionaires to stop avoiding taxes. He now claims that this form of protest has b…
Novara FM: What Communism Actually Is w/ Jasper Bernes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:23:42
Communism is a classless, moneyless and stateless society. So far, so simple. And so far out of reach. Or, we could define it differently, as “the real movement that abolishes the present state of things”. That’s how Kar…
ACFM Trip 51: Heroes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:49:39
The ACFM crew offer a weird-left perspective on the role of the hero (and heroine) in politics and culture. Nadia, Jem and Keir assess theories of Great Men, the myth of the hero’s journey and the lure of the anti-hero w…
Downstream: Why the Left Fails to Connect With People w/ Jimmy The Giant [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:40:53
Not long ago, Kieren Owen AKA Jimmy The Giant was in the ‘alt right pipeline’. He believed in the tyranny of the welfare system, thought ‘woke culture’ was dangerous for society and that Tommy Robinson’s imprisonment was…
Novara Debates: Are Labour Doomed? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:12
Ash Sarkar, Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani debate: could the Labour Party be heading for a trouncing? Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.media/support
Novara Debates: Can Reform Win A General Election? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:58
Ash Sarkar, Michael Walker and Aaron Bastani debate one of the most pressing questions of the day: can Reform UK win a general election? Might it even win the next one? Help us build people-powered media: https://novara.…