Downstream: The Right Is Winning. Here’s How We Change That w/ Ash Sarkar

Downstream: The Right Is Winning. Here’s How We Change That w/ Ash Sarkar

Author: Novara Media March 23, 2026 Duration: 1:08:30

Aaron Bastani sat down with Novara Media’s own Ash Sarkar, to celebrate the paperback release of her bestselling book, Minority Rule. ‘Minority rule’ is the term Ash used to describe the irrational fear that minorities are trying to overturn and oppress majority populations. She revealed how minority elites rule majorities by creating the culture wars that have taken over our politics, stoking fear and panic in our media landscape.

Together before a live audience at EartH Hackney, Ash and Aaron dug into the question of what has changed since the book was published. What can be learned from Zohran Mamdani’s win in New York? Does the left hate Britain? What do we need to do, in order to establish a ‘majority rule’? And is there such a thing as a middle-class dog?


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: en-gb Episodes: 50

Novara Media
Podcast Episodes
Downstream: You Will Rent Forever. Here’s Why. w/ Peter Apps [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:48:00
We live in times of crisis. But perhaps none of the crises affect so many people in the here and now, as the housing crisis. Solving it could provide the skeleton key to unlocking so many of society’s problems. Despite t…
ACFM Microdose: Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:36:46
The Meditations of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius are perhaps the best-selling self-help book of all time. Rooted in the rational philosophy of the Stoics, the 12 books offer a stream of personal musings on everything fro…
Do Your Own Research: The True Cost of AI Girlfriends w/ James Muldoon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:15:25
AI boyfriends and girlfriends are all the rage – for some. For others, they just inspire rage. So what’s the truth about these seductive machines? Do they open up our erotic potential, or are they just an absurd fantasy?…
Downstream: Who Really Won the War on Drugs? w/ Kojo Koram [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:20:40
Last year, Zack Polanski’s Green Party suggested changes could be made to Britain’s prohibitionist approach to drugs – and felt the full force of the mainstream media’s indignation. But all over the world, the War on Dru…
ACFM Trip 61: Resilience [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:28
A weird-left look at the magical properties of resilience, from the colonial legacy of the stiff upper lip to contemporary narratives of trauma and victimhood. Nadia, Keir and Jem wonder whether humans and animals can fl…