Get it on Google Play

Downstream: The West is Over. Here’s Why w/ Pankaj Mishra

Downstream: The West is Over. Here’s Why w/ Pankaj Mishra

Author: Novara Media August 3, 2026 Duration: 1:38:19
Novara Media
NewsCulturePhilosophyPoliticsSocietySociety & Culture

In the years since October 7th, the world has been bitterly polarised over how to make sense of the violence. While polling shows that a majority of people do believe Israel’s actions amount to genocide – having witnessed it with their own eyes via their smartphones – it has been woefully hard to find mainstream media outlets in the West prepared to use this language.

On Downstream this week, Aaron Bastani sat down with Indian essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra. His most recent book, ‘The World After Gaza’ takes stock of a world order shattered by the genocide, and a media class unprepared to recognise the truth. In response to these crises, Mishra and colleagues have just launched Equator magazine, pulling together leading writers from across the globe who are unafraid to tell the truth.

When did the so-called West first begin to lose standing in the eyes of the rest of the world? Why is the British media class positioned so uniquely close to power, so delusional, and so compromised over Gaza? Will China replace America, in the coming century, as the new hegemonic power? Has it already?


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

Official website RSS
instagramyoutubetiktokredditlinkedinsoundcloud
Novara Media
Podcast Episodes
Downstream: The Secrets of the Chinese Internet w/ Yi-Ling Liu [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:38:50
Take part in our audience survey: novara.media/survey In China in the 1990s, the arrival of the internet was swiftly met with the ‘great firewall’: a complex matrix of censorship, surveillance and state control. Since th…
ACFM Trip 59: Hobbies [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:55
After mulling over the problem of boredom in the last Trip episode, the ACFM gang return with a solution: hobbies. In this episode Nadia, Jem and Keir wonder why hobbies tend to mutate into jobs, which hobbies are approp…
Iran Threatens Retaliation Against Trump’s Criminal Threats [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:39
Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants in an expletive-laden Truth Social Post, and the U.S. account of its rescue of two airmen inside Iran raises more questions than it answers. With Michael Walker, Da…

«12345