Show Notes
Aaron Bastani, co-bossman @NovaraMedia just burnished our leftie credentials!!!
Super gassed to share this episode with one of our absolute favourite political commentators. We filmed this on August 20th (2 months before release) so we didn't manage to get into the Your Party in-fighting / capitulation nor the rise of eco-populist Zack Polanski. Sorry about that.
But we still managed to get into the weeds on immigration, identity politics and why Aaron thinks the Labour Party is failing to win over the public!!! You're welcome.
In a time of insurgent politics, commentators like Bastani have taken the risk of meeting audiences where they are. While mainstream media continues to flounder, Novara has grown to new heights, breaking audience records month on month. Given the way digital is now dominating electoral politics, it's hard to see how Novara's coverage isn't shaping the weather for Leftist audiences in the UK and further afield.
That said, Bastani often appears as a bug bear amongst leftist comrades, exasperated at his heterodox takes, pushed from his marxist-futurist, self-confessed socially conservative vantage point. He is not afraid to think for himself nor challenge those who disagree with him. That's why he's at the frontier of what's left.
Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:25 Digital Political Communication 10:50 Corbyn’s Labour Failures 20:22 Why Labour is Losing 34:30 End of 2 Party Politics 43:40 Reform’s Immigration Plans 54:00 Labour’s Comms Problem 1:05:35 Britain’s Managed Decline 1:16:08 Identity Politics and Race 1:25:00 Can Leftist Politicians Capitalise 1:35:45 Strategic Autonomy and US-UK Relations
Come hang @wtf_is.left
More from What's Left? With Jovan + Freddie
In our latest escapade to widen discourse on the Left, we sat down with Owen Jones to discuss his latest book, 'The Fall of The West'.
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft ****
We're delighted to be joined by the Rt Hon Kanishka Narayan MP. In our first episode from Labour Conference 2026, we discuss the backlash to AI doomsday warnings, the fragility of the AI economy and how this tech will be used - to the benefit or detriment of workers. As listeners will know, we've approached AI with a healthy dose of scepticism. Technology is itself neutral but the politics emerges in its application. We have plenty examples in history of how industrial revolutions disempowered workers before inevitable backlash and revolution. Do we need to wait for things to get bad? Or does the UK have a serious plan for a future that harnesses the white heat of technology? We delve into all of this and more, asking how the UK is preparing for the moral mission of worker-centric AI.
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content
JOIN US ON SUBSTACK: substack.com/@wtfisleft Early Access to Ad-Free Extended Interviews Ask our Guests Questions LIVEs with Jovan + Freddie WL Book Club + Community Discussion Articles + Exclusive Content MAKE A DONATION: https://buymeacoffee.com/wtfisleft