Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Epizody

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  Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, and secret women's business re-visited 15.10.2026 54min

  A new documentary looks back at the career of fiercely independent journalist and host of Democracy Now ! Amy Goodman and why she thinks independent media and dissent are what will save us from despots. Plus another documentary looks back at the fight against the Hindmarsh Island bridge in South Australia, the place where Ngarrindjeri women conducted sacred women's business and refused to back down on their right to keep it secret.  Guests:  Tracey Rigney, writer/director KUMARANGK: Sacred Women’s Business and Steve Kenny, one the lawyers who represented the Ngarrindjeri people Amy Goodman, journalist, co-host of Democracy Now!  Star of the new documentary film Steal this story, Please! Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]
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  Snow gums on the front line of climate change, plus Susan Orlean's life in writing 14.10.2026 54min

  Australia's unique alpine eucalypt is starting to die out. The High Country may never be the same again, a new book argues. And longstanding New Yorker magazine writer Susan Orlean, author of 'The Orchid Thief' and 'The Library Book', on her fascination with the stories of people who are not famous or powerful. Guests:  Ant Sharwood and Anna Langford, co-authors of 'The last snow gum' (Hachette) Susan Orlean, on a speaking tour of Australia. Her latest book is 'Joyride: a memoir'    
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  Ian Dunt's UK, Yanis Varoufakis and the meaning of zero 13.10.2026 54min

  Ian Dunt on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's push for a reset in Britain’s relationship with the EU. Could this be the beginning of the end for Brexit? Yanis Varoufakis' take on Greece's recent multi-billion dollar defence deals with the US and Israel. Plus mathematics professor Clemency Montelle takes us through the history and the importance of zero.  Guests: Ian Dunt, iNews columnist and regular LNL commentator Yanis Varoufakis - leader of the Democracy in Europe Movement and co-host The Econoclasts podcast Clemency Montelle - professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]
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  Allegra Spender on ending gay discrimination in schools, and the Catholic church reckons with AI 12.10.2026 54min

  When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was elected he promised to address a gap in federal anti-discrimination law which allowed faith-based schools to sack gay kids and teachers, but he has thus far failed to do so. Now Independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, has introduced a bill to end the right of religious schools and universities to punish gay and trans pupils and staff. Plus, as AI reshapes society, what does it mean to be human? Father Paolo Benanti, advisor to the Holy Sea on AI Ethics is in Australia to examine the moral questions posed by artificial intelligence. Guests: Allegra Spencer, Member for Wentworth Father Paolo Benanti, Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, and advisor to the Holy Sea on AI Ethics
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  Kate Grenville investigates a colonial cold case, plus who stole Victoria's ceremonial mace? 08.10.2026 54min

  Two writers investigate two mysteries from 19th Century Australia.  Kate Grenville uncovers a bundle of letters in the archives about the NSW country school teacher Joseph Connor, accused of beating his students. Was he a monster or the victim of a small-town vendetta? And Sally Young solves Australia's strangest political crime: the theft of the ceremonial mace from Victoria's state parliament in 1891. Guests:  Kate Grenville, author, 'The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters' Sally Young, author, 'The Curious Case of the Stolen Mace: Solving Australia's Strangest Political Crime'
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  The real J.R.R. Tolkien and the piano teacher of Montparnasse 07.10.2026 54min

  The Lord of the Rings made J.R.R. Tolkien one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. But who was the obsessive, conservative and often difficult man behind Middle-earth? And Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, has a new and equally remarkable true story to tell. In 1942 in Nazi-occupied Paris, the Nazis arrest a Jewish family, but their 11-year-old daughter escapes to her piano teacher, Andrée Levallois. Andrée is secretly a French Resistance operative who risks everything, including her own family, to hide the child.   Guests:  DJ Taylor, author of The King under the Mountain Heather Morris, author of The Piano teacher of Montparnasse Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]
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  Bruce Shapiro's US politics, and the stories told by tree rings 06.10.2026 54min

  Our regular US political commentator on the Cornell University sexual assault case, the failed execution of Christa Pike, and the dire outlook for the Republicans, four weeks before the midterms. Valerie Trouet, a paleo-climate scientist, compares tree rings from living trees with historical and archaeological wood to reconstruct climate patterns going back thousands of years. It enables her to look at how climate has influenced wars, empires and natural disasters. Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma Valerie Trouet, professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. Book 'Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings'
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  Simon Winchester reads the wind, plus Lech Blaine's wild childhood 05.10.2026 54min

  We revisit two memorable LNL conversations from recent times: Simon Winchester's cultural history of the wind, and Australian writer Lech Blaine's astonishing account of his beautiful, terrifying childhood - growing up in Queensland pubs stalked by Christian fanatics.  Guests:  Simon Winchester, journalist and author of The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind Lech Blaine, author of Australian Gospel
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  Naomi Klein's urgent AI warning plus a tour of Indian breakfasts 01.10.2026 54min

  Confronted with a series of existential threats, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor argue in their new book that wealthy billionaires, including the so-called "tech bros", have become focused not on how we can deal with those threats,  but who will best survive them.  They warn there is an urgent need for far more limits on dangerous technologies than US President Donald Trump's Whitehouse accord. Plus meet the author who breakfasted in ten Indian cities, to discover how Indian culture is reflected through its breakfast foods, makers and consumers. Guests:  Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, co-authors, End times fascism and the fight for the living world Priyadarshini Chatterjee, Kolkata-based travel, culture and food writer Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected]
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  How German history has been shaped by the peasant revolution of 1525 30.09.2026 54min

  The German Peasants' War was the greatest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. In 1524 and 1525, it swept across Germany with astonishing speed as thousands of people massed in armed bands to demand a new and more egalitarian order. The response from feudal overlords was brutal, but while the rebellion was suppressed, it would continue to influence subsequent revolts, contribute to the emergence of peasant and worker movements in the following centuries and serve as a precursor to larger social and political transformations in Europe.  Guest: Professor Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oriel College, Oxford University and author of Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War, published by Hachette Producer: Catherine Zengerer
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  The race for deep sea riches, plus when trauma is weaponised 29.09.2026 54min

  A host of new companies are rushing to apply for seabed exploration licences promised by the Trump administration - but are they equipped for this venture? Plus, trauma has gone from the clinic to the culture wars, but is a politics built around personal suffering crowding out class, power and solidarity? Guests Todd Woody, Reporter, Bloomberg News Catherine Liu, Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Author of Traumatised: The New Politics of public suffering
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  Mark Kenny's Canberra, Volkswagen's huge restructure, and David Marr at Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre 28.09.2026 54min

  Mark Kenny reviews PM Anthony Albanese's week at the United Nations in New York, and asks whether the Australian leader should be more assertive in rebuking the US President, on issues like the regulation of AI. Volkswagon is cutting jobs, considering factory closures, and even turning one car plant towards defence production. Can the company reinvent itself before its glory days become history? And David Marr takes you to the outback, to see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in flood.  Guests Mark Kenny, Director of the Australian Studies Institute, host of Democracy Sausage podcast; Jack Ewing, Journalist, New York Times David Marr, Late Night Live presenter
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  Australian doctors in Gaza, plus how vanilla went global 24.09.2026 54min

  Doctors work long hours in hospitals around the world, but visiting doctors in Gaza have to endure just some of what their local peers do: military attack, inadequate resources, inadequate food, and a starving, distressed population.  Plus, the curious history of vanilla - and how, despite its exotic flavouring and difficult cultivation, "vanilla" became a term for bland.  Guests: Dr Bushra Othman, Palestinian Australian General Surgeon from Naarm/Melbourne. Has done three stints in Gaza, and edited the book. Dr Amy Neilson, QLD-based specialist in rural and remote , tropical, and emergency medicine. Visiting Medical Officer in the NSW Hunter/New England regions. Senior lecturer in medical education at James Cook University, Cairns. Spent two weeks in Gaza in 2025. Professor Eric Jennings, historian, University of Toronto. Author of 'Vanilla: the history of an extraordinary bean’ (Yale University Press)
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  How immigration made Australia, plus our endless hunger for resources 23.09.2026 54min

  Australia is a nation built by migrants, but immigration has always been politically contested. A new history traces how we came to decide who belongs, who gets in and who is kept out, right back to the early days of the colony. Plus, historian James Crawford explores what happens when the resources that underpin modern life become harder to find, harder to extract and harder to replace. Guests Mark Cully, author of Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia, published by Black Inc James Crawford, author of The Vanishing Earth: A journey through the last days of Abundance   Australia is a nation built by migrants, but immigration has always been politically contested. A new history traces how we came to decide who belongs, who gets in and who is kept out, right back to the early days of the colony. Plus, historian James Crawford explores what happens when the resources that underpin modern life become harder to find, harder to extract and harder to replace. Guests Mark Cully, author of Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia, published by Black Inc James Crawford, author of The Vanishing Earth: A journey through the last days of Abundance
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  Bruce Shapiro on the looming US midterms, plus Putin's new world order 22.09.2026 54min

  Bruce Shapiro surveys the path ahead to November's critical US midterm elections, as US President Donald Trump's polling sinks to a new low. Plus, the senior Guardian correspondent Luke Harding on how Putin has up-ended the postwar global order, with help from his American counterpart.  Guests Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Luke Harding, The Guardian's senior international correspondent, and former Moscow bureau Chief. Author of Betrayal: Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest
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  Anna Henderson's Canberra, UN leadership race, and in defence of the bandicoot 21.09.2026 54min

  Anna Henderson is travelling with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, as he launches Australia's bid for a seat at the UN security council, does the United Nations have a future? And why bandicoots are doing your garden a fantastic service.      Guests: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS Richard Gowan, Director of Global Issues and Institutions at the International Crisis Group Annabel Ellis, PhD candidate at the University of Sydney in the Behavioural Ecology and Conservation Lab
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  Istanbul in the age of Erdogan 17.09.2026 54min

  For millenia, Turkiye’s former capital of Istanbul has been at the centre of world affairs thanks to its geography straddling the Bosphorus, the natural canal that forms the border between Europe and Asia. President Erdogan is keen to see the country reclaim some of its former power and importance, and get rich in the process, as his reign becomes more and more autocratic. Suzy Hansen chronicles the age of authoritarianism in Turkiye through an intimate portrait of its people, how Istanbul handled hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, and how its streets now teem with nationalistic fervour, political repression and rampant corruption.  Guest: Suzy Hansen, journalist and author of From Life Itself: Turkey and Istanbul in the Age of Erdogan, published by Allen and Unwin Producer: Catherine Zengerer
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  The birth and death of US foreign aid, plus a tribute to trailblazing judge Mary Gaudron 16.09.2026 54min

  The U.S.A.I.D program was established by President John F Kennedy in 1961, at the peak of Cold War tensions, but researcher Luke Fletcher says its roots date back to WWII, and a desire by the US to greatly expand its economic and military power. Plus, a tribute to Mary Gaudron, Australia's first female High Court judge. Guests:  Luke Fletcher, Executive Director, Jubilee Australia Research Centre and author of America and the Birth of Global Aid, published by Routledge John Basten AO KC, former judge of the NSW Court of Appeal
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  Ian Dunt's UK, a controversial curator, and the allure of world globes 15.09.2026 54min

  Our regular UK correspondent appraises Ed Miliband's bold stance on West Bank. Meet Dutch-Australian Kim Sajet, former Smithsonian director who Donald Trump tried to fire. And the allure of world globes. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast Kim Sajet, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum; former Director of the US National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Nikolaus Schobesberger, Director at the Globe Museum of the Austrian National Library in Vienna  
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  Anna Henderson's Canberra, former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert on Israel's future, and the art of a good wine label 14.09.2026 54min

  Anna Henderson on One Nation’s migration policy, the response to Pauline Hanson's 'derogatory' remarks about Aboriginal people on a podcast, and the government’s increasingly aggressive approach to big tech. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on what Benjamin Netanyahu was told before October 7, and why Netanyahu is threatening to sue Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Plus the hidden meanings in wine labels.  Guests: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert Katie Spain, freelance wine writer