Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Why are people around the world having fewer babies, and what – if anything – should be done about it? And Macau has long been overshadowed by Hong Kong, but it was once a central meeting place of Western and Chinese cultures, a colonial outpost rich in stories and characters.

In 1948, a team of 17 Australians and Americans went to Arnhem Land to document traditional Aboriginal life, collecting thousands of natural specimens and cultural artefacts. It was an ethical and organisational shambles. And Kim Il-Sung, the grandfather of North Korea's current leader, Kim Jong Un, created the state of despair and oppression that continues today.

Bruce Shapiro on Trump's Iran plan, and those military parades - how popular were they really?  The right-wing firebrand Geert Wilders has walked out of the conservative Dutch coalition. And string writing by the Incas has been misunderstood. These khipus were in fact used to record changes in climate.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is at the G7 in Canada preparing to meet with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines, face-to-face for the first time. As Israel and Iran trade missile strikes, what might have been if President Trump had not dismantled the 2015 Iran nuclear deal? Plus, the story of how the Māori brought the sweet potato - or kūmara - to New Zealand.

It's a story of wars, conquests, trade, ideas and political struggle. Latin America and the United States have a long and complex relationship spanning centuries. Pulitzer Prize winning author, Greg Grandin, argues you can't tell the story of the North, without including the story of the South. Plus, one of Australia’s most celebrated figures, Emily Kngwarray is the highest-selling woman artist in national history. The Anmatyerr Elder found global fame in the late ’80s with large-scale paintings deeply rooted in her connection to Country, culture and community.

Journalist Lucy Ash examines the 'masculine' appeal of Russian Orthodox churches to a growing number of young men in the United States. Plus, a new documentary, The Haka Party Incident, recounts a significant race relations incident from 1979 New Zealand, when Maori activists confronted a group of Auckland university students who mocked the haka.

As protests over immigration raids continue in Los Angeles, US President Donald Trump has sent in the National Guard. Bruce Shapiro surveys the chaos. Plus, on the anniversary of the Myall Creek massacre in northern NSW, Mark Tedeschi KC remembers the good men who pursued justice for the slain Wirrayaraay people.

Political scientist Michael Albertus shows that who owns the land determines whether a society will be equal or unequal, whether it will develop or decline, and whether it will safeguard or sacrifice its environment. And David Runciman calls for the emancipation of 6-year-olds.

The Myanmar military and militia groups have just extended the ceasefire they agreed to after the earthquake. But there are concerns China is using the disaster to increase its influence, and scam centres are still going strong.  Plus, the United States has become very divided, again. An anthropologist tries to understand these extremes and how to bridge them.

Beset by years of gang violence, the Haitian government has enlisted the assistance of the ex-CEO of the defunct private military firm Blackwater, notorious for its role in the death of civilians in Iraq. Plus, the science journalist Laura Spinney traces the ancient origins of English, Russian, Hindi, Greek and more - back to a linguistic origin known as "PIE" (Proto-Indo-European).

Ian Dunt examines Britain's new defence plan, as Europe ramps up its war-readiness. Why water is at the centre of ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan. And how did some of the more obscure parts of the human anatomy get their names?

Crikey's Politics editor Bernard Keane on the surprising defection of Senator Derinda Cox from the Greens to Labor, and US calls for Australia to increase its defence spending. Writer Xochitl Gonzalez critiques the widening chasm between the haves and have-nots in the US. Plus John Lethlean's colourful life as a food critic.

The term 'national security' wasn't always around. It was invented, effectively, by US President Franklin D Roosevelt, as a call to Americans to get involved in WW2. And Hollywood actress Merle Oberon had to hide her South Asian origins in 1930s London and America, in order to work in movies and remain in America.

First Nations in Tasmania have now secured permanent cultural fishing rights for abalone, and now they’re putting it back on the dining tables of Tasmanians. And the civil engineer who quit his job to campaign against the construction of a port in Tenerife.

US President Trump is threatening to deport a group of men to war torn South Sudan. We track the money behind the Enhanced Games - a kind of Olympics on steroids. And there is much to learn from a famous cookbook from ancient Rome.

After 30 years of appearances on Late Night Live - spanning nine Australian Prime Ministers - Laura Tingle bids farewell to LNL as its political correspondent in Canberra, before commencing her ABC Global Affairs role. In a sprawling conversation, Laura recounts her early beginnings in journalism, the ebbs and flows of Canberra politics through the decades, and what she's come to admire in our representatives.

Australia's Commonwealth government is due to make a decision on the proposed 50-year extension of Woodside's gas lease on Western Australia's Burrup Peninsula. Marian Wilkinson investigates. And David meets the New Zealand hunter, fisher and gatherer Terressa Kollatt, now teaching troubled teens to forage for their own wild food.

A new history of the union movement in Australia looks at those often left out of the picture: migrants, women, Indigenous Australia and LGBTIQA+ people. Plus Cambridge scholar, Luke Kemp and his   historical autopsy of why societies collapse.

Trump's constant changes to tariffs are wreaking havoc on US ports, logistics, and the price of goods. Any Russia/Ukraine ceasefire may be at a high cost to Ukraine, given the losses it agreed to in the recent US minerals deal. And Kati-Thunda Lake Eyre is on the brink of its biggest inundation in 15 years.

7.30 Political Editor Laura Tingle surveys the path ahead for conservative politics in Australia. And from Lady Macbeth to Kate the Shrew - actor Dame Harriet Walter imagines what Shakespeare's women might have said, if the Bard's plays had a more female perspective.

Journalist Vincent Bevins on the popular Landless Workers Movement of Brazil - an agrarian movement which redistributes unused government land. And environmental historian Rohan Howitt, from Monash University, argues that Australia had an Imperial zeal to claim the Antarctic and Southern Ocean as its own.

Antony Loewenstein on the countries still supplying arms to Israel. And nature writer Robert Macfarlane asks, is a river alive?

Ian Dunt unpacks the UK government's tough new plan to reduce migration. With swathes of Europe in drought, could new data centres exacerbate growing water problems? And the project preserving Australia's most ancient long-distance communication tool: the message stick.

Analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture.

Analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture.

Bruce Shapiro critiques Donald Trump's first hundred days in office. Fifty years ago Kerala was one of India’s poorest states, now it's one of the richest. How? And a tribute to Canadian Ted Kotcheff, who directed one of Australia's biggest cult films - Wake in Fright.

Laura Tingle and Niki Savva dissect Labor's landslide victory in the federal election, and examine what went wrong for the Coalition. Plus, writer Nick Ryan explains why there's a glut of wine in Australia.

Leni Riefenstahl has been hailed as one of the greatest directors of all time, even though her most famous films were works of propaganda for Hitler's Reich. Her film about the 1934 Nuremberg rallies broke new ground in cinematic techniques and had a huge influence on filmmakers for years to come. Riefenstahl always claimed she was just an artist, unaware of Nazi atrocities, but a new documentary reveals secrets from her extensive archives.

Australia's tax system is unusually generous to the prosperous. Ahead of the Federal election, why is tax reform not on the agenda? And how Mexico's first female President, Claudia Sheinbaum, is taking on US President Donald Trump.

Ian Dunt looks at how the gender wars have exploded in the UK,  Global Affairs Editor John Lyons take us to a bunker in Kyiv and Brook Turner examines the funding dramas inside some of Australia's oldest arts institutions.

Laura Tingle counts down to election day, as costings are released and Labor maintains its two-party preferred polling lead. Writer Phil Craig recounts how the final, dramatic acts of the Second World War shaped the ensuing century. And a look back at 125 years of Australian electoral paraphernalia: from flyers, to ballots, boxes, pins and corflutes.

Approximately 70 Australians risked their lives to fight Franco's fascism in the Spanish Civil War, but they are not honoured in Australia. And, whiskerology - one term for the 19th century American movement that judged people's character by their hair.

A former employee of the US Institute of Peace (USIP) recounts the dramatic days when members of Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) raided his office and sacked most of the staff. Plus, historian Judith Brett on the fearless 1970s Australian feminist, Beatrice Faust.

Early voting opens on a subdued day in the federal election campaign. Will the 76 year-old security pact NATO survive, despite US President Trump's skepticism? And how did pigeons go from prized possessions, to pests?

As Taiwan waits to hear what tariffs the Trump Government will impose on its world-leading computer chips and semi-conductors, we bring you a rollicking account of this strategically important small nation.  This program was first broadcast on 10 October 2024. Guest: Jonathan Clements, author of  'Rebel Island: the incredible history of Taiwan' (Scribe)  Producer: Ann Arnold

In 1998, the former Chilean head of state Augusto Pinochet was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. Philippe Sands was called to advise Pinochet on his claim to immunity, but would instead represent a human rights organisation against him.  Guest: Philippe Sands, author of 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia, appearing at the Sydney Writers Festival, May 2025

Sean Johnson from Open Politics says Australia's federal parliament needs to act against MPs who fail to disclose their private interests. And journalist Pagan Kennedy shares the story of Marty Goddard - the true inventor of the standardised rape kit - a vital tool in sexual assault forensics.

The Trump administration's war on universities continues, but Harvard refuses to 'yield'. Political economist Yanis Varoufakis compares Trump's tariffs to the 'Nixon Shock' of 1971. Plus, the folklore of Australia's oldest running race: the Stawell Gift.

Laura Tingle recaps the official campaign launches of the major parties, three weeks out from the federal election. Another federal term ends without a promised reform to the Sex Discrimination Act, to remove an exemption allowing religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQI students and staff. And philosopher Damon Young maps the history of human gestures..

20 years on from her famous novel The Secret River, writer Kate Grenville retraces the footsteps of her settler ancestors, and asks what it means to be on land taken from other people. Guest: Kate Grenville, author of Unsettled, published by Black Inc

Legendary ABC election analyst Antony Green has announced this federal election will be his last in an on-air role. Plus, journalist Nicholas Pelham on what lies ahead for Syria's new government.

Bruce Shapiro on who is getting rich from Trump's tariffs, Irris Makler on how the Gaza war is playing out inside Israel, plus why the theatre interval is disappearing.

Can Opposition leader Peter Dutton recover from a policy backtrack? What does the UK's AUKUS review mean for the relationship between the three allies? And a look at ancient Rome reveals that tariffs are nothing new, but always messy.

An ABC podcast has uncovered new evidence that casts doubt on the Howard governments' claims they knew nothing about plans to sack 1400 wharfies and train a new, non-union workforce in Dubai during the 1998 waterfront dispute. Plus the Australian Book Review's CEO and editor, Peter Rose, reflects on a lifetime shaping the national conversation.

Historian Stephen Gapps reveals the incredible story of frontier resistance warfare in a huge area of the Murray-Darling river system, across many First Nations’ lands, in a concerted defence of River Country. Plus, Professor of Humanities Mark Lilla on why humans are seduced by ignorance.

Analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture.

As the election campaign gets underway, Laura Tingle looks at the messaging, who is being effective and what role US President Donald Trump plays in it all. Plus why many Australian universities have adopted a definition of antisemitism that includes criticism of Israel.

Journalist Omar El Akkad examines what he sees as the moral contradictions of the West in the face of sustained violence in Gaza. Plus, lawyer Judy Courtin on the recent Australian High Court ruling that the Catholic Church is not 'vicariously liable' for a priest's abuse.

Perpetrators of sexual violence are getting younger, and the messaging campaigns aimed at men are only causing a backlash. Jess Hill on why our prevention programs are failing. Plus the real story behind the tale of four children lost in the Amazon jungle after their plane crashed.

Bruce Shapiro on the pressure facing judges, law firms and institutions to either comply with - or resist - US President Donald Trump's executive orders. As Europe ramps up defence spending, Poland is already digging lines of defence. And what happens when human conflict - or even a crime - occurs in an Antarctic workplace?

Laura Tingle on how the major parties have aligned to water down environmental protection laws in the face of further disasters in the Tasmanian salmon industry. Thousands protest the arrest of Turkiye's opposition leader. Plus the Australian-isms we love, and what they say about our history.

Questions are being asked about whether its ethical to publish author Joan Didion's personal diaries after her death - and without her consent. Plus the dark history of the green cities movement - with links to eugenics and ideas of making compliant workers.

Historian Margaret Peacock traces the history of radio propaganda in the Middle East from 1940-1960. From the BBC to Radio Moscow, all the big powers had their own Arabic language radio stations broadcasting across the region. Plus the ongoing trauma of the firebombing of Tokyo. The elderly survivors of the bombing are still fighting for recognition.

Ian Dunt reflects on the role of Britain in a Europe bolstering its defences. Sir William Browder says sanctioned Russian assets should be used to leverage a decent peace deal for Ukraine. And a new museum fills the silence of Poland's queer history.

7.30 Political editor, Laura Tingle, asks whether Anthony Albanese ever had any chance of escaping Trump's tariffs. Economist and writer Satyajit Das, on how Australia should navigate this economic uncertainty. And a history of trolling before the internet.

The Danes, alongside other Scandinavian nations, are the most trusting people on Earth - trusting of their neighbours, fellow citizens and public institutions. Why then, has trust in the Danish media collapsed? Plus, biographer Stephen Maher on the rise and fall of Justin Trudeau, the prince of Canadian politics.

As alliances wobble, wars rage and world leaders talk of rearmament, are we on the precipice of a new nuclear age? Security expert Ankit Panda says our coexistence with the bomb is becoming more complicated and perilous. Plus, why are Caribbean nations lining up to leave the British monarchy?

Bruce Shapiro is back as measles spreads in Texas, and Columbia University faces drastic defunding from the Trump administration. Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes on the myths and benefits of prisoner rehabilitation through building design. And playwright Katy Forde celebrates the life of Dr Lilian Cooper - Brisbane's first female doctor - with an award-winning musical.

Political Editor Laura Tingle on the potential federal implications of WA's state election result. What are the origins of the DEI initiatives (diversity, equity and inclusion) in the United States, that President Trump so reviles? And who really discovered gold in Australia in the mid-19th Century?

Alan Rusbridger, the former editor in chief of The Guardian UK on Trump's push to silence dissenting voices in the media and writer Robert Dessaix has a new memoir, Chameleon, in which he reflects on his many identities and how his changing understandings of life.

Has the rise of leaders like Orbán, Trump and Netanyahu finally put paid to the liberal fantasy that fascism, ultra-nationalism and xenophobia were symptoms of a political malaise consigned to the 19th century? Authors Wesley Lowery and John Crace join David Marr in front of a live audience at Adelaide Writers' Week.

Despite the promise that we were “all in it together”, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a flight from sociability. While that escape may have been a relief for some, has it intensified a culture of excessive individualism, narcissism, and disconnection from one another? Julia Baird, Geraldine Brooks and Rachel Kushner join David Marr in front of a live audience at Adelaide Writers' Week.

Has the myth of the Australian fair-go finally been broken? Are social divides deepening and widening? And in a time of great uncertainty, how does Australia see itself in the world? Bob Carr, Rick Morton and Rebecca Huntley join David Marr in front of a live audience at Adelaide Writers' Week.

Trans poet and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon on how they use humour to flip the narrative about transgender people, and how to tackle Donald Trump's transgender ban - by focusing on compassion for the people who want to oppress them.

Three years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, renowned historian Orlando Figes, delves into President Vladimir Putin's rationale for war. And we go back to 1970s Australia and America, when the Whitlam Government paid a record sum for an abstract expressionist painting - Blue Poles. There was an outcry, and the government would pay a political price as well.

Ian Dunt on how the UK is reacting to Trump abandoning Ukraine. What happens to NT Indigenous communities when mining royalties dry up? And how to rescue a hummingbird.

Laura Tingle on the variation in poll results ahead of the election being called, the big money media-training the conservative young faces of the far-right. Plus was Western Australia's first government geologist a genius... or a charlatan?

Indigenous Australian theatre and arts director Rhoda Roberts says the backlash against Welcome to Country ceremonies is a return to assimilation. Plus in 2024, the planet was hit by 58 weather disasters with damages of more than a billion dollars and numerous insurance companies are either folding or limiting what they will insure. So who pays for the damage?

A growing number of Catholic Church leaders have criticised US President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Bishop Mark Seitz from El Paso, Texas, says immigrants deserve mercy, not persecution. And happy fiftieth birthday to McPhee Gribble, the small enterprise that changed Australian publishing forever.

Members of the US Congress are wondering whether President Donal Trump will simply ignore the courts and and precipitate a constitutional crisis. How does Vanuatu recover from the double shock of earthquakes and cyclones? And major publishing house Simon and Schuster has banned book blurbs, claiming the practice is part of an "incestuous" system that rewards an author's connections.

Laura Tingle looks at what role the independents could play in a minority Coalition government. And a look back at the shipwreck that devastated early Darwin in 1875 - the sinking of the SS Gothenburg.

A declaration of martial law in South Korea, lasting six hours, has created the country’s biggest constitutional crisis since the late 1980s, and the life of forgotten Australian poet, Francis Webb.

The small town of Predappio is Italy’s premier neo-fascist tourist site, with hundreds of thousands of fascist sympathisers descending on the town annually. So how do the locals feel about living in the shadow of Mussolini’s grave? Plus the strange connection between the wellness industry and white nationalism.

Calls to "stop the boats" have returned to UK Parliament. What is the degrowth movement, and can it really challenge the global economic order? Plus how relevant are the Oscars as they near their centenary?

Outrage in parliament as the Opposition shuts down Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus during Holocaust speech. Why some US cities are decriminalising jaywalkers, and some remarkable finds of Roman mosaics.

The late Australian poet Dorothy Porter is best known for her verse novel The Monkey's Mask. But her work ranged across many ouvres. Her early life at home, with violence and bullying at the hands of her well-known barrister father, Chester Porter, is laid bare in a memoir written by Dorothy's sister Josie McSkimming

ABC Global Affairs Editor John Lyons digests US President Donald Trump's extraordinary declaration that the United States will 'take over' the Gaza Strip. Why is Brazil taking on the tech titans and demanding "digital sovereignty"? And with 125,000 visitors last year, has 'overtourism' reached Antarctica?

Bruce Shapiro on Trump's tariff backtrack. How Belarus is weaponising migrants to destabilise the EU. And moral panic over cycling women in Victorian England.

Peter Dutton's political point-scoring on national security and antisemitism. Will Benjamin Netanyahu get what he wants from the second phase of the ceasefire deal. And cinema indoors and out - Australia has a longstanding cinema tradition.

US President Donald Trump’s threatened deportation of up to twenty million immigrants brings back tough memories for Japanese Americans who were deported in World War Two. Plus the New Yorker's head fact checker, Fergus McIntosh.

Vancouver decriminalised possession of small quantities of drugs for personal use in 2023. Then drug deaths sky-rocketed. So did the experiment fail, or were there other factors at play? Plus Tibet is one of the most linguistically diverse regions on the planet, but Mandarin is encroaching and the old languages are disappearing.

Ian Dunt on the fall-out between Nigel Farage and Elon Musk. Plus what Greenlanders think of Trump's push to the buy the icy island.

As the Australia Day weekend comes to a close, leading social researchers Rebecca Huntley and Anthea Hancocks break down what the latest data says about who we are as a nation in 2025. Plus, Anna Clark muses on the history of the Australian beach shack.

What happens when child soldiers grow up and have children of their own? A new inter-generational study looks at the former child soldiers of Sierra Leone. Plus when a glamorous life is revealed to be a lie.

While anti-Semitic attacks in Australia and America appear to be on the rise, Jewish journalism professor and author Peter Beinart argues that Israel's actions in Gaza and the West Bank have made Jews around the world a target.  Plus how Coca-Cola infiltrated academia, and meddled with the science of obesity to protect their profits in America, China and beyond.

Regular US commentator Bruce Shapiro in an extended segment to talk inauguration and more. And journalist Dima Khatib was on the first commercial flight back into her home city of Damascus, after the fall of the Assad regime.

Laura Tingle looks at how the major parties spent their summer as the shadow election campaign takes off. A landmark agreement for workers on Pacific fishing boats. Plus the role of eucalyptus trees in the LA fires, and how they've become an invasive species around the world.

Stephen Fry reflects on the power of story-telling, how to counter impostor syndrome and the things he absolutely can’t do.  Guest: Stephen Fry Originally broadcast: 28 October 2024

Since the 1980s, lawyers have used copyright law to protect Indigenous Art, but is it fit for purpose? When India gained its independence, a huge part of the country was ruled by many local princes or Maharajas. How were they convinced to give up their power to join the new Independent India?

Antonia Murphy recounts her stranger-than-fiction experience, running an ethical escort agency in New Zealand. And historian Alexis Peris uncovers a bundle of letters exchanged between women in the US and the Soviet Union, across the Iron Curtain.

The deep connections between banks and the conservative Catholic order, Opus Dei.  Plus how Australia's birds had songs millions of years before they reached Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas.

Alfred Dreyfus was an officer in the French Army when he was arrested 130 years ago for treason, convicted and sent to Devils Island for 5 years in solitary confinement.  His battle for justice divided the population of France and fascinated people across the globe.

Santilla Chingaipe tells the stories of the 15 convicts of African descent that came with the first fleet, and the hundreds that followed. How does their story fit in the story of the global slave trade? And what truth is there to the mystical powers of absinthe both in the past and its current form? Is it more myth than magic? Evan Rail investigates.

Australian-born writer and honorary madrileño Luke Stegemann celebrates the remarkable and under-appreciated Spanish capital of Madrid. And a new exhibition brings medieval women back to life.

Did you know passports can be ranked, and can be different even within nations?  Patrick Bixby examines the history of passports. Plus what Harry Houdini got up to when he visited Australia.

Author Henry Savery is credited with being Australia's first novelist, for his work 'Quintus Servinton', but in his new book author and historian Sean Doyle says in fact the first Autralian-born novelist was John Lang. Plus the challenge to save the world's islands and their inhabitants from the triple threat threat of invasive species, sea level rises and global heating.

Insights into some of the hundreds of Australian indigenous languages, which continue to evolve. And what can be learnt from spending a lot of time with a small herd of cows.

UK poet laureate Simon Armitage reflects on his Yorkshire upbringing, writing great royal deaths and coronations, and his fear and love for nature. Plus, ornithologist Penny Olsen celebrates the historic detection of a population of rare night parrots, in WA's Great Sandy Desert.

War historian Joan Beaumont makes a pilgrimage to the Indonesian island of Ambon, where hundreds of Australian soldiers died in WWll, and ponders the meaning of connection to past war traumas. Plus, remembering Tadeusz Kosciuszko  - who was he, and why was he so revered?