Late Night Live — Full program podcast

For the first time, Late Night Live UK political commentator Ian Dunt, meets David Marr in person. In this special hour-long conversation, Dunt explores the parallels and distinctions between political developments in the United Kingdom and Australia, analyses the strains in relations between the UK and the US over the Iran conflict, and examines the recent Greens by-election win, in a long-held UK Labour seat.Guest: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentatorProducer: Ali Benton

What are Israel's ultimate objectives in Iran, Lebanon and the broader Middle East? The veteran journalist and author Gideon Levy joins the show to discuss Israel's role in the Iran war, and whether or not peace is possible in the Middle East. Then: what even is a battery? So much of modern life depends on our ability to store energy, and humanity's turn towards a green energy future is only possible because of the humble battery. But should you recycle your old AAs? Plus: new research on Australia's very, very early desert settlers.

Australian Government leaders have been taking a cautious 'let's just wait and see what happens' approach to the war in the Middle East. Bruce Shapiro explains the legal and political constraints on President Trump's war leadership. And the scandals scattered across the literary world.

Former NSW Premier and former Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Bob Carr and his wife Helena were almost inseparable. When she suddenly died, while they were in Vienna on an opera and galleries tour of Europe, Bob was bereft. Back in Sydney, he took to walking the streets late at night.His memoir 'Bring back yesterday' pays tribute to Helena, born to Chinese and Tamil parents in Taiping. Bob Carr reflects on their life together, and on the work and politics that they both, and separately, have been involved in.Guest: Bob CarrProducers: David Marr/Ann Arnold

Our US political commentator Bruce Shapiro has watched the (very long) State of the Union address. The High Court has found the Catholic Church is liable for the actions of a priest who abused a boy in the 1960s in NSW. Lawyer and victim advocate Judy Courtin analyses what this decision might mean for the Church. Plus dams and desalination plants: will they supply sufficient amounts of water to cities in an extreme drought?

Richard Ackland discusses the scope and ambitions of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, and the challenges facing the enquiry. On the high seas, a major treaty aims to protect marine life from overfishing, climate change, shipping, and deep-seabed mining. Why hasn't Australia ratified it yet? Plus, Sir Douglas Mawson kept extensive diaries, which have taken the South Australian Museum 20 years to transcribe. What do Mawson's diaries reveal about one of Australia's greatest explorers?

Chief political correspondent for SBS, Anna Henderson, on the ongoing political wrangling over people who do or do not reflect 'Australian values'.And former New Zealand Prime Minister and former head of the United Nations Development Programme, Helen Clark, says it is high time the UN's top job went to a woman.

The PALM scheme, bringing Pacifika workers to regional Australia to work, has many fans, but significant problems also, a new report finds. Its author Peter Mares, a long time analyst of immigration policy, also discusses the current political hyperbole around immigration. And Irish author Ronan McCrea on the new sources of opposition to gay rights, and argues the movement needs to rethink its goals.

i Paper's Ian Dunt on Keir Starmer's political future and how UK asylum seeker policy is getting headlines in the tabloids. Plus why Germany is on a mission to revamp its military and defence systems. And the art of the dodge and deflect - how politicians spin their way out of answering questions

The Australian Democracy Network says our lobbying laws make it easy for the gambling industry to have the ear of our political leaders. After capturing Venezuela's leader, Cuba may be next on Trump's list, and questions are being asked about whether green burials are as environmentally friendly as they claim to be.

The Liberal Party has to make some big decisions about its direction, and journalist Anna Henderson is watching closely. Author Antony Dapiran on how the sentencing of publisher Jimmy Lai points to a rapidly changing Hong Kong. And Conny Aerts, a pioneer in making music from the vibrations of stars.

Trump flies over a US city in a jet, dumping excrement on protesters; welcome to the era of government-endorsed AI slop videos. Charlie Warzel from The Atlantic joins the show to talk about the US's experiment in government-by-meme. Plus: psychologist Steven Pinker argues that what drives society is knowing that what we know is widely know — in his term, "common knowledge". But what if our beliefs about everyone else's inner thoughts turn out to be wrong?

Gaza is today in ruins, with over seventy thousand dead and buildings everywhere rendered rubble by the onslaught from Israel since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. Many argue the war on Gaza began at this point, but historian Julie Norman has traced the history of both the land, its people and the terrible wars that have plagued what was once a beautiful and prosperous place for a century and destroyed the dreams of the Palestinian people. Guest: Julie M. Norman, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations at University College London, and an Associate Fellow at Chatham House. Author of Gaza: The Dream and the Nightmare, co-authored with Maia Carter Hallward, Director of the PhD Program in International Conflict Management and Professor of Middle East Politics at Kennesaw State UniversityProducer: Catherine Zengerer

NSW Police responded with violence to a Sydney protest against Israeli President Herzog's support of Israel's war on Gaza. An American journalist describes the challenge of working through the Epstein files. And an Australian university librarian found a drawing and an inscription in the back of a very old book, which helped to reveal a 500-year-old mystery about the life of a famous Italian painter.

In parliament's second sitting week of the year, the Liberals are contemplating "non-existence". Australia recently formalised a major security treaty with Indonesia, which Albanese described as a "watershed moment". Plus: the toads are feral. How did cane toads get this way? And what can Australia do about these hopping menaces?

An unauthorised biography of US broadcaster Tucker Carlson shows how he wields his influence. And it's 100 years since the creation of Winnie the Pooh.

Ian Dunt does not spare Peter Mandelson, the former ambassador to the US who was pictured in his underwear in Jeffrey Epstein's mansion and accused of sharing "market-sensitive information" with Epstein. That's just one of the bombshells from the latest tranche of documents from Epstein's files. In other world news, India has cut two huge trade deals recently; the first with the European Union, followed by one with the United States. Then: a new documentary that exposes the trade in polar bear fur.

US politics commentator Bruce Shapiro looks at the aftermath of the ICE killing of Alex Pretti. President Trump's intended intervention in Iran seems less clear. Professor Ali Ansari, from St Andrews University, canvasses the geopolitical implications of any international interventions. And artist Peter Drew, who is responsible for the 'Aussie' posters around our cities, wants to engage with young right wing men.

As parliament returns, the conservative side of politics is in a moment of upheaval. Leadership questions hang over Littleproud and Ley, and One Nation surges in the polls. Also visiting Canberra next week will be Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, in a trip to mourn the victims of the Bondi attack — but it's a visit that's drawing scrutiny from critics of Israel's war in Gaza. Then: the story of the Colleano family, who gained international fame as circus stars... while hiding their Aboriginal identity on the world stage.

"Our politics is dumb and completely short-sighted and personally obsessed." At 93 Barry Jones, former ALP National President, writer and public intellectual, has a thing or two to say about politics and society. He sits down with David Marr for a long discussion on the nature of parliament, his frustrations about climate inaction, his relationship with Bob Hawke, his view on AUKUS and the numinous experience of hearing the music you love, performed exquisitely. Guest: Barry Jones, former ALP politician, writer and social activist.Producers: David Marr and Catherine Zengerer Barry's music list: Maria João Pires playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 4 with Herbert Blomstedt conducting the NHK Symphony Orchestra. Barry says: “It's like one of the great experiences. Your heart beat changes, your breathing changes, everything changes. It's such a wonderful work.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_juGZePAxpQPires playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 3 with Frans Brüggen and the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century. Barry says: “A stunning recording.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hR95EK9fEKo&list=RDhR95EK9fEKo&start_radio=1Alfred Della singing Esurientes implevit bonis from Bach’s Magnificat in D major with the Kalmar Orchestra conducted by Pierre Colombo. Barry says: “Esurientes is just extraordinary.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Amko575QCEBach’s Fuge à la Gigue BWV 577. Tom Koopman on the organ of the Walloon Church of AmsterdamBarry says: “A sort of hustling thing. Get out, get out, get out, get out and do things.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FHb4d8TwIE

The Australian Coalition is no longer, and the newly alone Nationals are rethinking their leadership. We assess the role of the Nationals in the Coalition over the years, and forecast what might happen next. And the little known story of Thomas Willing, who bankrolled – and in the process helped save – the American Revolution, and then fundamentally shaped the financial architecture of the young Republic.

Donald Trump will send his border czar to Minnesota and says his administration is "reviewing everything" in relation to the shooting death of nurse, Alex Pretti, by federal agents in Minneapolis. Bruce Shapiro looks at the political backlash in the US, and what it means for the Trump administration. Plus, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is losing faith in the International rules based order - his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos went viral. And the tiniest creatures you've never heard of- springtails.

What do the numbers tell us about how many Australians are buying into the anti-immigrant rhetoric from the far right? Then, a look at last year's expansion of Indigenous Protected Areas, the biggest in history. Plus, a backwards glance at Australian history through the lens of a single day — January 26 — and the strange, serious, and uncomfortable things that day reveals about our nation.

It’s 125 years since the death of Oscar Wilde. The famous playwright and author died alone in a French hotel in 1900. Since that time, so much has been written about his wit, prose and character. Some of it fact, some of it rumour, much of it, speculation. In his new book called After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, sets the record straight. The book is thirty years in the making and is an exploration of Wilde’s posthumous reputation and how his imprisonment for homosexuality affected Wilde's family, friends and literary legacy.Guest: Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde's grandson and author, Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal,Producer: Ali Benton

As US President Donald Trump eyes the UK with tariff threats over Greenland, i Paper columnist and UK correspondent, Ian Dunt, examines Keir Starmer’s response — and whether he has any cards to play. Plus, who is Stephen Miller, the 40-year-old shaping America's immigration agenda?

Bruce Shapiro looks back at how US President Donald Trump has changed the world in one year, and how the world is responding to his plans for a "Board of Peace". Plus a former British MP investigates just how the Royal family is making its money, and it's not all coming from taxpayers.

Bernard Keane looks at the political ramifications of the Bondi shooting, and legal experts Katharine Gelber and Greg Barns discuss the limitations of the proposed legislation.

Tim Minchin turned fifty this year and just ran a marathon for the first time. He's returned home to Australia, with his new album Time Machine, and his tour 'Songs the World Will Never Hear'. In this special one-hour conversation, David speaks to Tim about the joys of running, quitting social media and worrying less.GUEST: Tim MinchinPRODUCER: Ali BentonOriginally broadcast October 16, 2025

While we've all been distracted with what's happening on Earth, an Australian lawyer has been helping the United Nations to draft the rules of resources in space. We speak with Emeritus Professor Steven Freeland about who really owns that comet. Then: to the last two Australians who were ever declared outlaws. On the eve of Federation, 1900, the Governor brothers murdered nine people and set of a months-long manhunt. Why has their story been told and re-told for more than a century?

The Director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, shares some of the latest discoveries from the buried Roman city, as new areas are excavated for the first time. Plus, the Australian adventures of Hollywood writer Zane Grey, who hunted sharks and other game fish in 1930s Australia.

John Menadue has been at the heart of Australian public life for over fifty years, working for the Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke governments. He oversaw the effective end to Australia's White Australia Policy, was CEO of Qantas and set up the Centre for Policy Development. In the media he ran The Australian for Rupert Murdoch, launched the online weekly New Matilda and founded the influential public policy platform, Pearls and Irritations. Now aged ninety, John reflects on Australia's media, in particular its coverage of the war in Gaza, our attitudes to race relations, AUKUS, our relationship with the United States and how Australia is navigating its place in the world during a global power shift. Guest: John Menadue, Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations Producer: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 20 August 2025

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 PatagoniaOriginally broadcast on 17 April, 2025

Environmental lawyers around the world have successfully made the case that rivers have rights, a movement that renowned science writer Dr. Robert Macfarlane tracks in his new book, 'Is a River Alive?'. Macfarlane takes us to some of the world's most beautiful rivers, and asks: what is it about running water that we find so compelling? And speaking of compelling, David Baron tells the story of how humans first become obsessed with the planet Mars. Was a 19th-century American's belief in Martians an accidental catalyst for modern space exploration?

Acclaimed US journalists and podcast collaborators with The Atlantic Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober join David Marr in-studio to discuss the MAGA women who love Trump, the state of the media in post-insurrection America, and the importance of complex human storytelling in journalism. Guests: Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober, co-hosts of the podcast We Live Here Now. Hanna is also Senior Editor at the Atlantic and host of Radio Atlantic Producer: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 13 August 2025

Drawing on her expertise in mental health and trauma studies, Palestinian psychiatrist, Doctor Samah Jabr, explores how the trauma of displacement and conflict continues to shape Palestinian lives. And why wool became one of the most important commodities for militaries across the globe.*This episode originally aired on 21 August 2025

What can we learn from Indigenous perspectives on Australian history? Two historians, one Indigenous and one not, explore new and very, very old ways of seeing the past in 'Deep History: Country and Sovereignty'. Then: shade. On a warming planet, shade takes on a new significance. It is an unevenly distributed resource, and, Sam Bloch argues, too often overlooked in urban design. On this special summer episode we look at shade in a new light.

If you left a feather at an American crime scene during the 20th century, chances are that Roxie Laybourne would be called. Laybourne was "The Feather Detective", a Smithsonian forensic ornithologist who solved crimes using her extensive knowledge of birds. Then: the makers of a documentary on the life of Emily Kam Kngwarray, the Indigenous-Australian painter who first picked up a brush in her seventies.

Should prison architecture be used for punishment, or could it be used to create hope, instead? 'Jaywalking' is being decriminalised in some US states as campaigners say the law has been disproportionately enforced on black and Latino residents. Plus how did we end up with the QWERTY keyboard, when it wasn't designed to be fast or logical?

Sir Gerard Brennan served as the 10th Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest judicial position in the country. He was involved in several landmark cases, including the famous Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) decision. This case overturned the concept of "terra nullius" (land belonging to no one) and recognised the native title rights of Indigenous Australians for the first time under Australian law. His son Frank Brennan has collected his father's speeches in Gerard Brennan’s Articles and Speeches, Vol 2: Law in Accord with Justice Guest: Father Frank Brennan, SJ

After 30 years of appearances on Late Night Live Laura Tingle shared her memories of Australian politics and her favourite LNL appearances before she began her role as ABC Global Affairs Editor. Plus why Aussies are in love with outdoor cinema.

Is over-tourism coming for Antarctica? As more and more people travel south for awe and adventure, our guest has some proposals to keep Antarctica pristine. Plus: Dame Harriet Walter, internationally famous for her TV roles, has long been a celebrated Shakespeare actor on the stage. Walter has inhabited the minds of Shakespeare's women for more than half a century, and her new book imagines what else those women might have said... if only they'd been given more lines.

Linguistics Professor Emily Bender, warns that the big tech companies who promote AI, with an almost spiritual zeal, may be off the mark. Plus the bizarre story of the Roosevelt family members who sought to prove the existence of giant pandas to the West.

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

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.GUEST: Andres Veiel, Director, 'Riefenstahl', showing at the German Film Festival PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 01 May 2025

Australian literature was never the same after McPhee Gribble Publishing, the revolutionary women-owned publishing house. The venture was started in 1975 by Diana Gribble, a socialite working in advertising, and Hilary McPhee, a novice editor. Soon authors like Tim Winton, Dorothy Hewett and Helen Garner were knocking at their door. Then: beach shacks, the humble shelters for fishermen and the destitute which adorn Australia's coast.

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.

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 his changing understandings of life. Originally broadcast on March 6, 2025

One of US President Donald Trump's first executive orders was to declare there are only two genders and to ban transgender women from participating in female sports. Trans poet and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon says people need to not only have compassion for transgender people, but for the people who are trying to deny their existence. And they're getting their message out through humour. Alok's show Biology is on Youtube.GUEST: Alok Vaid-Menon - comedian, poet and performance artist PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 27 February 2025

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

Journalist Omar El Akkad examines what he sees as the moral contradictions of the West in the face of the Gaza war. And historian Margaret Peacock traces the history of radio propaganda in the Middle East from 1940-1960.