Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Author and journalist Oliver Moody examines the historic European flashpoint of the Baltics - a group of nine borderland nations that continue to shape the future of the continent. Plus, theoretical cosmologist Katie Mack contemplates the end of the universe - and what it means for life now.

UK Labour is facing an internal revolt after attempts to cut the welfare budget by more than £5 billion. Bio-hacking is touted as the new secret to longevity, but is it just snake oil? Plus the Taungurung people's efforts to find out why the deberra, or bogong moth, is disappearing.

ABC's Bridget Brennan surveys the process that lead to Victoria's Yoorrook Justice Commission's final truth-telling report, which found that the Indigenous people of Victoria were subject to a genocide. Plus, US sociologist Musa al-Gharbi contends that the so-called 'woke elites' of the West, are more concerned about self-promotion than actual social change.

The man who killed 51 people at two Christchurch mosques in 2019, was motivated by far-right extremism and white nationalist ideology. A new podcast traces the killer's digital footprint prior to the massacre. And the promise of AI (artificial intelligence). A linguistics professor warns that AI technologies, particularly large language models like ChatGPT, are often misrepresented as intelligent entities.

The world is experiencing a profound break from the orthodoxy of globalisation. President Donald Trump and his MAGA movement didn’t invent isolationism - the concept goes back to ancient Greece. So what's the appeal of self-sufficiency, from a nation-state level down to the individual? Plus, a story of changing polices and attitudes to children in China - a journalist tracks down a stolen child, and reunites twins who grew up separately in China and Texas.

As the Dalai Lama turns 90, a struggle looms over his succession, with China insisting they will choose the next in line. Bruce Shapiro examines divisions amongst Republicans as Trump's 'big beautiful bill' faces a marathon debate in the Senate. And a sweeping 150 year history of test cricket - a story of race, class, money and empire.

A look at Anthony Albanese's political agenda for his second term with Guardian Australia Political correspondent, Tom McIlroy and for the first time in history, the MI6 chief — codename C — will be a woman. Plus the life of the lesser known Flinders brother, Samuel, who is seems was overlooked because of a family feud.

Space lawyer Steven Freeland is just back from UN meetings in Vienna, where his draft principles for accessing space resources were discussed. As chair of a working group, his job is to get all 107 member countries to agree on rules for who can do what. And the truths about Jimmy Governor, and his brother Joe, who inspired the book and film 'The chant of Jimmy Blacksmith'.

French President Emmanuel Macron's political fortunes may have turned against him at home, but in Europe, he now stands as one of the longest-serving leaders on the continent. What is the role of Macron's France in a tumultuous region and world? Plus, trailblazing Maori Professor Ngāhuia te Awekōtuku tells the wild, heartbreaking and beautiful stories of her life.

Our regular UK correspondent Ian Dunt looks at how the surprise US attack on Iran is playing out in Europe. Journalist Andrew Fowler has the backstory on the politics of getting Julian Assange freed. And the great mystery you may never have thought of - why are the noses missing from so many classical statues?

Late Night Live examines the political fallout from the US strikes on Iran, from Washington DC to Tel Aviv. Plus, as the US and Israel seek to destroy Iran's nuclear weapons capabilities, what sort of arsenal does Israel possess itself?

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.

Cambridge scholars Dr Wesam Amer and Dr Mona Jabril on the destruction of universities in Gaza. Plus, why does US President Donald Trump enjoy meddling with the world map?

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.