Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

As the mercury rises for another summer, millions of Australians will flock to the local municipal pool. There are some 1300 public pools across the country. But all is not well for this great Australian institution. Many public pools are now well over 50 years old. Hundreds are at risk of closure in the next decade without significant repairs, according to Royal Life Saving Australia. And council budgets are tight. Guest: Dr. Liz Taylor, Senior Lecturer in Urban Planning and Design, Monash University

The government has taken much greater control of the defence budget and tries to marry defence land acquisitions with their housing targets; Prime Minister Albanese weds his long-time sweetheart and Pauline Hanson continues to woo Barnaby Joyce. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent | National Press Club DirectorProducer: Catherine Zengerer

In the 1960s when counter-culture and unrest was peaking around the world, India's left-wing protest movement took the form of a group of militant Maoists, determined to bring an end to capitalism in the wake of British rule and partition. Now after more fifty years the Maoist insurgency has finally surrendered, and the surviving leaders have issued an historic public apology to India’s people for their long reign of violence. Guest: Rahul Pandita, journalist and author of “Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India’s Maoist Movement.” Producer: Catherine Zengerer

In 1945, sixteen Aboriginal men working at Birrundudu Station created 810 crayon drawings, commissioned by anthropologists Ronald and Catherine Berndt. Using this unfamiliar medium, the men documented their extensive knowledge of Country, ancestral creation, history, and ceremonies of the region.GUEST: Dr John Carty, Professor of Museum and Curatorial Studies at the University of Adelaide ; Robert McKay, Djaru man, collaborator on the Birrundudu project.

In 1925 in Melbourne, two young men were having lunch in a cafe in King Street, Melbourne when one of them lit a cigarette. Another diner confronted them and a brawl ensued outside. The complainer, Bill Wallace, was set upon and bashed. He pulled out a pistol and shot one of the men. With no court appearance, Wallace was incarcerated for the rest of his extraordinarily long life in mental asylums. At 107, Bill made it into the Guiness Book of Records as the oldest prisoner in the world. But his schizophrenia was never treated. Guest: Gideon Haigh, journalist and author of Who is Wallace? The Enigma of the World’s Oldest Prisoner” published by the Archives Liberation Front.Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The veteran Canberra journalist Niki Savva dissects the monumental result of the 2025 federal election. Where has it left both the Coalition in opposition, and the Labor party in government? And what does the result says about the political attitudes of modern Australia?Guest: Niki Savva, author of Earthquake: the election that shook Australia, published by Scribe

In ancient times, limb loss was not uncommon, and often deadly. For those that survived - and had money to spend - commissioning a bespoke prosthetic was an opportunity to display one's prestige, valour and stoicism. Guest: Dr Jane Draycott, historian and archaeologist, University of GlasgowProducer: Jack Schmidt

In January, US President Donald Trump passed an executive order that banned transgender troops from serving in the American military. Now, several of those service members are taking their fight to court, arguing that the ban is unconstitutional. Their lawyers say the order discriminates against people who have already proven their commitment and capability in uniform. Advocates warn it could also damage military readiness by pushing out trained personnel. For many of these troops, the legal battle is not just about policy — it’s about their right to serve the country openly and without fear.GUEST: Shannon Minter, Legal Director of the National Centre for LGBTQ Rights in the US.PRODUCER: Ali Benton

Nauru became rich because it sat on one of the world’s purest and most valuable phosphate deposits — the key ingredient in fertiliser. When Nauruans took control of the mines after independence, money poured in and the tiny island briefly had one of the highest per-capita incomes on earth. For a time, it funded free services, no taxes and lavish public spending — a remarkable, if short-lived, resource boomGUEST: Stewart Firth, Research fellow at the Australian National University and author of Globalisation and Governance in the Pacific IslandsPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Golda Meir fell after the Yom Kippur War. Menachem Begin quit after the disaster of the 1982 Lebanon invasion. But despite the trauma of October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu remains — still the dominant figure in Israeli politics. Aluf Benn, editor in chief of the left-leaning Haaretz, argues that Netanyahu’s survival is “perhaps the greatest break with the status quo of Israeli history.”GUEST: Aluf Benn, Editor in chief of Haaretz, Israel's newspaper of the left. PRODUCER: Ali Benton

The Senate was suspended after One Nation's Pauline Hanson wore a burka in the chamber. The Senator claimed it was a national security issue, but Anna Henderson says her claims don't stack up. Meanwhile federal environment minister Murray Watt is trying to push changes to environment laws through in the final sitting week, but at this stage neither the opposition nor the Greens are on board. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent | National Press Club DirectorProducer: Catherine Zengerer

In the wake of 50th anniversary commemorations of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's dismissal, the historian and biographer Professor Jenny Hocking AM says it's time that the federal government allow free and open access to all archives related to the events surrounding November 11th, 1975. Guest: Jenny Hocking AM, historian, biographer, Professor Emeritus at Monash University

It's invisible, it drives us crazy, and we couldn't live without it: the wind has been a constant presence for all of history, and was one of the first things people ever wrote about. What is it about this invisible force that captures our imagination? How have humans mastered the wind? And how has it humbled us?Guest: Simon Winchester, journalist and author of The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the WindProducer: Alex Tighe

25 years in the making, the Australian publication Quarterly Essay has reached its 100th edition. Editor Chris Feik shares how QE was born, and how it comes together four times a year.Guest: Chris Feik, editor

Seventy years after foxes were first introduced to Australia in 1870, they had managed to spread across the continent. For the first time, their colonisation of the continent has been mapped.GUEST: Dr Sean Tomlinson, Lecturer at the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin UniversityPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Jamaica was devastated when Hurricane Melissa hit. Hundreds of thousands of homes were flattened, and whole towns were destroyed by one of the most powerful storms on record. Recovery will take years. For the people of the Jamaica the increasing ferocity of global warming is just another wave of punishment from rich Western countries. This week, a delegation from the Caribbean is meeting with the UK government to discuss the intersection between reparations for hundreds of years of slavery and payment for the damage wreaked by climate change. Guest: Natricia Duncan, Caribbean correspondent, The Guardian UK Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Bruce Shapiro joins Late Night Live as the US Senate approves the release of the Epstein documents, after a confounding backflip from the US President, Donald Trump.Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor at the Nation; Executive Director at the Global Centre for Journalism and Trauma

Author Helen Garner sat through the trial of Erin Patterson, who was convicted of murdering members of her family with deadly mushrooms. She reflects on coming face to face with a murderer, her love of the courts, her faith and what happens when people have to face the consequences of their actions. Guest: Helen Garner, co-author of The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations about a Triple Murder Trial, with Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, published by Text. And How to end a story — collected diaries 1978 to 1998Note: Erin Patterson is appealing her convictions, claiming there was a "substantial miscarriage of justice" during her trial.

Space is big... but not infinite. The area around the Earth is populated by thousands of satellites and a million pieces of space debris, and those objects could stay in orbit for decades. Adding to the complexity, since 2019 there's been a growth-spurt in the number of satellites being sent into space. Is it possible to avoid a catastrophic build-up of junk in orbit that could make space unusable?Guest: Professor Aaron Rosengren, space engineer from the University of California, San DiegoProducer: Alex Tighe

As Myanmar prepares for its first elections since the military junta took over in 2021, a new documentary from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has revealed some of the horrific measures being used by security forces to maintain control, including forced conscription and interrogation centres where it is claimed that detainees are often tortured to death. The tactics are seeing people flee the country, and and the number of soldiers deserting the army is on the rise. Guest: Fiona Macgregor, senior producer of Myanmar Exposed, a series of reports by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit.Producer: Catherine Zengerer

As the Liberal Party joins the Nationals in ditching a net zero emissions target for 2050, what is the fate of the remaining moderate MPs in the Liberal Party? Plus, One Nation continues to gain ground in polling. Guest: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS

In 1966, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz wrote his PhD thesis on inequality. Almost sixty years later, after decades of research, numerous books, and international acclaim, he has led a new report for the upcoming G20 summit in South Africa, warning that the world is now confronting an “inequality emergency.”GUEST: Nobel Laureate Economist, former chief economist of the World Bank, and Professor at Columbia University, Joseph Stiglitz.PRODUCER: Ali Benton

As Russia and the US both threaten to resume nuclear testing and China has tripled its stock of nuclear arms, former foreign minister Gareth Evans has written an essay for Australian Foreign Affairs Magazine arguing that Australia should lead a new arms control push. He says “nuclear arms control has never been more necessary, and never more difficult to achieve. The important arms control agreements of the past are dead, dying or on life support. And the recent behaviour of the actors that matter most – the United States, Russia and China – has fed concerns that things can only get worse.”Guest: Gareth Evans, Distinguished Honorary Professor, Australian National University, former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, author of “Doomsday diplomacy: Australia can lead a new arms control push”, for Australian Foreign AffairsProducer: Catherine ZengererGuest: Gareth Evans, Distinguished Honorary Professor, Australian National University, former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, author of “Doomsday diplomacy: Australia can lead a new arms control push”, for Australian Foreign AffairsProducer: Catherine Zengerer

The writing of Australian history has tended to focus on the south-eastern corner of the continent, but the story of colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn paints a vastly different picture of this country, its people, politics and ambitions. Guest: Henry Reynolds, historian and author of Looking from the North: Australian History from the Top Down

The University of Melbourne is celebrating 70 years of Australian computer classes, which were first taught on CSIRAC, the earliest computer ever built in Australia and the oldest surviving computer in the world. What did it take to run a 2,500kg computer back in the 1950s?Guest: Dr Peter Thorne, former head of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Melbourne (and, long before that, the weekend service operator for CSIRAC)Producer: Alex Tighe

On October 28, conservative Governor of Rio, Cláudio Castro, ordered over 2,500 police officers and soldiers to storm the city’s favelas at dawn. The goal was to capture leaders of the notorious Comando Vermelho (Red Command) gang. "Operation Containment” was a massacre – at least 120 people were killed, sparking international outrage about police brutality in the country which is hosting the CoP Climate Summit. The dead included a 14-year-old and a 19-year-old who was decapitated and had his head exhibited on a tree.Guest: Ana Lankes, The Economist’s Brazil bureau chiefProducer: Catherine Zengerer

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to sue the BBC for 1.6 million dollars, over an inaccurate clip aired on its flagship documentary program, Panorama. Despite the editing mistake, Ian Dunt argues that attacks on the British broadcaster are part of a populist assaultGUEST: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentatorPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Fifty years on, the dismissal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam on November 11th 1975 remains the most dramatic day in Australian political history. But mysteriously, there is little surviving news footage from that frenzied day. Guest: Simon Smith, curator at National Film and Sound ArchiveProducer: Jack Schmidt

Rebel forces in Sudan have captured the city of el-Fasher in a coup so violent the blood stains could be seen from space. The RSF rebel army is led by Commander "Hemedti” Hamdan, whose family has deep ties to Sudan's gold trade. Gold makes up around 70 percent of the country's exports and is estimated at $USD16 billion annually. Much of it is smuggled to the United Arab Emirates and control of Sudan’s gold mines is making Hemedti a very rich man. Meanwhile the government's SAF army has control over their own supply of gold, and they're refusing to sign up to a ceasefire deal put forward by the United States, Egypt, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. Guest: Declan Walsh, Africa Bureau Chief, New York Times and author of The Gold Rush at the Heart of a Civil WarProducer: Catherine Zengerer

As the 50th anniversary of the Whitlam dismissal approaches, Prime Minister Albanese announces the commissioning of a statue of Gough Whitlam for Canberra. And the Liberal Party looks likely to drop their net zero policy this week. But what will that do for their base? Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political CorrespondentProducer: Catherine Zengerer

The war medic Edward 'Weary' Dunlop became legendary in the POW camps of World War II for his courage and leadership, including putting his body between a patient and a Japanese bayonet. From the football field through to the horrific working conditions on the Thai-Burma Railway, Peter FitzSimons traces the life of an Australian hero.Guest: Peter FitzSimons, journalist and authorProducer: Alex Tighe

The dismissal of Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam by the Governor-General on November 11, 1975 is perhaps the most dramatic and most contentious moment in Australian political history. 50 years on, do modern Liberals still back Governor-General Sir John Kerr's decision to sack a sitting PM?Guest: Julian Leeser MP, shadow Education Minister, Liberal Member for BerowraProducer: Jack Schmidt

When New York based, Queer thriller writer Andrea Bartz, discovered the AI company Anthropic, had pirated her book to train its AI large language models, she decided to sue. Alongside two other authors, a class action suit was filed. In a landmark settlement, Anthropic agreed to pay 2.28 billion dollars to five hundred thousand authors. It’s the largest payout in the history of U.S copyright cases.GUEST: Queer thriller writer Andrea Bartz, author of The Last Ferry OutPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Despite lacking approval for construction from the federal agency that oversees building projects, US President Donald Trump has commenced major renovations at the White House. The East Wing, has been flattened, and a new, 90000 square foot ballroom will be built in its place. Heritage architects are concerned about the new design, claiming that one of America's most famous landmarks could be compromised.GUEST: Jan Werner Muller, Professor of Politics at Princeton University.PRODUCER: Ali Benton

After a stunning ascent, Zohran Mamdani is the youngest mayor of New York in more than a century. Mamdani is a fierce critic of Donald Trump, and Trump had endorsed an alternative candidate. But New York wasn't the only anti-Trump election result; Democratic governors were elected in New Jersey and Virginia, and Californian voters approved a measure designed to bolster the number of Democrats in the House. What do all of these results mean for Donald Trump's second presidency?Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor at The Nation and Executive Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma

The emergence of commercial photography technology in the mid-19th Century coincided with the rise of imperial control in the Pacific, including the British colony of Australia. A new book offers a comprehensive study of photography's arrival in Australia, and its implication in the colonial project. Guest: Elisa DeCourcy, writer and curator, author of Early Photography in Colonial Australia, Melbourne University PressProducer: Jack Schmidt

During his decade as UN Secretary-General, U Thant played a pivotal role in resolving some of the most dangerous international crises of his time. From defusing the Cuban Missile stand-off, and preventing nuclear war, to mediating conflicts in India and Pakistan, and the Middle East, he consistently worked to maintain global peace. He also challenged U.S. policies during the Vietnam War, demonstrating a commitment to diplomacy over confrontation. Despite these critical interventions, history rarely remembers him as the peacemaker he truly was, and his legacy remains largely overlooked.GUEST: Thant Myint U, historian, academic and author of The Peacemaker: U Thant and the Forgotten Quest for a Just WorldPRODUCER: Ali Benton

When the CIA was building its new headquarters, they commissioned a statue designed to pay homage to the spy agency. 'Krytpos' was both a sculpture and a mystery: the artwork contains encrypted messages, one of which — known as K4 — has never been decrypted. But just this year, as the artist was preparing to auction the solution, two journalists found K4's answer written in plain English in the Smithsonian archives. But have they really solved the K4 mystery?Guest: Dr Sam Blake, the Australian mathematician and cryptographer who solved the Zodiac Killer cipher Z340Producer: Alex Tighe, Catherine Zengerer

On 10 December, the government's new law banning under-16s from having social media accounts will be enforced. It's a world-first attempt to rein in the power of Big Tech, free kids from their phones, and prevent the harms of social media — but will the law actually achieve its aims?Guest: Cam Wilson is the associate editor of Crikey, where he writes about internet culture and techProducer: Alex Tighe

Pressure is building inside the Liberal party to follow the Nationals' decision to abandon its commitment to net zero carbon emissions. Anna Henderson looks at the political implications for both parties. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent | National Press Club Director

Aussies love to gamble, whether it’s on the horses, down the pokies, at a fancy casino, or, increasingly, betting on their favourite sports team from the ease of our mobile phones. We love gambling so much we lose around $32 billion every year – more than any other country in the world. There’s long been support for putting the brakes on, but it seems our politicians are more addicted to the money than we are. Guest: Quentin Beresford, Adjunct Professor at Sunshine Coast University and author of 'Hooked - inside the murky world of Australia’s gambling industry', published by NewSouthProducer: Catherine Zengerer

'The genocide in Gaza was not committed in isolation, but as part of a system of global complicity.' That's the conclusion of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese. Her most recent report, “Gaza Genocide: a collective crime” says that rather than ensuring that Israel respects the basic human rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, Western states - including Australia - have provided, Israel with military, diplomatic, economic and ideological support, even as it weaponised famine and humanitarian aid. And this means we could be at risk of prosecution. Guest: Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The Pope forgave the man who shot him in the stomach. Erika Kirk forgave the assassin who killed her husband, Charlie. But what, exactly, is forgiveness? When we forgive someone, what exactly are we doing?Guest: Professor Lucy Allais, a philosopher at both the University of the Witwatersrand and Johns Hopkins UniversityProducer: Alex Tighe

Patrick White was Australia's only Nobel Prize-winning author, renowned for novels like Voss, The Tree of Man, and The Vivisector. His work explored spiritual isolation, human cruelty, and the Australian landscape, often drawing from his own privileged but tormented life as a gay, asthmatic outsider. Now a new work has been written reflecting on White's startling use of language and his mythic depiction of the Australian landscape and the people who inhabit it. Guest: Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek, University of Sydney, author of "On Patrick White's Dilemmas", published by New South Books. Guest: Professor Vrasidas Karalis, Sir Nicholas Laurantus Professor of Modern Greek, University of Sydney

Anthropology is the study of human cultures, with a strained culture of its own: its practitioners have often been involved in colonial control of native populations. Australia's first anthropology department was founded 100 years ago, at the University of Sydney. A century on, can an academic discipline that has followed in the footsteps of colonisation still shed light on the world?Guest: Dr Michael Edwards, Lecturer in Anthropology at The University of SydneyProducer: Alex Tighe

On the streets of Chicago, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are busy arresting, detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants as part of "Operation Midway Blitz". But communities are finding ways to resist.Guest: Evelyn Vargas, Organised Communities Against Deportation, ChicagoProducer: Jack Schmidt, Ali Benton

King Charles wants Prince Andrew out of the Royal Lodge, as allegations against Andrew resurface in Virginia Giuffre's posthumous memoir. The Prince continues to deny those allegations. Meanwhile, the UK Conservatives launch an extreme immigration policy, and UK Labour has suffered its first parliamentary defeat in Caerphilly for 100 years, as Plaid Cymru claim victory in the Welsh Parliament by-election.GUEST: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentatorPRODUCER: Ali Benton Editor's note: the allegations referred to in this interview continue to be denied by Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.

If AI language models can "learn" human languages, and translate between them, could AI also help us to decode what animals are saying? Off the coast of Dominica, a Caribbean island known for its sperm whale population, some ambitious scientists are trying to find out. Project CETI aims to use advanced robotics and AI to break the barrier of human-animal communication.Guest: Professor David Gruber, Project CETI President and Founder and National Geographic ExplorerProducers: Rebecca Metcalf and Alex Tighe

International investigative journalism outfit ‘Lighthouse Reporter’ found a vast archive of data on the deep web containing thousands of phone numbers, emails and locations of people all over the world. The data came from a little-known surveillance company called First Wap. Headquartered in Jakarta, but run by a group of European executives, First Wap has quietly built a global phone tracking empire for its Altamides program, which has tracked journalists, environmental activists and political dissidents.Guest: Gabriel Geiger, lead reporter for Lighthouse Reports' "Surveillance Secrets' investigation.Producer: Catherine Zengerer

As parliament resumes, Labor has a big bill to push through: changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, which has been widely criticised as no longer fit for purpose and hindering productivity. The bill will establish Australia;s first National Environemnt Protection Agency, but the Greens say they won't support it if it doesn't contain a so-called "climate trigger', which would give the federal Environment Minister more power to scrutinise and control high-polluting projects based on their climate effects. The Coalition wats the bill split in two, with the more contentious parts around environmental controls moved into a separate bill. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent | National Press Club DirectorProducer: Catherine Zengerer