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Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast
ABC Australia
250 episodes
Incisive analysis, fearless debates and nightly surprises. Explore the serious, the strange and the profound with David Marr.
More about the show
This LNL podcast contains the stories in separate episodes. Subscribe to the full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Episodes page 1 of 5
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Was the Voice referendum doomed from the start?
Three years ago, 60 per cent of Australians voted to reject the Voice to Parliament proposal in a referendum. A new book seeks to understand why, through analyses of extensive polling and survey data. • Guests: •…
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Ian Dunt's UK: Britain’s budget, Brexit, and the battle over Reform
The UK prepares for its budget, with the cost of living, public services and a struggling economy high on the agenda. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has reopened the debate over freedom of movement with Europe, and an…
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Decoding the language of bones
Bones are an archive of human experience, preserving traces of disease, violence, labour and time. In The Language of Bones, forensic anthropology reveals what human remains can tell us about lives long since ended.…
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France on the brink: debt, revolt and Marine Le Pen’s moment
France’s political crisis is deepening, with a mounting debt burden, a paralysed parliament and growing public anger over the future of the country’s social model. As governments struggle to agree on a budget, Marine…
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Anna Henderson's Canberra: the debate over political violence
Anna Henderson discusses the ongoing debate over the connection between the tone of political rhetoric and real world acts of violence, since the attack on Independent MP Helen Haines, the motive for which is still…
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From Truman to Trump: how Queen Elizabeth II handled 13 US presidents
Over her 70 year reign, Queen Elizabeth II encountered 13 US presidents - from Harry S Truman to Donald J Trump. The journalist Susan Page details how the Queen wielded her subtle influence over the world's most…
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The countdown to Israel's monumental election
Journalist and former correspondent Irris Makler joins Late Night Live from Israel, days away from the nation's elections. Polling suggests neither Netanyahu's Likud party, nor the challenging bloc lead by Gadi…
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A teenager in the Indonesian coup
A rare bystander's view of the 1965 coup where neighbours, including soon to be President Suharto, were key players. Tari Lang's family were radical intellectuals, working for the Sukarno Government. Sukarno was…
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What's next for Iraq, after final US withdrawal?
Veteran Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad surveys Iraq's uncertain future, as the US makes its final withdrawal of personnel, and the Iraqi government unleashes a familiar 'crackdown' on corruption. • Guest: Ghaith…
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The mysterious Inca code of knotted strings
500 years ago, the Incas ruled the western half of South America with the help of a unique form of writing based on coloured and knotted strings. Researchers think they're getting closer to deciphering these strings,…
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Children left behind in the Ebola response
The current Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the largest and most lethal in that country’s history, with 4536 deaths so far from 9415 cases, and it continues to spread at an alarming rate in…
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Bruce Shapiro's USA: seats to watch in the midterms plus Trump's strange Russia ploy
With two weeks to go before the midterms, Bruce Shapiro runs through which states to watch for changing seats, and why many of them are former Republican strongholds. And he examines President Trump's strange diesel…
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Australian yabbies are trashing rivers in Africa
Hordes of yabbies are trashing rivers in southern Africa - an Australian native crayfish that has rapidly become a devastating pest. Can the crustaceans be curtailed, or is this an unstoppable invasion?
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Cockroaches: are they good for India's democratic health?
The youth movement known as the Cockroach Janta Party is testing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's iron grip on power in India. Our guest, a global democracy expert, believes it's the most important challenge to…
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Independent MP Helen Haines critically injured in 'attack'
SBS Chief political correspondent Anna Henderson on the attack on Independent MP for Indi, Helen Haines. Plus tensions between the PM and Treasurer Jim Chalmers over credit card payments, and why the Nationals won't…
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Sacred women’s business: the Hindmarsh Island bridge affair
In 1988 developers Tom and Wendy Chapman decided to expand their marina on Hindmarsh Island in the mouth of the Murray river which people usually accessed by ferry. But to get the development approved they needed to…
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Amy Goodman on thirty years of Democracy Now!
For thirty years reporter Amy Goodman has been dogging presidents, politicians, oil companies, and tyrants of all kinds for her radio and television show Democracy Now ! that’s syndicated to over 1000 public television…
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Writer Susan Orlean on the power of the ordinary
Author of multiple books, and longstanding writer for The New Yorker magazine, Susan Orlean is passionate about telling the stories of ordinary people, and showing why they are interesting. She is in Australia this…
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Snow gums: the treasure we are losing
A new book claims the snow gum, with its twisting form and multi-coloured bark, is the most exquisite tree in Australia. It plays many important roles – storing water, holding back snow to prevent drift and melt, food…
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The story of zero
Zero is one of mathematics’ most profound inventions: a symbol for nothing that made new ways of thinking about numbers possible. Clemency Montelle traces its evolution across civilisations, from an empty placeholder…
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Yanis Varoufakis on Greece's defence deals with the US and Israel
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was on a mission when he visited Greece last week: to shore up defence ties between the two countries, to make new energy routes for US LNG exports and to use Greece as an example of a…
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Ian Dunt's UK: Will Burnham wind back Brexit?
UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is pushing for a reset in Britain’s relationship with the EU, arguing Brexit has left the UK worse off and calling for closer economic ties. • Guest: Ian Dunt, iNews columnist and…
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The Vatican’s warning on AI
Artificial intelligence is raising big questions about power, profit and what it means to be human. Father Paolo Benanti, advisor to the Holy Sea on AI ethics, is in Australia to discuss how we should navigate the…
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Allegra Spender pushes to end gay discrimination in religious schools
Under federal law, faith schools in Australia have the right to expel pupils and sack teachers who are gay. The Law Reform Commission recommended abolishing the practice several times, but so far faith leaders have…
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Who stole the mace from Victoria's parliament in 1891?
Writer and historian Sally Young solves the strangest crime in Australian political history: the theft of the ceremonial mace from Victoria's parliament in October 1891. Guest: • Sally Young, author, 'The Curious…
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Villain or victim? Kate Grenville investigates a colonial cold case
Kate Grenville's new book, 'The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters' began with the discovery of an unassuming bundle of letters in state archives. On closer inspection, they revealed a curious tale of a…
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The piano teacher of Montparnasse
A chance encounter in 2003 led Heather Morris to meet 87 year-old Auschwitz survivor Lale Sokolov. For the next three years, Lale told her his story. Heather’s book, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, went on to be an…
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The grumpy genius behind Lord of the Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien created one of the most intoxicating imaginative worlds of the 20th century, but the man behind Middle-earth remains surprisingly elusive. A deeply religious, conservative Oxford academic, Tolkien was…
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What can tree rings tell us about civilisation?
Tree rings are more than a record of a tree’s life. They’re an archive of climate, fire and environmental change. They can take us back thousands of years, revealing droughts, disasters and even clues to the rise and…
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Bruce Shapiro's USA: the Cornell case, a failed execution and Democrats could flip the House
Bruce Shapiro looks at the political fall-out from the Cornell University rape case, how the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee has intensified national debate in the US over lethal-injection protocols, and,…
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Pub bedrooms and Christian fanatics: Lech Blaine's extraordinary childhood
Australian writer Lech Blaine shares the stranger-than-fiction story of his childhood, growing up with a loving foster family in a rural Queensland pub, haunted by fanatical Christian kidnappers. Guest: • Lech…
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Simon Winchester on the wind: the invisble force we can't live without
It's invisible, it drives us crazy, and we can't live without it. The wind has been worshipped, feared and cursed across cultures, referenced in the earliest forms of writing. Simon Winchester tells the stories of how…
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Breakfast in India
This author ate multiple breakfasts in each of ten Indian cities, with the aim of looking at India's diversity and layered societies through its breakfast foods, makers and consumers. • Guest: Priyadarshini…
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Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor on why we need urgent controls on artificial intelligence
Confronted with a series of existential threats, like the climate crisis and the potential of AI to end life on earth, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor argue in their new book that wealthy billionaires, including the…
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How German history has been shaped by the peasant revolution of 1525
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…
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How trauma became a weapon in the culture wars
Trauma has become one of the defining languages of our age. Cultural theorist, Catherine Liu argues that our focus on individual suffering can obscure the deeper forces of class, inequality and power.So has trauma…
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Deep sea mining, Trump-style
Australian and Canadian-run companies, some with questionable credentials, are trying to cash in on Donald Trump's promotion of deep sea mining licences. The US licensing disregards the international regulator, the…
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David Marr's view of Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in flood
David Marr is on holiday in the outback, to see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in flood. He shares his birdseye view of the rare natural wonder.
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Can Volkswagen return to its former glory?
Volkswagen was once the powerhouse of German industry. Now Chinese car makers are challenging its dominance, while Dieselgate still casts a shadow over the company. VW is cutting jobs, considering factory closures, and…
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Mark Kenny's Canberra: Is Australia too timid with Trump?
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. •…
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Australian doctors in Gaza
Dozens of Australian and New Zealand doctors and nurses have worked in Gaza over the past two years. They temporarily joined the local medical staff in working around the clock, sometimes on very little food, trying to…
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Vanilla, an extraordinary bean
A new book tracks this exotic 'spice' from the 16th century, and its origins in the world's only edible orchid, found in Central America, to the widespread use of vanilla flavouring today. And it explains how this very…
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Can we repair an Earth scarred by extraction?
Humanity has extracted more from the Earth in the past 50 years than in all previous history combined. James Crawford explores the global scramble for dwindling resources, from lithium in Chile to the fossil-fuel…
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The 'miracle' of Australia's migration story
Immigration built Australia. Since the 1830s, when free settlers began to outnumber convicts in the colonies, some 12 million migrants have come to Australia, shaping the country's economy, culture and identity. These…
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Trump's relationship with Putin, the biggest mystery in world politics
It's been 54 months since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Luke Harding, has witnessed the war firsthand. His latest book condemns the US 'betrayal' of…
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Bruce Shapiro's USA: is a 'blue wave' really coming?
As US President Donald Trump's approval ratings hit new lows, are the Republicans facing a Democratic 'blue wave' at the looming midterm elections? • Guest: Bruce Shaprio, Contributing Editor for The Nation, Executive…
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When Australians hunted bandicoots
Since the early pastoral expansions of colonial Australia, the native bandicoot has attracted the ire of farmers and gardeners, blamed for digging up crops, ruining lawns, and even spreading disease. A new research…
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The race for the UN’s top job
António Guterres will step down as UN Secretary-General at the end of the year, after a decade in the job. He leaves a UN under pressure from wars, funding cuts and deepening rivalry between the major powers, with US…
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Albanese spruiks digital safety agenda in US
PM Anthony Albanese has visited Apple CEO Tim Cook in Silicon Valley to discuss Australia's digital safety laws, before travelling to New York for a meeting of the United Nations. Australia has formally launched a bid…
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Istanbul in the age of Erdogan
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…
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