Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Isabel Allende has sold more than 80 million books, drawing on a life shaped by exile, political upheaval and personal tragedy. Now, in her eighties, she reflects on the art of storytelling, the power of imagination and why she believes stories matter in an age of rising authoritarianism. Plus, Louise Adler and Bishop George Browning examine the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Australian society and politics, which is the subject of the Manning Clark and Dymphna Clark Lecture they will jointly deliver on 17 November, 2026. Guests: Isabel Allende, writer Louise Adler, former publisher, former Adelaide Writers’ Week Director and member of the Jewish Council of Australia’s Advisory Committee. Bishop George Browning - Anglican Bishop of Canberra Goulburn (retired), former President and now Patron of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Patron of Palestinian Christians in Australia, patron of Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center. Get in touch: Email us at…

The arrival of the telephone changed the world. In the USA, the first country to rapidly commercialise everyday phone usage, one company dominated that rollout: Bell. Alexander Graham Bell, while not the sole inventor of the phone, led its development, and secured the patent. Plus, writer Simon Miraudo, unearths cinema’s lost history, from films destroyed in fires to entire works erased from existence. Guests: James Gleick, science writer and historian, Author of 'The Telephone: A New History' (Picador) Simon Miraudo, writer and film critic. Get in touch: Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Our regular UK political commentator Ian Dunt on why his country should temper its reaction to the US midterm results. How a dispute over which judges dominate a court could determine who rules Poland. And the world's rock arches are precious, but inevitably, will fall. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news, co-host of the Origin Story podcast Bartosz Brzesinski, senior reporter for Politico Europe Jeffrey Moore, hiker, and Professor of Geology and Physics, University of Utah Contact Late Night Live via email here.

Israel's opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has been asked to form the next government, putting an end to Benjamin Netanyahu's long political dominance. The former army chief now faces the task of assembling a governing coalition and navigating Israel's deep political divisions. Plus, Professor Richard Dawkins reflects on fifty years since writing The Selfish Gene, where developments in artificial intelligence might take us, and whether he's at risk of a death-bed conversion to believing in god. Guests: Irris Makler, veteran Israel correspondent Professor Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and author Get in touch: Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

The newly-published 20th annual Scanlon Foundation report into Australia's social cohesion has found that more and more Australians are feeling pessimistic about the future, amid growing financial pressures. But social cohesion remains fairly robust, with most Australia broadly supportive of immigration. Plus, the former Australian soldier and military strategist Professor David Kilcullen considers when (if ever) it is justified for a nation to intervene in the affairs of another - with troops, money or force. Guests: Dr James O'Donnell, demographer at ANU; lead investigator, Scanlon Foundation Dr David Kilcullen, Professor of War Studies at the University of New South Wales; Professor of Practice at Arizona State University, and CEO of the geopolitical risk analysis firm Cordillera Applications Group Get in touch: Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

US correspondent Bruce Shapiro brings his analysis of the 'blue wave' that saw the Democrats take both the House and the Senate in a resounding repudiation of Trumpian politics in the US mid-term elections. Did any potential presidential candidates emerge? What's the future for the Republicans, and what can the Democrats achieve with Donald Trump threatening to veto their legislation? Plus in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries technological developments meant guns became small enough and affordable enough to be used by ordinary men. Italy led the way, helped along by Leonardo da Vinci. They caused havoc, and posed a difficult question for rulers - how to balance their need for defence versus how to control the use of guns in everyday life. Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Catherine Fletcher, author of The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires Get in touch: Email us at…

When the Assad regime fell in Syria in 2024, NPR correspondent Emily Feng was surprised to find thousands of Uyghurs amongst the victorious rebel forces. What were they doing there and why were they fighting? Plus, bestselling author Sally Rooney and her publisher have pulled he books from UK shelves, while legislation continues to designate the group 'Palestine Action' as a terror organisation. Does this amount to censorship? Guests: Emily Feng, NPR correspondent and author of 'Our hearts burned from home: Uyghur militants in Syria's civil war' Tanjil Rashid, culture editor at the New Statesman Get in touch: Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Anna Henderson reveals an Australian doctor from Perth who worked in ISIS medical centres could face the death penalty in Iraq. She and David also discuss antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal's report which has called out what Segal describes as "progressive antisemitism", and whether One Nation will run a candidate against Nationals leader Matt Canavan in the Queensland seat of Capricornia. Plus Singapore is threatening to prosecute companies responsible for some of the worst fires in years in neighbouring Indonesia, as the region grows increasingly frustrated with a persistent, toxic smoke haze. And the latest craze for billionaires - purchasing dinosaurs rare fossils. Guests Anna Henderson, SBS, Chief political correspondent, SBS. Sean Tseng, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) at National University Singapore Conor O'Keeffe, Science Journalism Fellow, ABC. Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you. Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

After President Lula de Silva's comeback election victory in Brazil, his defeated opponent Flavio Bolsonaro vanished from the country. What now lies ahead for the giant South American nation, under the 81 year-old Lula? Plus, a new biography explores the complexities of Geoffrey Bardon, the white Australian school teacher who became a key figure in the contemporary Indigenous art movement of the 1970s, while battling his own demons. Guests: Deborah Barros Leal Farias, Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales Kitty Hauser, author of 'Art Mania: Geoffrey Bardon and the Painting Men of Papunya', Giromondo Press Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you. Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Correspondent Irris Makler joins Late Night Live as the votes are tallied after Israel's election - with a deadlock looking increasingly likely. Plus the story behind the European lawyers, who fled to Australia after World War Two. Guests: Irris Makler, veteran Middle East Correspondent Katherine Biber, historian and Professor of Law, University of Technology, Sydney Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you. Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

UK journalist Ian Dunt previews PM Andy Burnham's first budget, plus a new book analyses published and unpublished polling data to understand how and why the 2023 Voice to Parliament referendum failed to win the majority support of the Australian public. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist for i-news, co-host of Origin Story podcast Professor Murray Goot, Macquarie University and Professor Emeritus Tim Rowse, Western Sydney University, co-authors 'The Year Our Voice Broke' (2026) Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you. Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

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, plus whether the government's use of algorithms in aged care assessments shows it has learned the lessons of Robodebt. France’s debt is mounting, its governments are paralysed and public anger is spilling into the streets. As the political centre falters, far-right leader Marine Le Pen is waiting to capitalise. Plus, bones are an extraordinary record of human life, holding clues to our histories, our societies and the ways we die. From forensic science to Europe’s vast ossuaries, what can the dead tell us about the living? Guests: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS James Waterhouse, BBC Paris Correspondent Carla Valentine, author, The Language of Bones

Correspondent Irris Makler joins Late Night Live from Israel, days away from the country's elections. Plus, Washington journalist Susan Page details Queen Elizabeth II's relationship with 13 US presidents, from Truman to Trump. Guests: Irris Makler, journalist and former Jerusalem correspondent, France24 Susan Page, Washington, D.C. bureau chief for USA Today, author of 'The Queen and Her Presidents' Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Veteran Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad contemplates Iraq's 'impossible predicament' in the wake of the final withdrawal of remaining US personnel and amid ongoing corruption battles. Plus Indonesian writer Tari Lang recalls Indonesia's bloody 1965 coup, and growing up in the same neighbourhood as dictator Suharto. Guests: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, journalist for The Guardian Tari Lang, author 'My neighbour, the dictator: Coming of age in the shadow of Indonesia's 1965 coup'

Bruce Shapiro counts down to the US midterm elections. Dr Rupa Nara of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) returns from a recent mission to the epicentre of the Ebola crisis. Plus, are researchers finally decoding the mysterious Inca 'language' of knotted strings? Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor for The Nation, Executive Director for the Global Centre of Journalism and Trauma Dr Rupa Nara, paediatrician, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) Professor Sabine Hyland, anthropologist from the University of St Andrews Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

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 support the EU trade agreement. Also on the show, India's youth movement, the Cockroach Janta Party, is testing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's grip on power. Plus hordes of yabbies are trashing rivers in southern Africa. Guests: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS Maya Tudor, Professor of Politics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford Dr Rachael King, specialist in freshwater and marine invertebrates, Head of Research, SA Museum

A new documentary looks back at the career of fiercely independent journalist and host of Democracy Now ! Amy Goodman and why she thinks independent media and dissent are what will save us from despots. Plus another documentary looks back at the fight against the Hindmarsh Island bridge in South Australia, the place where Ngarrindjeri women conducted sacred women's business and refused to back down on their right to keep it secret. Guests: Tracey Rigney, writer/director KUMARANGK: Sacred Women’s Business and Steve Kenny, one the lawyers who represented the Ngarrindjeri people Amy Goodman, journalist, co-host of Democracy Now! Star of the new documentary film Steal this story, Please! Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Australia's unique alpine eucalypt is starting to die out. The High Country may never be the same again, a new book argues. And longstanding New Yorker magazine writer Susan Orlean, author of 'The Orchid Thief' and 'The Library Book', on her fascination with the stories of people who are not famous or powerful. Guests: Ant Sharwood and Anna Langford, co-authors of 'The last snow gum' (Hachette) Susan Orlean, on a speaking tour of Australia. Her latest book is 'Joyride: a memoir'

Ian Dunt on UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's push for a reset in Britain’s relationship with the EU. Could this be the beginning of the end for Brexit? Yanis Varoufakis' take on Greece's recent multi-billion dollar defence deals with the US and Israel. Plus mathematics professor Clemency Montelle takes us through the history and the importance of zero. Guests: Ian Dunt, iNews columnist and regular LNL commentator Yanis Varoufakis - leader of the Democracy in Europe Movement and co-host The Econoclasts podcast Clemency Montelle - professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was elected he promised to address a gap in federal anti-discrimination law which allowed faith-based schools to sack gay kids and teachers, but he has thus far failed to do so. Now Independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, has introduced a bill to end the right of religious schools and universities to punish gay and trans pupils and staff. Plus, as AI reshapes society, what does it mean to be human? Father Paolo Benanti, advisor to the Holy Sea on AI Ethics is in Australia to examine the moral questions posed by artificial intelligence. Guests: Allegra Spencer, Member for Wentworth Father Paolo Benanti, Professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University, in Rome, and advisor to the Holy Sea on AI Ethics

Two writers investigate two mysteries from 19th Century Australia. Kate Grenville uncovers a bundle of letters in the archives about the NSW country school teacher Joseph Connor, accused of beating his students. Was he a monster or the victim of a small-town vendetta? And Sally Young solves Australia's strangest political crime: the theft of the ceremonial mace from Victoria's state parliament in 1891. Guests: Kate Grenville, author, 'The Country Schoolmaster: A Mystery in 88 Letters' Sally Young, author, 'The Curious Case of the Stolen Mace: Solving Australia's Strangest Political Crime'

The Lord of the Rings made J.R.R. Tolkien one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. But who was the obsessive, conservative and often difficult man behind Middle-earth? And Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, has a new and equally remarkable true story to tell. In 1942 in Nazi-occupied Paris, the Nazis arrest a Jewish family, but their 11-year-old daughter escapes to her piano teacher, Andrée Levallois. Andrée is secretly a French Resistance operative who risks everything, including her own family, to hide the child. Guests: DJ Taylor, author of The King under the Mountain Heather Morris, author of The Piano teacher of Montparnasse Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

Our regular US political commentator on the Cornell University sexual assault case, the failed execution of Christa Pike, and the dire outlook for the Republicans, four weeks before the midterms. Valerie Trouet, a paleo-climate scientist, compares tree rings from living trees with historical and archaeological wood to reconstruct climate patterns going back thousands of years. It enables her to look at how climate has influenced wars, empires and natural disasters. Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma Valerie Trouet, professor in the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona. Book 'Tree Story: The History of the World Written in Rings'

We revisit two memorable LNL conversations from recent times: Simon Winchester's cultural history of the wind, and Australian writer Lech Blaine's astonishing account of his beautiful, terrifying childhood - growing up in Queensland pubs stalked by Christian fanatics. Guests: Simon Winchester, journalist and author of The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind Lech Blaine, author of Australian Gospel

Confronted with a series of existential threats, Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor argue in their new book that wealthy billionaires, including the so-called "tech bros", have become focused not on how we can deal with those threats, but who will best survive them. They warn there is an urgent need for far more limits on dangerous technologies than US President Donald Trump's Whitehouse accord. Plus meet the author who breakfasted in ten Indian cities, to discover how Indian culture is reflected through its breakfast foods, makers and consumers. Guests: Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor, co-authors, End times fascism and the fight for the living world Priyadarshini Chatterjee, Kolkata-based travel, culture and food writer Get in touch: We'd love to hear from you! Email us at latenightlive_rn@abc.net.au

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 to demand a new and more egalitarian order. The response from feudal overlords was brutal, but while the rebellion was suppressed, it would continue to influence subsequent revolts, contribute to the emergence of peasant and worker movements in the following centuries and serve as a precursor to larger social and political transformations in Europe. Guest: Professor Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oriel College, Oxford University and author of Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War, published by Hachette Producer: Catherine Zengerer

A host of new companies are rushing to apply for seabed exploration licences promised by the Trump administration - but are they equipped for this venture? Plus, trauma has gone from the clinic to the culture wars, but is a politics built around personal suffering crowding out class, power and solidarity? Guests Todd Woody, Reporter, Bloomberg News Catherine Liu, Professor of Film & Media Studies at the University of California, Author of Traumatised: The New Politics of public suffering

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. Volkswagon is cutting jobs, considering factory closures, and even turning one car plant towards defence production. Can the company reinvent itself before its glory days become history? And David Marr takes you to the outback, to see Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre in flood. Guests Mark Kenny, Director of the Australian Studies Institute, host of Democracy Sausage podcast; Jack Ewing, Journalist, New York Times David Marr, Late Night Live presenter

Doctors work long hours in hospitals around the world, but visiting doctors in Gaza have to endure just some of what their local peers do: military attack, inadequate resources, inadequate food, and a starving, distressed population. Plus, the curious history of vanilla - and how, despite its exotic flavouring and difficult cultivation, "vanilla" became a term for bland. Guests: Dr Bushra Othman, Palestinian Australian General Surgeon from Naarm/Melbourne. Has done three stints in Gaza, and edited the book. Dr Amy Neilson, QLD-based specialist in rural and remote , tropical, and emergency medicine. Visiting Medical Officer in the NSW Hunter/New England regions. Senior lecturer in medical education at James Cook University, Cairns. Spent two weeks in Gaza in 2025. Professor Eric Jennings, historian, University of Toronto. Author of 'Vanilla: the history of an extraordinary bean’ (Yale University Press)

Australia is a nation built by migrants, but immigration has always been politically contested. A new history traces how we came to decide who belongs, who gets in and who is kept out, right back to the early days of the colony. Plus, historian James Crawford explores what happens when the resources that underpin modern life become harder to find, harder to extract and harder to replace. Guests Mark Cully, author of Waves of Plenty: Immigration and the Making of Australia, published by Black Inc James Crawford, author of The Vanishing Earth: A journey through the last days of Abundance Australia is a nation built by migrants, but immigration has always been politically contested. A new history traces how we came to decide who belongs, who gets in and who is kept out, right back to the early days of the colony. Plus, historian James Crawford explores what happens when the resources that underpin modern life become harder to find, harder to extract and harder to replace. Guests Mark Cully, author of Waves of…

Bruce Shapiro surveys the path ahead to November's critical US midterm elections, as US President Donald Trump's polling sinks to a new low. Plus, the senior Guardian correspondent Luke Harding on how Putin has up-ended the postwar global order, with help from his American counterpart. Guests Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Luke Harding, The Guardian's senior international correspondent, and former Moscow bureau Chief. Author of Betrayal: Trump, Putin and The New Age of Conquest

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.