Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Des Ball had a long and complicated relationship with Pine Gap, which is explored in a new documentary, we ask whether academic publishing should be making big bucks - for the publishers and the contribution of the notebook to the work of some of our literary and scientific geniuses.

Brody Mullins investigates how lobbyists have changed politics and society in America and Hamilton Sides tells the story of how and why James Cook's last voyage ended up in violence - from the Hawaiian perspective.

For more than 1000 years, India was a trading powerhouse across the globe - not only of spices, wild animals and gemstones but also of language, philosophy, religion, mathematics and astronomy. But why is this part of India's history not so well known, and why did its dominance wane about 1200 AD? Guest: William Dalrymple, historian, podcaster and author of The Golden Road How Ancient India Transf...

Chas Licciardello, Sashi Perera and First Dog on the Moon - aka Andrew Marlton - join David Marr to survey the profound and the ridiculous from the year we've just had.

A history of Cyprus that's equal parts epic and personal. Plus, Susan Casey on the life that thrives thousands of metres below the surface of the ocean. 

Bruce Shapiro's take on a remarkable year in American politics - and what to expect in the year to come. What's next for Syria after the stunning fall of the Assad regime? Plus humanity's ancient fascination with the red planet. 

Laura Tingle and Niki Savva bring their incisive analysis on the year in politics, why the world is looking at a compensation case playing out in Belgium over their actions in the Congo and then to Bulgaria where research is being done on how nature is overtaking the many abandoned villages. Is it good news for the environment?

Robert Manne is one of Australia’s foremost public intellectuals. His new memoir traces his intellectual roots, and his own political shifts over 40 years. And Oxford historian Diarmaid MacCulloch challenges what we know about sex and Christian morality. 

The life of James Fairfax, philanthropist, art collector and heir to the Fairfax media dynasty, told through eleven objects, plus what Australia's ancient trees can tell us about our history. 

Ian Dunt's final UK report for 2024 looks at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pre-Christmas political re-set and the Irish election results. Historian Shannon Smith reveals the secret role Bob Hawke played in securing an inquiry into the deaths of the Balibo Five. And how Carlos Acutis went from gamer to saint.  Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with the 'i' news. 

Laura Tingle casts her eye over the last week in Parliament, and the Prime Minister's relationship with his Environment Minister. Why is North Korea sending troops to fight in Ukraine? And what is the current place of poetry in Australian popular culture.

Historian Philipp Blom deciphers why humans continue to believe they can subjugate the Earth, tracing ancient stories of dominion back to the Bronze Age. Plus, Australian writer Helen Garner on ageing, being a grandparent and her love of football. 

Can an essay change a nation? Meanjin editor Esther Anatolitis believes that some of the essays published over the journal's long history have - including one from Michael Mohammed Ahmed. We also bust a few Christmas myths with Professor of Religion, Carole Cusack.

Bruce Shapiro on the dismissal of President-elect Donald Trump's federal cases. We revisit Andrew Fowler's study of Australia's "nuked" submarine deal, recently named the Walkley Book Award winner for 2024. And why Americans are adopting British and Australian vernacular. 

Laura Tingle gives her analysis of Labor's plans for the last sitting week of 2024, while George Megalogenis looks forward to 2025, and what the parliament may look like after the next Federal election - and why.

Former federal MPs John Brumby and Cheryl Kernot discuss how Australia can make policy progress and find bipartisanship in a world of growing political division. And Lech Blaine shares the extraordinary story of his childhood, growing up in a Queensland pub, stalked by a pair of Christian fanatics. 

Marcia Langton on the dashed hopes for truth telling in Australia and Sidney Nolan's paintings of Africa tell a deeper story about his concerns for the future of humanity, nature and its wildlife.

Ian Dunt on what the US election result means for security in the UK and Europe. Journalist Jamie Tahsin investigates the online "manosphere" and Trump's courtship of the "bro vote" with the help of son Barron. And the mysteries of the greenland shark, which lives for hundreds of years. 

The Australian Greens have dropped their demand for a climate trigger in the Government's proposed environmental reforms. And British/American journalist and cultural commentator on the new power of conspiracy theorists, under Donald Trump.

Acclaimed historian Peter Stanley on how Australia writes its war histories, and our complicated relationship with memorialisation. And a new exhibition at the British library illuminates the lives of medieval women, in their own words. 

China expert Geoff Raby says we are seeing a significant global power shift away from Russia and towards China - but how will Donald Trump handle it? In 1910, Virginia Woolf and her friends gained access to the pride of the British fleet, the HMS Dreadnought disguised as Abyssinian Princes, including blackface. Was this feminist and pacifist writer also racist?

Bruce Shapiro on why the Democrats lost last week's US presidential election. Veteran Al Jazeera reporter Drew Ambrose calls for a greater focus on Asia. And how the last witch killed in England may have dodged death. 

Laura Tingle on how the Australian parliament is preparing for a second Trump presidency. Geoffrey Watson SC on the National Anti-Corruption Commission's handling of Robodebt. And UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's latest report from the Palestinian Occupied Territories. 

Archaeologist Ayman Warasnah on the damaged and destroyed cultural sites in Gaza. And a new biography of the the city of Madrid, in which Luke Stegemann argues that its value and cultural riches have been underrated.

Late Night Live's team of experts bring you their analysis of the US election 2024. What went right for Donald Trump? What went wrong for Kamala Harris?