Late Night Live — Full program podcast

World powers are jostling for influence in the Pacific, as Sean Jacobs and Tess Newton-Cain explain. Author Kate Fortmueller on why striking Hollywood writers are concerned about artificial intelligence. And "blurbist" Louise Willder on the power of a good blurb. 

In our regular US update, Bruce Shapiro discusses whether a debt deal is on the horizon, and looks at Ron DeSantis' chances of winning the Republican nomination. Plus a new twist on the tale of Big Tech - the effect it's having, for good and ill, on people in the global south. And a thoughtful discussion about the delusions of the West and why we should return to the great tragic thinkers for fres...

Laura Tingle on the shock resignation of WA Premier Mark McGowan. Professor Damien Kingsbury on Timor-Leste's future, following peaceful elections. And writer André Dao uncovers the truth of his family's history in Vietnam. 

Russia has a long tradition of espionage, right up to the present. It tells us a lot about why Putin is the way he is, says investigative journalist Mark Hollingsworth. And forestor and bestselling author Peter Wohlleben on why trees are more complex and sophisticated than most of us realise. 

PFAS, known colloquially as 'forever chemicals', seem to be everywhere and in everything. What efforts are taking place globally to regulate their use? Plus, in our fortnightly Asia update we put the spotlight on Pakistan. And we hear the rollicking shipwreck tale of HMS The Wager.

Plus, we hear from Ian Dunt about what's making news in Westminster, and are we about to enter a world where flying taxis are the new normal?

Clare Armstrong wraps up the past week in Australian politics, as the Albanese government notches up its first year in office. How rising inequality in China is affecting the emotional and intimate lives of its people. And why do modern humans have so many teeth problems? 

Dan Egan explores the history of 'The Devil's Element' and how we've come to the point where we're running out of this essential element, and yet it's polluting our waterways. Plus, we look at the remarkable women who used art to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.

We get the latest on the Voice debates and hear what an Indigenous Voice might mean from a public health perspective. Plus, the G7 is being held in Japan, but will Asian priorities be top of the agenda? And Harvard professor Martin Puchner looks back at 37,000 years of culture and asks: can anyone really own culture and should that be the goal?

Is the US government about to run out of cash? Bruce Shapiro dishes the latest on the dreaded debt ceiling. Plus, we meet two female journalists risking life and limb in South Africa and Bry the Fly Guy reveals why flies are our friends. 

Amy Remeikis on the tension between our need for more workers and the national housing crisis, security deteriorates in Afghanistan and the chess robot that fooled the western world, 250 years ago.   

A small band of adventurers have navigated the entire length of the magnificent Tigris River - through Iraq, Türkiye and Syria. And a new documentary on the Australian literary giant Geoffrey Dutton sheds light on his life and loves.

We kick off with a fortnightly Asia update, looking at the upcoming elections in Thailand and Cambodia. Plus, why Bangladesh is becoming a dumping ground for the world's fossil fuels and we bring a memorable interview with writer E Jean Carroll out of the archives.  DISCLAIMER: Our interview with E Jean Carroll was originally broadcast in 1993 and contains references to sex, drug use and domestic...

The UK has a newly anointed king and queen, and a new law curtailing the right to protest. Plus, what's behind the escalating gang violence in Haiti? And the hidden scroll that spawned a literary ponzi scheme. 

Analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture.

Plus, we meet the 19th century scientists whose experiments with mind-altering drugs gave us modern medicine, psychology and philosophy. 

For our Pacific update, a special focus on deep sea mining, and some of the dilemmas it presents for Pacific countries. And what animal biology can teach us about staying well and recovery.

US political commentator David Frum reflects on Biden's second run for the White House in 2024, and on Trump's power in the GOP. Why the Doomsday Clock is closer to the symbolic midnight hour of global catastrophe than ever before. And the changing roles of Australia's botanic gardens. 

Hints abound a week out from the Budget. The factory fire that put the spotlight on the garment industry. And understandings of the heart.

In this episode we take a fresh look at Germany's formidable former leader Angela Merkel, and award-winning British author Angela Saini hunts down the roots of male domination and makes some surprising discoveries. 

An update on news from Japan and South Korea. A new documentary about Shirley Shackleton's investigations into what happened to the Balibo 5, the Australian journalists killed in East Timor in 1975, including her husband Greg Shackleton. And the hidden history of Rome's famous film studios, Cinecittà.

There's one story of Australian military history that doesn't get told on ANZAC Day – the story of First Nations resistance during the Frontier Wars. Plus, military historian Craig Stockings gives an account of Australia's intervention in East Timor that some have tried to sweep under the rug. 

Laura Tingle recaps Australia's landmark Defence Strategic Review and the push for long-range missile capabilities. Journalist Rik Rutten explains how the Dutch farmers party has evolved from a protest movement to a political powerhouse. And we uncover the mystery of 'fairy circles' in the Pilbara desert, thanks to First Nations knowledge and cross-cultural research. 

Syria is a culturally rich and complicated country battling war, corruption, political interference and Islamic insurrection.  Former Chief Middle East correspondent for the American ABC, Charles Glass, reflects on the lessons he has learned from his time there. 

The national peak body representing Indigenous children has rebuked Peter Dutton's claims on child abuse in Alice Springs. Meanwhile, water insecurity in Walgett is affecting the health of First Nations people. In the horn of Africa, 22 million people are starving, but the UN is yet to formally declare an emergency.  And we learn about nature's most mysterious substance - slime.