Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

It’s 125 years since the death of Oscar Wilde. The famous playwright and author died alone in a French hotel in 1900. Since that time, so much has been written about his wit, prose and character. Some of it fact, some of it rumour, much of it, speculation. In his new book called After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, sets the record straight. The book is thir...

Stephen Miller, often described as the architect of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, has been a defining force behind some of the administration’s most hardline measures. Known for his uncompromising stance on border security and deportations, Miller has shaped policy from the inside, translating Trump’s instincts into concrete executive actions. At just 40, he wields disproportionate influence...

Ian Dunt talks about his decision to withdraw from Adelaide Writer's Week and examines the fraying trans-Atlantic relationship between the US and UK, as US President Donald Trump attacks the Chagos Islands deal. Plus why more Tory MPs are defecting to join Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform party.  Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast   Producer: Ali Bent...

King Charles is worth more than $3 billion — although it's hard to put an exact figure on his fortune, because royal records aren't published and paying tax is optional. Gifts to the royal family are flexible, too: does that £300,000 Bentley from the King of Bahrian belong to the state, or to Charles personally? Before he gets locked in the Tower, our guest blows the whistle on the palatial wealth...

One year since US President Donald Trump's inauguration and the global order has been completely shifted, while the United States is now a country where people live in constant fear of ICE raids and deportation. Bruce Shapiro looks back at Trump's achievements in year one and how the world is responding to his plans for a "Board of Peace" - with a membership cost of $US 1 billion.  Guest: Bruce Sh...

As the Albanese government drops key provisions from its hate speech legislation, Late Night Live takes a deep dive into what's left of the laws, and why even those who support tighter regulation think there are major problems with how to define hate, the level of Ministerial powers and the rushed attempt to get the laws through.  Guests: Greg Barns SC, barrister at Higgins Chambers, human rights...

Crikey's political editor traces the path to the hate speech legislation being debated in Parliament this week, and looks at why One Nation is outpolling the Coalition for the first time.    Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor, Crikey Producers: Catherine Zengerer, David Marr

Tim Minchin turned fifty this year and just ran a marathon for the first time. He's returned home to Australia, with his new album Time Machine, and his tour 'Songs the World Will Never Hear' . In this special one-hour conversation, David speaks to Tim about the joys of running, quitting social media and worrying less. GUEST: Tim Minchin PRODUCER: Ali Benton Originally broadcast October 16, 2025

In the winter of 1900, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people across New South Wales, in a rampage that caused panic in the colony on the cusp of nationhood. Apparently triggered by a racist incident, they killed men, women and children, evading a vast manhunt for months until they were finally captured. The story of the Governor brothers later inspired the popular b...

Some of the same countries that are in conflict right now are sitting in United Nations meetings together to discuss the future of outer space. Steven Freeland is charged with helping these nations find a common sense of purpose. Guest: Steven Freeland, Australian international lawyer, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University, and Professorial Fellow, Bond University Producer: Ann Arnold Orig...

Zane Grey was an American western writer, celebrity and big game-fisherman. In so many ways, his life was larger than most. But it was in Australia, in the 1930s, that he sought to make his life even larger — pursuing big game fishing, a secret love affair, and what he hoped would be a movie that would rescue his precarious financial situation.  Guest: Vicki Hastrich, author of The last days of Za...

The largest excavation in a lifetime is underway at the famous archaeological site of Pompeii — the Roman city buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Remarkable new discoveries continue to be unearthed.  Guest: Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, author of The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii Producer: Jack Schmidt Originally broadcast on 30 July, 2025

John Menadue has been at the heart of Australian public life for over fifty years, working for the Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke governments. He oversaw the effective end to Australia's White Australia Policy, was CEO of Qantas and set up the Centre for Policy Development. In the media he ran The Australian for Rupert Murdoch, launched the online weekly New Matilda and founded the influential public p...

In 1998, the former Chilean head of state Augusto Pinochet was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. Philippe Sands was called to advise Pinochet on his claim to immunity, but would instead represent a human rights organisation against him. Guest: Philippe Sands, author of 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia Originally broadcast on 17...

At the turn of the 20th century, one American became obsessed with the idea of life on Mars. He carried his obsessions into a public movement that may have sparked actual space exploration and scientific advancement. Guest: David Baron, author, journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who writes about astronomy and other sciences. His latest book is 'The Martians: A True Story of an Alien Craze...

In the last decade, courts around the globe have granted legal personhood or explicit rights to rivers, largely driven by environmental activism. In his new book, 'Is a River Alive?', renowned nature writer Dr. Robert Macfarlane tracks the progress of that movement, in addition to visiting some of the world’s most pristine (and not so pristine) environments. Guest: Dr Robert Macfarlane, Professor...

For millennia, wool has been more than just a textile fibre for cold climates—it has played a strategic role in warfare, both supporting armies with essential clothing and fuelling conflicts through control and manipulation of its supply. GUEST: Trish Fitzsimmons, co-author of Fleeced, Unravelling the History of Wool and War published by Bloomsbury PRODUCER: Ali Benton  *This story originally aire...

Dr Samah Jabr is a world-renowned psychiatrist who has spent over twenty years practising in the West Bank and Gaza. In a powerful interview, she describes the psychological impact the war in Gaza is having on Palestinian children and their families. Dr Jabr says in a place where there are few resources and constant bombardment, collective approaches grounded in the community are the most useful w...

On a warming planet, heatwaves are proving increasingly deadly. But in the cities where most of us live shade can be hard to come by. In ancient times, shade was prioritised for urban comfort, but in the age of the air-conditioner its value is often overlooked.  Guest: Sam Bloch, journalist and author of Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource Producer: Jack Schmidt Originally broadcast...

This nation’s past can be understood a whole lot better if Indigenous perspectives on history are listened to. It means considering rock art and other forms of storytelling, and the experiences that First Nations people have when they walk on country.  Guests: Jackie Huggins, historian, author, Bidjara Elder of the Carnarvon Gorge area of Central QLD, and director of Indigenous Research at the Uni...

Emily Kam Kngwarray, from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory, picked up a paintbrush in her 70s for the first time, and now her work will be exhibited at the Tate in London. A new film has been made about Emily, and will premiere at the Sydney Film Festival – called Emily: I Am Kam. Guests: Screenwriter and Producer Danielle Maclean, and Producer Anna Grieve Producer: Ali Benton Origin...

Author Chris Sweeney tells the remarkable story of Roxie Laybourne, the Smithsonian ornithologist who became the nation's leading expert in feather forensics. Laybourne investigated thousands of aeroplane bird-strikes, but was also called as an expert witness at trials for murder, poaching and even a Ku Klux Klan hate crime.  Guest: Chris Sweeney, author of The Feather Detective: Mystery, Mayhem a...

The QWERTY keyboard wasn't designed to be fast or logical. It was created in the 1870s to stop typewriter keys from jamming - and to suit telegraph operators working in morse code. Since then, more efficient layouts like Dvorak have been invented, but none have stuck. So how did QWERTY become "locked in" to our machines, our workplaces, and even our muscle memory? Guest: Gianfranco Di Giovanni, Co...

In recent years, a number of states and cities in the US have decriminalised 'jaywalking', relaxing laws that campaigners argue have been disproportionately enforced on black and Latino residents. Jaywalking first emerged as a traffic offence in the US a century ago, when radical new ordinances gave priority to high-speed vehicles on the roads. Australia followed suit. A campaign of public ridicul...

Should prison architecture be used for punishment, or could it be used to create hope, instead. Criminologist Yvonne Jewkes has helped design prisons in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. And visited others in Norway, Spain and  Japan. Guest: Professor Yvonne Jewkes, Bath University. Author of ‘An architecture of hope: reimagining the prison, restoring a house, rebuilding myself’ (Scribe)...