Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

Elon Musk is tipped to become the world’s first trillionaire when his company SpaceX goes public on the stock exchange as early as next week.  To some, Musk is a genius entrepreneur propelling us towards a science-fiction future. To others, he's a troubled far-right “meme lord”, spouting immigration conspiracies on the Internet.  A new book – entitled ‘Muskism: a guide for the perplexed’ looks bey...

There are many ways to attain endurance and high performance. The ethos of Ethiopian collective running contrasts sharply with the testosterone supplements, and focus on the individual, in last week's Endurance Games.  Guest: Michael Crawley, social anthropologist at Durham University, UK. Marathon runner. Co-author, with Geoff Burns, of an article titled The Ethiopian Running Secret, in Aeon Maga...

In 2021 UK immigration officers carried out a dawn raid in Kenmure St in the culturally diverse Pollokshields area of Glasgow's Southside.  They arrested two Sikh men who’d been members of the community for ten years, and put them in a van.  But as far as their neighbours were concerned, they’d picked on the wrong people. Over the course of the day 2,000 people surrounded the van in a spontaneous,...

Republican Senators are rebelling against Donald Trump using funds from his settlement of a legal case against the IRS, which is being labelled a slush fund, to compensate individuals claiming political persecution for participation in the January 6 insurrection. Plus, the Democrats have released their Kamala Harris campaign review, but there are lots of details missing..   Guest: Bruce Shapiro, c...

A new study shows that insect life on Lord Howe Island has significantly increased since the eradication of invasive rodents in 2019. Experts say invertebrates like native island cockroaches, are vital to the health of the broader island ecosystem. Guest: Maxim Adams, PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, co-lead in a new study with the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environmen...

When the brutal Assad regime fell in Syria in 2024 it offered an opportunity for the millions of people displaced by the regime to return home – including the so-called ISIS brides. And those who fled to neighbouring Lebanon are now under bombardment by Israel. But with much of Syria destroyed by a civil war what’s left to return to?  Guest: Kholoud Helmi, Syrian journalist and Managing Director o...

A new poll published in the Australian Financial Review has Pauline Hanson's One Nation ahead of Labor and the Coalition on primary vote. Meanwhile, the government is persevering with the tax reforms proposed in its budget, including changes to the capital gains tax discount, negative gearing and discretionary trusts. The Treasurer says he's willing to lose some 'political skin' to make housing mo...

The American Conservation Coalition was formed in 2017 to try to attract younger people to the Republican Party. But the Coalition doesn’t seem to be able to claim any actual outcomes for the environment. Journalist Gaby del Valle spent a three day weekend with this group, at their annual summit, taking part in all their hijinks, and trying to understand: what are conservative environmentalists fi...

While negotiations over a lasting peace deal remain unpredictable, historian and author, John Ghazvinian argues that the past fifty years of hostility between the U.S. and Iran are an exception in the much longer history of relations between the two countries — a history that includes periods of fascination, cooperation, and even mutual admiration. Guest: John Ghazvinian, historian, former journal...

Just after World War Two, leading figures from Nazi Germany were tried before an International military tribunal for their crimes against humanity - the murder of six million jews. Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, and others, met their fate in Courtroom 600 at the Palace of Justice in Nuremberg. From defendants to judges, the courtroom was wall to wall men, but women did actually play a role in the pr...

Janine di Giovanni has been a war correspondent for more than thirty years. She's been  shot at, kidnapped and held at gunpoint. She’s written about massacres at Srebrenica, atrocities in Kosovo, the mass killings in Rwanda, and of course Palestine. “I thought I’d seen the worst of humanity,” she wrote on X last year. “I was wrong. Nothing compares to Gaza — or the complicity letting it happen.” ...

Despite mounting pressure at home after his Socialist Party suffered heavy losses in its former Andalusian stronghold, Pedro Sánchez has emerged as one of Europe’s strongest dissenting voices against Donald Trump. He has repeatedly clashed with Washington over issues including the war in Gaza, defence spending and immigration policy. Guest: María Ramírez, journalist and Deputy managing editor of e...

All eyes are on the Makerfield by-election as Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, puts his reputation on the line. Burnham has thrown his weight behind Labour’s campaign, hoping voters will back his bold political gamble. And Ian Dunt's manifesto on what's wrong with British leadership. Guest: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentator Producer: Ali Benton 

100 years ago, Russian ballerina and global megastar Anna Pavlova toured Australia and New Zealand, filling theatres and newspaper columns wherever she went.  Why was she such a sensation, so far from home?  Guest: Emma Sandall, Australian dance artist, writer, and creative producer, contributor to Dance Australia magazine Producer: Jack Schmidt

The Romans were merciless in the way they talked about their rulers. Baldness and body hair, sexual positions and partners, and inebriation and indolence were all fair game.  Gossip, far from unimportant to historical study, is in fact its own form of evidence, argues Caillan Davenport, Prof of Ancient History at the Australian National University.  Guest: Professor Caillan Davenport, ‘Behind the...

The victory of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani in New York's mayoral elections has some heralding the arrival of a new 'progressive playbook' for America's political Left. But can this politics work at scale, beyond the liberal cities? Writer and socialist Bhaskar Sunkara, a long time associate of Mamdani, looks at the best ways forward for the left.  Guest: Bhaskar Sunkara, American political...

 Teal independents are reportedly in talks to form a new political party amid voter disillusionment that has sparked the resurgence of Pauline Hanson and One Nation. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent

Tareq Baconi grew up in Jordan after his family was expelled first from Palestine and then from Lebanon during the civil war. He became an academic and leading expert on Hamas, while coming to terms with being gay man from a devout Christian family.  Guest: Tareq Baconi, Hamas expert and author of Fire in Every Direction: A Memoir , published by Hachette. Tareq is in Australia for Sydney Writer's...

Since the US-Israel war on Iran broke out three months ago, the price of oil has jumped at least fifty percent, causing economic pain around the world. The war has come at a time when many countries were already considering the value of their economic ties with the United States. Ongoing conflict is also putting pressure on budgets, with money being funnelled into defence rather than social measur...

Roddy Doyle reflects on a lifetime telling the stories of working-class people in Dublin, with themes of domestic violence, unplanned pregnancy and life in the IRA.  Guest: Roddy Doyle, author of The women behind the door , published by Penguin Random House. Roddy is in Australia for Sydney Writers' Festival Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The common Australian term 'Blind Freddy', as in 'Blind Freddy could see that', spread quickly and comprehensively. But who was Blind Freddy? An author has concluded he was Frederick Pottinger, an Englishman from a notable family who was far from a success as a policeman hunting bushrangers in the NSW colony.  Guest: Adrian Mitchell, author of ‘Blind Freddy: the Pottinger Attainment’ (Wakefield Pr...

John Safran has made a career out of blasphemy and offence. With his gonzo-style journalism he placed a “fatwa” on Rove McManus, streaked naked through Jerusalem streets to “prove God is Jewish”, got baptised and exorcised and squatted in Kanye West’s house. He has interviewed neo-Nazis and white nationalists and insisted on the importance of getting on the record “what goes on in the shadows”. Bu...

Ahead of November's midterm elections, Republicans are looking to reshape South Carolina's congressional districts, in an effort to create a US House map that could yield a clean sweep. Meanwhile, Trump's polling continues to fall to new lows amid the ongoing war in Iran.  Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor for The Nation, executive director of the Global Centre for Journalism and Trauma

Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, was repeatedly warned to evacuate during the war between Israel and Hamas, but chose to remain with his patients. In December 2024, he was arrested by the Israel Defence Forces. Seventeen months later, Amnesty International alleges that Dr. Abu Safiya has been tortured in detention, while the United Nations has called for his release. Th...

All over the world, people are encountering the timeless work of Shakespeare for the first time, thanks to translators who have managed to distil the essence of the great writer. So what goes into maintaining the language, rhythm and puns in other languages and cultures? Daniel Hahn's new book examines how Shakespeare is translated around the world, and how tricky it can be to convey just the righ...