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Jun 10, 2025 • 54min

Bruce Shapiro's America, and hunting down the Myall Creek murderers

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. 
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Jun 9, 2025 • 54min

The true power of land ownership, plus giving children the right to vote

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. 
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Jun 5, 2025 • 54min

Two months on from Myanmar's earthquake, and healing a divided United States

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.
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Jun 4, 2025 • 54min

Haiti's gang crisis takes a dark turn, plus the mother of all languages

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).
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Jun 3, 2025 • 54min

Ian Dunt's UK, Pakistan and India's war over water, and who named our body parts?

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? 
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Jun 2, 2025 • 54min

Bernard Keane's Canberra, what America's 'comfort class' doesn't get, and the life of a food critic

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.
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May 29, 2025 • 54min

The origins of the term 'national security', and actress Merle Oberon's false identity

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. 
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May 28, 2025 • 54min

Abalone cultural heritage in Tasmania and overtourism in the Canary Islands

First Nations in Tasmania have now secured permanent cultural fishing rights for abalone, and now they’re putting it back on the dining tables of Tasmanians. And the civil engineer who quit his job to campaign against the construction of a port in Tenerife.
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May 27, 2025 • 54min

Bruce Shapiro's America, the money behind the 'Enhanced Games', and an ancient Roman cookbook

US President Trump is threatening to deport a group of men to war torn South Sudan. We track the money behind the Enhanced Games - a kind of Olympics on steroids. And there is much to learn from a famous cookbook from ancient Rome.
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May 26, 2025 • 45min

Late Night Live farewells Laura Tingle

After 30 years of appearances on Late Night Live - spanning nine Australian Prime Ministers - Laura Tingle bids farewell to LNL as its political correspondent in Canberra, before commencing her ABC Global Affairs role. In a sprawling conversation, Laura recounts her early beginnings in journalism, the ebbs and flows of Canberra politics through the decades, and what she's come to admire in our representatives.

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