
Late Night Live - Full program podcast
From razor-sharp analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture, Late Night Live puts you firmly in the big picture.
Latest episodes

Apr 17, 2025 • 54min
Philippe Sands on war crimes and impunity - from Pinochet to now
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, appearing at the Sydney Writers Festival, May 2025

Apr 16, 2025 • 54min
Pollies and their private interests, and a forgotten hero in forensics
Sean Johnson from Open Politics says Australia's federal parliament needs to act against MPs who fail to disclose their private interests. And journalist Pagan Kennedy shares the story of Marty Goddard - the true inventor of the standardised rape kit - a vital tool in sexual assault forensics.

Apr 15, 2025 • 53min
Harvard defies the White House, Yanis Varoufakis on 'Trump Shock', and Australia's oldest footrace
The Trump administration's war on universities continues, but Harvard refuses to 'yield'. Political economist Yanis Varoufakis compares Trump's tariffs to the 'Nixon Shock' of 1971. Plus, the folklore of Australia's oldest running race: the Stawell Gift.

Apr 14, 2025 • 54min
Laura Tingle's Canberra, the broken promise of religious discrimination reform, and a history of hand gestures
Laura Tingle recaps the official campaign launches of the major parties, three weeks out from the federal election. Another federal term ends without a promised reform to the Sex Discrimination Act, to remove an exemption allowing religious schools to discriminate against LGBTQI students and staff. And philosopher Damon Young maps the history of human gestures..

Apr 10, 2025 • 54min
'Sorrow, grief, horror': Kate Grenville confronts her settler ancestry
20 years on from her famous novel The Secret River, writer Kate Grenville retraces the footsteps of her settler ancestors, and asks what it means to be on land taken from other people.Guest: Kate Grenville, author of Unsettled, published by Black Inc

Apr 9, 2025 • 54min
Antony Green's last election broadcast, and the path ahead for Syria
Legendary ABC election analyst Antony Green has announced this federal election will be his last in an on-air role. Plus, journalist Nicholas Pelham on what lies ahead for Syria's new government.

Apr 8, 2025 • 54min
Bruce Shapiro's Trumpland, Netanyahu's latest scandal, and the death of the interval
Bruce Shapiro on who is getting rich from Trump's tariffs, Irris Makler on how the Gaza war is playing out inside Israel, plus why the theatre interval is disappearing.

Apr 7, 2025 • 54min
Laura Tingle's Canberra, the Brits baulk on AUKUS, and tariffs in the ancient world
Can Opposition leader Peter Dutton recover from a policy backtrack? What does the UK's AUKUS review mean for the relationship between the three allies? And a look at ancient Rome reveals that tariffs are nothing new, but always messy.

Apr 3, 2025 • 54min
John Howard and the 1998 waterfront dispute, plus Peter Rose on life as a literary editor
An ABC podcast has uncovered new evidence that casts doubt on the Howard governments' claims they knew nothing about plans to sack 1400 wharfies and train a new, non-union workforce in Dubai during the 1998 waterfront dispute. Plus the Australian Book Review's CEO and editor, Peter Rose, reflects on a lifetime shaping the national conversation.

Apr 2, 2025 • 54min
First Nations resistance in the River Country, and is ignorance always bliss?
Historian Stephen Gapps reveals the incredible story of frontier resistance warfare in a huge area of the Murray-Darling river system, across many First Nations’ lands, in a concerted defence of River Country. Plus, Professor of Humanities Mark Lilla on why humans are seduced by ignorance.