Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

Kate Cocks was a formidable woman. Appointed to the South Australian Police Force in 1915 at the age of 40, she was given the same salary and powers of arrest as men in the force. It was a first in the British Empire.  As a guardian of morality, she marched through Adelaide’s parklands whacking canoodling couples with a five-foot cane. Husbands caught abusing their wives, were made to kneel before her and recite the Lord’s Prayer. Protecting women's virtue wasn't her only agenda though. Later in life she set up a refuge for homeless women over fifty and, with the Methodist Church, established a home for unwed mothers with the aim of helping them keep their babies. But the Kate Cocks Memorial Babies Home had a darker legacy. Aboriginal children stolen from their mothers were taken there to be adopted out to white families. Guest: Lainie Anderson, journalist, historian and author of “Murder on North Terrace” -  a book inspired by the true story of South Australian policewoman Kate Cocks. Published by Hachette.Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The 1955 Bandung Conference in Indonesia, was an historic meeting of 29 Asian and African nations - the largest gathering of non-European nations the world had seen. It marked the first major collective effort by newly independent countries to assert their voice in global affairs and begin their collective journey towards decolonisation. But the conference wasn’t just about throwing off the yoke of colonialism. The countries' leaders had one key objective: how to prevent a war between China and the United States.  Guest: Nathan Hollier, Manager ANU Press, and author of an essay for the Australian Book Review called ‘Come nearer to Asia’ Australia’s place at Bandung, 1955  Producer: Catherine Zengerer

In the 1990s, NGOs (non government organisations) delivered more official development assistance than the entire U.N. system. Now, increasing anti-NGO rhetoric on both the left and right, means these groups have less power and influence than ever before.GUEST: Suparna Chaudhry, Associate Professor of International Affairs at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, US PRODUCER: Ali Benton

When Australians went to the polls in May's federal election, Generation Z and Millennials outnumbered baby boomers at the ballot box. What does this mean for the future of Australian voting patterns?GUEST: Dr. Intifar Chowdhury, Lecturer in Government at Flinders University, South AustraliaPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Journalist and former presenter of Media Watch, Richard Ackland, looks at how Australia's privacy laws are being used in place of expensive defamation cases in the wake of the Brittany Higgins/Linda Reynolds case, and how that might impact journalism going forward.Guest: Richard Ackland AM, journalist, publisher, lawyerProducer: Ali Benton

A flash revolution toppled Nepal's government earlier this month, as protests from young people over a social media ban quickly escalated into violence and the 73-year-old leader fleeing the country. An interim prime minister, Sushila Karki, has been appointed to lead the country back to stability. Will she succeed? Will Nepal?Guest: Biswas Baral, Editor of The Kathmandu PostProducer: Alex Tighe

Returning: Jimmy Kimmel. Not returning: the dozens of academics fired for comments on Charlie Kirk. America's love of free speech is being tested by Kirk's assassination, and Trump's speech at the memorial included the line, "I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them."Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor with The Nation, and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and TraumaProducer: Jack Schmidt

Mark Kenny examines the political path to Australia recognising Palestine ahead of the UN General Assembly and what it means for our relationship with President Donald Trump and the United States. Meanwhile the Opposition continues to vehemently oppose the move. GUEST: Mark Kenny, Professor at the ANU's Australian Studies Institute, host of the Democracy Sausage podcast and political analyst for the Canberra Times

Poetry has been part of Muslim expression since ancient times; from the 8th century, poetry flourished in Arabic, Persian, and later Urdu and Turkish. Rumi, the 13th-century Sufi mystic, is still celebrated all over the world. Now, for national poetry month,  the Sweatshop Literacy Movement has just published the world’s first collection of Muslim-Australian poetry, which aims to capture what it means to be a Muslim-Australian today, and reflect how poetry can transcend politics.Guest: Zainab Syed, poet and Editor (with Sara M. Saleh and by Manal Younus) of Ritual, published by Sweatshop Literacy Movement, and Adrian Mouhajer, Lebanese-Australian writer and editor from Lakemba in Western Sydney. Producer: Catherine Zengerer

US President Donald Trump was elected on a law and order platform, but consumer and public affairs watch organisation, Public Citizen, Trump’s administration has withdrawn or halted enforcement actions against 165  corporations, and at least a quarter of them are in the tech sector.  Guest: Rick Claypool, Research Director, Public Citizen, author,  “Corporate Clemency - How the Second Trump Administration Is Halting Enforcement Against Corporate Lawbreakers” (Public Citizen, March 2025)  And “Deleting tech enforcement - Trump 2.0 Is Dropping Lawsuits and Investigations Against the $1 Billion-Spending Technology Sector” Producer: Catherine Zengerer