

Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast
ABC
Incisive analysis, fearless debates and nightly surprises. Explore the serious, the strange and the profound with David Marr.
This LNL podcast contains the stories in separate episodes. Subscribe to the full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
This LNL podcast contains the stories in separate episodes. Subscribe to the full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 24, 2025 • 15min
Anna Henderson's Canberra: Pauline Hanson's burka stunt and environment laws final push
The Senate was suspended after One Nation's Pauline Hanson wore a burka in the chamber. The Senator claimed it was a national security issue, but Anna Henderson says her claims don't stack up. Meanwhile federal environment minister Murray Watt is trying to push changes to environment laws through in the final sitting week, but at this stage neither the opposition nor the Greens are on board. Guest: Anna Henderson, SBS World News Chief Political Correspondent | National Press Club DirectorProducer: Catherine Zengerer

Nov 20, 2025 • 9min
Jenny Hocking AM calls for free access to Dismissal archives
In the wake of 50th anniversary commemorations of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's dismissal, the historian and biographer Professor Jenny Hocking AM says it's time that the federal government allow free and open access to all archives related to the events surrounding November 11th, 1975. Guest: Jenny Hocking AM, historian, biographer, Professor Emeritus at Monash University

Nov 20, 2025 • 17min
How the Quarterly Essay reached its 100th edition
25 years in the making, the Australian publication Quarterly Essay has reached its 100th edition. Editor Chris Feik shares how QE was born, and how it comes together four times a year.Guest: Chris Feik, editor

Nov 20, 2025 • 28min
Wind: the invisble force of nature that we can't live without
It's invisible, it drives us crazy, and we couldn't live without it: the wind has been a constant presence for all of history, and was one of the first things people ever wrote about. What is it about this invisible force that captures our imagination? How have humans mastered the wind? And how has it humbled us?Guest: Simon Winchester, journalist and author of The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the WindProducer: Alex Tighe

Nov 19, 2025 • 28min
When foxes went feral
Seventy years after foxes were first introduced to Australia in 1870, they had managed to spread across the continent. For the first time, their colonisation of the continent has been mapped.GUEST: Dr Sean Tomlinson, Lecturer at the School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin UniversityPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Nov 19, 2025 • 18min
Hurricane devastated Jamaica seeks reparations for climate damage and years of slavery
Jamaica was devastated when Hurricane Melissa hit. Hundreds of thousands of homes were flattened, and whole towns were destroyed by one of the most powerful storms on record. Recovery will take years. For the people of the Jamaica the increasing ferocity of global warming is just another wave of punishment from rich Western countries. This week, a delegation from the Caribbean is meeting with the UK government to discuss the intersection between reparations for hundreds of years of slavery and payment for the damage wreaked by climate change. Guest: Natricia Duncan, Caribbean correspondent, The Guardian UK Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Nov 19, 2025 • 1sec
Bruce Shapiro's USA: Trump's backflip on the Epstein files
Bruce Shapiro joins Late Night Live as the US Senate approves the release of the Epstein documents, after a confounding backflip from the US President, Donald Trump.Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor at the Nation; Executive Director at the Global Centre for Journalism and Trauma

Nov 18, 2025 • 55min
Helen Garner on Erin Patterson's trial and a lifetime of keeping diaries
Author Helen Garner sat through the trial of Erin Patterson, who was convicted of murdering members of her family with deadly mushrooms. She reflects on coming face to face with a murderer, her love of the courts, her faith and what happens when people have to face the consequences of their actions. Guest: Helen Garner, co-author of The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations about a Triple Murder Trial, with Chloe Hooper and Sarah Krasnostein, published by Text. And How to end a story — collected diaries 1978 to 1998Note: Erin Patterson is appealing her convictions, claiming there was a "substantial miscarriage of justice" during her trial.

Nov 17, 2025 • 16min
Can we stop space from filling up with junk?
Space is big... but not infinite. The area around the Earth is populated by thousands of satellites and a million pieces of space debris, and those objects could stay in orbit for decades. Adding to the complexity, since 2019 there's been a growth-spurt in the number of satellites being sent into space. Is it possible to avoid a catastrophic build-up of junk in orbit that could make space unusable?Guest: Professor Aaron Rosengren, space engineer from the University of California, San DiegoProducer: Alex Tighe

Nov 17, 2025 • 16min
Calls to reject Myanmar's "sham" election as evidence revealed of torture by the Junta
As Myanmar prepares for its first elections since the military junta took over in 2021, a new documentary from Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has revealed some of the horrific measures being used by security forces to maintain control, including forced conscription and interrogation centres where it is claimed that detainees are often tortured to death. The tactics are seeing people flee the country, and and the number of soldiers deserting the army is on the rise. Guest: Fiona Macgregor, senior producer of Myanmar Exposed, a series of reports by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit.Producer: Catherine Zengerer


