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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
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Apr 9, 2025 • 29min
Last dance at the tallyboard: ABC election analyst Antony Green calls time on a legendary career
ABC election analyst Antony Green has decided that this federal election will be his last in an on-air role. For over thirty years, he's tallied the numbers on election night, live on ABC TV. So what lies ahead for Australia's favourite psephologist? Guest: Antony Green AO, ABC election analyst

Apr 8, 2025 • 12min
Why has the theatre interval gone out of style?
For the past century the interval has been as much a part of the theatre experience as the curtain call and the standing ovation. So why is it disappearing? And how will our bladders cope?GUEST: John Shand, theatre critic, Sydney Morning HeraldPRODUCER: Helen Pitt

Apr 8, 2025 • 20min
How is the Gaza war playing out in Israel?
Eighteen months into the war in Gaza, veteran reporter Irris Makler looks at how the war is playing out inside Israel and for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and how he has responded to the killing of more aid workers.GUEST: Irris Makler, Jerusalem correspondent, France 24

Apr 8, 2025 • 19min
Bruce Shapiro's Trumpland: who's getting rich from Trump's tariffs?
There's been a lot of attention on who is losing out from Trump's tariffs, but who is set to benefit - even get rich - from them? And why is it that the Democrats remain seemingly ineffective while people are protesting Trump's policies across America? Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor for The Nation; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia UniversityProducer: Jack Schmidt

Apr 7, 2025 • 19min
Tariffs are as old as the Roman Empire
Global markets are reeling in response to US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs, but the tariff itself is nothing new. The ancient Romans applied duties to imports from the East - including incense, spices and jewels - designed to generate vast amounts of government revenue. But Roman tariffs also created problems - from price inflation to the emergence of black markets. Guest: Peter Edwell, Associate Professor of Ancient History, Macquarie University

Apr 7, 2025 • 17min
Should the UK review its relationship with the US as well as AUKUS?
None of the leaders who signed the AUKUS deal in 2021 are in power today, and US President Donald Trump seems not to have heard about it. Now the UK has announced it will review the agreement given the swiftly changing geopolitical environment. So what does this mean for the relationship between the three allies from the UK’s perspective? GUEST: Philip Collins is a former chief speechwriter to Tony Blair, he’s a weekly columnist for The Evening Standard and Writer-in-Chief at the writing agency The Draft. He is also a contributor to Prospect Magazine.PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer

Apr 7, 2025 • 16min
Laura Tingle's Election 2025: blunders and backtracks
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has acknowledged that his proposal to compel Canberra-based public servants working from home to return to the office was a mistake. But as past elections have shown, there is still plenty of time to recover from a blunder.

Apr 3, 2025 • 26min
Peter Rose departs the Australian Book Review after 24 years
After 24 years, the Australian Book Review's CEO and editor, Peter Rose, is stepping down. By the time he leaves, Peter will have edited close to 250 issues, worked with more than 1500 writers and helped shape the national conversation.GUEST: Peter Rose, Outgoing editor and CEO of the Australian Book ReviewPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Apr 3, 2025 • 26min
Did John Howard approve the 1998 war on the waterfront?
In 1998 wharfies across the country were locked out by men in balaclavas with savage dogs. What followed was the most dramatic industrial confrontation of the age between the Maritime Union of Australia and Patrick Stevedores, led by CEO Chris Corrigan. The Howard government said they knew nothing about plans to sack the 1400 workers and train a new, non-union workforce in Dubai. But now ABC Radio National’s Rewind has uncovered new evidence that casts doubt on their claims. GUEST: Dr Geraldine Fela –Research Fellow in the School of Humanities at Macquarie University, and producer and series historian of Conspiracy - war on the waterfrontPRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer

Apr 2, 2025 • 24min
The bliss and the perils of ignorance
Aristotle claimed that all humans want to know. But at the same time, we battle a competing desire to not know. Through history, humanity has been repeatedly compelled to ignore realities, seduced by irrational rumours, magical thinking and preposterous prophets. Are we living in a time of particular ignorance?