Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

A year ago this week Julian Assange was released from prison after a 14-year fight for freedom. Assange accepted a guilty plea of conspiring to obtain and disclose classified U.S. documents in exchange for being returned home to Australia. But how did this deal come about and what happened in the lead-up to his return home? Journalist Andrew Fowler shares the inner-dealings and joins the dots on the backstory of the negotiations to release Assange.Guest: Andrew Fowler - journalist and author of The Most Dangerous Man in the World: Julian Assange and his secret White House deal for freedomProducer: Sarah Allely

In the wake of the US strikes on Iran, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other traditional allies are unable to offer either criticism or outright support for Trump's actions. Starmer and Trump will meet again at the NATO summit in The Hague, where NATO leaders are expected to agree on an ambitious defence spending target of 5% of GDP. Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news, co-host of the Origin Story podcast

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons, presenting it as a major threat to regional and global security. At the same time, Israel is widely believed to have its own nuclear weapons program, although it has never officially confirmed or denied possessing nuclear arms.GUEST: Avner Cohen, Professor of Non-Proliferation studies at Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, CaliforniaPRODUCER: Ali Benton

Whilst a growing number of Israelis want the war in Gaza to end, there is widespread support for the latest strikes on Iran. Guest: Irris Makler, journalist, author, Jerusalem correspondent

MAGA Republicans have put aside their staunch isolationist, anti-interventionist positions to offer their enthusiastic support for US President Donald Trump's strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Republican congressman Chris Massie has criticised the strikes - but he now faces Trump's wrath at the ballot box. Guest: Bruce Shapiro, Contributing Editor with the Nation and Executive Director at the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University

Paul French, a London-based writer and broadcaster with extensive experience in China, shines a light on the rich tapestry of Macau. He reveals how this vibrant city transitioned from a Portuguese colony to a bustling casino capital, exploring its unique blend of cultures. French discusses key historical figures who navigated the murky waters of trade and gambling, while illuminating the understated handover from Portugal to China. Listeners will appreciate Macau's cultural heritage, including its stunning architecture and the survival of the Portuguese language in a modern context.

In the face of falling fertility rates, the United Nations argues that the real fertility crisis the world faces is not too many babies or not enough babies but the lack of freedom women have to choose whether or not, and when, to have kids. A new UN Population Fund study warns governments against alarmist narratives and regressive policies around fertility. Instead it encourages countries to focus on policies that offer options and equality such as affordable housing, health and childcare - in order to lift fertility rates. Guest - Rebecca Zerzan – Editor of the United Nation’s 2025 Population Report, titled The Real Fertility Crisis – The pursuit of reproduction agency in a changing world  Producer - Sarah Allely

Kim Il-Sung is the ‘darkest figure in all of Korea’s history’ , according to Seoul-based scholar and author Fyodor Tertitskiy. With access to archives from Japan, China and Russia, biographer Tertitskiy has painted a grim picture of a man whose ego replaced his ideology. Guest: Fyodor Tertitskiy, author of 'Accidental Tyrant: The life of Kim Il-Sung' (Hurst) Producer: Ann Arnold

In 1948, a group of 17 Australian and American scientists - lead by Adelaide anthropologist Charles Mountford - spent 9 months in remote Arnhem Land, studying traditional Aboriginal life and culture. The adventure was celebrated by the press of the day, but a new book uncovers the chaos, dysfunction and unethical practices of the expedition. Guest: Prof. Martin Thomas, author of Clever Men: How worlds collided on the scientific expedition to Arnhem Land of 1948

Over millennia, humans have been better at inventing ways of writing than remembering how to read what we’ve written. We use marks and pictures and letters and symbols, but what they mean can disappear over time. We’re only now figuring out how to read the string writing of the Indigenous people of Peru, which until recently was thought to be essentially indecipherable. That was until Professor Sabine Hyland of the University of St Andrews found a remote village in the Andes where the elders had a superb collection of ancient string writing – known as khipus - and remembered a good deal of how they could be read. Guest: Professor Sabine Hyland, anthropologist from the University of St AndrewsProducer: Sarah Allely