

Late Night Live — Full program podcast
ABC Australia
Incisive analysis, fearless debates and nightly surprises. Explore the serious, the strange and the profound with David Marr.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Apr 6, 2026 • 55min
Henry Reynolds turns Australian history upside down
The writing of Australian history has tended to focus on the south-eastern corner of the continent, but the story of colonisation north of the Tropic of Capricorn paints a vastly different picture of this country, its people, politics and ambitions. Guest: Henry Reynolds, historian and author of Looking from the North: Australian History from the Top Down

Apr 2, 2026 • 55min
Robert Reich's America and ten years since the release of the Panama papers
In his new memoir, Former Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton, Robert Reich, traces how the Democrats lost the working class and paved the way for Donald Trump. Plus ten years on since the release of the Panama Papers, has anything changed in the global financial system?

Apr 1, 2026 • 54min
Ian Dunt's UK, and the Shahs and Ayatollahs of Iran
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces his plan to address fuel prices. And 'The Shah's party, and the Iranian revolution that followed'. Bob Templer on how Iran's recent history explains the deep divisions and violence that occurred in February, leading to the current war. Guests: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentatorRobert Templar, author of 'The Shah's last party, and the Iranian Revolution that followed' (Hurst)

Mar 31, 2026 • 54min
Western Australia's GST wins, Israel death penalty for West Bank, and mapping the wilderness
The only Australian state with a budget surplus will get an extra $6.6 billion from Australian taxpayers in the coming financial year, under its special GST deal. Israel's parliament has passed a law that makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who have been found guilty of killing Israelis. Australia's wilderness has just been mapped for the first time in 40 years, and it's estimated to have shrunk by more than 20 percent.Guests: Shane Wright – Senior Economics Correspondent for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National InitiativeJames Watson, Professor of Environmental Science, University of QLD

Mar 30, 2026 • 55min
Anna Henderson's Canberra, Ash Sarkar critques the modern Left, and should daylight savings be permanent?
The Australian government will halve the fuel excise for three months, as the energy crisis triggered by the Iran war looks set to drag on. UK journalist, commentator and self-identified communist Ash Sarkar offers her critique of the modern liberal-Left, and its tendency to fall into culture war traps that do not serve people's material needs. Plus, why has the Canadian province of British Columbia decided to ditch seasonal clock changes, and embrace daylight savings time year round? Guests: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS NewsAsh Sarkar, journalist at Novara Media, author of Minority Rule: Adventures in the Culture WarMaurice Katz, video journalist with CBC, Vancouver

Mar 26, 2026 • 55min
The struggle to get aid into the Middle East, plus a great Australian librarian retires
Millions have been made homeless by wars in the Middle East, but with access severely limited, humanitarian agencies are struggling to get aid into the region. Plus, the National Library of Australia's departing General-Director Marie-Louise Ayres reflects on a decades-long career at this cherished public institution, where she's overseen the digitisation of millions of precious Australian archives. Guests:Susanne Legena, CEO of Plan International AustraliaMat Tinkler, CEO Save the Children Australia Marie-Louise Ayres, departing Director-General, National Library of Australia

Mar 24, 2026 • 54min
Bruce Shapiro's USA, Trump’s business in the Gulf, plus the Museum of Failure
Bruce Shapiro on whether Trump now looking for a way-out of the war in Iran, and why the Pentagon has lost its defence of media shut-out rules. Plus the New York Times has investigated Donald Trump’s private business footprint in the Gulf, and found luxury real estate, golf courses, and high-profile partnerships. And why we should celebrate failure. Guests:Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Eric Lipton, Investigative reporter, New York TimesDr Samuel West, Clinical psychologist and founder, Museum of Failure

Mar 23, 2026 • 54min
Anna Henderson's Canberra, a tribute to Rhoda Roberts, and making floristry more sustainable
The South Australian election result has got the major parties elsewhere scrambling to understand what the One Nation phenomenon means for them. In tribute to the late Rhoda Roberts, we replay an interview she did with David Marr on the 'Welcome to country' backlash. Plus the downsides of pretty flowers, and what the industry is doing to clean up its act.

Mar 19, 2026 • 55min
Guns and God in the USA, plus fresh scrutiny on weedkiller Roundup
Journalist and author William J. Kole examines how white evangelicals in the United States have fused the gospel and guns - and are standing in the way of reasonable restrictions on firearms. Plus, fresh scrutiny on the makers of the herbicide Roundup - and the widely-cited research used as evidence of its safety.Guests:William J. Kole, journalist and author of In Guns We Trust -The Unholy Trinity of White Evangelicals, Politics, and Firearms, published by Broadleaf books Naomi Oreskes, Henry Charles Lea Professor of the History of Science and Affiliated Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard University

Mar 18, 2026 • 55min
Please explain: Niki Savva, Paul Kelly and Antony Green on the resurgence of Pauline Hanson
Pauline Hanson rose from Ipswich City Council in 1994, to win the federal seat of Oxley in 1996, as a disendorsed Liberal turned independent. Her maiden speech ignited national controversy, and after just two years in Canberra, and a string of failed comebacks, she’s now back at the centre of Australian politics — with One Nation now polling at 24% of the primary vote (Resolve Strategic). Some of Australia's finest political minds unpack Hanson's remarkable resurgence.Guests:Niki Savva, journalist, author and former political advisor to Peter CostelloPaul Kelly, Editor-at-large for The AustralianSimon Hunt and his alter ego Pauline PantsdownABC Election Analyst Emeritus, Antony GreenProducer: Ali Benton


