Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Environmental lawyers around the world have successfully made the case that rivers have rights, a movement that renowned science writer Dr. Robert Macfarlane tracks in his new book, 'Is a River Alive?'. Macfarlane takes us to some of the world's most beautiful rivers, and asks: what is it about running water that we find so compelling? And speaking of compelling, David Baron tells the story of how humans first become obsessed with the planet Mars. Was a 19th-century American's belief in Martians an accidental catalyst for modern space exploration?

Acclaimed US journalists and podcast collaborators with The Atlantic Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober join David Marr in-studio to discuss the MAGA women who love Trump, the state of the media in post-insurrection America, and the importance of complex human storytelling in journalism. Guests: Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober, co-hosts of the podcast We Live Here Now. Hanna is also Senior Editor at the Atlantic and host of Radio Atlantic Producer: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 13 August 2025

Drawing on her expertise in mental health and trauma studies, Palestinian psychiatrist, Doctor Samah Jabr, explores how the trauma of displacement and conflict continues to shape Palestinian lives. And why wool became one of the most important commodities for militaries across the globe.*This episode originally aired on 21 August 2025

What can we learn from Indigenous perspectives on Australian history? Two historians, one Indigenous and one not, explore new and very, very old ways of seeing the past in 'Deep History: Country and Sovereignty'. Then: shade. On a warming planet, shade takes on a new significance. It is an unevenly distributed resource, and, Sam Bloch argues, too often overlooked in urban design. On this special summer episode we look at shade in a new light.

If you left a feather at an American crime scene during the 20th century, chances are that Roxie Laybourne would be called. Laybourne was "The Feather Detective", a Smithsonian forensic ornithologist who solved crimes using her extensive knowledge of birds. Then: the makers of a documentary on the life of Emily Kam Kngwarray, the Indigenous-Australian painter who first picked up a brush in her seventies.

Should prison architecture be used for punishment, or could it be used to create hope, instead? 'Jaywalking' is being decriminalised in some US states as campaigners say the law has been disproportionately enforced on black and Latino residents. Plus how did we end up with the QWERTY keyboard, when it wasn't designed to be fast or logical?

Sir Gerard Brennan served as the 10th Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest judicial position in the country. He was involved in several landmark cases, including the famous Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) decision. This case overturned the concept of "terra nullius" (land belonging to no one) and recognised the native title rights of Indigenous Australians for the first time under Australian law. His son Frank Brennan has collected his father's speeches in Gerard Brennan’s Articles and Speeches, Vol 2: Law in Accord with Justice Guest: Father Frank Brennan, SJ

After 30 years of appearances on Late Night Live Laura Tingle shared her memories of Australian politics and her favourite LNL appearances before she began her role as ABC Global Affairs Editor. Plus why Aussies are in love with outdoor cinema. 

Is over-tourism coming for Antarctica? As more and more people travel south for awe and adventure, our guest has some proposals to keep Antarctica pristine. Plus: Dame Harriet Walter, internationally famous for her TV roles, has long been a celebrated Shakespeare actor on the stage. Walter has inhabited the minds of Shakespeare's women for more than half a century, and her new book imagines what else those women might have said... if only they'd been given more lines.

Linguistics Professor Emily Bender, warns that the big tech companies who promote AI, with an almost spiritual zeal, may be off the mark. Plus the bizarre story of the Roosevelt family members who sought to prove the existence of giant pandas to the West.