Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

Historian Shannon Smith has unveiled a new episode in the history of the Balibo Five: the role Bob Hawke in securing an inquiry into their deaths, not when he was Prime Minister, but when he was Secretary of the ACTU.  Guest: Dr Shannon Smith - author of “No Bullshit!: Balibo 1976 and Bob Hawke’s Diplomatic Masterclass,”  the Australian Journal of Politics and History: 2024.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer attempts a political re-set ahead of Christmas, and Ireland goes to the polls,  with the conservative centre-right party Fianna Fáil taking the lead.  Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with the 'i' news.

Poetry remains embedded in popular culture, from slam nights to music lyrics. And it is valuable whether it is 'elite', or not, our guest argues. Guest: poet and author Peter Kirkpatrick

North Korea and Russia are getting closer and closer - sharing troops, weapons, oil and other big ticket items. So what do both countries get out of this flourishing friendship?  There are potentially a number of benefits but security is probably the most crucial for North Korea. For Russia it's about shoring up an ally and getting a bit of backup on the ground with its war with Ukraine, in the form of about 12000 North Korean troops. Meanwhile, South Korea is doing some of Ukraine's bidding, trying to use North Korea's involvement in the war to motivate more support from the west. Our guest says Seoul is helping out with this 'info warfare' to buy some time before Trump returns to the White House. South Korea needs to be careful not to put the incoming US administration offside by getting too involved with the Ukraine and Russia war.  Guest: Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Jeongmin covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs.

The Prime Minister had a mixed final week in Parliament, but his late decision not to push through Tanya Plibersek's nature positive laws has raised concerns about their working relationship. Meanwhile Peter Dutton is still reluctant to release the Coalition's election promises. Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30

Surpassing the age of 80, Australian literary icon Helen Garner felt she was just about done with writing. Then she started driving her teenage grandson to local football training, and sticking around on the sidelines to watch. Her new book The Season is a love letter to the game of Australian Rules Football, and a tender observation of young men coming of age.

Historian Phillip Blom argues that the human need to dominate and subdue the natural world can trace its origins to ancient Mesopotamia. This was perpetuated through the Judeo-Christian notion that God charged man to be fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it. The Enlightenment age reinforced the notion of human dominance over all creatures. Blom says this idea was relatively harmless until technology developed to the point where we are now destroying the planet. So we now need to urgently change our thinking - or perish.  Guest: Phillip Blom, author of ‘Subjugate the Earth: The Beginning and End of Human Domination of Nature’ published by Polity.

Over the past few decades, Christmas has come earlier and earlier. By November there are decorations and festive fare everywhere. How has the 'Christmas creep' evolved? Guest: Carole Cusack, Professor of religious studies at the University of Sydney

'White fragility' and definitions of 'whiteness' are tackled in a raw and challenging discussion about race and cultural assumptions. Guests: Esther Anatolitis, editor of  'Essays that changed Australia: Meanjin 1940 to today' (MUP) And Michael Mohammed Ahmad, contributor

Australians and Brits like to complain about the "Americanisation" of the English language, but Professor Ben Yagoda says that language has in fact been flowing more obviously the other way. In recent decades, Americans have adopted countless British (and Australian) expressions, from "gobsmacked" to "gone missing", and "dodgy" to "done and dusted".

The ink had barely dried on the deal for the French subs that then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had signed when a group of people behind the scenes started the campaign to get out of it. They had concerns that the subs would not meet the requirements that the Americans had for Australia in their role in the Indo-Pacific. Particularly in relation to China.

Bruce Shapiro on Trump's legal triumphs and Cabinet nominees.

As the major parties continue to lose votes in Australia, political analyst George Megalogenis considers what a Labor minority government might look like in 2025 - and who the cross- benchers will be. George Megalogenis, journalist, writer and author of the Quarterly Essay Minority Report - The New Shape of Australian Politics

Prime Minister Albanese is facing the last sitting week with much of his hoped for legislation being shelved. How can he build momentum again in 2025? Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30

Australian writer Lech Blaine shares the stranger-than-fiction story of his childhood, growing up in a loving foster family in rural Queensland, haunted by two fanatical Christian kidnappers.

What does successful public policy look like in Australia in 2024? Can parliaments overcome petty partisanship, narrow self-interest and the populism of our times to serve Australians into the future? John Brumby AO and Cheryl Kernot discuss the pursuit of better government.

In 1962, Sidney Nolan made two journeys that had a huge impact on his life and work - to Auschwitz and Africa. The paintings from his trip to Africa invoke both his fears for humanity and the extinction of Africa's wildlife. The works were exhibited back in 1963, but a new book brings them all back together again. Guest: Andrew Turley, author of Nolan's Africa (Miegunyah Press)

Plans around the country for public truth-telling forums are falling away.  Professor Marcia Langton analyses what's going on.

In the recent US election, Donald Trump made significant gains amongst young male voters aged 18-29. Some 56% of this cohort voted for Trump, compared with 41% in 2020. Journalist Jamie Tahsin, who has spent years investigating a part of the Internet known as the "manosphere", believes Mr Trump's media appearances with various young male online influencers boosted his campaign. And his 18 year old son Barron may have been a useful advisor.

Ian Dunt fears for the security of Europe and the future of NATO as Donald Trump prepares to return to White House.

Scientists have been fascinated by the lifespan of the Greenland shark which can live for centuries. Now new research may have found the key to why it's the longest living vertebrate on Earth.  Guest: Dr. Brynn Devine, Arctic Fisheries Scientist at Oceans North

Journalist, writer and podcaster Jon Ronson has spent years doing stories about psychopaths, conspiracy theorists and the behaviour of the mob, who love to indulge in a social media pile-on. He's a cultural critic of both the left and the right who questions the culture wars on both sides. He reflects on how conspiracy theorists have found their way into such positions of power, and why people love to follow them. Guest: Jon Ronson, writer, film-maker podcaster. He is touring Australia and New Zealand with his show Jon Ronson's Psychopath Night.

The Greens have dropped their demand for a climate trigger to be incorporated into the Federal Government's stalled environmental protection reforms, in the interests of getting the legislation through the Senate this year. And the Government has reached agreement with the Opposition on political donations. Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30

From requesting cross bows to fight invaders in Norfolk, to a southern Italian cosmetic recipe for removing hair dye: a British Library exhibition reveals the worlds of women in the Middle Ages. Guest: Professor Diane Watt

Over a thousand books have been written about Australian involvement in foreign and domestic wars. Military historian Peter Stanley delves into Australia's complicated relationship with conflict and memorialisation. Guest: Peter Stanley,  historian and author. His latest book is 'Beyond the Broken Years, Australian Military History in one thousand books'

In 1910 Virginia Woolf and her friends pulled off the 'hoax of the century' when they donned wigs, costumes and black face to successfully convince the British Navy to give them a guided tour of the pride of the fleet - HMS Dreadnought. They were decked out as Abyssinian Princes. But what were race relations like in Britain at the time and could the prank be seen as racist? Guest: Danell Jones, author of The Girl Prince: Virginia Woolf, race and the Dreadnought hoax (Hurst)

While the US is embroiled in wars in Ukraine and Gaza, China has been quietly getting on with the business of becoming the dominant global super-power. It’s belt and road initiative now has more than 150 sign-ups, and the BRICS-plus group is positioning itself to abandon any connection to the US dollar. China expert Geoff Raby says the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan was a pivotal moment for China, allowing it to establish its power in Central Asia and leaving it free to turn its attention to dominating the sea. So how will the US respond to this new threat from China, with Donald Trump at the helm?   Guest: Geoff Raby, Australia’s former ambassador to China and author of: “Great Game On - The contest for Central Asia and Global Supremacy,’ Published by Melbourne University Press.

100 wordThe last woman executed for witchcraft in England in 1685 may have survived. New research shows Alice Molland, sentenced to death for bewitching her neighbours, could have misnamed in history due to a spelling mistake in a court ledger.  Guest: Professor Mark Stoyle, Department of History, University of Southamptons plus Guests name & book

Al Jazeera investigative reporter Drew Ambrose says Australia is missing out on key major news stories happening across Asia because our newsrooms are disproportionately focused on the stories from the UK and the US. Studies of the Australian media landscape have found that awareness of issues in Asia seems to be almost non-existent in the minds of news executives, yet over a quarter of Australians were born overseas, predominantly in Asian countries. So why are we ignoring our nearest neighbours? Guest:  Drew Ambrose, Senior Producer, 101 East, for Al Jazeera International.

Bruce Shapiro on the Democrats' struggle to drive turnout across the nation in last week's US presidential election. Plus, Trump begins appointing his White House staff.

The UN's Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights, Francesca Albanese, has released her latest report on the situation in Gaza, which she describes as "unfit for human life."  She has called on the international community to consider  suspending Israel as a member state of the United Nations and to ensure that Israel adheres to its obligations under the Genocide Convention, including immediately halting arms transfers to Israel.  Guest: Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 You can find her latest report here.

Geoffrey Watson SC is concerned about public faith in the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), following a recent review of the NACC's decision not to investigate robodebt corruption referrals. The NACC is now reconsidering this decision.

Laura Tingle discusses the ways that the political discourse in Australia will likely change now that Donald Trump will be the 47th President of America.  Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30

Madrid, the Spanish capital in the centre of the country, has long lived under the shadow of coastal Barcelona, with its spectacular Gaudi architecture. But Australian author Luke Stegemann, who has lived in Madrid on and off for many years,  is passionate about the place and its significance.

Palestinian archaeologist Ayman Warasnah says Israeli strikes in Gaza have damaged or destroyed hundreds of heritage sites and monuments dating back millennia - as far back as Roman, Byzantine and Bronze Age times. Plans are in place to restore and protect the sites that remain.  Guest:  Ayman Warasnah -  Head of Department of Tourism and Antiquities Security, Al-Istiqlal University, Jericho

Late Night Live's team of experts bring you their analysis of the US election 2024. What went right for Donald Trump? What went wrong for Kamala Harris? And will Trump Make America Great Again? Guests:  Bruce Shapiro - Contribution Editor with The Nation, Executive Director with the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia Chas Licciardello - Co-host of Planet America on ABC TV Clare Corbould - Associate Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University Jacob Heilbrunn - Editor of The National Interest, author of America Last: The Right’s Century Long Fascination with Foreign Dictators

When journalist Michael Visontay was going through his parents papers during COVID, he found a document that sent him on a journey back to his parents homeland of Hungary and to the heady world of rare book selling in 1920s New York looking for the Noble Fragments - pages from the highly valuable Gutenberg bibles. Guest: Michael Visontay, journalist and author of Noble Fragments (Scribe)

After Japan's recent election, there are now 73 women in the lower house of parliament. While this is the highest number yet, it still is only 15%. Japan ranks 118 out of 146 countries when it comes to gender equality. Why do women in such a wealthy and highly educated country still struggle to get into positions of power in Japan? Guest: Freelance journalist and activist, Chie Matsumoto

The Conservative Party has elected its new leader, the combative 44 year old MP Kemi Badenoch. Meanwhile, the government's latest budget indicates a significant shift in approach to tax and revenue.  Guest: Ian Dunt, Columnist for “i” news and co-host of the Origin Story podcast.

Since announcing his retirement in 2022 Shaun Micallef has made two new television series and written a new book of short stories and poetry. So when will he really retire? And when does he think comedy is no longer funny?  Guest: Shaun Micallef, comedian and author of “Slivers, shards and skerricks – a one man anthology by Australia’s most intelligent and handsome renaissance man,” published by Affirm press.

As Labor heads into election campaigning mode Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced Labor will cut student debt, but Bernard Keane says unless we fix housing young people still face huge disadvantage in Australia.  Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor, Crikey

A trove of letters discovered in Moscow shows that dialogue between warring populations, and even civil disagreement, are possible. Guest: historian Alexis Peri

Upon discovering that sex work is decriminalised in New Zealand, Antonia Murphy decided to build her own business: an ethical escort agency called The Bach.

Journalist Evan Rail investigates the lucrative market for vintage "pre ban" bottles of absinthe, from before WWI. Most bottles are genuine, but some are fake.

In 1788 there were at least fifteen convicts of African descent on board the First Fleet, and hundreds more followed. Who were they, and how were the Black convicts transported to Australia linked to the slave trade? Guest: Santilla Chingaipe, author of Black Convicts: How slavery shaped Australia.

Why would some of our 'Old Stone Age' ancestors have climbed into deep, black caves in Northern Spain, about 18,000 years ago, and created art in the dark?  Guest: Izzy (Isobel) Wisher, palaeolithic cave art researcher, Aarhus University, Copenhagen

A lawsuit has been filed in the US federal courts alleging negligence, wrongful death and deceptive trade practices by a tech company after a teenage boy committed suicide. The boy had developed an online relationship with a “chatbot” character he had created via an app called Character.AI.  His mother believes the company abused and preyed on her son, but the company’s founder says it is up to individuals to figure out what provides value for them – they just provide the products.  Guests:  Meetali Jain, Director & Founder, Tech Justice Law Project Casey Mock, Chief Policy Officer at the Centre for Humane Technology

Bruce Shapiro previews the final week of the US presidential campaign.

Stephen Fry has had an extraordinary life. From being a teenage runaway, ending up in prison, to going to Cambridge and meeting Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson, discovering he was bi-polar and digging up his Jewish history. Throughout it all his love of language and writing have been his constants.  Stephen reflects on the power of story-telling, how to counter impostor syndrome and the things he absolutely can’t do.  Guest: Stephen Fry. Stephen is touring Australia for his show "An evening with Stephen Fry".

75 years ago, on 17 October 1949, Australia's Governor General Sir William McKell lit the first stick of dynamite for the Snowy Hyrdo scheme.

After nine years of war between an American and Saudi-backed government and the Houthis backed by Iran, Yemen is a disaster zone with twenty million people facing starvation. Tawakkol Karman is a Yemini journalist and human rights advocate who led hundreds of protests against Yemen’s dictatorial regime and whose work was recognised with a Nobel Peace Prize. She says Yemen must have self-determination, free of foreign interference.  Guest: Tawakkol Karman, journalist and human rights advocate.

Bill Gates, the boy-genius who dropped out of Harvard to start a technology company, became the world’s richest man and is now the world’s most prominent philanthropist.  What kind of man is he and what influence does he hold? Guest: Anupreeta Das, author of Billionaire, Nerd, Saviour, King, The Hidden Truth about Bill Gates and his Power to Shape our World

Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar reckons with the history and legacy of the British Empire, in Australia and around the world.

As the US sends its Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Middle East envoy, Amos Hochstein, to try to gain a ceasefire agreement, it seems Israel has no intentions of stopping the bombing of Northern Gaza and Southern Lebanon. Journalist Antony Loewenstein says Israel has a strong motivation for an endless war – it’s one of the world’s biggest arms manufacturers and dealers. And he says for those companies selling military weapons, Gaza and the West Bank are their proof of concept. Guest: Antony Loewenstein, freelance journalist and author of: “The Palestine Laboratory, How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation around the World” published by Scribe. Antony is also host of The Palestine Laboratory podcast.

Presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have spent much of the campaign in Pennsylvania - the most prized swing state of all.

Why has every generation from biblical times onwards thought it would be the one to witness the end of the world? Dorian Lynskey explores how apocalyptic thought has evolved through the ages, looking at how our obsession with Armageddon has played out in fiction and film.  Guest: Dorian Lynskey, author, journalist and podcaster His new book is ‘Everything Must Go: The Stories We Tell About The End of the World’ (Picador)

In June last Australia moved what was then the last refugee from offshore processing on Nauru. But since then Australia has been quietly sending people back, and they are struggling to put food in their mouths. The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre says the people there are reliant on charity to survive, where the cost of fruit and vegetables is around four times the average cost in Australia, and drinking water costs $70 per fortnight.   Guest: Jana Favero, Deputy CEO of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.

Bernard Keane says the election of the first "teal" to the NSW state parliament shows the Liberal party has a lot of work to do to win these seats back at the federal level.  Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor, Crikey

Learning how birds communicate could help us to better understand the health of our natural ecosystems.

Journalist Gareth Gore investigates the finances and political influence of the conservative Catholic order, Opus Dei.

In 2019 Scottish poet and feminist Jenny Lindsay spoke up on Twitter about a post that called for violence against women at a pride march in London. The tweet had been written by a trans activist and was directed at so-called “TERFS” (trans-exclusionary radical feminists). Lindsay says she, and other women who have raised questions about gender identity, have been hounded out of their jobs, and sometimes even out of their cities. But trans activists say their actions are causing harm to the trans community.  Guest: Jenny Lindsay, poet and author of “Hounded. Women, Harms and the Gender Wars,” published by Polity.

Why the Russian Constitution matters for the world's democracies.

A Macedonian-British food writer celebrates the foods from the region she was born in,  while also noting the misplaced nationalism attached to foods there - and everywhere.  Guest: Irina Janakievska, food writer

Since the Christchurch mosque terror attacks in 2019, conversion to Islam, especially among Maori, has skyrocketed. But Maori interest in Islam has been building for a few years. The Qur’an was translated into Te Reo Māori in 2008, the culmination of a long project. What connects Maori and Muslims, what's the attraction and what happens when Islam and Maori customs collide?   Guests:  Ayca Arkilic – Senior Lecturer in Comparative Politics at Victoria University of Wellington. Current research with a project grant from Royal Society of NZ: Embracing Islam: Conversion, Identity, and Belonging in Aotearoa New Zealand      Noeleen van de Lisdonk – Co-founder of Ōu Mātou Reo (nation-wide network of Māori Muslims) and was a Kāpuia Ministerial Advisory Member to the Government’s Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Terrorist Attack on Christchurch Mosques

Columnist Ian Dunt on the King's imminent visit to Australia, and the Conservative Party's leadership race.

High profile lawyer of Julian Assange, Jennifer Robinson, reflects on Assange's recent testimony to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. The Assembly criticised the role of both the US and the UK in Assange's imprisonment and called on member states to improve protections for whistleblowers and journalists. Robinson is also in Australia to discuss the release of the now uncensored and unredacted version of her book which discusses how defamation law is being used to silence women who speak out about sexual abuse and misconduct.  Guest: Jennifer Robinson, barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London and co-author of ‘How many more women - how the law silences women,’ with Dr Keina Yoshida, published by Allen and Unwin.

Aside from the Obama years, the state of Florida has reliably voted for Republican presidential candidates this century, including for Donald Trump in 2020. How might recent hurricanes impact turnout? And will a vote on state abortion rights attract new voters to the polls?  Guest: Sharon Wright Austin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida

Taiwan is much more than the debate about whether it's a province of China. Its past is a colourful one, full of visitors and invaders from multiple cultures. And that creates a complex identity today.  Guest: Jonathan Clements, author of 'Rebel Island: the incredible history of Taiwan' (Scribe)

The Moulin Rouge was the heart of La Belle Époque in Paris, a place where eccentrics, artists and performers rubbed shoulders with aristocrats, socialites and working girls. In its 135 years it has survived multiple scandals, being burned to the ground and being occupied by Nazis and is now more popular than ever. But these days the spectacle is more Las Vegas than Paris, a polished performance for a conveyer belt of tourists from across the globe. So has the Paris icon lost its soul?  Guest: Will Visconti, Italian lecturer at the School of International Studies at the University of Technology, Sydney.

Australia has always thought of itself as a country that prides itself on its egalitarian nature – stories from how prisoners of war treated each other as equals and shared resources regardless of rank. But does this perception of egalitarianism hide a society that is spiralling into inequality?  Guest: Andrew Leigh, Labor Member for Fenner in the ACT, Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities, Treasury and Employment and author of Battlers and Billionaires, published by Back Inc.

King Charles is set to visit Australia for his first tour as Sovereign. The visit throws into light the role of the monarchy in Australia and its representative, the Governor-General. King Charles may say he's not involved in politics, but why is Buckingham Palace still refusing to release the so-called “Palace letters” about the dismissal of Gough Whitlam in 1975?  Guest: Jenny Hocking, biographer, Emeritus Professor of History at Monash Uni and author of The Dismissal Dossier: Everything you were Never Meant to Know about November 1975 – the Palace Connection (2017).

The Australian government is hosting the world’s inaugural nature positive summit where it is hoped the world will take a big step towards agreeing on how we can not just halt the alarmingly rapid loss of nature, but actively restore it and improve it. The goal is to have nature in a visibly and measurably better state by 2030 with the introduction of "nature positive laws". But there are concerns the Nature Positive bill currently being debated in the Australian senate won't meet the promises we made as part of the international Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.  Guests:  Marco Lambertini, Convener, Nature Positive Initiative Rachel Walmsley, Head of Policy and Law Reform, Environmental Defenders Office

The "October surprises" keep coming, as another hurricane bears down on Florida. Meanwhile, Republican Liz Cheney has appeared alongside Democrat Kamala Harris on the campaign trail.  Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine; Executive Director of the Dart Centre for Journalism and Trauma at Columbia University

Just as Wikipedia replaced encyclopedias, it is feared that  AI will either replace, or weaken, Wikipedia’s content. Guest: writer Richard Cooke

Writer Sonia Purnell reveals the astonishing life of Pamela Churchill Harriman, one of the most significant women in 20th century politics. From Winston Churchill to Bill Clinton, Mandela, Sinatra and the Kennedys, her power and influence spanned generations and continents.

Renowned around the world, the name Nobel is inextricably linked to the annual prizes. But who was the family behind the name? Guest: Bengt Jangfelt, author of The Nobel Family, Swedish Geniuses in Tsarist Russia

When India gained its independence, the rulers of the princely states - the Maharajas - had to be convinced to give up control of their territories to create the nation of India. It was a difficult negotiation for Lord Mountbatten as each prince wanted something different in return for giving up land, power and armies. Guest: John Zubrzycki, former diplomat and author of Dethroned: the downfall of India's princely states (Hurst/NewSouth)

Until the late 1980s Indigenous art was being ripped off left right and centre. It was open slather. First at the cheap end of the market on T-shirts and then on fancy carpets made in Vietnam. The rip-off merchants maintained black artists were just painting old patterns, so their work was for the taking.  The lawyer who proved them wrong was Colin Golvan AM, and his new book shares historical stories of Indigenous copyright infringement and his experiences travelling around, often to remote communities, to work with artists to fight for their rights.  Bronwyn Bancroft is one of Australia's most recognised First Nation artists and when she stumbled across the theft of her work, Colin took up the legal fight and they settled out of court. Bronwyn now mentors other Aboriginal artists to assert their copyright. Guests: Colin Golvan AM is a lawyer, QC and author of new book, Protecting Indigenous Art Bronwyn Bancroft AM is a Bundjalung woman, artist and author of 45 books

When drug baron Pablo Escobar was killed in 1993, his hacienda near Medellin was ransacked for cash, drugs and money. Left behind though were some of the animals from his private zoo, including four hippos. They have multiplied since then and are now spreading down the Magdalena River. While there have been no deaths so far, it is only a matter of time. Guest: Joshua Hammer, contributing writer with the Smithsonian Magazine.

Jacob Heilbrunn says Donald Trump is not the first figure from the American Right to express admiration for foreign dictators.  Guest: Jacob Heilbrunn, Columnist, The Atlantic, and author of the upcoming book America Last: The Right’s Century-Long Romance With Foreign Dictators.

The new President of Sri Lanka is not from one of the elites that have dominated party politics since independence, but rather from the left. The far-left according to some. How will Anura Kumara Dissanayake bring the country together to deal with the economic and political challenges facing Sri Lanka. Guest: Vidhura S Tennekoon - Assistant Professor of Economics at the Indiana University, Indianapolis

The largest known population of the Australian night parrot was recently discovered in the Great Sandy Desert in WA. Ornithologist Dr Penny Olsen recounts our long fascination with this elusive nocturnal bird.  Guest:  Dr Penny Olsen, ornithologist and Honorary Professor at ANU

Successive prime ministers have tried and failed to progress religious discrimination reforms in Australia. Section 38 of the Sex Discrimination Act remains a sticking point - an existing exemption in the law which permits religious schools to discriminate against staff and students based on their sexuality and gender identity. The Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended its repeal - a proposition many religious leaders do not support.

Joe Biden won the US state of Georgia in 2020 by the slimmest of margins, and the 2024 race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will likely be close again.

The world’s richest men – Elon Musk, Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos - might still be trying to outdo each other in space travel. But do the rest of us care anymore?  Guest: Jonn Elledge, columnist with The New Statesman and The Guardian.

Israel has killed the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, in a targeted bombing attack on Beirut. Many of Hezbollah's weapons caches have also been destroyed. An estimated 1000 people have been killed over the past two weeks and up to one million people may be internally displaced across Lebanon. Will this coordinated attack finally mean the end of Hezbollah?

Guest: Laura Tingle, Chief Political Correspondent, 7.30

With changing the name of Australia's highest peak still undecided, Mount Kosciuszko remains named after a Polish revolutionary. Who was this man, and why was he so revered — not only in his native Poland, but across continents?

As the US election looms, Donald Trump is pushing his message around stopping what he calls the "migration invasion" of America across the Mexican border. In the Arizona desert, robot dogs, mobile surveillance towers and drones with tasers already make the crossing a living nightmare. Now artificial intelligence is being combined with the collection of people's photographs and biometric data to make what lawyers and human rights experts say are arbitrary and often unchallengeable decisions about a person's right to asylum. Meanwhile a small number of private companies are making a large profit from the sale and use of these systems to governments in America and around the world.  Guest: Petra Molnar, author “The Walls Have Eyes: Surviving Migration in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” published by The New Press, and Associate Director, Refugee Law Lab, York University, Toronto.

Veteran Irish journalist Fintan O'Toole asks why democratic systems and values that had been taken for granted are now in such peril.

Keir Starmer has laid out his hopes for Britain in his first speech to the Labor Party Conference since his election in July this year. He promised 'national renewal' and 'a Britain that belongs to you'. He also warned that sacrifices would have to be made in order to make the changes that they believe are critical for the future of Britain. Did he make a convincing case? Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with the "I" and co-host of the Origin Story podcast.

‘To do a Houdini’ is still used to describe remarkable feats of escapes, yet the great escapologist Harry Houdini was born 150 years ago. In 1910, Houdini visited Australia for a 3 month sell-out tour. He also claimed the title of the first person to successfully fly a powered aircraft in Australia. GUEST: Leann Richards, author of 'Houdini's Tour of Australia'.

A 27-year old man who wore a protest T-shirt has become the first person convicted and sentenced under Hong Kong's new national security laws, passed in March this year. Journalists have also been charged with sedition. Meanwhile, pressure mounts on Australian judges serving in Hong Kong to resign their posts.

In an extremely close US election race, getting people to the polls - either on November 5th or via early voting - will prove the difference. The ground game is less about ideology and more about campaign strategy and party machinery. So how are the Democrats and Republicans tackling this challenge in the key swing states?

Have we been underestimating plants? A controversial field of science champions the sentience and intelligence of plants. Acclaimed New Yorker journalist Elizabeth Kolbert has been looking at some recent books on this topic for the October edition of the New York Review of Books.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he was stepping down and there are nine candidates now running for the leadership position of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party. The leader of the party will automatically become the next Prime Minister of Japan. Commentator on Japan Roger Pulvers explains how the election will play out.  Guest: Roger Pulvers, author, playwright and commentator on Japan

Peter Dutton has given a speech to the Committee for Economic Development Australia to push his nuclear policy, saying nowhere in the world has a renewables-only policy worked. And is the Greens focus on housing a populist move?  Guest: Karen Middleton, political editor, Guardian Australia

After WWII, the CIA undertook experiments with psychedelic compounds like LSD, in the hope of discovering pharmacological weapons. The holy grail was a "truth serum" that might be used to extract secrets from the enemy. But the CIA wasn't the first to meddle with psychedelics in this way - in fact these experiments were first initiated in Nazi Germany.

Despite numerous reviews, investigations and now a Royal Commission, the culture of abuse in the military remains resistant to change. It is not just physical and sexual abuse, but also administrative abuse which results in members and veterans of the Australian Defence Force suffering lifelong trauma which in many cases leads to suicide. What needs to happen for the culture of the military to change? Guests:  Ben Wadham, professor in Sociology in Defence and Veteran Studies at Flinders University in South Australia and  James Connor, Associate Professor in military sociology at the University of NSW in Canberra Co-authors of Warrior, Soldier, Brigand: Institutional Abuse within the Australian Defence Force (Melbourne University Press)