Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

Mary Gaudron has died at the age of 83, a giant of the Australian legal profession. She was a woman of many firsts: the first woman to sit on the Australian High Court, the first to hold the rank of a federal court judge, the first to be appointed Solicitor-General anywhere in the Commonwealth, the first woman admitted to the NSW Bar in 1972. Her colleague John Basten AO KC, former judge of the NSW Court of Appeal, remembers a formidable figure, who leaves a lasting legacy. Guest: John Basten AO KC, former judge of the NSW Court of Appeal

On his first day in office in 2025 US President Donald Trump announced a freeze on foreign aid. Billions of dollars in humanitarian assistance stopped flowing to other countries and thousands of aid workers were laid off. The U.S.A.I.D program was established by President John F Kennedy in 1961, at the peak of cold war tensions, but researcher Luke Fletcher says its roots date back to WWII, and a desire by the US to greatly expand its economic and military power. So what is the US losing by shutting it down? And who is filling the void? Guest: Luke Fletcher, Executive Director, Jubilee Australia Research Centre and author of America and the Birth of Global Aid, published by Routledge Producer: Catherine Zengerer

A world globe looks like a simple object, but look closely and you can see centuries of discovery, error, ambition and empire. The blank spaces, the imaginary islands, the borders and flags all tell us something about what people knew, and what they thought they knew. Guest: Nikolaus Schobesberger, Director at the Globe Museum of the Austrian National Library, Vienna Producer: Ali Benton

In May 2025, US President Donald Trump announced that he'd fired Kim Sajet, then Director of the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, describing her as 'a highly partisan person, and a strong supporter of DEI'. Trump did not have the power to sack her, but Sajet decided to depart anyway. The White House continues to attack public museums and galleries deemed too 'woke' or unpatriotic in their displays of history. Sajet is in Australia to speak on the subject of courageous museum leadership in the age of culture wars. Guest: Kim Sajet, art historian and director of the Milwaukee Art Museum, former director of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Kim is in Sydney for the International Congress of Maritime Museums, hosted by the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Her speech is titled Courageous Leadership: Museums in the Age of Culture Wars

The UK's new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband has announced new sanctions on Israeli West Bank settlements, prompting a furious response from Israel. Plus, UK Reform leader Nigel Farage has received two record £36m donations from crypto-billionaires - but are those donations legal? Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news, co-host of the Origin Story podcast

What did Benjamin Netanyahu know about the threat from Hamas before October 7? A new Haaretz investigation looks at warnings that reached the prime minister before the attack.Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Netanyahu was warned, and failed to act. Netanyahu rejects the claims and has threatened to sue Haaretz over the report Guest: Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ( 2006-2009) Producer: Ali Benton

For a long time walking into a bottle shop to buy wine felt like walking into an exclusive club. Wine labels were printed on thick, expensive paper; their message was prestige. Nowadays, says wine writer Katie Spain , it feels more like walking into an art gallery, with an explosion of new brands featuring labels that are bold, colourful and quirky. And many of them contain hidden meanings and subtle messages. There are also a lot of left over labels going to waste, which Ms Spain is collecting to turn into an art work , the proceeds of which will go to supporting those struggling in the industry. Guest: Katie Spain, national wine writer Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The fall out from One Nation's cartoon suggesting Liberal MP Andrew Hastie was a traitor continues, and David Marr asks Anna Henderson why the major parties are failing to take Pauline Hanson on over it. A podcast has emerged featuring Pauline Hanson making offensive remarks about Aboriginal people , but we are yet to see a response from the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister, however, is forging ahead with tackling big tech companies about their use of social media algorithms. One Nation are still dominating headlines with their plan to cut migration, while we are yet to see a policy response from Immigration Minister, Tony Burke. Guest: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS

Before 24-hour news, Washington’s most powerful journalists got their scoops over dinner — with generals, senators and senior officials. These invitation-only gatherings created a privileged pipeline between the press and the people running America’s Cold War. Guest: Kathryn McGarr, Associate Professor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Madison, Wisconsin. Producer: Ali Benton

As Australia grapples with a surging illicit tobacco trade, the Coalition and One Nation have called for a substantial cut to Australia's tax on legal tobacco. Professor of Public Health Becky Freeman says the tobacco industry continues to wield significant political influence. Guest: Professor Becky Freeman, School of Public Health, University of Sydney

Europe is a land of legendary rivers. For centuries, they've fed cities, transported great armies and powered modern industry. But this summer, after a series of exceptional heatwaves, the Rhine, Danube, Loire and Po have all shrunk to record lows. Ben Coates, author of a 2019 book about the Rhine, discusses what the drying up of Europe’s rivers means for the continent and its future. Guest: Ben Coates, journalist and columnist based in the Netherlands. Ben is the author of The Rhine: following Europe's greatest river from Amsterdam to the Alps His article about Europe's dying rivers is here Producers: Ann Arnold and Julie Street

Since AI started being used by journalists in newsrooms around the world, there have been a number of high-profile publications that have made some rather embarrassing mistakes. Some have misquoted political leaders because AI simply made up and attributed statements to politicians who never said those words. Malicious actors are setting up fake news websites for AI to capture when it sweeps the internet for information. AI is also being used to generate fake videos that are alarmingly difficult to detect. Europe has just released an AI Act in an attempt to regulate what is being produced by big tech companies - and they don't like it. So as the ABC rolls out Anthropic's AI tool, Claude, and is about to trial the use of AI to help write digital news articles based on radio bulletins , LNL looks at whether AI is a tool that will give journalists super powers, or a slippery slope to AI slop at best, and dangerous misinformation at worst. Guest: Liz Corbin, Director of News, European Broadcasting Union Producer: Catherine Zengerer

During the Cold War, the US had 17 military bases across Greenland. Most were eventually abandoned, but now Washington wants to get its hands back on one. Narsarsuaq is a former American air base in the south, where historian Ole Guldager has documented the history of the American military presence. Guest: Ole Guldager, historian, curator at Narsarsuaq Air Base Museum, and author, Americans in Greenland in World War Two Producer: Ali Benton

Nearly a thousand trees are being cut down in Adelaide's heritage listed parklands to make way for a re-developed golf course and the MotoGP motorcycle race . A federal court case is underway , challenging the removal of certain trees due to both their heritage value and their significance to local Indigenous people. A parliamentary inquiry is also underway after more than 43,000 people signed a petition opposing the developments and thousands took to the streets of Adelaide, calling on the Premier to 'stop the chop'. But Peter Malinauskas is pushing ahead with the plans, citing the economic development opportunities they bring to the state. Some analysts are suggesting the SA government's aim is in fact to appeal to One Nation voters in Labor seats. Guest: Greg Mackie, Former CEO, SA History Trust, former Adelaide City Councillor Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Bruce Shapiro reflects on the life of American feminist icon Gloria Steinem, and how many of the things she fought for are now under attack. As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has said he would be offended if Mayor Zohran Mamdani attends the commemoration at Ground Zero, in what Bruce says is a reflection of the legacy of Islamophobia resulting from the terrorist attack. Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma Producer: Catherine Zengerer

The idea that everything in nature is interconnected comes largely from the German philosopher, geographer, naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt. After a scientific expedition to the Americas at the turn of the 19th century, Humboldt came to realise that nature existed in interconnected ecological zones, and that humans were not nature’s overloads, but part of nature itself, something which profoundly challenged religious beliefs about man’s place in the world. His observations were published in five volumes called Kosmos, a scientific work which would have a significant influence on evolutionary thinkers like Charles Darwin, and would ultimately kick off the ecology movement. Guest: Dalia Nassar , Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney, author of Romantic Empiricism – nature, art and ecology from Herder to Humboldt, published by Oxford University Press, and host, The Wednesday Society podcast Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Four years on, Giorgia Meloni has done what few Italian leaders manage: stay in power. But has her right-wing revolution really materialised — and how secure is her grip ahead of the 2027 election? Guest: Lorenzo Pregliasco, Political analyst, Adjunct Professor, University of Bologna, Italy Producer: Ali Benton

Anna Henderson discusses the political impact on the government of falling house prices, whether One Nation's superannuation policy is a vote winner and the response to Nationals' leader Matt Canavan's statement on the so-called 'feminisation of the curriculum'. Guest: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS

For 80 years (1848-1928), the Queensland Native Mounted Police operated as a paramilitary force on Australia's frontier, with Aboriginal troopers under white command dispatched to suppress Indigenous resistance. The new book, Buried, shares the findings of a four-year project to locate, record and excavate the campsites of the Mounted Police, painting a more detailed picture of their activities - both violent and mundane. Guest: Heather Burke, Professor of Archaeology at Flinders University, co-author of Buried: Archaeology, frontier conflict and the Queensland Native Mounted Police (Sydney University Press), with co-authors Lynley A Wallis; and Bryce Barker

The quest to create enjoyable, successful lab-grown meat has been pursued over the past decade or two, by entrepreneurs around the globe who can see the potential for big rewards. But they have not, so far, been able to create the desired product. A reporter dives into the world of meat cells and venture capitalists. Guest: Erin Somers, writer, essayist, critic and novelist. Author of 'Where's the beef', the cover story of the September edition of Harper's Magazine. Producer: Ann Arnold