Late Night Live — Full program podcast

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. Plus, a tribute to Mary Gaudron, Australia's first female High Court judge. Guests: Luke Fletcher, Executive Director, Jubilee Australia Research Centre and author of America and the Birth of Global Aid, published by Routledge John Basten AO KC, former judge of the NSW Court of Appeal

Our regular UK correspondent appraises Ed Miliband's bold stance on West Bank. Meet Dutch-Australian Kim Sajet, former Smithsonian director who Donald Trump tried to fire. And the allure of world globes. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast Kim Sajet, Director of the Milwaukee Art Museum; former Director of the US National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Nikolaus Schobesberger, Director at the Globe Museum of the Austrian National Library in Vienna

Anna Henderson on One Nation’s migration policy, the response to Pauline Hanson's 'derogatory' remarks about Aboriginal people on a podcast, and the government’s increasingly aggressive approach to big tech. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on what Benjamin Netanyahu was told before October 7, and why Netanyahu is threatening to sue Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Plus the hidden meanings in wine labels. Guests: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS Former Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert Katie Spain, freelance wine writer

As Australia grapples with a surging illicit tobacco trade, the Coalition and One Nation have called for a substantial cut to Australia's excise on legal tobacco. Professor Becky Freeman says the tobacco industry has long backed a tax cut, and continues to wield significant political influence. Plus, how did Washington journalists gain access to information during the Cold War, and why did they keep secrets? Guests: Professor Becky Freeman, school of public health, University of Sydney Kathryn McGarr, Associate Professor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Madison, Wisconsin

Artificial intelligence presents enormous challenges to the business of journalism in its pursuit of truth and dissemination of credible information. News Director with EBU Liz Corbin says AI developers must respect key principles around transparency and accreditation to ensure their tools don’t damage the integrity of news. Plus, after an extraordinarily hot summer, Europe's iconic rivers have reached record lows, exposing warships, skeletons - and enormous geopolitical vulnerabilities. Guests: Liz Corbin, News Director, European Broadcasting Union (EBU) Ben Coates, guest essayist for New York Times, author of The Rhine

Bruce Shapiro reflects on the life of American feminist icon, Gloria Steinem, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's attempts to keep current Mayor Zohran Mamdani from attending the commemoration of 9/11, and multiple legal cases are still at play over President Trump's attempts to centralise electoral rolls. In Adelaide, the SA Premier is pushing ahead with plans to cut down nearly a thousand trees in the heritage listed parklands to make way for a golf tournament and a motorcycle race. Plus why America wants its Greenland airbase back. Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Greg Mackie, Former CEO, SA History Trust, former Adelaide City Councillor Ole Guldager, historian, curator at Narsarsuaq Air Base Museum

Anna Henderson discusses falling house prices, One Nation's superannuation policy and Nationals' leader Matt Canavan's controversial 'feminisation of the curriculum' statement. Italian political analyst Lorenzo Pregliasco on how prime minister Giorgia Meloni has stayed in power for four years. Plus meet Alexander von Humboldt, the German philosopher who started the ecology movement. Guests: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS Lorenzo Pregliasco, political analyst, Adjunct Professor, University of Bologna, Italy Dalia Nassar, Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney,

By now lab-grown meat was supposed to be a tasty, affordable, ethical food option, reducing the harms of industrial livestock farming. But these hi-tech ventures have failed to deliver on the hype. Plus, revelations from archaeological work at the old campsites of Queensland's notorious Native Mounted Police. Guests: Erin Somers, writer, essayist, critic and novelist. Author of 'Where's the beef', the cover story of the September edition of Harper's Magazine. Heather Burke, co-author with Lynley Wallis and Bryce Barker of 'Buried: Archaeology, frontier conflict and the QLD Native Mounted Police' (Sydney University Press)

Corporations can cause enormous harm, yet the law often struggles to hold them to account. Law professor Penny Crofts argues that horror helps us understand the scale of corporate wrongdoing. Plus how a British art dealer looted Cambodia’s ancient treasures during the Khmer Rouge era, and sold them to the world’s most prestigious museums and collectors. Guests: Penny Crofts, Professor of Law at UTS, co-author of Corporate Harm: A Horror Story with Honni van Rijswijk Matthew Campbell, author The man who stole the gods

There's been a big Tory reshuffle, a bloody one. Our UK politics commentator Ian Dunt analyses what's behind it. And Jeff Sparrow on the radical, socialist, unionist life of Australian poet and writer Lesbia Harford. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast Jeff Sparrow, journalist, writer, editor, author of the biography 'Somewhere Here the Future's Hid - the Extraordinary Life of Lesbia Harford’ (Monash University Publishing)

Anna Henderson looks at One Nation's historic win in Western Australia, securing its first lower house seat in the state. In oil-rich Alberta, a growing separatist movement is asking a once unthinkable question: should the province leave Canada and become an independent country? Plus, how GPS (Global Positioning System) now underwrites everything from rideshares to traffic light systems, international banking and supply chains. Guests: Anna Henderson, Chief Political Correspondent, SBS Andrea Lawlor, Associate Professor in political science, at McMasters University, Ontario, Canada Katherine Dunn, author, Little Blue Dot: How the Global Positioning System Shaped the Modern World

Yale Professor Samuel Moyn argues that the old in the United States have hoarded wealth and power, and that something needs to give. Plus, Australian historian Tom Griffiths corroborates the extraordinary encounters of a 1900s white cattle station girl, Alice Duncan-Kemp, who learned from Indigenous Mithaka people in outback Queensland. Guests: Samuel Moyn, Professor of Law and History at Yale University, author of 'Gerontocracy in America: how the old are hoarding wealth and power - and what to do about it' (2026) Tom Griffiths, historian and author of 'Alice's dreaming' (2026)

Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore traces 125 years of war, revolution, upheaval and revival in the Middle East. From the final days of the Ottoman Empire to to the current Iran-US conflict, Simon's new book The Cauldron examines the forces, characters and calamities that have shaped the region. Guest: Simon Sebag Montefiore, writer and historian Producer: Ali Benton

Bruce Shapiro asks if US President Donald Trump has betrayed American cattle farmers, after he eased tariffs on foreign beef. Australia sells weapons to the United Arab Emirates, but could those weapons be ending up in Sudan? Plus, the story of the first camera that made it to colonial Australia in May 1841. Guests: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor for The Nation, executive director of the Global Centre for Journalism and Trauma Andrew Bartlett, President of Australians for War Powers Reform and former Democrats and Greens Senator for Queensland Elisa DeCourcy, writer and curator, author of Early Photography in Colonial Australia, Melbourne University Press

One Nation is mopping up after new MP David Farley's 'rookie mistake' on his party's net migration target. Veteran Jerusalem correspondent examines the work of the Israeli ambassador to Australia Hillel Newman, after an IDF report found that no one would be held criminally liable for the death of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues in Gaza in 2024. Plus, composer and host of The Music Show Andrew Ford ponders the musical qualities of our names and nicknames. Guests: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS Irris Makler, freelance journalist, veteran Jerusalem correspondent Andrew Ford, composer and host of The Music Show on Radio National

John Cameron Mitchell, American actor, playwright, and film director, directed some of the more outrageous movies of the 2000s, like Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and Shortbus. He argues that punk is as relevant than ever, and it is much more than a look. Plus, in the first half of the 20th century, up on the far north coast of WA, Wyndham Native Hospital incarcerated and treated Aboriginal people, because they were not allowed to be treated at the Wyndham District Hospital, known as the 'white' hospital. Guests: John Cameron Mitchell, American punk icon and multimedia artist Annabel (A.M.) Stafford, former journalist, teacher, author of 'The wanted and the unwanted' (MUP)

German philosopher Hanno Sauer argues that class hierarchies are a permanent feature of human societies. So if true equality is elusive, how do we live with class? Plus new revelations on the Cambridge Five - the young men who spied against Britain from the 1930s to the 1950s. Guests: Hanno Sauer, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies at Utrecht University. Guest of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas in Sydney Antonia Senior, author, journalist and co-host of the History Book Buffs podcast. New book is Stalin’s Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire

Our regular UK correspondent on the death of former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday. An accounting and ethics expert who has been following the KPMG case explains why some of the firm's activities are so controversial. And 'going out' - a colourful romp through the many ways that many cultures enjoy night life. Guests: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast Tom Ravlic, journalist, author and academic who has been writing about the KPMG saga for Crikey, and The Mandarin Imogen Willetts, author of ‘Up All Night: A History of Going Out'

Political correspondent Anna Henderson surveys a busy sitting week, with the government eager to pass NDIS reforms. The Kingdom of Jordan, a neighbour of Israel, is trying to stay neutral in the Middle East war, but is caught between the US and Iran. And a look at how mining magnate Gina Rinehart attempts to control her public image. Guests: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS Nabih Bulos, Middle East bureau chief, Los Angeles Times Sarah Martin, senior correspondent for The Guardian Australia

Sovereign citizens believe they’ve discovered a hidden legal system that can set them free from the state. The new book Outlawed explores the strange world of pseudolaw, and what its rise tells us about trust, power and the law. Plus Late Night Live looks at the abiding popularity of calming 'night' music to help people sleep, and how 19th century composers like John Field, Chopin and others first brought us the musical concept of 'nocturnes'. And Late Night Live pays tribute to former producer, Kris Short. Guests: Harry Hobbs, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law and Justice at the University of New South Wales, co-author, with Stephen Young, of Outlawed: Responding to the Global Rise of Sovereign Citizens and legal conspiracies . Susan Tomes, award-winning pianist and author of 'Nocturnes, and the fascination of night music'.