Skip to main content

Program: Late Night Live

Source:ABC Radio National

All Episodes Contact Us

Brought to you by

ABC Radio National

ABC Radio National

Presented by

A man with glasses and a pink shirt looks at the camera

From razor-sharp analysis of current events to the hottest debates in politics, science, philosophy and culture, Late Night Live puts you firmly in the big picture.

Contact Late Night Live via email here.

Airs Monday to Thursday 10pm Repeated: Tuesday - Friday 3pm.

Get the ABC listen app
Take your favourite podcasts and radio with you

Latest

full episode

Is Israel a liberal democracy and was William Shakespeare gay?

Saree Makdisi questions the perceptions by the West of Israel as a liberal democracy and Will Tosh questions whether William Shakespeare was gay, and does it really matter.

Published: 8h agoWed 24 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

Illustrations of a koala, lighthouse, books and a radio on a blue background.

Duration: 54 minutes 7 seconds

segment 1 of 2

Saree Makdisi on Israel and the culture of denial

Saree Makdisi argues Israel has long presented itself as a bastion of tolerance and democracy in the heart of the Middle East.

Published: 8h agoWed 24 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

Duration: 30 minutes 38 seconds

segment 2 of 2

Was Shakespeare gay?

A new biography of William Shakespeare looks at the world’s greatest playwright through a queer lens.

Published: 8h agoWed 24 Jul 2024 at 12:15pmwith David Marr

Duration: 25 minutes 9 seconds

More from Late Night Live

Bruce Shapiro on Kamala Harris, Paul Davies on the benefits of AI and the beauty of the Brisbane River

Bruce Shapiro on how Kamala Harris can turn the Trump campaign on its head, theoretical physicist Paul Davies says there's a lot to be gained from artificial intelligence - if we're mindful about how we use it and Simon Cleary on his walk down the…

Illustrations of a koala, lighthouse, books and a radio on a blue background.

Duration: 54 minutes 7 seconds

Published: YesterdayTue 23 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

Bruce Shapiro's America: Biden steps down

President Biden has pulled out of the race for the Presidency and put his support and his donations behind Kamala Harris.

Kamala Harris in blue suit behind her Vice PResident lecturn

Duration: 18 minutes 16 seconds

Published: YesterdayTue 23 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

Paul Davies on the positive sides of artificial intelligence

There have been many scary stories about what could happen if artificial intelligence is allowed free rein, including ultimately the destruction of the human race, but theoretical physicist Paul Davies says there's much to be welcomed about…

A close up of two older white men wearing glasses, David Marr on the left with arms folded, Paul Davies on the right, smiling.

Duration: 19 minutes 26 seconds

Published: YesterdayTue 23 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

A river walk

A month-long walk from the source of the Brisbane River, eastward to Moreton Bay, leads writer and barrister Simon Cleary to new appreciations of what the river means to people, and how it changes along its course.

Brisbane River

Duration: 16 minutes 53 seconds

Published: YesterdayTue 23 Jul 2024 at 12:00pmwith David Marr

Feature articles

Over the last 33 years, Phillip Adams has spoken to everyone. So what's it like to interview him?

As Phillip Adams hangs up his microphone after more than 30 years at Late Night Live, author Geraldine Brooks pays tribute to the broadcaster and her friend.

Phillip Adams and a smiling Paul Keating in the RN studio

Published: 27 Jun 2024Thu 27 Jun 2024 at 12:10am

Meet the six mega-rich families running the food system

The average American farmer doesn't fix fences and drive tractors. Thanks to market concentration, there is now a handful of companies that dominate the US food system, and they are impacting Australia too.

A pink pig, backlit, looks straight on at the camera, which is zoomed in on its face.

Published: 12 Jun 2024Wed 12 Jun 2024 at 11:20pmby Fiona Pepper and Catherine Zengerer

'Why do novels have chapters?' A simple question with a 2,000-year-old answer

Chapters are an obvious but invisible part of reading. Here's how they came to be and how they spill over into our favourite TV shows.

Rows of dozens of books on shelves

Published: 24 May 2024Fri 24 May 2024 at 5:43amby Nick Baker and Ian Coombe

The gold-smuggling Indonesian pilot who produced one of the country's most provocative girl bands

Indonesia is one of Australia's closest neighbouring countries, and yet how much is really known about its intricate past? Some of those gaps are being filled through the rediscovery of old music records.

Black and white photo of four different band members who are young Indonesian women holding guitars and a drum

Published: 1 May 2024Wed 1 May 2024 at 3:40amby Catherine Zengerer and Sophie Kesteven

Phillip Adams: 30 years of Close Encounters

Playwright Arthur Miller on Death of a Salesman and other triumphs

One of the most prolific voices of the 20th Century is that of essayist and playwright, Arthur Miller. In 1949, Death of a Salesman, probably Miller's best-known play (and the one he says he likes the most), premiered and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Arthur Miller

Duration: 28 minutes 23 seconds

Published: 15 Jul 2024Mon 15 Jul 2024 at 3:42amwith Phillip Adams

Gillian Armstrong's path to success

One of Australia’s most successful and revered filmmakers, Gillian Armstrong is a multiple award winning director, and her most successful films include “My Brilliant Career”, “Little Women”, “Oscar and Lucinda”, and “Charlotte Grey” among many more.

Gillian Armstrong photo

Duration: 53 minutes

Published: 29 May 2024Wed 29 May 2024 at 11:57pmwith Phillip Adams

The greatest speeches never heard

For every speech that is delivered, there exists an undelivered opposite. Jeff Nussbaum discusses the speeches the world never got to hear, and why.

B&W John F Kennedy behind a desk surrounded by television cameras

Duration: 31 minutes

Published: 10 Jun 2024Mon 10 Jun 2024 at 6:32amwith Phillip Adams

How the modern dog was invented

Designer dogs are all the rage today, but the modern way of ordering and breeding dogs is an English invention which started in 1860.

drawing of an early dalmatian dog covered in spots

Duration: 18 minutes

Published: 24 Jun 2024Mon 24 Jun 2024 at 7:00amwith Phillip Adams

Discover more podcasts

Download the ABC listen app to hear more of your favourite podcasts

Footer