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Incisive analysis, fearless debates and nightly surprises. Explore the serious, the strange and the profound with David Marr.
This LNL podcast contains the stories in separate episodes. Subscribe to the full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
This LNL podcast contains the stories in separate episodes. Subscribe to the full podcast wherever you get your podcasts.
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It’s 125 years since the death of Oscar Wilde. The famous playwright and author died alone in a French hotel in 1900. Since that time, so much has been written about his wit, prose and character. Some of it fact, some of it rumour, much of it, speculation. In his new book called After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, Oscar Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, sets the record straight. The book is thirty years in the making and is an exploration of Wilde’s posthumous reputation and how his imprisonment for homosexuality affected Wilde's family, friends and literary legacy.Guest: Merlin Holland, Oscar Wilde's grandson and author, Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal,Producer: Ali Benton
Stephen Miller, often described as the architect of Donald Trump’s immigration policy, has been a defining force behind some of the administration’s most hardline measures. Known for his uncompromising stance on border security and deportations, Miller has shaped policy from the inside, translating Trump’s instincts into concrete executive actions. At just 40, he wields disproportionate influence in the White House, crafting rules that have reshaped asylum procedures, tightened visa restrictions, and fueled the administration’s “zero tolerance” approachGuest: Ashley Parker, staff writer for The AtlanticProducer: Ali Benton
Ian Dunt talks about his decision to withdraw from Adelaide Writer's Week and examines the fraying trans-Atlantic relationship between the US and UK, as US President Donald Trump attacks the Chagos Islands deal. Plus why more Tory MPs are defecting to join Nigel Farage's anti-immigration Reform party. Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with i-news; co-host of the Origin Story podcast Producer: Ali Benton
King Charles is worth more than $3 billion — although it's hard to put an exact figure on his fortune, because royal records aren't published and paying tax is optional. Gifts to the royal family are flexible, too: does that £300,000 Bentley from the King of Bahrian belong to the state, or to Charles personally? Before he gets locked in the Tower, our guest blows the whistle on the palatial wealth of the Windsor family.Guest: Norman Baker, a Liberal Democrat who served as a member of the UK parliament from 1997 to 2015, and the author of Royal Mint, National Debt: The Shocking Truth About The Royals’ FinancesProducer: Alex Tighe
One year since US President Donald Trump's inauguration and the global order has been completely shifted, while the United States is now a country where people live in constant fear of ICE raids and deportation. Bruce Shapiro looks back at Trump's achievements in year one and how the world is responding to his plans for a "Board of Peace" - with a membership cost of $US 1 billion. Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. Producer: Catherine Zengerer
As the Albanese government drops key provisions from its hate speech legislation, Late Night Live takes a deep dive into what's left of the laws, and why even those who support tighter regulation think there are major problems with how to define hate, the level of Ministerial powers and the rushed attempt to get the laws through. Guests:Greg Barns SC, barrister at Higgins Chambers, human rights law specialist, director of the Information Rights ProjectProfessor Katharine Gelber, Professor of Politics and Public Policy and leading hate speech expert at the University of QueenslandProducers: Catherine Zengerer, David Marr
Crikey's political editor traces the path to the hate speech legislation being debated in Parliament this week, and looks at why One Nation is outpolling the Coalition for the first time. Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor, CrikeyProducers: Catherine Zengerer, David Marr
Tim Minchin turned fifty this year and just ran a marathon for the first time. He's returned home to Australia, with his new album Time Machine, and his tour 'Songs the World Will Never Hear'. In this special one-hour conversation, David speaks to Tim about the joys of running, quitting social media and worrying less.GUEST: Tim MinchinPRODUCER: Ali BentonOriginally broadcast October 16, 2025
In the winter of 1900, Wiradjuri man Jimmy Governor and his brother Joe murdered nine people across New South Wales, in a rampage that caused panic in the colony on the cusp of nationhood. Apparently triggered by a racist incident, they killed men, women and children, evading a vast manhunt for months until they were finally captured. The story of the Governor brothers later inspired the popular book and later film The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Professor Katherine Biber re-animates this true crime story, using extensive archival research as well as conversations with Governor descendants. Guest: Professor Katherine Biber, author of The Last Outlaws: The Crimes of Jimmy & Joe Governor and the Birth of Modern Australia, Simon & SchusterOriginally broadcast on 26 June, 2025
Some of the same countries that are in conflict right now are sitting in United Nations meetings together to discuss the future of outer space. Steven Freeland is charged with helping these nations find a common sense of purpose.Guest: Steven Freeland, Australian international lawyer, Emeritus Professor, Western Sydney University, and Professorial Fellow, Bond UniversityProducer: Ann ArnoldOriginally broadcast on 26 June, 2025
1Zane Grey was an American western writer, celebrity and big game-fisherman. In so many ways, his life was larger than most. But it was in Australia, in the 1930s, that he sought to make his life even larger — pursuing big game fishing, a secret love affair, and what he hoped would be a movie that would rescue his precarious financial situation. Guest: Vicki Hastrich, author of The last days of Zane Grey: the untold story of a Hollywood legend in Australia and his hunt for the great white shark (Allen & Unwin)Producer: Ann ArnoldOriginally broadcast on 30 July, 2025
The largest excavation in a lifetime is underway at the famous archaeological site of Pompeii — the Roman city buried in ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79AD. Remarkable new discoveries continue to be unearthed. Guest: Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of Pompeii Archaeological Park, author of The Buried City: Unearthing the Real PompeiiProducer: Jack SchmidtOriginally broadcast on 30 July, 2025
John Menadue has been at the heart of Australian public life for over fifty years, working for the Whitlam, Fraser and Hawke governments. He oversaw the effective end to Australia's White Australia Policy, was CEO of Qantas and set up the Centre for Policy Development. In the media he ran The Australian for Rupert Murdoch, launched the online weekly New Matilda and founded the influential public policy platform, Pearls and Irritations. Now aged ninety, John reflects on Australia's media, in particular its coverage of the war in Gaza, our attitudes to race relations, AUKUS, our relationship with the United States and how Australia is navigating its place in the world during a global power shift. Guest: John Menadue, Founder and Editor in Chief of Pearls and Irritations Producer: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 20 August 2025
In 1998, the former Chilean head of state Augusto Pinochet was arrested on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide. Philippe Sands was called to advise Pinochet on his claim to immunity, but would instead represent a human rights organisation against him.Guest: Philippe Sands, author of 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England and a Nazi in PatagoniaOriginally broadcast on 17 April, 2025
At the turn of the 20th century, one American became obsessed with the idea of life on Mars. He carried his obsessions into a public movement that may have sparked actual space exploration and scientific advancement.Guest: David Baron, author, journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who writes about astronomy and other sciences. His latest book is 'The Martians: A True Story of an Alien Craze that Captured Turn-of-the-Century America'Producer: Alex TigheOriginally broadcast on 1 October, 2025
In the last decade, courts around the globe have granted legal personhood or explicit rights to rivers, largely driven by environmental activism. In his new book, 'Is a River Alive?', renowned nature writer Dr. Robert Macfarlane tracks the progress of that movement, in addition to visiting some of the world’s most pristine (and not so pristine) environments.Guest: Dr Robert Macfarlane, Professor of Literature and the Environmental Humanities at Cambridge UniversityProducer: Ali BentonOriginally broadcast on 14 May, 2025
For millennia, wool has been more than just a textile fibre for cold climates—it has played a strategic role in warfare, both supporting armies with essential clothing and fuelling conflicts through control and manipulation of its supply.GUEST: Trish Fitzsimmons, co-author of Fleeced, Unravelling the History of Wool and War published by BloomsburyPRODUCER: Ali Benton *This story originally aired on 21 August 2025
Dr Samah Jabr is a world-renowned psychiatrist who has spent over twenty years practising in the West Bank and Gaza. In a powerful interview, she describes the psychological impact the war in Gaza is having on Palestinian children and their families. Dr Jabr says in a place where there are few resources and constant bombardment, collective approaches grounded in the community are the most useful ways to help a traumatised people. She also says maintaining a belief in the fundamental goodness of people is what gives Palestinians a sense of hope and resilience. Guest: Dr Samah Jabr, psychiatrist, former Director of Mental Health Services at the Palestinian Ministry of Health and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience - The global reverberation of Palestinian historical trauma, published by Wakefield PressProducer: Catherine Zengerer*This story originally aired on 21 August 2025
On a warming planet, heatwaves are proving increasingly deadly. But in the cities where most of us live shade can be hard to come by. In ancient times, shade was prioritised for urban comfort, but in the age of the air-conditioner its value is often overlooked. Guest: Sam Bloch, journalist and author of Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural ResourceProducer: Jack SchmidtOriginally broadcast on 9 October, 2025
This nation’s past can be understood a whole lot better if Indigenous perspectives on history are listened to. It means considering rock art and other forms of storytelling, and the experiences that First Nations people have when they walk on country. Guests: Jackie Huggins, historian, author, Bidjara Elder of the Carnarvon Gorge area of Central QLD, and director of Indigenous Research at the University of QLD; and Ann McGrath, WK Hancock Chair of History at the ANU, where she also leads the Kathleen Fitzpatrick Laureate Program on Deep History. Ann and Jackie are the co-editors of ‘Deep history: country and sovereignty’ (UNSW Press)Producer: Ann ArnoldOriginally broadcast on 10 July, 2025
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net zero will become toxic? not to the abc. taco will sue abc over Sarah Ferguson Russia collusion fake news
brilliant interview, left vrs v left with ad homennum attacks
protests like 13Sept. how many?
what a shame dunt wasn't interrogated like Victoria Coates
I'd like to hear Fintans opinions on the protests in Ireland
a historian who says the pyramids and sphinx are 2000yrs old. DEI in action
Oh dear, David finally has an ethic guest on who doesn't follow the script
Bruce gets it wrong again
The ABC does it again. It manages to find the 1 person on the planet who has anything positive to say about Macron
out of touch.
University of terrorism
savva is not a liberal
another book with a limited circulation, paid for by grants from the taxpayer
fantasy. find someone else with a grip on reality
reality hurts, so shapiro retreats into fantasy.
triumph of optimism over reality in Muhammedan countries
next week the rule of hamas in gaza and how well that worked out.... maybe not on the abc
sava needs medical help
The left just cannot face facts. Women do not have a penis and Harris was hopeless
a wonderful interview a worthy successor to PA