Late Night Live — Full program podcast

What are the origins of the handshake? When did smiling become fashionable? And are we hard-wired to laugh? In the first episode of this six part series we look at how social norms evolved through history.

Guests: 

Ella Al-Shamahi, author of The Handshake: a gripping history (2021)

Colin Jones, author of The Smile Revolution In Eighteenth Century Paris (2014)

Jonathan Silvertown, author of The Comedy of Error (2020)

In a special summer episode hosted by Sarah Dingle, we examine how we're flushing away one of the earth's most precious resources, and talk to forester Peter Wohlleben about the secret lives and superpowers of trees. 

When does a local plate of food become a national dish? Food writer Anya von Bremzen dissects the myths and legends behind the world's most famous dishes. Plus, historian John Simons on the origins of the modern aquarium. 

Oxford historian and bestselling author Peter Frankopan joins Phillip Adams for an in-depth discussion about his new book The Earth Transformed: An Untold History, a revelatory look at world history through the lens of climate change. 

First broadcast 9 March 2023

Political scientist Sally Young discusses how media power in Australia came to be concentrated in the hands of a few men, and how this influenced politics during the period 1941-1972.

First broadcast 13 June 2023.

Andrey Kurkov reflects on the invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing days and weeks. Plus, we meet the 19th century scientists whose experiments with mind-altering drugs gave us modern medicine, psychology and philosophy. 

Originally broadcast in May 2023. 

In this episode we take a fresh look at Germany's formidable former leader Angela Merkel, and award-winning British author Angela Saini hunts down the roots of male domination and makes some surprising discoveries. 

This program was originally broadcast in April 2023. 

Meet the colourful collectors whose singular obsession is illuminated manuscripts, and hear the incredible story of the rebels who recorded forbidden music on x-rays in the USSR during the Cold War.   

This program was originally broadcast in April 2023. 

The Whitlam era saw a great leap forward for women's rights in Australia, driven by Women’s Adviser Elizabeth Reid and a host of female activists, backed by a grass roots movement across the country. Their work is being recognised in a book released to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of Reid’s appointment.

This episode was originally broadcast on 13 April, 2023. 

The 19th of March 2003 marked the beginning of the invasion of Iraq by the United States and the 'Coalition of the Willing'. 20 years on, award-winning Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad reflects on how the invasion transformed his country; and former Australian diplomat to the Middle East Robert Bowker shares his own memories, and considers Australia's legacy in the Arab world. 

This episode was originally broadcast on 03 March 2023.