Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

Three years ago, 60 per cent of Australians voted to reject the Voice to Parliament proposal in a referendum. A new book seeks to understand why, through analyses of extensive polling and survey data.

• Guests:
• Professor Murray Goot, Macquarie University and Professor Emeritus Tim Rowse, Western Sydney University, co-authors 'The Year Our Voice Broke' (2026)

The UK prepares for its budget, with the cost of living, public services and a struggling economy high on the agenda. Meanwhile, Andy Burnham has reopened the debate over freedom of movement with Europe, and an undercover ITV investigation has raised fresh questions about racism and sexism in Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

• Guest: Ian Dunt, I-Paper columnist and regular LNL correspondent
• Producer: Ali Benton

Bones are an archive of human experience, preserving traces of disease, violence, labour and time. In The Language of Bones, forensic anthropology reveals what human remains can tell us about lives long since ended. From ancient ossuaries and catacombs to modern forensic investigations, skeletons offer clues to the past that written history often overlooks.

• Guest: Carla Valentine, author, The Language of Bones
• Producer: Jackie Dent

France’s political crisis is deepening, with a mounting debt burden, a paralysed parliament and growing public anger over the future of the country’s social model. As governments struggle to agree on a budget, Marine Le Pen’s far right is waiting in the wings.

• Guest: James Waterhouse, BBC Paris Correspondent
• Producer: Ali Benton

Anna Henderson discusses the ongoing debate over the connection between the tone of political rhetoric and real world acts of violence, since the attack on Independent MP Helen Haines, the motive for which is still under investigation. Federal parliament spent the day allowing time for reflections on the attack, and sending messages of support for Dr Haines.  Meanwhile the Ombudsman has criticised the federal government for its use of algorithms in aged care assessments, warning the government has not learned the lessons from Robodebt. 

• Guest: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS

Over her 70 year reign, Queen Elizabeth II encountered 13 US presidents - from Harry S Truman to Donald J Trump. The journalist Susan Page details how the Queen wielded her subtle influence over the world's most powerful men. 

• Guest: Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today, author of 'The Queen and Her Presidents'
• Producer: Ali Benton 

Journalist and former correspondent Irris Makler joins Late Night Live from Israel, days away from the nation's elections. Polling suggests neither Netanyahu's Likud party, nor the challenging bloc lead by Gadi Eisenkot will win enough seats to form a majority. 

• Guest: Irris Makler, journalist and former Jerusalem correspondent, France24

A rare bystander's view of the 1965 coup where neighbours, including soon to be President Suharto, were key players. Tari Lang's family were radical intellectuals, working for the Sukarno Government. Sukarno was ousted, and their lives would never be the same.

• Guest: Tari Lang, author of 'My neighbour, the dictator' (Published by Monsoon, distributed by Simon & Schuster)
• Producer: Ann Arnold

Veteran Iraqi journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad surveys Iraq's uncertain future, as the US makes its final withdrawal of personnel, and the Iraqi government unleashes a familiar 'crackdown' on corruption. 

• Guest: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad, journalist for the Guardian
• Producer: Ali Benton

500 years ago, the Incas ruled the western half of South America with the help of a unique form of writing based on coloured and knotted strings. Researchers think they're getting closer to deciphering these strings, known as khipus. 

• Guest: Professor Sabine Hyland, anthropologist from the University of St Andrews
• Producer: Sarah Allely

Originally broadcast in June 2025.