Before 24-hour news, Washington’s most powerful journalists got their scoops over dinner — with generals, senators and senior officials. These invitation-only gatherings created a privileged pipeline between the press and the people running America’s Cold War.Guest: Kathryn McGarr, Associate Professor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Madison, Wisconsin.Producer: Ali Benton

Before 24-hour news, Washington’s most powerful journalists got their scoops over dinner — with generals, senators and senior officials. These invitation-only gatherings created a privileged pipeline between the press and the people running America’s Cold War. Guest: Kathryn McGarr, Associate Professor at the UW-Madison School of Journalism and Mass Communication, Madison, Wisconsin. Producer: Ali Benton

The secret dinners behind Cold War journalism

The wealth and power of American elders was epitomised in the US 2024 election, with Joe Biden vs Donald Trump. But elder power spreads beyond political leadership, and is preventing the US from becoming as forward thinking and economically successful as it could be, our guest argues.<ul><li>Guest: Samuel Moyn, the Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University. Author of 'Gerontocracy in America: how the old are hoarding power and wealth, and what to do about it' (Macmillan, 2026)  </li><li>Producer: Ann Arnold</li></ul>

The wealth and power of American elders was epitomised in the US 2024 election, with Joe Biden vs Donald Trump. But elder power spreads beyond political leadership, and is preventing the US from becoming as forward thinking and economically successful as it could be, our guest argues.Guest: Samuel Moyn, the Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University. Author of 'Gerontocracy in America: how the old are hoarding power and wealth, and what to do about it' (Macmillan, 2026) Producer: Ann Arnold

The&nbsp;wealth and power&nbsp;of American elders&nbsp;was&nbsp;epitomised&nbsp;in the US 2024 election, with Joe Biden vs Donald Trump.&nbsp;But elder power spreads beyond political leadership, and is preventing the US from becoming as forward thinking and economically successful as it could be, our guest argues.<ul><li>Guest: Samuel Moyn, the Kent Professor of Law and History at Yale University. Author of 'Gerontocracy in America: how the old are hoarding power and wealth, and what to do about it' (Macmillan, 2026) &nbsp;</li><li>Producer: Ann Arnold</li></ul>

Gerontocracy - how the dominance of the old is holding America back

Europe is a land of legendary rivers. For centuries, they've fed cities, transported great armies and powered modern industry. But this summer, after a series of exceptional heatwaves, the Rhine, Danube, Loire and Po have all shrunk to record lows. Ben Coates, author of a 2019 book about the Rhine, discusses what the drying up of Europe’s rivers means for the continent and its future.<ul><li>Guest: Ben Coates, journalist and columnist based in the Netherlands. Ben is the author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/ben-coates/the-rhine-following-europes-greatest-river-from-amsterdam-to-the-alps">The Rhine: following Europe's greatest river from Amsterdam to the Alps</a> His article about Europe's dying rivers is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/opinion/europe-rivers-danube-rhine-drought.html">here</a></li><li>Producers: Ann Arnold and Julie Street</li></ul>

Europe is a land of legendary rivers. For centuries, they've fed cities, transported great armies and powered modern industry. But this summer, after a series of exceptional heatwaves, the Rhine, Danube, Loire and Po have all shrunk to record lows. Ben Coates, author of a 2019 book about the Rhine, discusses what the drying up of Europe’s rivers means for the continent and its future.Guest: Ben Coates, journalist and columnist based in the Netherlands. Ben is the author of The Rhine: following Europe's greatest river from Amsterdam to the Alps His article about Europe's dying rivers is hereProducers: Ann Arnold and Julie Street

Europe is a land of legendary rivers. For centuries, they've fed cities, transported great armies and powered modern industry. But this summer, after a series of exceptional heatwaves, the Rhine, Danube, Loire and Po have all shrunk to record lows. Ben Coates, author of a 2019 book about the Rhine, discusses what the drying up of Europe’s rivers means for the continent and its future.<ul><li>Guest: Ben Coates, journalist and columnist based in the Netherlands. Ben is the author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/ben-coates/the-rhine-following-europes-greatest-river-from-amsterdam-to-the-alps" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Rhine: following Europe's greatest river from Amsterdam to the Alps</a> His article about Europe's dying rivers is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/15/opinion/europe-rivers-danube-rhine-drought.html" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a></li><li>Producers: Ann Arnold and Julie Street</li></ul>

Rivers are Europe's lifeblood. Now they're dying

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 <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/simon-sebag-montefiore/the-cauldron-the-making-of-the-modern-middle-east">The Cauldron</a> examines the forces, characters and calamities that have shaped the region.<ul><li>Guest: Simon Sebag Montefiore, writer and historian</li><li>Producer: Ali Benton</li></ul>

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 historianProducer: Ali Benton

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 <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/simon-sebag-montefiore/the-cauldron-the-making-of-the-modern-middle-east" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Cauldron</a> examines the forces, characters and calamities that have shaped the region.<ul><li>Guest: Simon Sebag Montefiore, writer and historian</li><li>Producer: Ali Benton</li></ul>

Simon Sebag Montefiore on the making of the modern Middle East

The Cambridge Five have gone down in history as the most notorious spies of the 20th century. For seventeen years, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross got away with leaking top-secret British intelligence to the Soviet Union with disastrous consequences. Now a new book, drawing on recently declassified files, debunks some enduring myths about them.<ul><li>Guest: Antonia Senior, author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/antonia-senior/stalin-s-apostles-the-cambridge-five-and-the-making-of-the-soviet-empire">Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire </a></li><li>Producer: Julie Street</li></ul>

The Cambridge Five have gone down in history as the most notorious spies of the 20th century. For seventeen years, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross got away with leaking top-secret British intelligence to the Soviet Union with disastrous consequences. Now a new book, drawing on recently declassified files, debunks some enduring myths about them.Guest: Antonia Senior, author of Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire Producer: Julie Street

The Cambridge Five have gone down in history as the most notorious spies of the 20th century. For seventeen years, Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, Donald Maclean and John Cairncross got away with leaking top-secret British intelligence to the Soviet Union with disastrous consequences. Now a new book, drawing on recently declassified files,&nbsp;debunks some enduring myths about them.<ul><li>Guest: Antonia Senior, author of <a href="https://www.hachette.com.au/antonia-senior/stalin-s-apostles-the-cambridge-five-and-the-making-of-the-soviet-empire" rel="noopener noreferrer">Stalin's Apostles: The Cambridge Five and the Making of the Soviet Empire&nbsp;</a></li><li>Producer: Julie Street</li></ul>

Unmasking the Cambridge Five spies

How the IMF stuffed up the Greek debt crisis.

How the IMF and the EU screwed Greece: It’s Official

The Nauru papers - 8,000 pages of documents leaked to the Guardian newspaper, confirm the bleak and cruel conditions refugee advocates have warned us about.

Nauru's hell on earth

The fall of the highly accomplished family of Wilde.

The Wilde family

The Emperor's speech

As Donald Trump tries to recover from self-inflicted wounds, national security figures declare him a Clear and Present Danger.

The Great Republican Crack-up continues

A new biography of George W Bush paints a devastating portrait of a man who favoured action over reflection and proper procedure.

Looking back at Bush

Film-maker Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy is the first Pakistani to win not one but two Oscars - both for unflinching films about women's lives.

Through a lens, darkly

The modern day habit, or obsession, with bodily hair removal has a strange, fascinating history

Plucked - a history of hair removal

You can’t remember everything about a war – it is too complicated.

War and memory in Vietnam

Is ugliness purely a cultural construct, or a brain construct?   Is ugliness in the eye of the beholder or not?

Is ugliness purely a cultural construct, or a brain construct? Is ugliness in the eye of the beholder or not?

Is ugliness purely a cultural construct, or a brain construct?&nbsp;&nbsp; Is ugliness in the eye of the beholder or not?

A history of ugliness

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.

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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.

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