Across 8,000 years, wine has shaped religion, power, trade and culture. Wine is more than a drink — it’s a story of civilisation itself. Historian Kathleen Burk traces its journey from the ancient vineyards of Georgia to the global wine industry of today.

• Guest: Kathleen Burk, Professor Emerita of Modern and Contemporary history at University College London.  Wine, A global history published in Australia, October 6, 2026
• Producer: Ali Benton

In his new book, Crikey’s political editor, Bernard Keane, turns his eye not just to where Australia has gone wrong, but to how we can best position ourselves to navigate the triple threat of Trump, China and AI. And he’s surprisingly up-beat, writing that Australia’s success so far this century “compared with the United States and other countries like the United Kingdom, surely gives us cause for optimism that Australia can make the right calls and prosper in the mid 21st century.” If only we can act now to put the right policies in place. 

• Guest: Bernard Keane, political editor, Crikey, and author of ‘Seize the Moment - Australia’s real opportunities in an unstable world,’ published by Allen and Unwin
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Kangaroo Island could soon achieve its goal of feral cat eradication, with approximately 150 cats left to catch. Feral cats have devastated wildlife populations for decades. New Commonwealth funding has been secured for the final push. Local government is also discussing the possibility of a "last cat" policy for the island's residents, to phase out household pet cats. 

• Guest: Michael Pengilly, Mayor of Kangaroo Island Council
• Producer: Jack Schmidt

The Odyssey blockbuster makes clear the colonisation and exploitation of Homer's time, but it was partly filmed in an indigenous area which Morocco occupies, but does not, according to international law, own. No consent was sought from the Sahrawi people, whose region it is, and they have received no material benefit. 

• Guest: Sarah Yerkes, North Africa specialist, Senior Fellow, Middle East Program,  Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Sarah wrote about this ethical misstep for Carnegie's website
• Producer: Ann Arnold

Nigel Farage's call to adopt Australia’s 'stop the boats' policy has divided opinion, while new Prime Minister Andy Burnham faces the challenge of restoring trust in Labour after years of turmoil. Ian Dunt also examines the devastating effects of the UK’s hot, dry summer.

• Guest: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentator
• Producer: Ali Benton 

Butterfly populations have been declining since the 1960s. Butterfly collectors are also declining in number, because the practice is discouraged and in some countries illegal. 

• Guest: Emil Leth Beiter, Danish writer and critic. Author of an essay about butterfly collecting for the Los Angeles Review of Books. Forthcoming book about collectors of various things
• Producer: Ann Arnold

Nearly ten years after they last collapsed, UN Secretary António Guterres has been in Cyprus, pressing for reunification talks to recommence.  Cyprus has been divided between Turkish and Greek Cypriots for over fifty years, with both sides unable to agree on terms for reunification. But the pressure is on to resolve the so-called 'Cypress problem' because the island is becoming an increasingly important strategic location for both NATO and Israel, and resolving how British military bases are to be used is a key sticking point. 

• Guest: Dr. Erol Kaymak, Professor of Political Science and International Relations, Eastern Mediterranean University
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

Three years since the defeat of the Voice referendum, Noel Pearson returned to the Garma festival to deliver a blistering speech, which included a proposal to dismantle state Aboriginal affairs departments in favour of Commonwealth oversight. Garma also saw the surprise announcement of a breakaway Land Council, to represent northeast Arnhem Land. 

• Guest: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent, SBS

The famous writer Oscar Wilde died alone in a French hotel in 1900. Since that time, so much has been written about the man - much of it rumour and speculation. In his new book, '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

Originally broadcast in January 2026.

Sarah Baartman’s body was used by European scientists to promote racist ideas that endured for generations. A new essay in Griffith Review revisits her extraordinary and tragic story — from her exploitation as a colonial spectacle in Europe, to the continuing debates over how she should be remembered today.

• Guest: Writer, Sisonke Msimang, author, Griffith Review Essay, Defending the dead: The many afterlives of Sarah Baartman
• Producer: Ali Benton and Ann Arnold