Late Night Live - Separate Stories Podcast

The protracted war in Yemen has escalated in recent weeks, with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels launching two separate missile strikes on the United Arab Emirates, which forms part of the Saudi-led coalition. As the conflict spills over Yemen's borders, the United Nations predicts that January will likely mark the highest number of civilian casualties in the country in a single month since the war began in 2014. Meanwhile, roughly 16 million Yemenis face famine, with no prospects for peace in sight.

As we kick off an election year, a timely collection of Australian political essays has been released. They include analysis of Labor's loss of the 'unlosable' 2019 election.

The crisis in aged care, funding for the Great Barrier Reef, and how many political donations do we ever find out about?

Author Johann Hari argues our collective attention span is declining rapidly, and there are sinister reasons behind it.

Ian takes us through exactly how Westminster’s party-gate has played out – and is likely to play out.  And argues that the UK needs to respond much more effectively to the Ukraine/Russia crisis. 

Indigenous lawyer Megan Davis is a republican, but she is foremost an advocate for changing the constitution to meet the requirements of the Uluru Statement. She believes that the unfinished business of a voice to parliament needs to be enshrined in the constitution before a republic can be considered. Unless you reconsider the whole constitution at once.

The Australian Republic Movement have released their constitutional model for Australia to become a republic. After the failure of the referendum in 1999, they have opted for a direct election model, which they believe will have a better chance of success at a referendum. But the proposal doesn't please everyone.

Fifty years ago, Gary Foley was among the protestors that established the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on the lawns of Parliament House. What started out as a media stunt turned into one of the most significant and enduring protests for Aboriginal land rights and sovereignty. This year it is celebrating fifty years of endurance.

Joe Biden faces a number of challenges as he heads into the second year of his presidency, from escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine to the defeat of his sweeping voting rights bill.

The Arctic Treeline circles the world in an almost unbroken ring, almost like a green halo. But as the climate warms the trees are marching towards the pole at an unprecedented speed, turning the white Arctic green. It's not the same story across the Arctic, but as writer Ben Rawlence discovered during his visits between 2018-2020, strange things are happening wherever you look in the boreal forest, and it's threatening ancient ways of life.

After weeks of diplomatic talks, 100,000 Russian troops remain stationed at the border with Ukraine. Moscow correspondent for the New Yorker Joshua Yaffa tells us why he thinks we're seeing these events unfold now, and what the situation looks like from Moscow. Joshua is also the author of Between Two Fires: Truth, Ambition and Compromise in Putin's Russia.

Laura Tingle looks back at PM Scott Morrison's summer of pain and points forward to the upcoming election.

Bernadette Brennan has written a biography of the award winning author Gillian Mears that reveals a woman her friends called 'skinless'. She was incredibly sensitive and vulnerable to the world around her, absorbing both the emotion and the physical details. She used the experiences of both her life and sometimes ruthlessly she also drew on the lives of those closest to her in her work.

Sicily lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and for over 2,000 years has served as a gateway between Europe, Africa and the East. The island survived a string of colonisations by the Greeks, the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs, the Normans and the Spanish, each of whom left their indelible mark on Sicilian culture and politics. A new book traces the impact of the island’s deep cosmopolitan roots.  

The mostly Muslim Ottomans at one point ruled over a quarter of Europe, but they have been often cast out of European history.  The reality, says historian Marc David Baer, is that Ottoman history is very much European history.  Especially as the Ottomans were a surprisingly mixed bunch, of various religions, and there was much cultural and religious exchange between them, and other Europeans. 

The history of feminism is littered with so called difficult women. Women who defied the conventions of their time to make life better for their contemporaries and those that followed at work, at home, on the streets and in public life. Many of their battles are continuing today as we have seen in Australia. UK journalist Helen Lewis documents just a few of these women.

During WW2 Australia, NZ and Britain launched a secret military operation to infiltrate Borneo, under Japanese occupation. But first they needed to persuade the indigenous Dayaks, notorious head-hunters - to assist the Allies in defeating the Japanese

Is our existence, and that of the world, the result of pure chance?

From fingerprints to firearms, bite marks and fibres - Brandon Garrett author of autopsy of a crime lab explains why the impression of forensic evidence as an all powerful infallible technology and science is far from the truth.

Kate and Maggie Fox were infamous in 19th century America for their ability to speak for the dead through some strange knocking sounds - and they weren't the only women who were making a living from talking to the dead. Other women like Emma Harding and Victoria Woodhull used their abilities as spiritual mediums to raise awareness of the progressive issues of the time like abolition of slavery and equal rights for women. Were the women charlatans or true believers, or simply riding the wave of the latest craze?