Late Night Live - Separate Stories Podcast

Australia steps up sanctions against Russia, how will this play into the upcoming election? And flood disasters in QLD and NSW, but the federal government hasn't spent any of its four billion dollar disaster fund.

Mary Seacole is a British icon. In a 2004 poll she was voted the greatest ever black Briton She was a Jamaican British nurse who tended soldiers during the 1850s Crimean War – and sold them food and drink. But fellow nurse Florence Nightingale was not a fan.  

While the government has been looking to younger people, backpackers and overseas students to help fix our workplace skills shortages, older workers are penalised for staying in the workforce if they are on a pension.

Nick Oliver inherited his grandfather’s substantial collection of letters of complaint.  Bruce Henningham wrote polite, formal and sometimes witty letters about tea bags, hand rails, biscuits, and television shows. No subject was too trivial.  So Nick has started a podcast, 'Stirring the possum', where he simply reads his grandfathers letters.

This week marks 50 years since President Richard Nixon's historic visit to China, which he described as 'the week that changed the world'. It followed then opposition leader Gough Whitlam's visit the year before, in 1971. Five decades on, America's and Australia's relationships with China have reached another low. Are there lessons for today's leaders in the events of 1971 and 1972?

Ian Dunt evaluates the UK government's response to Putin's actions on Ukraine.

Flowers are possibly the most ubiquitous symbols - or manifestation - of beauty that we humans enjoy. They have dazzled us in art, culture and mythology for millenia. But inherent in the appeal of cut flowers is a disconnection from nature. And it's a global industry that reinforces wealth divisions and harms the environment.  

As Russian troops reportedly move into the Donbass region, we speak to Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk who has recently profiled some of the people living in this region. Weary from eight years of conflict, they say that war “is not an apocalypse but an ugly routine”.

Troop movement into the Donbass region of Ukraine puts President Biden under pressure, as do climbing crimes rates domestically. In good news, a historic settlement has been reached for the families of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. Will it pave the way for other families to achieve similar justice?

For centuries diplomatic gifts had the power to make or break alliances, and in many cases that's exactly what happened. The Statue of Liberty and the Resolute Desk are icons of this peculiar element of statecraft, but over time the practice has extended to everything from wheels of cheese, to beavers, to a golden room panelled entirely with amber.

The first summit between Africa and the European Union in five years sees a support package aimed at mitigating reliance on China and Russia.

The PM creates sparks on the campaign trail, reds under the beds and Grace Tame hits back at the media.

Writer Russell Shorto's grandfather was a mob boss in a small town in Pennsylvania. He ran an extensive gambling-based enterprise. This background was rarely talked about in Russell's family, so the decision to delve into the past was a difficult one.

The proportion of Christians that identify as Pentecostals has increased from 6% in 1980 to 25% in 2020. Journalist Elle Hardy has travelled the world visiting megachurches to try and find out why they have been so successful in bringing new believers into the fold.

Laurie Winkless introduces us to tribology and explains why the science of rubbing, sliding, friction, lubrication and surfaces is so integral to both the modern and natural world.

The Australia Democracy Network have put a stethoscope on the chest of Australia’s democracy and diagnosed it as seriously unwell.

If you take a look at Australia’s history books they’re full of the tales of blokes and rather lacking in women. History buff, actor and comedian Eliza Reilly decided to rectify this oversight and tell the tale of some of the forgotten women of Australian history.

In the wake of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Australia and the Pacific, we reflect on what the visits represented, how they were perceived, and the US view of Australia under the Biden Administration.

We remember prominent anti-war activist and social critic Todd Gitlin. Plus, as the showdown between Putin and Biden reaches a climactic stage, what cards do each have left in their hands to play?

Henry 'Chips' Channon penned his diaries from 1918 while working as an attache to the American Embassy in Paris until his final years as an MP in the House of Commons in 1958. He wrote down his observations of the people he met with wit, candour and humour from Hitler and members of the royal family to his many lovers of both genders as well as the gossip he gathered from dinners and parties he attended. Now the three volumes of his diaries are being published giving us a real time recollections of both the big and small issues of the day.