Ian Dunt's final UK report for 2024 looks at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's pre-Christmas political re-set and the Irish election results. Historian Shannon Smith reveals the secret role Bob Hawke played in securing an inquiry into the deaths of the Balibo Five. And how Carlos Acutis went from gamer to saint.  Guest: Ian Dunt, columnist with the 'i' news.  

Laura Tingle casts her eye over the last week in Parliament, and the Prime Minister's relationship with his Environment Minister. Why is North Korea sending troops to fight in Ukraine? And what is the current place of poetry in Australian popular culture.

Historian Philipp Blom deciphers why humans continue to believe they can subjugate the Earth, tracing ancient stories of dominion back to the Bronze Age. Plus, Australian writer Helen Garner on ageing, being a grandparent and her love of football. 

Can an essay change a nation? Meanjin editor Esther Anatolitis believes that some of the essays published over the journal's long history have - including one from Michael Mohammed Ahmed. We also bust a few Christmas myths with Professor of Religion, Carole Cusack.

Bruce Shapiro on the dismissal of President-elect Donald Trump's federal cases. We revisit Andrew Fowler's study of Australia's "nuked" submarine deal, recently named the Walkley Book Award winner for 2024. And why Americans are adopting British and Australian vernacular. 

Laura Tingle gives her analysis of Labor's plans for the last sitting week of 2024, while George Megalogenis looks forward to 2025, and what the parliament may look like after the next Federal election - and why.

Former federal MPs John Brumby and Cheryl Kernot discuss how Australia can make policy progress and find bipartisanship in a world of growing political division. And Lech Blaine shares the extraordinary story of his childhood, growing up in a Queensland pub, stalked by a pair of Christian fanatics. 

Marcia Langton on the dashed hopes for truth telling in Australia and Sidney Nolan's paintings of Africa tell a deeper story about his concerns for the future of humanity, nature and its wildlife.

Ian Dunt on what the US election result means for security in the UK and Europe. Journalist Jamie Tahsin investigates the online "manosphere" and Trump's courtship of the "bro vote" with the help of son Barron. And the mysteries of the greenland shark, which lives for hundreds of years. 

The Australian Greens have dropped their demand for a climate trigger in the Government's proposed environmental reforms. And British/American journalist and cultural commentator on the new power of conspiracy theorists, under Donald Trump.

Acclaimed historian Peter Stanley on how Australia writes its war histories, and our complicated relationship with memorialisation. And a new exhibition at the British library illuminates the lives of medieval women, in their own words. 

China expert Geoff Raby says we are seeing a significant global power shift away from Russia and towards China - but how will Donald Trump handle it? In 1910, Virginia Woolf and her friends gained access to the pride of the British fleet, the HMS Dreadnought disguised as Abyssinian Princes, including blackface. Was this feminist and pacifist writer also racist?

Bruce Shapiro on why the Democrats lost last week's US presidential election. Veteran Al Jazeera reporter Drew Ambrose calls for a greater focus on Asia. And how the last witch killed in England may have dodged death. 

Laura Tingle on how the Australian parliament is preparing for a second Trump presidency. Geoffrey Watson SC on the National Anti-Corruption Commission's handling of Robodebt. And UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese's latest report from the Palestinian Occupied Territories. 

Archaeologist Ayman Warasnah on the damaged and destroyed cultural sites in Gaza. And a new biography of the the city of Madrid, in which Luke Stegemann argues that its value and cultural riches have been underrated.

Late Night Live's team of experts bring you their analysis of the US election 2024. What went right for Donald Trump? What went wrong for Kamala Harris? 

Ian Dunt on the UK Conservative party's new leader and the government's bold new budget. Japan recently elected a record number of female representatives, but a significant gender gap persists. And searching for the fragments of a famous printed bible. 

Bernard Keane says unless we fix housing young people still face huge disadvantage in Australia, even with lower student debt. Plus Shaun Micallef on writing, retirement and when comedy is no longer funny. 

Antonia Murphy recounts how she became the Madam of an escort agency in small town New Zealand. And historian Alexis Peri uncovers ten years of pen pal correspondence between the women of Truman's America and Stalin's Russia. 

What truth is there to the mystical powers of absinthe both in the past and its current form? Is it more myth than magic? Evan Rail investigates. And Santilla Chingaipe tells the stories of the 15 convicts of African descent that came with the first fleet, and the hundreds that followed. How does their story fit in the story of the global slave trade? 

Bruce Shapiro on Trump's Madison Square Garden rally and the final week of the campaign. Also in the US, a mother is suing a chatbot company for deceptive trade practices after her son committed suicide. But who is responsible for the way he interacted with the app? Plus why did our ancestors paint in deep, dark caves with little light?

Stephen Fry reflects on the power of story-telling, how to counter impostor syndrome and the things he absolutely can’t do. 

Journalist and human rights advocate Tawakkol Karman Yemen must have self-determination, free of foreign interference, to achieve true democracy and freedom. Plus why the Snowy hydro scheme continues to fascinate historians, 75 years on. 

Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar reckons with colonialism and the legacy of Empire. And journalist Anupreeta Das examines the life and power of the billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft founder, Bill Gates.