Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

The music of the stars, with the "founding mother" of asteroseismology

Conny Aerts had a hunch, that stars had internal rotation and measuring those rotations could give us rich information about the universe. She was right, and became the "founding mother" of the new field of asteroseismology. And because the vibrations of the stars are waves, they can be rendered as music: what does a red giant star sound like, anyway?Guest: Professor Conny Aerts, Institute of Astronomy at the University of LeuvenProducer: Alex Tighe

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong's voice of freedom, will die in prison

The Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai will die in prison, after being sentenced to 20 years. Lai is one of the island's most prominent pro-democracy advocates, and his newspaper Apple Daily was founded to be a voice for press freedom on the island that is increasingly under China's thumb.Guest: Antony Dapiran, a writer, lawyer, and photographer who was based in Hong Kong from 1999 to 2025. His latest book is City on Fire: The Fight for Hong Kong.Producer: Alex Tighe

Anna Henderson's Canberra: what to expect from the new Liberal leadership

The new Opposition leader Angus Taylor and deputy Liberal leader Jane Hume are flagging their crisis plan will involve lowering taxes and immigration, changing our immigration policy, and focusing on home ownership and the cost of living. Guest: Anna Henderson, chief political correspondent with SBS Producers: David Marr, Catherine Zengerer 

Steven Pinker on common knowledge... and common delusion

In his new book, Steven Pinker asks us to look at how group knowledge works. Pinker argues that what drives society is knowing that what we know is widely know — in his term, "common knowledge". But what if our beliefs about everyone else's inner thoughts turn out to be wrong?Guest: Steven Pinker, experimental psychologist and the author of many popular books on the human mind. His latest is When Everyone Knows that Everyone Knows...: Common Knowledge and the Science of Harmony, Hypocrisy and OutrageProducer: Catherine Zengerer and Alex Tighe

The memes are the politics: Charlie Warzel on Trump's Extremely Online administration

The White House is publishing AI slop images; ICE conducts raids and turns the video into film-style trailers; right-wing influencers are sitting in the White House press briefings, in chairs that used to hold journalists. Social media has become the new location of politics in the US, which substantive policy changes beginning as memes. Where does it end?Guest: Charlie Warzel is a technology and culture writer for The Atlantic and the host of the new podcast, Galaxy BrainProducer: Alex Tighe