Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

What makes a story unforgettable? For Isabel Allende, it takes unruly characters, family secrets, political upheaval and a healthy dose of imagination. The celebrated novelist opens up about the alchemy of storytelling, why writers should ignore the advice to write what they know, and what keeps her imagination alive.Guest: Isabel Allende, writer. StorytellingProducer: Ali Benton 

The Manning Clark and Dymphna Clark Lectures explore major social, cultural, historical, and political issues facing Australian society. This year Louise Adler and George Browning will give the combined 2026 Manning Clark and Dymphna Clark Lectures which will examine the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Australian society and politics. The lecture is on Tuesday 17 November at 6.30pm at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in Canberra. The event will also be livestreamed.Guest:  Louise Adler, former publisher, former Adelaide Writers’ Week Director and member of the Jewish Council of Australia’s Advisory Committee.  Guest: Bishop George Browning - Anglican Bishop of Canberra Goulburn (retired), former President and now Patron of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), Patron of Palestinian Christians in Australia, patron of Jerusalem-based Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center.Producer: Catherine ZengererGet in touch: Email us at [email protected]

We've been making motion pictures for well over 100 years, but an incalculable number of films have vanished: destroyed in noxious fires, lost in estates, even traded as war booty. A new book tells the stories of these doomed productions, from the early silent film era right through to our digital age of 'cloud' storage.Guest: Simon Miraudo, writer and film critic, author 'Last Rites for Lost Films: Charred Celluloid, Digital Decay and the Certain Death of Cinema', Low Heroes PressProducer: Jack SchmidtGet in touch: Email us at [email protected]

The arrival of the telephone changed the world. Strangers were connected, less travel was required, and social mores changed. Stilted telegram messages gave way to informal conversations, laughter, shouting and gossip. In the USA,  the first country to rapidly commercialise everyday phone usage, one company dominated that rollout: Bell. Alexander Graham Bell, while not the sole inventor of the phone, led its development, and secured the patent. Guest: James Gleick, science writer and historian, Author of 'The Telephone: A New History' (Picador)Producer: Ann ArnoldContact Late Night Live via email here.

Natural rock arches can take millions of years to form, but sometimes only moments to fall. From Malta's famous Azure Window to Utah's towering sandstone formations, why do these extraordinary structures collapse? And can science help us predict, or even prevent, their demise?Guest: Jeffrey Moore, Professor, Geology & Geophysics, University of Utah.Producer: Ali Benton

The Polish Constitutional Tribunal, which was heavily politicised by the previous Government, has been holding up multiple reforms that would restore rights, for example to abortion. After an attempted takeover of the tribunal by judges aligned with the current liberal Government, it is possible the right will be more unified and in a stronger position to win next year's election. Guest: Bartosz Brzesinski, senior reporter for Politico Europe Producer: Ann Arnold

Ian Dunt on the fallout from America’s midterm elections and why Britain can no longer afford to rely on Washington. Plus, Labour’s sweeping immigration overhaul: longer waits for permanent residency and refugee settlement periods of up to 30 years.Guest: Ian Dunt: iNews columnist and regular LNL commentatorProducer: Ali Benton 

Fifty years since the publication of his ground-breaking book, The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins reflects on the ideas that defined his career, the debates the book sparked around the world, and what fifty years of subsequent research have confirmed, refined or challenged. He also reflects on the developments in artificial intelligence, where they may take us in the evolutionary process and how it's being used in determining the characteristics of babies. Professor Dawkins is touring Australia with Thinkable events.Guest: Professor Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and author Producer: Catherine ZengererGet in touch: Email us at [email protected]

Former Israeli military chief Gadi Eisenkot has been asked to try to form a new coalition government, meeting Israel's President Isaac Herzog in Jerusalem on Sunday to receive his invite to start negotiations. But as it stands, every prospective deal will require major concessions. Guest: Irris Makler, journalist and former Jerusalem correspondent

Since federation Australia has fought alongside Britain and the United States in almost every major war of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. But earlier this year Australia, following Britain’s lead, declined to join the US in its war on Iran.  Military strategist David Kilcullen argues we should be doing more thinking for ourselves in terms of our own national interests, as well as bearing in mind the ethical considerations of both getting into, and out of, war. Guest: David Kilcullen, CEO at Cordillera Applications Group, UNSW Professor of International and Political Studies,  and Professor of Practice in the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State UniversityProducer: Catherine ZengererGet in touch: Email us at [email protected]