Late Night Live — Full program podcast

Leni Riefenstahl has been hailed as one of the greatest directors of all time, even though her most famous films were works of propaganda for Hitler's Reich. Her film about the 1934 Nuremberg rallies broke new ground in cinematic techniques and had a huge influence on filmmakers for years to come. Riefenstahl always claimed she was just an artist, unaware of Nazi atrocities, but a new documentary reveals secrets from her extensive archives.GUEST: Andres Veiel, Director, 'Riefenstahl', showing at the German Film Festival PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 01 May 2025

Australian literature was never the same after McPhee Gribble Publishing, the revolutionary women-owned publishing house. The venture was started in 1975 by Diana Gribble, a socialite working in advertising, and Hilary McPhee, a novice editor. Soon authors like Tim Winton, Dorothy Hewett and Helen Garner were knocking at their door. Then: beach shacks, the humble shelters for fishermen and the destitute which adorn Australia's coast.

Despite the promise that we were “all in it together”, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a flight from sociability. While that escape may have been a relief for some, has it intensified a culture of excessive individualism, narcissism, and disconnection from one another? Julia Baird, Geraldine Brooks and Rachel Kushner join David Marr in front of a live audience at Adelaide Writers' Week.

Alan Rusbridger, the former editor in chief of The Guardian UK on Trump's push to silence dissenting voices in the media; and writer Robert Dessaix has a new memoir, Chameleon, in which he reflects on his many identities and his changing understandings of life. Originally broadcast on March 6, 2025

One of US President Donald Trump's first executive orders was to declare there are only two genders and to ban transgender women from participating in female sports. Trans poet and comedian Alok Vaid-Menon says people need to not only have compassion for transgender people, but for the people who are trying to deny their existence. And they're getting their message out through humour. Alok's show Biology is on Youtube.GUEST: Alok Vaid-Menon - comedian, poet and performance artist PRODUCER: Catherine Zengerer*This show originally aired on 27 February 2025