Late Night Live - Separate stories podcast

An environmental scientist and his colleagues have just finished mapping Australia's remaining wilderness areas - the first time it has been done in 40 years. The project shows that true wilderness areas have declined in area by at least 20%, and raises questions about how wilderness is defined. 
Guest: James Watson, Professor of Environmental Science, University of QLD . Australian mapping commissioned by the Wilderness Society in 2024.
Producer: Ann Arnold

Israel's parliament has passed a law that makes the death penalty the default punishment for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who have been found guilty of killing Israelis. The law effectively enshrines capital punishment for Palestinians alone, as it explicitly excludes Israeli citizens or residents who are tried in civilian courts. The UN Human Rights Office in Palestine has called on Israel to immediately repeal the law which they say violates the country’s obligations under international law. Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative has described the law and "unjust and inhuman" and is calling on the international community to take punitive measures against it. 
Guest: Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative
Producer: Ali Benton

This year Western Australia will once again be the big winner in the GST carve-up, with $6.6 billion from taxpayers heading its way as part of a sweetheart deal which will cost Australia about $60 billion in the next five years. That’s despite WA’s very healthy state coffers. The mineral-rich state has been running a surplus for 8 years, while running down debts. So how does WA keep justifying the deal?
Guest: Shane Wright – Senior Economics Correspondent for the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald. 
Producers: Jack Schmidt/ David Marr

The province of British Columbia, Canada has officially ditched its biannual seasonal clock changes, embracing daylight savings time forever - renamed Pacific time.  It's a seemingly popular decision locally, likely fast-tracked in response to Donald Trump's unfriendly rhetoric, but challenges await when the province falls out of sync with its neighbouring US states. 
Guest: Maurice Katz, video journalist, CBC

In her book, Minority Rule, Ash Sarkar argues that parts of the modern left have drifted away from focusing on material issues like wages, housing, and public services, and have instead become overly focused on identity, language, and symbolic actions. While she acknowledges the importance of struggles around race and gender, she believes these issues are sometimes treated separately from class and economic power, which can weaken solidarity. Sarkar also criticises a tendency toward moralism and internal conflict within left-wing spaces, where people prioritise calling each other out over building collective movements.
Guest: Ash Sarkar, Senior Editor at Novara Media and author, Minority Rule
Producer: Ali Benton