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 commentator
• Producer: 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 Zengerer

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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 University
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

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Australians are 'more divided' and 'more pessimistic', according to the latest annual survey by the Scanlon Foundation. The latest report (Mapping Social Cohesion 2026), with data from 10,000 participants, found that one in three respondents expressed anxiety about their future — triple the number of respondents who expressed the same pessimism in Scanlon's first 2006 survey. On the issue of migration, more Australians are of the view that the current intake is too high, but most still agree that immigrants improve Australians society.

• Guest: Dr James O'Donnell, demographer at ANU, lead investigator at Scanlon Foundation

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The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were the age when developments in technology and design meant guns rapidly became small enough and affordable enough to be held and used by ordinary men. Italy led the way, helped along by Leonardo da Vinci. They caused havoc, and changed both the art of war between states, and arguments between gentlemen, forever. The posed a difficult question for the ruling Italian states - how to balance their need for defence versus how to control their use in everyday life. 

• Guest:  Catherine Fletcher, professor of history at Manchester Metropolitan University and author of The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires published by Princeton University Press
• Producer: Catherine Zengerer

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US correspondent Bruce Shapiro brings his analysis of the 'blue wave' that saw the Democrats take both the House and the Senate in resounding repudiation of Trumpian politics in the US mid-term elections. There were surprise Senate wins in North and South Carolina, Texas, Ohio, Kansas, Iowa and Maine as well as the victory for Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan who campaigned on getting "money out of politics, money in your pocket and Medicare for all". So did any possible future presidential candidates emerge in the race? What does the future look like for the Republicans? And what changes will the Democrats be able to make with Donald Trump vowing to veto any policies they put forward?  

• Guest: Bruce Shapiro, contributing editor with The Nation magazine and Director of the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma. 
• Producers: Catherine Zengerer and Jack Schmidt

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The bestselling Irish author Sally Rooney and her publisher Faber have removed her books from UK shelves, due to current legislation which designates the group 'Palestine Action' as a terrorist organisation. Rooney has previously expressed support for the group and donated earnings. She explained in a statement that 'the fulfilment of contracts to publish my work in the UK could now constitute a serious criminal offence.' But does the Rooney affair amount to censorship?  Meanwhile, the Palestine Action ban will be reviewed by the UK Supreme court this week. 

• Guest: Tanjil Rashid, culture editor at the New Statesman
• Producer: Taryn Priadko

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When NPR correspondent Emily Feng found herself in Syria after the fall of Bashar Al Assad, the last people she expected to see were Uyghurs from Xinjiang. But there they were, walking arm in arm with Syrian Arab fighters. Thousands of Uyghurs were living in Syria – and they’d become a vital part of the rebel forces that toppled the Assad regime at the end of 2024. But what motivated their fighting, so far from home? 

• Guest: Emily Feng, NPR correspondent in Washington DC, formerly covering China and Taiwan. Author of 'Our Hearts Burned for Home: Uyghur Militants in Syria’s Civil War'
• Producer: Taryn Priadko

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