Since 1991, the program has been hosted by farmer, writer and public intellectual Phillip Adams,[1] who refers to the program by its acronym 'LNL', which during 2016 morphed into 'FNL'.[clarification needed] He also calls it "the little wireless program".[2] Previous hosts include publisher and journalist Richard Ackland, and Virginia Bell, who later became a justice of the High Court of Australia.[3] Recent guest hosts include: Tracey Holmes, Jonathan Green, Elizabeth Jackson and Andrew West.
Often the setting for a serious and learned discussion of politics, science, philosophy and culture, the program aims to host cutting-edge discussion of public debate, and present ideas and issues not yet covered by other Australian media.[4]
The programme is broadcast from 10:05 pm until 11 pm Mondays to Thursdays, and is repeat-broadcast at 3:05 pm from Tuesdays to Fridays. During January of each year, selected segments from the previous 10 or 11 months are re-broadcast, in lieu of fresh programming.
In 2011 a special online retrospective was compiled to celebrate 20 years behind the LNL microphone, called "In Bed With Phillip". Over 200 of the best interviews from these years are now available to listen and download.[5]
To coincide with Adams' 20th anniversary at LNL he wrote Bedtime Stories: Tales from My 21 Years at RN's Late Night Live, published by HarperCollins,[6] outlining why he decided to join RN, his early experiences with producers, talent and what the time has meant to him personally.
In February 2024 Adams announced that he will step down from his hosting role later that year.[7] In May 2024 it was announced that his last show will be on 27 June 2024 and his replacement will be David Marr.[8]
Regular contributors
Regular contributors include Laura Tingle, chief political correspondent for the ABC's current affairs TV show 7.30,[9] who each Monday night discusses the most recent national political issues. Each Tuesday, American journalist Bruce Shapiro, director of the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma, and Adams usually discuss contemporary USA politics, though the discussion can often be wide-ranging and include global politics. Every second Wednesday, Adams is joined by Ian Dunt, editor-at-Large of politics.co.uk,[10] to discuss the latest political, cultural and economic news from Britain, Scotland, Ireland and Europe. Less frequent regular contributors include the economist Satyajit Das and Tess Newton Cain, from Griffith University, who reports monthly on the Asia-Pacific region.[11]
In earlier years, prominent regular contributors have included Margo Kingston and Beatrix Campbell, discussing the political culture of Australia and Britain respectively, while one of Kingston's successors was the conservative Liberal Party staffer and commentator Christian Kerr, who gained notoriety when revealed as the author of the pseudonymous Hillary Bray political gossip column published by Crikey (which he helped establish).[citation needed]
Most programs are divided into three segments, each segment delineated by a sting, a short piece of instrumental music lasting about 30 seconds, though occasional one-hour conversations involving one or more guests are becoming more frequent.[4]
Adams' style is conversational and casual, not adversarial. He introduces his guests using their first and last names, followed by their qualifications and notable positions and achievements, and subsequently addresses them by their first name. When a guest is a university professor occupying a named chair, Adams usually asks the guest to briefly explain who or what the chair is named after. The pace is relaxed. Adams generally exerts subtle but firm control over the conversation's direction.
For many years, Adams has referred to his audience as "Gladys", the joke being that only one person is listening and that is her name. With the advent of podcasting and web streaming, Adams has since added "Poddies" to his listenership, and will often talk or refer to his "Gladdies and Poddies". He also has Noddies (who fall asleep to his program) and Maddies (who write him vitriolic letters),[4] and now "Tweethearts" to include those who follow him on Twitter.
Production
The program has a staff of four: Adams, an executive producer, and three producers (who each do one night shift per week). A technical producer also puts the program to air each night. Though Adams may make suggestions, the producers decide on the topic and guests, and they suggest questions, which Adams may take or leave.
Audience
In 2020 LNL monthly downloads had grown to over 1 million and shows no sign of lessening. It is the second most popular of all ABC radio programs, following Richard Fidler's Conversations.[citation needed]
In 2010 the estimated cumulative audience (number who listened during the past week) was 350,000, and the show was downloaded 217,463 times in August. Seventy five percent of downloads are to Australia, 6% to the US and 3% to Britain. Sixty five percent of listeners are university graduates; 90% are forty or older; 40% hold "AB" (e.g., white collar) jobs while 45% are not in the workforce (retired or home duties – not unemployed), and 55% are women.[4]
Until March 2016, the theme was "Eliza Aria" from the Wild Swans ballet by Elena Kats-Chernin.[12] This replaced "Russian Rag" also by Kats-Chernin, which Adams jokingly referred to as the 'Waltz of the Wombats'. Several different arrangements had been used: clarinet, trumpet, marimba, harp, violin, viola, cello, double bass; flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass; flute, piano, cello; bassoon with piano; clarinet with piano; violin with piano and unaccompanied piano.
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1977. This year was the peak of vinyl sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then.
Elena Davidovna Kats-Chernin is a Soviet-born Australian composer and pianist, best known for her ballet Wild Swans.
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2024, he announced his resignation from the San Francisco Symphony upon the expiration of his contract in 2025.
Phillip Andrew Hedley Adams, is an Australian humanist, social commentator, ex-broadcaster, public intellectual and farmer. He hosted Late Night Live, an Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) program on Radio National from 1991 to 2024. He also writes a weekly column for The Weekend Australian.
James Dillon is a Scottish composer who is often regarded as belonging to the New Complexity school. Dillon studied art and design, linguistics, piano, acoustics, Indian rhythm, mathematics and computer music, but is self-taught in composition.
Derek Bermel is an American composer, clarinetist and conductor whose music blends various facets of world music, funk and jazz with largely classical performing forces and musical vocabulary. He is the recipient of various awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the American Academy in Rome's Rome Prize awarded to artists for a year-long residency in Rome.
The Abnuceals Emuukha Electric Symphony Orchestra was a group of Hollywood session musicians organized by Frank Zappa in 1967 to record music for his first solo album Lumpy Gravy. Some of these musicians are thought to have worked together in various combinations under the leadership of Ken Shroyer as far back as 1959. However, it was Zappa who gave them the name several years later.
Trevor Chappell is an Australian local radio presenter for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) based in Melbourne. Until July 2023 he was one of the two regular presenters of the Overnights program broadcast nationally from 2:00 am (AEST) to 6:00 am on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings, when he was joined by a variety of regular guests each night. Late in July, he moved to an afternoon slot on the Melbourne station and his producer, Michael Pavlich, became his replacement on Overnights.
Brett Dean is an Australian composer, violist and conductor.
Yitzhak Yedid is an Israeli-Australian composer of contemporary classical music. He is also a pianist and an educator.
Counterpoint is an Australian podcast from the Radio National (RN) service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). The show examines social, economic and cultural issues from a politically right-wing view informed by the contemporary "conservative" movement, incorporating some of its more radical elements including right-wing libertarian, contrarian, populist and reactionary thinking, all reflecting the contrarian stance suggested by the show's name. Many of the more recent episodes are available online and for podcast despite the conclusion of the show's production and broadcast in January 2024.
Edward Cowie is an Australian composer, author, natural scientist, and painter.
Donald Henry Kay AM is an Australian classical composer.
ClassiKhan is the tenth studio album by American singer Chaka Khan, featuring the London Symphony Orchestra. It was released by independent label Sanctuary Records on October 5, 2004 in United Kingdom, with international releases overseen by different record companies. Produced and arranged by Eve Nelson, ClassiKhan was mainly recorded at London's legendary Abbey Road Studios and features guest appearances by pianist Joe Sample and percussionist Sheila E., among others.
Jiří Teml is a Czech composer and radio producer.
The ABC Young Performers Awards is a classical music competition for young people that ran annually from 1944 to 2015, and again from 2017. It is generally considered the most prestigious Australian classical music competition not restricted to a single instrument.
Pamela Harrison was an English composer, pianist and music teacher.
Australian classical music has developed from early years in the Australian colonies, until today. Today, each state has an orchestra and there are many major venues where classical music is performed.
Allan Zavod was an Australian pianist, composer, jazz musician and occasional conductor whose career was mainly in America.
Rosalind Phillippa Phillips, OBE, known as Linda Phillips, was an Australian composer, pianist and music critic.
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