A Jewish Australian lawyer reckons with state violence. Plus, can corporate scandals be good for the world?

In this episode of Late Night Live, host David Marr explores two powerful themes: the hidden violence embedded in legal systems and the potential for corporate scandals to catalyze democratic reform. First, legal scholar Marika Sosnowski, a Jewish Australian and senior research fellow at Melbourne Law School, shares her personal and academic journey through the intertwined histories of Israel and Syria. Her book, *58 Facets on Law, Violence and Revolution*, uses the metaphor of a diamond’s facets to reflect how stories of state violence—such as checkpoints, camps, and civil registries—interconnect across time and geography. Sosnowski confronts her family’s complicated legacy, including her great uncle’s role in the 1950s Gaza massacres, to illustrate how trauma and identity are passed down through generations, even as individuals navigate moral ambiguity under state power. The conversation underscores how bureaucracy and legal identity documents are not neutral tools but instruments of control and exclusion. The second half turns to political scientist Pepper Culpepper, co-author of *Billionaire’s Backlash*, who argues that corporate scandals—while infuriating—can be a force for good by activating latent public outrage and pushing governments to enact meaningful regulation. Drawing parallels to the early 20th century U.S. Progressive Era, Culpepper shows how scandals like Upton Sinclair’s *The Jungle* and the post office scandal in the UK led to reform, especially when media and art amplify public anger. However, he warns that polarization, media congestion (like 9/11 diverting attention from Bernie Madoff), and racial bias can derail reform. Yet, the California privacy law and the EU’s Digital Markets Act prove that scandal can still spark change—especially when public pressure is sustained. The episode ends on a cautiously hopeful note: democracy may not be saved by leaders, but by the collective moral outrage that scandals can ignite.