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Explore powerful stories at the intersection of history, culture, and music—from Aboriginal cricket pioneers and war heroes to legendary albums by Hendrix, Miles Davis, and Gurrumul. This blog dives deep into First Nations resilience, iconic protest music, and untold truths that shaped Australia and the world. Engaging, thoughtful, and unapologetically real—where powerful voices from the past meet today's social conversation.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this page contains images and names of deceased persons.
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Backstory
Across continents and centuries, stories weave the fabric of who we are. From the unbroken spirit of First Nations people and Australia’s untold truths, to revolutions, leaders, and turning points that echoed across the globe — these are the voices and moments that shaped our shared story.
Oral tradition sits at the heart of First Nations cultures in Australia.
Oral tradition sits at the heart of First Nations cultures in Australia—an intellectual, spiritual, and cultural archive maintained not on paper, but in memory, voice, and lived practice. For tens of thousands of years, long before written language was introduced to the continent, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples preserved vast bodies of knowledge through spoken word, song, dance, story, ceremony, art, and Country itself. These traditions are not simply stories;
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 262 min read
World Toilet Day: Not a joke, a lifeline.
Every year on 19 November, the world pauses for World Toilet Day—a date that might invite easy jokes, but in reality demands sober attention. There is nothing humorous about the global sanitation crisis. It is one of the most persistent, deadly, and underreported humanitarian emergencies on the planet. Today, over 3.5 billion people live without safe sanitation. Nearly 500 million still defecate in the open—behind bushes, in rivers, on roadsides. In crowded slums, families sh
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 191 min read
On This Day: Courage Walked Through the Schoolhouse Door. Ruby Bridges, November 14, 1960.
On the morning of November 14, 1960, a six-year-old girl in a white dress, clutching her lunchbox, made history simply by walking into school. Her name was Ruby Bridges, and that day she became the first Black child to attend an all-white elementary school in the American South — a quiet act of courage that would echo through generations. Ruby was born in 1954, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision declared segregation in public schools u
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 142 min read
Remembrance Day: Honouring All Who Served — Including Those Who Fought for a Country That Denied Them.
Each year, on the 11th of November, Australians pause for one minute’s silence at 11 a.m. to remember those who have died in war and conflict. Remembrance Day marks the end of the First World War in 1918 — the moment the guns fell silent on the Western Front. It is a day to honour courage, sacrifice, and the price of peace. Yet woven into this solemn reflection is a story that has too often gone untold — the story of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 112 min read
Harold Blair (1924–1976)
Harold Blair (1924–1976) was a trailblazer — a gifted tenor whose voice transcended the concert hall to become a beacon of pride and possibility for Indigenous Australians. Born on the Cherbourg Aboriginal Reserve in Queensland, Blair’s journey from a childhood marked by poverty and segregation to the world’s grand stages stands as one of the great Australian stories of resilience, talent, and activism. Blair’s remarkable voice was first noticed while he worked as a stockman
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 32 min read
Groote Eylandt: A Living Sanctuary of the Gulf.
Off the eastern coast of the Northern Territory, in the heart of the Gulf of Carpentaria, lies Groote Eylandt — a place of astonishing biodiversity and ecological vitality. For those who’ve walked its mangrove-fringed shores or wandered through its monsoon forests, it’s immediately clear that Groote isn’t just another tropical island — it’s a living sanctuary where land, sea, and culture converge in perfect balance. Groote Eylandt’s ecosystems are as varied as they are rich.
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 272 min read
Mervyn Bishop: Framing Truth Through the Lens.
Mervyn Bishop is one of Australia’s most groundbreaking photographers — a trailblazer whose images reshaped how the nation saw itself. Born in 1945 in Brewarrina, New South Wales, Bishop is a proud Ngemba man whose life’s work has been dedicated to telling stories of truth, resilience, and identity through the power of the camera. In 1963, Bishop began his journey in photography when he joined The Sydney Morning Herald as a cadet — making history as Australia’s first Aborigin
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 202 min read
Gary Foley: The Firebrand of Aboriginal Activism.
Dr. Gary Foley (born 1950) is one of the most influential and outspoken figures in the history of Aboriginal activism in Australia — a man whose life’s work has challenged the nation to confront its deepest injustices. Born in Grafton, New South Wales, and a proud Gumbaynggirr man, Foley came of age during an era of immense social upheaval. His voice would soon become one of the defining ones in the modern Aboriginal rights movement. Foley moved to Sydney in the late 1960s, w
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 132 min read
Yemen’s Endless War: A Nation in Ruins.
Yemen’s civil war, now in its second decade, has become one of the world’s most complex and devastating conflicts. At its core lies a...
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 91 min read
Australian Aboriginal Art: 60,000 year old living archive.
Australian Aboriginal art is the oldest continuous artistic tradition in the world, with roots stretching back at least 60,000 years. It...
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 62 min read
The Aboriginal Arts Board: A Turning Point in Cultural Recognition.
In 1973, amid a wave of political and social change in Australia, the Whitlam Government established the Aboriginal Arts Board — the...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 292 min read
Maralinga: Australia’s Dark Nuclear Legacy.
Between 1956 and 1963, in the remote deserts of South Australia, Britain conducted a series of nuclear weapons tests at a site called...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 262 min read
On This Day: Fifty-one years ago, Australia heard something new on its airwaves...
Fifty-one years ago, Australia heard something new on its airwaves — something unpolished, fiercely independent, and profoundly...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 232 min read
The Many Nations of Aboriginal Australia: Countries, Languages, and Traditions.
Long before the arrival of Europeans, the continent we now call Australia was already a vast, vibrant mosaic of nations. Rather than a...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 152 min read
Pearl Mary (Gambanyi) Gibbs: A Voice That Couldn’t Be Silenced.
Pearl Mary Gibbs (1901–1983), known affectionately as Gambanyi, was one of the most influential Aboriginal activists of the 20th century....
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 82 min read
The Tamil Tigers: A Relentless Struggle Born from Persecution.
For more than a quarter-century, Sri Lanka’s Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)—better known as the Tamil Tigers—waged one of the...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 12 min read
On This Day, 1963: A Turning Point in America’s Struggle for Justice.
On August 28, 1963, an estimated 250,000 people converged on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in one of the largest demonstrations...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 282 min read
Haiti on the Brink: How Armed Gangs Seized Control of a Nation in Crisis.
The streets of Port-au-Prince tell a story that Haiti’s embattled government can no longer deny: entire neighborhoods are now ruled not...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 252 min read
Russia and Ukraine: A Long Struggle Over Borders and Identity.
Few borders in Europe carry more history — or more pain — than the one separating Russia and Ukraine. It is a line redrawn time and again...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 222 min read
Din Din: The Living Spirit of Barron Falls.
High in the lush rainforest of Far North Queensland, the thunder of cascading water echoes through an ancient landscape. Known to most as...
Groote Broadcasting
Aug 182 min read
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