top of page
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.
Search
All Posts
![Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png)
![Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_e520182afa9d419bbb69a1d041b12291~mv2.png)
Thelma Plum: Better In Blak [2019].
When 'Better in Blak' was released in 2019, it felt less like a debut album and more like a declaration — a bold, unflinching statement from an artist who had already found her voice and was ready to use it. Thelma Plum, a proud Gamilaraay woman from Brisbane, delivered one of the most powerful and emotionally honest records in recent Australian music history — a work that seamlessly threads together vulnerability, defiance, and self-discovery, all wrapped in shimmering pop p
Groote Broadcasting
Nov 1, 20252 min read
Samson and Delilah – A Haunting Masterpiece of Silence and Survival.
Warrick Thornton’s Samson and Delilah (2009) is an unflinching poem of isolation, love, and resilience. Told with sparse dialogue and extraordinary visual power, it captures the raw, often devastating reality of life for two Aboriginal teenagers in a remote Central Australian community. It’s a story that refuses sentimentality, instead revealing beauty through endurance and quiet connection. The film follows Samson (Rowan McNamara), a volatile young man numbed by boredom and
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 29, 20252 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 27, 20252 min read
![Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_940,h_705,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png)
![Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_940,h_705,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_ed261bce7fea4f90b523f13379d4a038~mv2.png)
Emma Donovan: Dawn [2014].
Emma Donovan’s debut solo album Dawn (2014) is aptly named — it feels like first light breaking over a long, shadowed landscape. After years of lending her extraordinary voice to projects like The Black Arm Band and The Putbacks, Dawn marked Donovan’s arrival as a solo artist with something to say and the power to make you feel it. What she delivered was a soul record steeped in truth — personal, political, and deeply human. Right from the opening track, “Black Woman,” Donova
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 25, 20252 min read
Walkabout (1971): Lost and Found in the Australian Outback.
Few films have captured the Australian landscape — and its haunting psychological terrain — quite like Nicolas Roeg’s Walkabout. Released in 1971, the film remains one of cinema’s most poetic explorations of culture, survival, and the fragile boundaries between civilization and nature. At its core, Walkabout tells a simple story: two white children, abandoned in the harsh outback after a shocking act of violence, are guided back to safety by a young Aboriginal boy on his own
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 23, 20252 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 20, 20252 min read
![Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png)
![Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_385638bc025e43d7b7514bb8ddab0f32~mv2.png)
Yilila: Manila Manila [2005]
When Yilila Band released Manilamanila in 2005, it felt like someone had plugged Arnhem Land straight into an amplifier. The album is a riotous, joyful collision of tradition and innovation — a vivid testament to how Indigenous music can evolve without losing sight of its roots. It’s funky, fierce, and defiantly original, the kind of record that rewires your expectations of what “Australian rock” can sound like. Yilila hail from Numbulwar, a remote community on the Gulf of Ca
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 18, 20252 min read
Radiance (1998) — A Landmark in Indigenous Storytelling.
Rachel Perkins’ Radiance (1998) is a quiet triumph — a raw, emotionally charged exploration of identity, sisterhood, and the lingering wounds of family and history. Adapted from Louis Nowra’s acclaimed stage play, this film marked a turning point in Australian cinema: one of the first to centre the lives and voices of Aboriginal women through an Indigenous creative lens. Set in tropical North Queensland, Radiance brings together three estranged sisters — Nona (Deborah Mailman
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 15, 20251 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 13, 20252 min read
![Nas: Illmatic [1994].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png)
![Nas: Illmatic [1994].](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_8b6b70cdf90c4a2083fdf236f09cb53a~mv2.png)
Nas: Illmatic [1994].
When Illmatic dropped in April 1994, it was more than just the debut of a young rapper from Queensbridge — it was a seismic moment that...
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 11, 20252 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 9, 20251 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 6, 20252 min read
Storm Boy (1976) – A Quiet Classic of Australian Cinema.
Henri Safran’s Storm Boy is one of those rare films that lingers long after the credits roll, not because of grand spectacle but because of its quiet humanity. Adapted from Colin Thiele’s beloved novel, the 1976 film captures the raw beauty of South Australia’s Coorong and distils it into a story of childhood, friendship, and loss. At its heart is the relationship between young Mike, nicknamed “Storm Boy” (Greg Rowe), and the pelican he rescues and raises, Mr Percival. Their
Groote Broadcasting
Oct 1, 20252 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 29, 20252 min read
Joe Geia: Yil Lull (1988)
Joe Geia’s Yil Lull (1988) is one of those rare albums that feels both deeply personal and profoundly national. At a time when Aboriginal...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 27, 20252 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 26, 20252 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 23, 20252 min read
![Are You Experienced [1967]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_35,blur_30,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png)
![Are You Experienced [1967]](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_1080,h_810,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_avif,quality_auto/4c5356_565c3b363e2d4773b3dbc1e7f8037542~mv2.png)
Jimi Hendrix: Are You Experienced [1967]
When 'Are You Experienced' landed in 1967, it didn’t so much enter the rock canon as blow a hole straight through it. Jimi Hendrix’s...
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 20, 20252 min read
Satellite Boy (2012) – A Quietly Powerful Journey Through Country and Connection.
Catriona McKenzie’s Satellite Boy is a gentle, deeply evocative film that places the Australian landscape at its heart, while exploring themes of cultural survival, intergenerational knowledge, and the fragile space between tradition and modernity. The story follows Pete (Cameron Wallaby), a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy living with his grandfather, Jagamarra (the late David Gulpilil, in one of his most tender roles), in the ruins of an old drive-in cinema in the Kimberley. Pete
Groote Broadcasting
Sep 17, 20252 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 15, 20252 min read
bottom of page