Rachel Perkins is one of Australia’s most formidable directors, whose work has reshaped how this country tells its own story. A powerhouse of Indigenous storytelling, Perkins has spent decades bringing truth to the screen where silence once stood.

The Indigenous filmmakers latest project, The Australian Wars, tells the true story about the bloody battles fought to establish a nation from both perspectives of the coloniser and colonised - challenging the myths many Australians were taught to accept.

In this chat with Antoinette Lattouf, Rachel shares why she co-chaired the Yes campaign, her career forged through purpose rather than permission and how she found her way back to creative work when hope felt fragile.

Weekend list with Helen Smith and Chris Spyrou

• TO WATCH: Stranger Things season 5
• TO READ: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
• TO EAT: Paprika and fish
• TO DO: Create a collaborative note in the notes app

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Firefighters are currently battling two emergency-level blazes in central Victoria, where homes have already been destroyed and three people, including a child, remain missing.

These are the worst conditions the country has faced since the deadly Black Summer fires that tore through Victoria in 2019 and 2020. Experts warn that, without urgent action, our risk of more frequent and devastating fires will only increase.

In this episode of The Briefing, Tara Cassidy is joined by climate criminologist and Director of the Future Emergency Resilience Network, Dr Paul Read.

Headlines: Queenslanders have been told to prepare for the high chance of a tropical cyclone, US Federal Immigration agents have shot two people in Portland, and one of Australia’s deadliest spiders could soon be saving lives.

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Friday Headlines: Firefighters bracing for ‘a very bad day’ as heat engulfs parts of Australia, Jewish groups welcome PM’s announcement of a Royal Commission, Trump defends ICE agents who killed US Citizen Renee Nicole Macklin Good, authors boycott Adelaide Writers' Week after pro-Palestine advocate Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah removal and Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA potentially found on artwork.

Deep Dive: The rules of the music industry are shifting again, and in 2025, the balance of power seemed to tilt towards artists.

Some experiments paid off and opened new ways for fans to connect - from Justin Bieber livestreaming online to Charli XCX building direct channels with fans.

Others, however, exposed just how risky it can be to step outside industry norms.

In this episode of The Briefing, Chris Spyrou speaks with music journalist Sam Murphy about who’s really setting the rules and how that will shape the artists, sounds, and stories we hear in 2026.

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