On streaming: The Boys, season 5

The Boys is streaming on Prime Video now

The final season of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s superhero satire The Boys is premiering in a very different world than when it first graced our screens in 2019. Back then, in the embers of Donald Trump’s first term, platforming a psychopathic Superman analogue Homelander (Antony Starr) and a USA controlled by omnipotent superhero company Vought seemed like cheeky ribbing. Now in the cold light of 2026, the satire seems almost quaint, so it makes sense that for their last shebang The Boys has turned it up to 11. 

Season five is full of overt political fascism, “Homelander Youth ” and “Freedom” camps. Homelander has gone full-blown deity crazy upon the return of his previously frozen father Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) who — surprise! — still sees him for the milk-loving freak he is. The Boys, led by the superpowered and supermad Butcher (Karl Urban) are on the hunt for V1, the compound that created the original superheroes and is the last chance to stop Homelander.

After a sluggish penultimate season, The Boys comes running out of the gate for season five. The story moves quickly and no character, beloved or not, is safe. After deviating from its original source material in its journey to TV, it really is anyone’s guess if the ending of The Boys will be triumphant or nihilistic.

– Velvet Winter

A brunette woman in elaborate white and frilly red dress poses in front of a large, colourful floral arrangement

Superbloom is an opulent, playful record filled with lush, vintage arrangements and intoxicating grooves.

Album: Jessie Ware — Superbloom 

Out now

Slip into something slinky, grab some bubbly and take up an invitation to Jessie Ware’s fun, flirtatious, glamorously grown-up pop record.

Superbloom loosely concludes a trilogy that began in 2020 with What’s Your Pleasure? and continued with 2023’s That! Feels Good!, which reinvented the British artist as a powerhouse vocalist hosting a confident, campy after-hours dancefloor.

There’s more of the 1970s disco and house vintage of those records (think Chic, Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King, Chaka Khan) but Superbloom’s influences go broader and deeper.

ABBA, Grace Jones, Minnie Riperton’s Le Fleurs, musical theatre melodrama and an obscure Pet Shop Boys and Liza Minnelli collaboration are all embedded in the DNA of these songs.

From the opulent euphoria of I Could Get Used To This to Don’t You Know Who I Am?, which sounds like Barbara Streisand doing a James Bond theme in Studio 54, the grooves will get bodies moving while the key changes and lush, orchestral palette hearken back to a more sophisticated era of pop songwriting.

Ware’s vocals — exquisitely simmering, crooning or soaring for the rafters — are a treat. But so too is her lyrical innuendo, best heard on the suggestive heavy breathing and pulsing synths of the suitably steamy Sauna.

“I need a stallion who can go all night,” goes Ride, which interpolates Ennio Morricone’s iconic The Good, The Bad and the Ugly theme for a ride in an Italo disco saddle.

But the 41-year-old singer, hit podcaster and mother-of-three also finds space for sentimentality.

16 Summers is a sweeping strings-and-piano ballad about savouring the present as Ware watches her kids growing up too fast. “I want the hourglass to stop / or at least slow down,” she croons in a song likely to make any parent’s eyes wet.

– Al Newstead

A painting of a man with an ice cream on his head, eyes closed leaning against a woman's chest.

The Idiot is the story of how one man stretched the bonds of family loyalty until they broke. (Supplied: NYT)

Podcast: The Idiot 

Published by Serial Productions/New York Times

M Gessen is an award-winning author, journalist and opinion columnist known for their coverage of Russia, totalitarianism and LGBTIQ rights. Their latest project — The Idiot, a new podcast from Serial Productions and the New York Times — is more personal, drawing on their family history.

Gessen’s family arrived in the US from the Soviet Union 45 years ago. When their cousin Allen and his five-year-old son, referred to as O, arrive at the family’s holiday home at Cape Cod from Moscow, Gessen is immediately suspicious. Allen’s estranged wife, Priscilla, the mother of his children, is still in Russia, and his sudden arrival in the US with O looks a lot like a case of kidnapping.

When Allen is later arrested for murder for hire after trying to put a hit out on Priscilla, the incensed Gessen launches an investigation. They declare straight up they’ve never liked their cousin: “Allen is a clown, a blowhard, a pompous ass. He would call himself an entrepreneur.” As they try to determine just exactly what took place, Gessen is prompted to reassess their own character. They’d always thought of themselves as compassionate, but they struggle to find any empathy for Allen, even though he’s lost what he values most in the world: his children. Narrated by Gessen, this five-part series is a classic example of well-paced, sophisticated storytelling. It will have you hooked.

– Nicola Heath

Two plates of bite-sized chicken and vegetable sausage rolls topped with sesame seeds, a fun family dinner.

Sausage rolls aren’t just for road trips and parties. Heidi Sze’s mouth-watering version makes them an excellent dinner and lunch box option too. (ABC Life: Heidi Sze)

Whatever you think of sausage rolls will likely be changed by this recipe.  If you love them, you may just love them more.  If you are not a fan, this recipe from Heidi Sze could be the catalyst for a new relationship with the iconic bakery staple. 

Flaky, buttery pastry filled with juicy, sweet, savoury chicken mince and vegetables make these sausage rolls all grown up. But not too grown up – kids will love them too. 

They are simple to make and include a couple of game-changing tips and steps that help make them so delicious. Served with salad and relish they’re a fun dinner but they’re also brilliant in lunch boxes. 

– Jo Joyce