KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

Archives for March 2014

Jazz and The Art of Patronage (3.30.14)

What does it mean to be a patron of the arts? Perhaps you have the means to support art innovation in your community, or maybe you are a producer of music or art and you work behind the scenes. Maybe your way of supporting art is just showing up. All of these are means of developing an artistic community and building a creative environment for future generations.

KUT Weekend – March 28, 2014

Saving Mexican free-tailed bats….how deep can taxes be cut in Texas…..why limes are becoming so expensive. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend! Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

What’s Happening Inside Your Head When You Sleep

We need to sleep for a host of reasons, but what exactly is happening in our brains while we’re unconscious? We’ve only scratched the surface of understanding all that happens during sleep, but we do know that while our bodies are resting, our brains are very busy.

Have you ever tried to commit some skill or knowledge to memory and you magically perform better after a night of sleep? It’s not magic. One of the most significant functions of sleep is the process of memory consolidation: experiences you’ve had during the day, things you’ve started to store in your memory, become consolidated and stabilized during sleep. Different stages of sleep function to consolidate different kinds of memory, so a full night of sleep (six to nine hours on average), helps your memory function more cohesively.

Take in what professors Bob Duke and Art Markman have to say in the players above. Then have a nap, to refresh and consolidate what you’ve learned. Sleep is a lot more than just rest; do yourself a favor and get the sleep that your brain and the rest of your body needs.

Originally aired June 9, 2013.

V&B: Primate Social Behavior

Views and Brews joined Hot Science-Cool Talks for this special edition on primate social behavior. Listen back to Doctors Anthony DiFiore and Rebecca Lewis, both biological anthropologists at the University of Texas at Austin who study several species of primates and primate social behavior, as they talk with KUT’s Rebecca McInroy about the what we have in common with monkeys and apes, how they got into the field, and what to look out for in the years to ahead.

KUT Weekend – March 21, 2014

Why Texas farmers are planting more and more cotton. How much does citizen input REALLY matter for city projects? And three grisly murders at Lake Waco 30 years ago continue to raise questions. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend.

How Metaphors Transform Simple Words Into Complex Concepts

Do you ever have those moments when you just can’t find the right words to express your thought? They happen. Articulation isn’t always easy. Sometimes, words or language alone just don’t accurately express the complexity of the thought. At those times, it can be very helpful to use an analogy or a metaphor to illustrate the fullness of the concept being expressed. Analogies and metaphors allow us to communicate complex concepts or ideas that transcend simple words.

Nat King Cole (3.16.14)

Singer Nat King Cole is well known for his smooth baritone voice, but he started his career as a jazz pianist. His popularity grew through radio and eventually television as he sang a broad range of tunes, including pop music.

KUT Weekend – March 14, 2014

Man plows into crowded street at SXSW….what happens when businesses ignore SXSW…and a fungus that may save us all. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

How Our Brains Process Time

Time flies when you’re having fun, the old saying goes. But how can time – maybe the most fundamental concept of the universe – feel different under different conditions? Our brains perceive time differently in different circumstances. When we pay close attention to something, tedium can set in and it can feel like time slows to a crawl. Conversely, if our lives demand we juggle several different things at once, we tend to pay less attention to some activities – and time races by in a flash.

How Going Out is Good for Your Brain

Human beings are a social species. Our natural programming requires a certain amount of social contact with other people. Shared experiences are simply a fundamental component of our needs as humans. We don’t just have a need for direct interaction and verbal communication either – there’s all sorts of nonverbal communicative actions we take in the presence of others that we wouldn’t do alone. In this installment of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke take us through the psychological benefits of “going out” and mingling with our fellow humans.

KUT Weekend – March 7, 2014

Business Republicans delivered a blow in Texas primaries….labor law and the army of South by Southwest volunteers….and Austin’s Mondo gallery hopes to make a big splash during SXSW. Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

V&B: Cowboy Poetry Set to Music

Graphic designer DJ Stout and Austin-based composer and pianist Graham Reynolds talk about their collaboration that illustrates the power of regionalism and the beauty of home on a global stage. Stout of Pentagram, the world’s largest independent design consultancy, will discuss his latest publication featuring cowboy poets from West Texas, as Reynolds performs a live score along with the presentation. This will be a version of the performance they gave at the Design Indaba conference in Cape Town in February 2014.

Along with their presentation they’ll talk about what it means to bring your home and your place into your work, however international it may be. Why is it important to “go back to your roots”? What is the role of home and history is 21st Century graphic design? What was the reception in Cape Town to this Texas project?

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