Archives for February 2016

Texas Standard: February 29, 2016

It has the potential to be a landmark case before the nation’s highest court a test of Texas abortions restrictions. Also- a wave of immigrants at the Texas border…who don’t get turned away. But instead, get a welcome to stay as long as they want. We’ll hear what’s happening and why. Gimme a B, gimme an r gimme a U-T-A-L–what does that spell? A Texas sized smackdown in the business of cheerleading uniforms. And why do normally sane Texans lose it behind the wheel? Road rage re-examined. Those stories and lots more on todays Texas Standard:

A Tribute to Ron Banks (Ep. 12, 2016)

In Black America presents a 2008 conversation with the late Ron Banks, who passed away in 2020.  Banks was the lead singer and a founding member of Detroit singing group The Dramatics.

Higher Ed: How Outside Circumstances Can Impact Learning

In an ideal world, every student comes to class, or to any educational situation, well-prepared and ready to learn. But in reality, all kinds of life circumstances outside the classroom – such as poverty – can influence what happens inside the classroom. In this episode of KUT’s podcast Higher Ed, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger talk about how those factors impact students’ experiences. Ed and Jennifer respond to a listener’s personal story and inquiry about the effects of poverty on learning. You’ll also get the solution to last episode’s puzzler about waffles and a family tree.

This episode was recorded on January 22, 2016.

Sonny Clark (2.28.16)

What can we learn from the life and legacy of Sonny Clark? He was instrumental to the development of bebop and American music in the mid 20th century, not only as one who created and recorded his own tunes, but one who supported the dreams and visions of others as well.

In this edition of Liner Notes, Rabbi and jazz historian Neil Blumofe talks about the importance of Clark’s music and

KUT Weekend – February 26, 2016

What are the effects of a warm winter on crops and wildlife? New poll shows almost half of Texans support closing the border to non-citizen Muslims. Is the city council recall election having a “chilling effect”? Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!

Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org

Ode to Candidate Drop-Outs

Every election year, there are candidates who decide to leave the race before it’s over. That was the inspiration for Typewriter Rodeo’s Kari Anne Roy as she wrote this week’s poem.

Texas Standard: February 26, 2016

Americans, they say, are turned off by political nastiness. So everyone watched last night expecting nuance? The politics of spectacle on today’s Texas Standard.

After the dust up in Houston last night, who’s paying attention to what’s at stake here for the democrats? We’ll hear how the Sanders and Clinton camps are taking two separate paths to Super Tuesday.

Also, Wall Street is buzzing right now over the rebound of an old line Texas retailer. But in the 21st century, does Penney’s make sense?

And, over the deep dark skies of West Texas researchers discover a new planet. And no it does not orbit around Austin.

Gift Giving

Why do we give gifts? Why can giving gifts be stressful? What are the gifts that really matter? What are the gifts that people will remember?

In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, talk about the psychology of gift giving.

V&B – The Secret Ingredient – The Future of Food

In this special The Secret Ingredient edition of Views & Brews, KUT’s Rebecca McInroy joins Tom Philpott, food and agriculture writer for Mother Jones Magazine, and Raj Patel from the LBJ school of public affairs, and author of “Stuffed and Starved” and “The Value of Nothing”, to talk about everything from GMOs and Soylent Green, to Video Games and The Family Dinner.

What will it mean to eat food in the future? What will food look and taste like? Will things like fake meat, Soylent, and Quorn, replace the Sunday dinner of rump roast, potatoes, and collard greens? And if they do, would that really be so bad?

Texas Standard: February 25, 2016

Lights, cameras, how much action? The stakes are high in Houston tonight for what could be a decisive televised showdown. Plus as campus carry laws get set to take effect, It’s becoming international news: Texas college professors told to avoid sensitive topics in the classroom? We’ll hear what’s behind the headline. And in that Texas town where almost every official was arrested on corruption charges, if you need help—who ya gonna call? We’ll do the dialing. Plus blue notes for Texas’ multibillion dollar music industry– the search for a new composition. All those stories and much more, today on the Texas Standard:

Think There’s No Poetry In Texas? Think Again

A New Yorker told me that he never uses the words Texas and poetry in the same sentence.

He thinks Texas poetry is an oxymoron because he doesn’t see how such a refined art form could be produced in a macho culture. But he is wrong. Cowboys and vaqueros were reciting poetry in the warm glow of firelight on the Texas plains hundreds of years ago.

A modern inheritor of this tradition is Walt McDonald. He gives us this poem that celebrates country music in Texas. It’s called “The Waltz We Were Born For.”

“I never knew them all, just hummed
and thrummed my fingers with the radio,
driving five hundred miles to Austin.
Her arms held all the songs I needed.
Our boots kept time with fiddles
and the charming sobs of blondes,

the whine of steel guitars
sliding us down in deer-hide chairs
when jukebox music was over.
Sad music’s on my mind tonight
in a jet high over Dallas, earphones
on channel five. A lonely singer,

dead, comes back to beg me,
swearing in my ears she’s mine,
rhymes set to music that make
her lies seem true. She’s gone
and others like her, leaving their songs
to haunt us. Letting down through clouds

I know who I’ll find waiting at the gate,
the same woman faithful to my arms
as she was those nights in Austin
when the world seemed like a jukebox,
our boots able to dance forever,
our pockets full of coins.”

Here is another one I enjoy from well-known Texas poet, Chip Dameron. It is printed in the shape of Texas. You begin in the Panhandle and work your way down to the Rio Grande. The words celebrate the part of Texas in which they reside. It is called “A State of Mind.”

Last, here is Violette Newton, Poet Laureate of Texas in 1973. She wrote this humorous poem which speaks directly to the problem of getting respect for Texas poetry:

Up East, they do not think much
of Texas poetry. They think Texans
have no soul for aesthetics, that all
they do is pound their own chests,
talk loud and make money.
But every time I’m nearing Austin,
I look up at a painted sign
high on the side of the highway
that says, “Bert’s Dirts”
and to pyramids of many-colored soils
sold by Bert, and I swell with pride
at that rhyming sign, I puff up
and point to that terse little title
and wish we could stop
so I could go in
and purchase
a spondee of sand
to make a gesture of my support
for poetry in Texas.

Take that, New York.

W.F. Strong is a Fulbright Scholar and professor of Culture and Communication at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. At Public Radio 88 FM in Harlingen, Texas, he’s the resident expert on Texas literature, Texas legends, Blue Bell ice cream, Whataburger (with cheese) and mesquite smoked brisket.

Texas Standard: February 24, 2016

It was an allegation that torpedoed the political career of Texas’ longest serving governor. And now -all charges dropped. Allegations of abuse of power hung over former Governor Rick Perry’s presidential bid. Today Texas highest criminal court tossed the final felony charge. We’ll explore the implications. Also…a ship pulls into a harbor today between Texas and Louisiana—an historic moment for energy? The start of a boondoggle, or both? And Texas going batty in the winter…how the weather’s changing more than just moods.
all that and more on the Texas Standard.

Texas Standard: February 23, 2016

Washington and Moscow say no more shooting to give peace a chance. A fix for Syria, or more like the fix is in? Also what’s in a name? An election seen by some as a test for whether Spanish surnames are penalized at the polls. Also for medical emergencies there’s 9-1-1… but who’re you gonna call when the lights go off and the food runs out? Some new number’s trickling in…And a scathing court order to rebuild Texas foster care… that no one seems to be talking about. all that and more, Check your watches, it’s Texas Standard time:

This Song: Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater // Cross Record

Shearwater’s Jonathan Meiburg grew up listening to his parent’s classical music and white bread pop. Then he heard Vic Chesnutt. In this episode of “This Song” you can hear how  Chesnutt’s “Big Huge Valley”  helped him realize there was a whole world of music bubbling beneath the mainstream. Plus, he makes the case that  Nina Simone is the “best popular musician of the 20th century, and maybe the 21st century too.”

Then Emily Cross of the KUTX Artist of the Month Cross Record  describes the effect Imogen Heap’s“Hide and Seek” had on her while her partner, Dan Duszynski, explains how King Tubby expanded his ideas of what music could be.

Listen to Shearwater’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to Cross Record’s Studio 1A performance

Listen to Cross Record’s MyKUTX guest DJ set

Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher to get the new episodes of  “This Song” delivered to you as soon as they come out.

Listen to the songs featured in Episode 28 of “This Song”.

Texas Standard: February 22, 2016

The end of an era in Texas and National politics? Wither what was once referred to as the Bush dynasty? Also universities want to get tough on campus sexual violence but are they looking for scapegoats in order to polish their images? A pair of closely watched Texas cases. Plus, you heard of laissez-faire economics: but when it comes to falling oil prices, they’re making us lazy. Fair? We’ll discuss. And what if you could dip your spoon into ice cream and tell if it might not make you feel well? Ring any Bells Texas? All of that and more on todays Texas Standard:

Bernard Shaw (Ep. 11, 2016)

In Black America presents a 1985 interview with renowned television journalist Bernard Shaw, who retired from CNN in 2001 after a three-decade career as a national news correspondent and anchor.

Higher Ed: Co-Curriculars and Learning

What happens outside of the classroom – should it stay outside the classroom? In this episode of KUT’s podcast Higher Ed, KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger talk about the value of co-curriculars to learning. Sports. Theatre. Comedy. Wait, comedy? That’s one of Ed’s hobbies, and he and Jennifer discuss how all kinds of activities outside the classroom can enhance learning. Put down your books to hear their discussion, as well as the new brunch-based puzzler.

This episode was recorded on January 22, 2016.

Confession

Why do we confess when we feel bad about something we’ve done or haven’t done? What is the evolutionary benefit of confession? In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke explore the psychology of confession.