Archives for July 2017

Summer Reading

It’s high time for a good summer read. That’s the subject of this week’s Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Texas Standard: July 7, 2017

Shots fired: a year after a deadly shootout at an otherwise peaceful march in Dallas, how much has healed and where are the scars? We’ll explore. Also many thought the black death the stuff of history books, but the plague is back, and its in west Texas. A CDC researcher tells us why. And back to the future? A Texas city decides the best way to secure elections: a return to the paper ballot. And researchers battle an unexpected problem for solar power, you might think of it as burnout. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Rewarding In The Workplace

In our last episode of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talked about how to influence behavior using rewards first, then examples, and finally verbal direction. However, things aren’t that simple when it comes to building teams and motivating groups, especially in the workplace.

In this follow-up edition, they discuss how to structure rewards at work for the best long-term results.

Texas Standard: July 6, 2017

The US Russian divide used to be described as a cold war. Today, more evidence its become something more like a hostage crisis, we’ll have the story. Also a year ago this week: tragedy in downtown Dallas. 5 officers shot dead at an otherwise peaceful protest. What its like to be a cop in the Big D, one year later. And Raising eyebrows in the Texas oil industry, Volvo’s surprise announcement to go all electric: just how imminent is the death of the internal combustion engine? Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:

This Song: Shinyribs

Kevin Russell has been making some of the best music in Austin since his days with the Gourds, but it wasn’t until he really found his soul groove with his solo project Shinyribs that he truly found his mission — to dance and get the world to dance with him. Hear how “Kung Fu Fighting” by Carl Douglas got him started down that path and get yourself a snack of greasy greens and boudin as Kevin gives you a primer on swamp pop.

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

Listen to this episode in Stitcher

 

 Check out Shinyribs Tour Dates

Listen to Shinyribs Studio 1A Performance

Listen to Songs from Episode 90 of This Song

 

Texas Standard: July 5, 2017

North Korea has launched a rocket that can reach the United States. It’s a game changer, says a top Texas expert on national security, we’ll have the latest. Also, if you’re a retired teacher living in Texas, stay healthy, because the other option is about to get a whole lot more expensive. Troubling holes in a statewide safety net. And the comments that rocked college station: 5 years after an A&M professors remarks about race and violence, the dust is far from settled. We’ll hear the what and why. And a Grammy winning troubadour on leaving Texas in the rear view mirror and the close ties that bind him to home. You might second the emotion…all those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: July 4, 2017

As Texas goes, so goes the nation? Lawrence Wright makes that argument in a new piece in the New Yorker magazine. He’ll break down his reporting. Also scientists in San Antonio are learning about how the brain’s two halves talk to each other and how that chatter could lead to a better understanding of devastating conditions. And are special needs students the best group to test “private school choice” in Texas? A policy expert weighs in ahead of the start of the special legislative session. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:

Dr. Foye Ikyaator (Ep. 30, 2017)

Producer and host John L. Hanson speaks with Dr. Foye Ikyaator, Nigerian-born emergency room physician and founder and Medical Director of Life Savers ER in Houston, Texas, whose goal is to provide high quality, affordable and efficient urgent care.

Texas Standard: July 3, 2017

Salacious emails from a former Baylor University regent about victims of sexual assaults spark outrage. We’ll explore how they tie in. Also special courts for cops: a new law on the books creates diversion programs for first responders. Why counties are hesitant to set them up. Also the cochineal, a small Spanish insect and the source of the red dye in many foods we eat, the makeup we use and the focus of a new Texas art exhibit. And faced with a 19% unemployment rate, some Spaniards are looking for ways to boost their resume. Those stories and so much today on the Texas Standard:

Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld is a bestselling author of books for both children and adults best known for his young adult series Uglies and Leviathan. While on tour with his new graphic novel Spill Zone, Westerfeld spoke with The Write Up host Owen Egerton about monsters, collaboration, teenagers and storytelling.

Westerfeld’s recent projects have embraced visual storytelling. From the stunning illustrations in the Leviathan series to the Uglies graphic novel adaptations to Spill Zone, Westerfeld says he’s learned lessons not only about writing for comics and other visual media, but about writing prose as well.

“I’ve learned that books breathe better when you vary scale or light between scenes,” he says. “And while, in a prose novel, your audience might not see the crowd or the space you’ve written around your characters, if you do it right they will feel it anyway.”

Spill Zone, is the first installment in a new series with artist Alex Puvilland. The graphic novel is set three years after a mysterious event destroys the town of Poughkeepsie and follows Addison and her little sister, Lexa. The narrative revolves around Addison’s secret: that she sneaks into the otherworldly Spill Zone to take photos to support herself and her sister. Westerfeld says he’s always been drawn to writing characters shrouded in secrecy.

“I love characters with secrets because there’s always something that can go wrong for them,” he says. “[There’s] always something churning in their head, and it allies the reader with the person with the secret because we’re in there with them. We’re keeping the secret with them.”