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KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond
Hundreds of adult sexual assaults are reported to the Austin Police Department each year, but only a tiny fraction of these cases will make it before a jury.
The question is: why?
It’s something we’re exploring in our series, The Provability Gap.
In the second part of the series, KUT’s Nadia Hamdan looks at some of the ways police may be failing sexual assault victims.
The governor launches a second panel to address immediate safety concerns in the aftermath of the El Paso shooting. What’s different? We’ll take a look. Among the lawmakers assigned to the new Texas safety commission, several from the El Paso area: Democratic representative Mary Gonzales on what she hopes will come out of the newly created Texas Safety Commission. Also, why Dallas is turning to a task force to deal with rising homicide rates. And are national developers driving up college debt? All those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Hundreds of rape victims report to Austin police each year. But most of them never make it past the interrogation room – let alone to a courtroom. In the age of #MeToo, a growing number of people in the community are questioning why so many of these crimes go unpunished, and they’re pressuring local leaders for an answer. In a new series, KUT’s Nadia Hamdan will try to help us understand what it is about sexual assault that makes it so difficult to prosecute.
Most of us know what we need to do to be healthy, even if we don’t always do it. However, when a doctor prescribes a medication for what ails us we might take it more seriously. So what happens psychologically when a doctor prescribes a social activity to heal our ills?
In this edition of Two Guys on Your Head, Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke talk about prescribing social activity.
A partial win for the Trump administration’s new rule for asylum is affecting thousands of people on the other side of the Texas Mexico divide. We’ll take a look at whats happening. Other stories we’re covering: a ransomware attack paralyses 23 government computer systems statewide. Could it have been prevented? One expert says absolutely. Also, a man set to be executed by Texas this week. It’s his sixth scheduled execution date. Why questions about his actual innocence have haunted the courts for almost two decades. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
For the uninitiated, South Brooklyn rapper Anelia Lomsky has been stirring up a gumbo of hot-headed mentality and sun-baked Southern styles for the better part of the last decade, under her stage name Dama Nilz. Dama’s irreverent, criminal-minded lyricism and well-disciplined sense of flow just seems to keep getting better and better over time, and she’s playing off that trademark fierce-but-cute dichotomy once again on a brand new single.
With the help of Lil Wayne producer Avenue Beatz, this local idol pays tribute to her favorite Pesci-Scorsese monologue and doesn’t come up short on, “Devito”!
The AMM has this pick for your garage psych fix. Austin outfit Semihelix, led by front woman Geannie Friedman and featuring Joe Pannenbacker and Valdemar Barrera, headlines a Monday-night bill tonight at the Mohawk, 912 Red River, on the inside stage.
The line-up also features a set by the Grady Philip Drugg Band, and garage rockers The Naked Tungs. Doors open at 8 p.m. And it’ll kick the Monday blahs right to the curb. Recommended.
-Photography by Mike Manewitz.
Since the official citywide declaration of their very own day in Austin in 2013, ATX hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm dedicated RAS Day to giving back to the Austin community. From this came the creation of the annual RAS Day Festival, a celebration of music, creativity and diversity.
Once again, the festival features another outstanding line-up of artists, including Leikeli47, The APX (“F.Y.G” is the track on today’s Austin Music Minute, featuring Zapp), Madison McFerrin, the one and only Miss Lavelle White, DJ Eye Q, Eimaral Sol, M3CCA, and of course, Riders Against the Storm.
The word is out. This is the party, the vibration, the BIG celebration. Doors open at 5 p.m. at Empire Control Room, 606 E. 7th St. Recommended.
-Photography by Michael Minasi for KUTX.
There is something unmistakably devastating about a kind of beauty that leaves one unsettled, unnerved. This is one of the only ways your humble Austin Music Minute host can describe the music of Cross Record.
Austin-based songwriter, vocalist, musician and death worker Emily Cross has a key to unlocking depths that are rarely visible from the surface. Your ears and mind are compelled to dive into the darkest waters to explore difficult emotions, or the oldest lessons rarely learned the first time around. But you’re drawn toward it, a singular truth to haunt you forever, even if it fades over time.
Before embarking on a September tour, Cross Record performs on an outstanding double bill featuring another much-beloved AMM favorite, Lomelda, tonight at Radio Coffee and Beer, 4204 Manchaca Rd. The music starts at 8 p.m. Very recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
What you need to know about toxic algae blooms on Lady Bird Lake. Plus, how Austin’s past failures at desegregating schools affect today’s decisions about school closures. And why do city of Austin lifeguards blow their whistles in an unusual way to clear city swimming pools? Those stories and more in this edition of KUT Weekend!
Subscribe at https://weekend.kut.org
Governor Greg Abbott faces questions about his response to the mass shooting in El Paso. But is he going far enough? He’s facing calls to bring lawmakers back to Austin for a special session in the aftermath of the El Paso shooting. We’ll hear his response from last night’s town hall in Tyler, broadcast statewide and go deeper on his proposed domestic terrorism task force. Also, the wildfire threat in Texas and concerns it’s getting worse. Plus the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and more today on the Texas Standard:
It’s that time of the year — students are heading back to class and so is their stuff. That’s the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.
With four albums to his name and songwriting experience that’s reached the age of consent, Austin singer Tex Smith is about as important to Texas music as Texas music is to him. Citing influence from ’60s British Invasion and classic Texas Psych artists to Sun Records legends like Roger Miller and Johnny Cash, this Texas native has caught the ear of several key regional players through his troubadour junctions of honky tonk, folk, roots Americana and country, dating back to his 2009 eponymous debut.
The late Seth Gibbs recorded and co-produced what Tex Smith feels to be his personal best work yet, the fifth solo full-length, Kinfolk, released today. And before you launch yourself into the weekend (and the new record!) enjoy a generous amount of vocal slapback with a track that wraps up the third quarter on Kinfolk, “Rise Up Bones and Walk”!
In a nutshell: The vibe at the Tavern at Eberly, 615 S. Lamar Blvd., is gonna be elevated in a slightly different direction this evening. Typically a hot spot for cool jazz sets and slightly mellower fare, the Eberly space will be jumpin’ with the infectious grooves of one-man funk/soul band Henry + The Invisibles.
This is one of those outstanding artists you need to catch live for the full experience. There’s a badass Studio 1A performance that proves it, you know. The music starts at 7 p.m. Don’t miss out on this dance party. Recommended.
-Photo courtesy of the artist.
This new series explores how sexual assaults are investigated and prosecuted in Central Texas and why many of these crimes go unpunished. KUT’s Nadia Hamdan has frank conversations with victims, survivors, detectives, prosecutors, lawyers and others as she explores the reasons for the provability gap in sexual assault cases.
After the mass shooting in El Paso, the governor announces a Domestic Terrorism Task Force. But what will they be doing and who will they target? We’ll explore. Plus how facebook may be snooping on our conversations. And get out of prison early? The story of the con man called the King of Dreams. Also, a major new dig at the Alamo, the shifting political geography of Texas and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Typically we like to avoid discussing the labels and PR firms so that the music speaks for itself, but today we’re paying tribute to some lovable locals. Since 2009 Press Junkie PR has been on a revered mission to represent the under-represented in the Lone Star State, spreading the word about a ton of eclectic KUTX favorites like Grupo Fantasma, Gina Chavez, Brownout, Hard Proof, Superfónicos and much, much more. This Saturday Press Junkie PR celebrates ten years of outstanding music with a free showcase this Saturday night at Stubb’s, featuring DJ Vanessa La Bestia, Kelly Hafner, Frederico7 and Latin Grammy-nominated producer/turntablist/DJ El Dusty.
You can get a better feel for Corpus Christi’s Dusty Oliveira and his innovative nu-cumbia blend of classic, modern, Latin, Caribbean, and urban styles in his My KUTX session and previous Song of the Day but for now, beat the heat by turning up your own core temperature with “Cumbia Persignada”!
This is the way to see a movie, kids. You bring your blankets, head out to the lawn at The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Dr., and get treated to some awesome live music before the screening starts.
That’s the kind of chill vibe that the Long Center, Do512 and Alamo Drafthouse have in mind when they present Sound and Cinema, the summertime film series that also features a live performance by Austin’s up-and-coming music artists. Doors open today at 6 p.m., and starting at 7:30 p.m., longtime Austin Music Minute fave Walker Lukens takes the stage with his band. Then, around 8:45 p.m., it’s a screening of the 1999 rom-com flick Ten Things I Hate About You.
Admission is free. And nothing beats an excellent set of grooves before the movie. So recommended.
-Photography by Julia Reihs for KUTX.
Los Angeles producer-singer Sabrina Teitelbaum might have a limited discography at the moment, but what she lacks in quantity she more than makes up with quality through her queer-alt-soul-pop project BAUM. BAUM’s been at it since she was seven or eight but only began releasing music under the new moniker a couple years ago, with each single blurring the lines between modern Top 40 hitmaker formulas and the raw, retro spirit of folks like Jagger and Nicks.
Today BAUM adds another bold addition to her roster alongside a desolate-yet-somehow-inviting music video, “Bad Kid”!