ATXplained

ATXplained > All Episodes

November 17, 2022

What’s the deal with that out-of-place 10-story building in southwest Austin?

By: Matt Largey

The Pinnacle building in Oak Hill was intended to be an office tower, but then the economy tanked and it was sold to Austin Community College.

 


Episodes

May 11, 2023

Who is ‘Moody,’ and why is everything in Austin named after them?

There’s the Moody College of Communication at UT, the Moody Rooftop at the Contemporary Austin, Moody Hall at St. Edwards University, Moody Bank, the Moody Pavilions at Laguna Gloria, ACL Live at the Moody Theater, the Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, and Moody Center. It can be a little confusing.

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May 4, 2023

For mouth painter Jared Dunten, the trick is to just keep going

The process can leave him feeling “beat up,” but he still gets the thrill he felt when he painted for the first time after an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down.

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April 19, 2023

What happens to all that stuff you throw in compost bins in Austin?

Every week banana peels, coffee grounds, moldy strawberries and pizza boxes are placed in green bins and rolled out to the street as part of the city’s residential composting program.

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April 18, 2023

How much of the stuff we put in the blue bin in Austin actually gets recycled?

Plastic in the U.S. is largely going unrecycled, but the city says that’s not so for the plastic we put in the blue bins.

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April 6, 2023

Why is the two-step danced differently in Austin than in other parts of Texas?

Two-stepping originated from foxtrot and has been danced to country music in dancehalls around Austin for ages. Influenced by other music genres played in the region, people here have put their own spin on it. KUT listeners Allyson Lipkin and Cristopher Juarez wanted to know why people in Austin and San Antonio dance the two-step […]

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March 30, 2023

What’s the story behind the abandoned house by Dell Medical School?

One of the oldest homes still standing in Austin was once known as The Chateau. Its residents hosted legendary parties that were often safe spaces for gay people in the 1960s and ‘70s. Today, the home is boarded up — but there’s a new effort brewing to ensure it’s preserved.

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March 8, 2023

What happened to Brian Vargo almost 50 years ago? His niece is still looking for answers.

Brian Vargo was 20 years old when he disappeared in 1976. The UT Austin student seems to have simply vanished.

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February 16, 2023

Is Austin’s Paramount one of only a few century-old theaters still operating in the country?

The landmark theater in downtown Austin has been a source of movie entertainment for more than a century, while many of its contemporaries have closed for good.

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