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After the firing of KUT and KUTX General Manager Debbie Hiott by UT Austin leadership, listeners and financial supporters of the stations have wondered about the organization’s relationship with the university and whether that relationship should continue going forward.
How is the tight battle for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas affecting races down the ballot? And believe it or not, there’s at least one issue that’s bringing some unity between Texas voters: data centers.
We’re at the end of June, halfway through 2026 and celebrating with some of the best songs from the month.
Austin Signal is made possible by listeners like you. You can support our work by making a donation at supportthispodcast.org
The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] After the firing of KUT general manager Debbie Hyatt by UT Austin leadership, listeners and financial supporters of the station have wondered about the organization’s relationship with the university, and whether that relationship should continue going forward. We’ve got an update on the story, and how is the tight battle for the U.S. Senate seat here in Texas affecting races down the ballot? We’re going to tell you, and believe it or not, there’s at least one issue that’s bringing some unity between Texas voters. Data centers. We’ve got more about their feelings coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:40] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:45] Plus, it’s the final day of June and we’re halfway through 2026. We’re going to celebrate with some of the best songs from this month. We’ve got that and lots more coming up today on Austin Signal. Bye. Howdy out there. Thank you for tuning in to Austin Signal. It is Tuesday, June 30th. I’m your host, Jerry Kehannel. We are glad you are here. The Supreme Court struck down today President Trump’s executive order limiting birthright citizenship. The majority, led by Chief Justice John Roberts, cited precedents stretching back to English common law. Charles Rocky Rhodes teaches constitutional law at the of Missouri School of Law.
Charles Rocky Rhodes [00:01:34] The majority’s opinion is that the Fourteenth Amendment reestablished the idea of birthright citizenship, repudiated the holding of Dred Scott, and ensured that birthright citizenship would be available for anyone who was born in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction
Jerry Quijano [00:01:57] Roach says the decision leaves little leeway for Trump to attempt to limit birthright citizenship by other means, short of building support for a constitutional amendment. We have more about this story at KUT.org and on the KUT app. The race for the U.S. Senate seat in Texas is tightening. That’s one of the findings of the latest pullout from the Texas Politics Project from the University of Texas at Austin. Joining us now is Joshua Blank. He’s research director of the Texas Politics Project. Joshua, thanks for coming back on the show. Hey, thanks, for having me. So first off, tell me, how many Texans did you hear from?
Joshua Blank [00:02:33] And when did y’all reach out we surveyed self-declared registered voters 1,200 of them between June 5th and June 12th a few weeks ago basically and again self-registered self declared registered voters 1200 produces a margin of error of plus or minus two point eight three percentage points it’s a pretty big sample pretty obviously representative of the Texas electorate and that’s the most important thing
Jerry Quijano [00:02:55] Okay, well, the most talked about race is the one for the US Senate seat. There was a bitter Republican primary that played out this year. What did you hear from folks about their prospects going forward?
Joshua Blank [00:03:33] Representative Talarico in the lead, which is obviously big news here in Texas. Now that the dust has settled, the same share of Republicans are supporting Ken Paxson as the share of Democrats who say they’re supporting Talarica, and now all of a sudden we have a very tight race. But I think what’s important, what people should know is that the other races are not as tight, right? So Greg Abbott is up by seven points over his opponent, Gina Hinojosa. The Lieutenant Governor is up by about six points. The congressional generic ballot shows a Republican leading by about six or seven points. So there is this six or seven point lead, except for this one race is looking very, very close.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:07] Republicans have held the majority of a statewide seats here in Texas for 30 years 30 plus years Is that about the level of separation that you’d expect right now?
Joshua Blank [00:04:17] I think it’s a reasonable level of separation based on what we know, right, which is historically it’s pretty small, right? I mean, there are points in times where Republicans are winning statewide races by 20 points within the last two decades. There have been races they’ve been winning comfortably by 10 or 15 points. We used to say the race started with a 10-point GOP advantage, and then depending on the environment, it might expand, it may contract a little bit. I think in 2026, the idea that Republicans start with about a 7-point advantage sounds about right because of the trajectory of what we’ve seen over the last decade, and course. Just the environment right now which is challenging for Republicans.
Jerry Quijano [00:04:50] Can you talk to folks about the races that are going to be on the ballots? You also talked about some of the issues that are on their minds, specifically data centers. Tell us how they were feeling.
Joshua Blank [00:05:00] Not great. Overall, I mean, not surprisingly, a majority of Texans oppose the construction of a data center in their community. Actually, before coming in here, I saw some national polling, which is a little bit less resistance in Texas, maybe, than on other places. And that, I think, reflects some of the challenges here, which is, in a sense, Texas is very much positioned as a business-friendly state where these entities should come and try things out, expand, build. But what we’re seeing is that voters, in particular, suburban and rural voters. And in truth, a lot of conservative voters are concerned about the fast expansion of data centers and they don’t really yet see the benefits of AI to their lives personally. So there’s just not a lot on sort of the positive side of the ledger for voters at the moment.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:43] Is there anything else that stood out to you from this recent survey or things that you’re going to be looking for in the future?
Joshua Blank [00:05:48] I mean, look, ultimately, the question is always, you know, is this a stopping point or is this kind of where we’re at? And I think one of the things that’s interesting right now is we’re going to have an entire summer in which especially the Republican Party is going to be, you know, really trial ballooning a lot of different ways to message and position themselves going into a tough election environment. One of the questions we’re gonna see is whether the attacks that they’re trying out on Representative Talarico are going to work with some of the groups that they are really having a hard time with right now, namely, independence, women, and some younger voters.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:17] Obviously, there are lots of things that are standing out about this data. What’s something that maybe folks aren’t talking about right now that stood out to you?
Joshua Blank [00:06:24] I’ll just say this. I mean, there’s something I was thinking about this morning. I was sort of reading all the coverage also, because we just have the Democratic convention. And one of the big storylines is, you know, whether or not Representative Talarico is going to be able to unify black Democrats. And there’s this idea that’s sort of floating around that he has a real problem with black voters because of the primary with Representative Jasmine Crockett. But if we go and we look at the data, just because we have it, right, we can see that in June of 2026, in the poll we just conducted more than two-thirds of African-American voters say they’ll be supporting Representative Talarico. 67% in June. It was 65% back in April. In June of 2018, when we asked the trial ballot between Beto O’Rourke and Ted Cruz, 49% of African Americans said they were gonna be supporting BetoO’ROURKE. And so I would just point out that this idea of, you know, a black voter problem for James Talariko seems to be a little bit unsupported in the data as we see it so far. If anything, he seems to doing… Very well and if anything he’s on a better trend than Beto was at the same point in time.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:24] Alright, that is Joshua Blank. He is the research director of the Texas Politics Project. Great to speak with you again, Joshua. Hey, thanks for having me. The Austin American Statesman editorial board a few weeks ago published an editorial stating quote it’s time to untangle KUT from UT end quote. This of course was after UT sudden firing of KUT and KUT ex-general manager Debbie Hyatt. The statesman published another opinion column headline this week quote a KUT University of Texas breakup would only deepen our divide end quote Differing opinions aside, it is no understatement to say a separation of KUT and KUTx has been on the minds of lots of folks, but is that separation even possible? KUT’s Andrew Weber took a long look at that and he’s here to answer some questions about it. Andrew, thanks for being here. Of course, sure. So we just want to reiterate to the audience what the relationship is between the university and Kut. So can you tell us a little bit about that?
Andrew Weber [00:08:20] Yeah, you know, we’re clearly affiliated with UT. Look at our call letters. That’s been the case since KUT started broadcasting in the 20s. We started in the physics department and then sort of reconstituted in the 70s. We became one of the first NPR stations. And then we were sort of moved over to the school of communications and basically treated as a department, as any department within the university would be treated under the now Moody College of Communications. We are currently talking. So basically the university provides staffers like us with benefits, it pays our bills, and it handles other things like IT and HR needs like it would with any other department in the university.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:03] Well, the firing happened a couple of weeks ago. I am a regular on-air host at KUT, and we had our summer membership drive last week where we asked people to make donations to make their investments in the radio station. So inevitably questions started to pop up about where that money from KUT supporters, where does it go? Does it go to the university? Does it goes straight to KUT? What more light can you shed for us? Yeah, this is a question I’ve gotten.
Andrew Weber [00:09:24] And also a lot. In short, yes, the money goes to UT, but it is doled out to us to then sort of put it where it needs to be to pay staff salaries, to pay operating costs and things like that. Ultimately, it goes where it need to go.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:40] Yeah, so the university isn’t at all financially involved in these stations.
Andrew Weber [00:09:44] Yeah, I mean, UT owns our backup tower, you know, obviously we’re operating in a building that is owned by UT, but we helped raise the money to pay for the studio.
Jerry Quijano [00:09:57] Okay, well, we have had lots of questions. So a few weeks back, we had Matt Riley. He is the Associate General Manager for Programming on both stations. He came on the show to underscore the journalistic and editorial judgment solely lies on the shoulders of KUT and that the university does not have any say on that or in that rather, what more can you say about that?
Andrew Weber [00:10:17] You know, a lot of stations have this similar situation where they work under a university. It’s a very, the majority of NPR stations. And there has been in recent years, sort of a call to have more editorial independence at least stated for audiences. WOSU has done this. That’s the NPR station under Ohio State University, sorry, the Ohio State university. Thank you. But, you know, I talked to Debbie Hyatt last week and she said, okay, even if we did have this, you know, this magical agreement. That said UT and KUT are separate, they don’t necessarily have to follow that. She argued that she was fired for First Amendment reasons and Hyatt said that UT doesn’t necessarily have to honor that agreement.
Debbie Hiott [00:11:02] The university showed that it is willing to interfere with KUT’s operations when it interfered with the festival and then again when they fired me for standing up to their lies. And so I think that that level of interference is something that the community should be concerned about.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:24] OK, well, the big question that’s prompted those statesmen editorials and all these other questions from so many people in the community, can KUT be separated from the University of Texas?
Andrew Weber [00:11:35] We can, but it would take a lot of time and arguably a lot money. We’re very sort of entangled in a lot different ways. A non-profit would have to take over for UT’s part in this, and they would have to basically handle all of the things that I mentioned earlier, HR, benefits, IT, even potentially a building. And ultimately that would have to be okay to purchase the FCC license from UT. That would have be approved by the regents. That would be approved by the FCC. I spoke with Lynn Dobson, who’s a major donor to KUT last week, and she has sort of questioned the university’s involvement since Debbie Hyatt’s firing, but she said that people are actively talking about this, that it is possible that folks could want to separate from UT with a non-profit.
Lynne Dobson [00:12:19] We thought, you know, all these years that it was this, you know, a treasure and a source of pride for the university. And it’s not appearing that it is.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:31] Okay, Andrew, last question before you get out of here. This firing happened a few weeks ago. Things have been happening kind of rapidly, so my brain is sort of forgetting all the dates, but this has obviously been a very sensitive topic to report on. How difficult has it been to get some of these, to hear from the university on some of the things?
Andrew Weber [00:12:48] It’s been very difficult to hear from the university. I’ve reached out on the two stories that I’ve done with Nita Satija and haven’t gotten any response really whatsoever. And also some folks who are donors to us and within the KUT community are kind of leery to speak on the record.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:06] Okay, well, we are gonna have more about this story in today’s show notes and at kut.org slash signal. We have been speaking with KUT’s Government Accountability Reporter, Andrew Weber. Andrew, great to talk with you. Yes, sir, appreciate you, Jerry. Okay, we have more Austin Signal coming your way, rather, in a few seconds, but we are glad you’re spending your Tuesday afternoon here with community-powered public radio. This is KUT News. This is Austin Signal. Welcome back. CapMetro workers are preparing to strike in the coming weeks with more than 99% of workers signing off. The local union and Keolis, the company that operates CapMeto, have had negotiations stall after months of back-and-forth. The union is asking for three main things, an increase in wages, benefits for UT shuttle operators, and better overtime. A mosquito sample is tested positive for West Nile in Travis County. Austin Public Health announced this morning that the positive pool was detected in the 78733 zip code. Last year, 41 mosquito pools tested positive here in Travis County. And Saharan dust particles continue to linger in the air today. That plume of ancient dust made its way into the Austin area yesterday, but we should see it starting to thin out by the end of the day. Dust can cause poor air quality and respiratory issues for sensitive groups, so exercise if you’re spending some time outside today. We’re wrapping up the first half of the year and we’re closing June by bringing you some of the best songs from the month, perfect to be added to those 4th of July playlists. Here to help us out is Ryan Wen, a host and producer for our sister station KUTX. Ryan, welcome back. Hey Jerry. So let’s start with this month’s edition. We’re gonna start with a band that you say helped you fall in love with Austin Music. Which band and what song?
Ryan Wen [00:15:31] Yeah. So this band, uh, it’s a great example of how like time and place are really important when listening and like falling in love with music and this band Howdy, they were ours the month, a couple of years ago, but originally I heard them about, I guess it was like 10 years ago now. I was the music director at KVRX. I just moved to Austin. Um, you know, I was a little homesick. I was very ripe for some indie rock ennui.
Drakulas [00:15:54] Not enough room in this here house, ever don’t bring First door on the metal couch, looking at the masquerade
Ryan Wen [00:16:06] Another thing is that I’m a massive fan of Death Cap for Cutie. It’s not something I like to openly admit all the time, but they hit that note of like early Death Cap for Cuties of just like really great pop sensibilities while also like doing it in like a lo-fi kind of way. And Howdy has been doing this now for over 10 years. And they started on this like very kind of, they call themselves Pillowcore. But now this new single, Try, Try Try, is more of an up-tempo return to like. You know, smaller arrangements, but it’s nonetheless, like, I think one of their best singles and I think they’ve really kind of like refined a sound that they started 10 years ago with the single.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:42] Well, this is an audio medium and we obviously love our unique sounds and there’s something really special about this new track and project from Shearwater. Who are they?
Ryan Wen [00:16:51] So, Shearwater is an awesome band. They’ve been around for a while. It was started co-founded by this man named Jonathan Myberg, who is probably better described as a naturalist who also happened to have a really celebrated music career. He’s been in bands like Ocreville River as well as Loma, but Shear Water is like his project. And he has an ornithology background. It’s the study of birds. He wrote a really amazing book called A Most Remarkable Creature. It is about the Karakara. It’ s a really interesting bird.
Jonathan Myberg [00:17:17] Nothing is ordinary Elephant ear, coyote eye Sings in an older language All the lands up to the light
Ryan Wen [00:17:39] With that said, he also includes things like Tasmanian Forest Ravens, as in the credits of his songs, and Large Barriers of Water, things like that. Thor Harris is also on this album, if you are familiar with him, kind of in the same kind of experimental space. The single from the forthcoming record, The New World That’s Coming Out, really does evoke that kind of interconnectedness with nature. In a way, I think that’s more important than ever.
Jonathan Myberg [00:18:13] I’m coming to take you over Though the wine is watered down
Ryan Wen [00:18:23] He recorded this music video in Antarctica while he was there on a research trip. And if you’ve ever been like very far offshore, like so far, they can’t see the land anymore. It evokes that sense. It’s kind of like this unease, but beauty to it at the same time. It’s a really amazing track. It’s not as like academic as I made it sound, perhaps. It’s very approachable, so I highly recommend it.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:46] All right, well it’s a big sprawling example and then you also have this 96 second roller coaster ride from Dracula’s. Tell us more about them and what is the name of the song?
Ryan Wen [00:18:55] The song is called Singing With My Tongue Cut Out. It’s a great vibe encapsulation of their sound. And it’s actually started by some really heavy hitters in the punk world. The two members of Riverboat Gamblers, who are a really big punk band in Austin, as well as Zack Blair from the band Rise Against. So some really big names in that world. And it not exactly punk, but you know, this is a great example of why genre doesn’t really mean anything, because they could be equally described as post-punk or protopunk. They kind of have like a Stooges vibe.
Drakulas [00:19:27] I could be a woman, I could really bring a baby, I don’t
Ryan Wen [00:19:48] but also like maybe a little bit Gang of Four. Nonetheless, the sonic element to it, it’s like really aggressive, a lot of swagger, a lot theatricality as well. They all have kind of pseudonyms that they have and esthetically, if you’re familiar with this video game called Hotline Miami, it was published by a Austin company called Devolver Digital. It’s kind of like this super violent, cyberpunk dystopian underworld. So all the lyrics are kind of describing Something like that. It’s like 80s. Vaporwave meets Dystopia, I suppose. It’s, it’s cool.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:21] Okay. Okay. Well, lastly, uh, there’s a track titled hairpiece horseman. I was singing that all the way into work today. Who is that song from? So that is.
Ryan Wen [00:20:30] A band called Heavy Meadow. It’s the project of Bill Baird and this song you know you know some songs just like grab you immediately and this is a great reminder that first impressions aren’t everything because I didn’t you know when I first saw I guess it’s pretty good but as I spent more time with it especially when I spent time with the on headphones it revealed itself to be this like really deep orally rich experience This musician, Bill Baird, he’s been around in Austin for a long time. He was in a band called Sound Team. He’s a big kind of sound experimenter, I suppose you can call him. But I really recommend listening to headphones because there is so many layers of really interesting guitar tones and my bloody Valentine-esque guitar swells. It’s this expansive sound that really is unassuming at first. And I really appreciated that as I was kind of digging into it. It’s like… You’re like excavating sound while listening to it. So it’s in the psych world, but more than meets the ear.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:46] All right, that is Ryan Nguyen. He is a host and producer for our sister station, KUTX. Ryan, always great to chat with you. Thanks, sir. And believe it or not, there’s even more music from this month. We couldn’t get to it all in today’s show, but we’re going to have the full list for you in the podcast show notes and at kut.org slash signal. That is it for us today. Thank you to Joshua Blank, Andrew Weber, and Ryan Wen for helping us round out today’s episode. Rene Chavez is our technical director, Alexandra Hart is our producer. And Kristen Cabrera is our managing producer. I’m your host, Jerry Keconnell. Thank you for tuning in today. Thank you, for spending June with us and for spending the first half of 2026 right here with community-powered public radio. This is KUT News. Austin Signal is going to be back at the same time tomorrow. We’ll talk to you then.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
