Mando Rayo, host of the Tacos of Texas podcast talks to Daniela & Rosa De Lima Hernandez from La Santa Barbacha about how they started one of the best barbacoa places in Austin, what it felt like to get a nod from the Michelin guide and what’s involved in bringing tacos to the people at ACLfest.
ACL
What layoffs at special education office could mean for Texas schools
The Trump administration has reportedly slashed jobs at a federal office responsible for overseeing special education. What might that mean here in Texas?
A new school in Uvalde offers a place for learning apart from the building desecrated by a mass shooting – but remembrance is built into the design.
The craft brewing bubble has burst. A look at the continued challenges facing those still open.
There’s a rare jellyfish being spotted in the Texas Gulf. What you need to know about the pink meanie.
Plus, a collection of essays from Stephen Harrigan. Our conversation with the author on his new book, “An Anchor in the Sea of Time.”
Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.
You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org
Live from ACL Fest a special Austin Signal broadcast
It’s Weekend 2 of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and Austin Signal is capping off our first week on the air by broadcasting a special hour from Zilker Park.
We’re talking with local trio Next of Kin, who are playing the festival this year. And KUTX’s Deidre Gott joins with a retrospective on how ACL has changed over the years – and she would know, because she’s never missed a festival.
Plus: What happens to Zilker’s grass after two weekends of packed crowds? KUT’s Luz Moreno-Lozano has the details.
What it takes to maintain Zilker Park’s great lawn after Austin City Limits
The two-weekend event means a lot more foot traffic and equipment putting stress on the park’s lawn and ecosystem. KUT’s Luz Moreno-Lozano tells us how the city keeps the grass healthy.
This podcast is made at KUT Public Media Studios. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.
KUT Afternoon Newscast for October 10, 2025: It’s weekend two of the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Central Texas top stories for October 10, 2025. How to navigate road closures around Zilker Park on the way to ACL. The City of Austin is set to open a new homeless services center next year. Parents, staff and community members expressed their concerns last night about the Austin ISD school consolidation plan. A lot of area schools districts did not have classes today.
This podcast is made at KUT Public Media Studios. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.
KUT Morning Newscast for October 10, 2025: Parents raised concerns over AISD’s school consolidation plan last night
Central Texas top stories for October 10, 2025. Some AISD parents, staff and community members are expressing concerns over layoffs, academic continuity and the impact on low-income communities and emerging bilingual students if the district approves the current consolidation plan. Neighbors are uneasy about a new homeless services center near I-35 and Oltorf. The city of Austin set to remove painted street murals including one saying “Black Artists Matter” and a rainbow crosswalk. The Texas football team will play tomorrow their annual Red River Rivalry game against Oklahoma. It’s the second weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, expect an increase in traffic.
34 years later, Austin reflects on the impact of the yogurt shop murders
It’s been 34 years since Austin was rocked by the violent yogurt shop murders. Now, after a recent breakthrough in the case, the impact of the crime and the push to find justice is reverberating throughout the city.
KUT’s Andrew Weber has an exploration of the many feelings running through the minds of folks trying to make sense of such a senseless act.
Plus: We hear from a Lockhart pitmaster and look ahead to weekend two of the ACL Music Festival.
How Austin leaders hope to fund nonprofits’ efforts to ease homelessness with Prop Q
The discussion around Austin’s upcoming tax rate election is picking up as voters head to the polls in the coming weeks. That tax rate hike, on the ballot as Proposition Q, goes above what local officials are normally allowed by state law.
It’s all part of the City of Austin’s effort to generate revenue to offset a budget deficit and to continue funding a variety of things like public safety, local parks and homelessness services.
KUT’s Luz Moreno-Lozano has been reporting on how the city is planning to fund services like these, whether or not Austin voters approve the tax rate increase.
Greg Stoker, the Austin activist who was detained by Israel while attempting to deliver aid to Gaza, is heading back home.
And: We’re chatting with one of our multimedia mavens, Patricia Lim, about what it’s like to photograph the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
KUT Afternoon Newscast for October 3, 2025: It’s weekend one of the Austin City Limits Music Festival
Central Texas top stories for October 3, 2025. How to get around during Austin City Limits. More than a dozen Austin ISD campuses are slated to close next school year. A state district judge is expected to rule soon on an injunction against a controversial data center project in Williamson County. Lane closures this weekend on I-35 northbound in San Marcos are going to cause some slowdowns.
This podcast is made at KUT Public Media Studios. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.
KUT Morning Newscast for October 2, 2025: UT Austin is one of the nine universities the White House asked to sign agreement to get funding advantage
Central Texas top stories for October 2, 2025. UT Austin is one of nine universities the Trump administration is asking to sign a ten-point contract in exchange of giving the schools priority in accessing federal funds. Travis County and local public health provider Central Health have announced a new program to offer virtual medical care to Travis County jail inmates. If you’re traveling this month, know that ABIA is expected to be very busy. Austin FC lost their chance to win their first major trophy.
Texas starts taxing seller fees on sites like eBay, Etsy
Buying new? In this economy? Shopping secondhand is the go-to for many these days. But things are about to change for sellers using online retail platforms in Texas.
KUT’s Nathan Bernier joins the show to tell us why the next thrifted gem you purchase may cost you more than it used to. Plus, we prepare for the October festival season in Austin with tips from Nathan and KUTX’s Maile Carballo ahead of the first weekend of the Austin City Limits music festival.
And longtime Austinites have legends about folks who once lived in the hills west of Austin, known as “cedar choppers.” Many of those stories aren’t exactly positive ones. KUT’s Maya Fawaz looked into their history for our ATXplained podcast series. Syeda Carrillo guest hosts on today’s Austin Signal.
KUT Afternoon Newscast for August 29, 2025: The Texas House has passed a bill aimed at cracking down on out-of-state doctors who prescribe abortion pills to women in Texas
Central Texas top stories for August 29, 2025. The Texas House has passed a bill aimed at cracking down on out-of-state doctors who prescribe abortion pills to women in Texas. The City of Austin needs more money from property taxes. Waterloo Records will celebrate the grand opening of its new location tomorrow. Pop star Doja Cat announced on Instagram that she’s dropping out as one of the headliners of the Austin City Limits music festival.
This podcast is made at KUT Public Media Studios. You may have heard that Congress just took back the money it had allocated for public radio. Our organization stands to lose 1.2 million dollars. We’re asking our listeners now to help us make up this shortfall. If you want to help us out, you can make a donation at supportthispodcast.org.
ACL 2025?!
On this week’s episode we discuss the 2025 ACL line up and why Austin needs a great R&B nightclub/venue. Hip-hop facts about Jay-Z and Jermaine Dupri, Sisqo and more. Unpopular opinion from Fresh takes aim at DJs in Austin possibly doing more.
KUT Morning Newscast for May 8, 2025: ICE deported an Austin woman and her three children. Two of them are U.S. citizens.
Central Texas top stories for May 8, 2025. Local activists say an Austin mother has been deported to Mexico along with her U.S.-citizen children. The Austin City Limits music festival brought in more than half a billion dollars for the city’s economy last year. Texas lawmakers have passed a bill that would allow the use of helicopters to hunt aoudad sheep. It’s mosquito season in Austin.
Our top music stories for the year
Queue up some jams for your New Year’s Eve party with this roundup of some of our favorite music segments from 2024, featuring Beyoncé, the Jesus Lizard, Bayonne and more.
City Limits (Bonus Episode)
Bonus Tracks: ¡Vamos Verde! hosts Jimmy Maas and Juan Garcia taped an interview on the Bonus Tracks stage at the 2nd weekend of Austin City Limits Festival with Brad Stuver. Also, hear from Nick Canedo from We Are Blood about their upcoming blood drive at Q2 Stadium.
KUT Morning Newscast for October 16, 2024
Central Texas top stories for October 16, 2024. Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and his Democratic challenger, Congressman Colin Allred, squared off in a debate last night, listen to the details. Travis County is asking voters to approve a tax rate hike this November to expand access to childcare for low- and middle-income families. The median sales price of homes in the Austin area fell last month, but that was not the case inside the city limits. Austin had the highest temperature ever recorded in October.
KUT Morning Newscast for October 11, 2024
Central Texas top stories for October 11, 2024. Five new parks will be added to parts of Austin with less access to green space. The city department that oversees new construction in Austin will begin using artificial intelligence. Austin’s 32nd annual Art from the Streets event returns this weekend. ACL’s second weekend kicks off today.
The Beaches: “Blame Brett” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)
The second Friday of October is upon us, and Austin City Limits Music Fest is about to be in full effect once again. And in the interim that is this Thursday, we got a twofer for ya: a reflection on last weekend and a hint on what to expect for this next one.
So although it’s finally starting to feel a little more like Fall around here, there’s really no bad season to get behind The Beaches. These masters of fashion have been at it for a decade straight now, solidifying the soundtrack to a generation and proving proficiency (sans predictability) in the indie pop rock realm with each release. And after snagging the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the year in 2018 and the Juno Award for Rock Album of the Year in 2022, this past March the quartet scored another milestone in winning the Juno Awards for both Group of the Year and Rock Album of the Year.
The Beaches are back at it bringing a bit of The Six down to ATX twice over the next couple days with a completely sold out show 6:30PM tonight at Scoot Inn for Backline’s World Mental Health Day Event followed by a return to the T-Mobile stage 3:20PM this Saturday at ACL Fest, so you may want to give a single day pass a second consideration before The Beaches blow up even more. Because they’re only getting better, y’all. Like, looking back at last Saturday, the Ontario sisterhood rocked it (shades donned and sass intact) on their highest-charting single to date and the album opener off last September’s Blame My Ex, “Blame Brett”with a semi-acoustic rendition that undeniably takes on a new character while keeping the spiteful spark of its anthemic studio counterpart in place. Sorry, Brett; this one ain’t for you. But it sure does slam even with that sole egg shaker keeping the beat.
Mon Rovîa: “crooked the road.” (KUTX Pop-Up at ACL Fest)
When it comes to exposure for international acts here in Austin, you typically think of SXSW. But time and time again, ACL Fest has shown great global flavors, even if the artists in question are quartered stateside.
A perfect example? Mon Rovîa. Songwriter Andrew Lowe was lucky enough to escape his moniker’s namesake in the midst of the Liberian Civil War, and given the Appalachian atmosphere of his current home base, Mon Rovîa’s forged a really fascinating fusion of Afro influences and American folk, shaking up whatever expectations you have surrounding the “Tennessee sound”. Since hitting streaming early on in the pandemic, that formula’s found a strong listenership that only grows with Mon Rovîa’s ongoing streak of about five-to-six singles a year, alongside the three-act EP progression that began with last Summer’s Act 1: The Wandering and culminated in this April’s Act 3: The Dying of Self.
As the BMI Stage’s inaugural act, Mon Rovîa (and his backing band) had the honor of expressing gratitude, championing peace, and setting a pensive mood for ACL’s first weekend with a slew of tunes. And that extended to a pop-up performance of “crooked the road.”, which still feels fresh after debuting just over a month ago. It’s gorgeous. It’s heartwarming. It’s the most tasteful pairing of ukulele and vocal harmonies you’ll hear all week.