austin

Trailer: Tacos of Texas Season Dos

Let’s talk tacos with Mando Rayo, Taco Journalist and the co-creator of United Tacos of America TV Show & Tacos of Texas book and PBS digital series.

As an avid taco ambassador, food explorer and street ethnographer, Mando has traveled across the U.S. to uncover the tastiest tacos, from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas to L.A. and New Orleans to New York City. And we’re keeping the conversation front and center through the Tacos of Texas podcast Season Two.

Keeping it true to our TacoJournalist roots, we’ll talk to Texas taqueros, tortilleras & makers; we’ll also explore food cultures & people while exploring issues like Taco Beats, Taco Identity, Smoked Beef Barbacoa, Taco Gentrification and of course, we’ll keep it muy caliente with our “sound of tacos” and “where taqueros eat” segments by people across the great state of Texas.

Ode to an Austin Icon

John Aielli is one of those people who truly made Austin weird. He was known for his genre-defying show and meandering conversations. Aielli wasn’t just an icon of the music scene but a companion in kitchens and on commutes for decades. He died on Sunday at age 76 and was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

Ariel René Jackson

We talk with anti-disciplinary film-based artist Ariel René Jackson in this episode of Black Austin Matters.

KUT Afternoon Newscast for July 28, 2022

Central Texas top stories for July 28, 2022. Wildfires in Central Texas. Jacob’s Well flow stops. Point in time counts resuming. San Marcos marijuana decriminalization. MoveOutATX begins. PanAm Park renaming postponed. Gas prices. 183 flyover closure.

Texas Standard: July 25, 2022

An immigration decision from the supreme court with a big impact on Texas…though it might not be the last word on the matter. We’ll have more on the decision. Also, how extreme heat is affecting migrants trying to get around border checkpoints on foot and what’s being done for their safety. And why gas prices in Texas are going down. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

News Brief 7-15-2022 8AM

Daily morning news update from the KUT newsroom. Monkeypox cases in Austin. City of Austin budget planning. Summer meal program sites will operate again with federal funding.

News Brief 7-14-2022 9AM

Daily morning news update from the KUT newsroom. Hot weather and Austin’s mitigation planning. James Lee Dickey museum fire.

Home building in Austin is taking longer and longer

Austin builders are starting a lot of new homes. Finishing them is not so simple. For much of the pandemic, the homebuilding industry has endured delays because of supply chain issues: One month builders can’t get door handles. The next, it’s door hinges, windows and refrigerators. And now this shortage has converged with another: a lack of skilled workers and employees.

While builders in the Austin area are starting new homes at historic numbers, the number of new homes finished and sold lags behind. According to the real estate research firm Zonda, builders started roughly 26,500 new homes during the first few months of this year, while homebuyers closed on just under 20,000 new homes. Compare that to the last months of 2019, when the number of new homes started and new homes sold diverged by just 300 homes.

How much should it cost to ride Austin’s light rail?

Austin’s light-rail system is still years away from becoming a reality. The first trains won’t start running until 2029 at the earliest.

But already some people are worried about how much it could cost to ride light rail. They don’t want Capital Metro to up-charge customers like the agency does for those who ride the MetroRail commuter train.

Texas Standard: July 12, 2022

Demands for transparency in the investigation of the mass shooting in Uvalde. The focus: hallway surveillance footage. We’ll have the latest. Also why a big fight may be brewing between Austin and Washington over new air pollution regulations in West Texas. And military annual fitness checks getting swapped out for Fitbits? Plus an immigration lawyer on the front lines to keep families together at the border, reflects on his own migrant past and others directly affected by immigration policy. And new images of events millions of years in the past, the excitement over the space telescope and what the pictures tell us. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Riders Against the Storm

In this episode, Lisa and Rich talk with Chaka and Qi Dada, the husband and wife duo who make up the hip-hop group Riders Against the Storm.

Texas Standard: July 4, 2022

The Texas Supreme Court says Texas can enforce its 1925 abortion ban. We’ll have a closer look at the implications of the decision. Also, with many Texans traveling by car for the holiday, lots of folks feeling the pinch of gas prices firsthand. An update from our go to energy expert Matt Smith. And we revisit our conversation with singer songwriter and Spoon frontman Britt Daniel who shares how a Texas vibe got baked in to one of the most highly anticipated rock albums of the year. Plus reflections on this land and who it really belongs to. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard: