KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts
KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond
A deal over school vouchers at the Legislature – or high political theatre? As Gov. Greg Abbott declares victory, others have their doubts. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of The Texas Newsroom shares the latest.
You’ve heard of solar farms, but how well do animals share that land? Why agrivoltaic farms are popping up all over Texas.
And our spooky season isn’t over. The Texas Standard’s Kristen Cabrera explores the story of the arguable king of the Texas cryptids: the Chupacabra.
According to Texas Parks and Wildlife, three species of bluebirds make their homes in Texas during part of the year. Right now, you’re likely to see those pretty little birds building nests or caring for young. But don’t mix them up with their bigger, angrier cousins. This poem came by request from Texas Standard listener Chase Brooke.
It’s officially syllabus day for our 2021 Spring Membership Drive so get ready to receive some rustic, surreal reading material! I’m talking about Austin duo Texas Textbooks, whose love of the Lone Star State is anchored by their outspoken political beliefs, both of which lend themselves to the band’s signature sound: “twangcore”. The twangcore twosome got started in 2017 and dropped their debut LP Pecos and Matamoros a couple summers back, writing the foreword to Texas Textbooks’ latest chapter.
Recorded over the past year as the duo’s slacker country style evolved, BIRDS has already proven an achievement in psych-folk artistry, not to mention aural ornithology with its satisfying production choices and flock of eclectic tones and timbres, guaranteed to give you some just-north-of-the-border nostalgia as sonic sightseer with originals like “Hemisfair ’68”!
Large numbers of migrant children unaccompanied and undocumented being housed in shelters. So what happens next? Coming up democratic congressman Henry Cuellar on how the Biden Administration is facing pressure from both sides of the aisle over what to do about large numbers of minors crossing the border and being held in detention in overcrowded facilities. Also as violent crime rates go up in Texas’ biggest city, questions loom over the causes. And who’s in charge? The governor demands and gets the resignation of the last remaining public utilities commissioner in the wake of the winter outages. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
The last crops of the season are being plucked from gardens across Texas — at least if human gardeners can get to them before the other creatures! That’s the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.
In our latest, “Hi, Who Are You?” story, we hear the story of a man and his bird — and the family that wanted to meet them.
After fears yesterday of a broader downturn following Facebook’s steep stock drop, a stunning new number on the state of the economy. 4.1%: that’s how fast the economy grew in the second quarter. We’ll look at what the numbers add up to in this time of tariffs and talk of trade wars. Also, Nicaragua reported to be in a state of siege, the people at the mercy of paramilitaries. We’ll take a look at what’s happening there and could it mean a new wave of asylum seekers. Plus, the hype around 5G: why all eyes are on Houston for what could be a disrupter for the cable industry. Plus the week that was in Texas politics and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas versus New York. There’s clearly a bit of a rivalry there and it may just have heated up over a hot-button issue. Plus Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been quieter since suspending his campaign for president… but his political machine hasn’t slowed down… it may just be re-tooling. Also… 1.4 million Texas public education employees and retirees could be affected by Brexit… we’ll explain. And it’s a bird… it’s a plane… it’s a… problem. How one Texas Air Force base is trying to co-exist with wildlife… while at the same time protect human lives. And Topo Chico… how the bubbly brand has changed over recent years. That and more on today’s Texas Standard:
If you’ve ever eaten on the patio of an Austin restaurant, you’ve probably kept a close eye on the black birds that swoop in on your tortilla chips: the grackles. That was the inspiration for Typewriter Rodeo’s David Fruchter as he wrote this week’s poem.
They’re annoying. They’re mean. They’re filthy. But we love to hate them.