As we embark on the new year, many are expecting higher costs for the health care they need to live their best lives. That’s after Congress failed to extend subsidies to the Affordable Care Act during last year’s government shutdown and ahead of the new year deadline. We’ll talk about how Austinites and Texans will be affected in 2026.
The City of Austin and a former APD officer are being sued for excessive force. Austin has struggled for years to change the culture at APD’s training academy. We’ll have more about both those stories on today’s show.
Plus, we’ve got some advice on how to best achieve those financials goals you set for 2026.
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Crime statistics for Austin trended downward in 2025
Crime statistics for Austin trended downward in 2025, with the city experiencing the lowest number of murders this decade. We’ll talk about the trends, both locally and nationally, and discuss why the sentiment that crime is rising still persists.
Also, the city has released an updated design plan for a revamped Sixth Street. What will it look like and when will that work begin?
Plus, the first full week of January means it’s Free Week in Austin. Some of the city’s finest musicians will be putting on shows in venues across the city. We’ll have a lay of the land and let you know what our sister station KUTX is cooking up.
New year, new Texas laws on the books
The start of 2026 brings a bevy of new laws across the state, with a focus on taxes. Other new legislation focuses on artificial intelligence and how sheriff’s offices will work with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
New toll lanes have opened on 183 North, and the additional access could mean increased traffic on your drive home.
Looking to cut back on distractions in the new year? We’ve got some techniques that you can use to keep your focus strong in 2026.
Reflecting on the year in Austin as 2025 winds down
It’s the final day of 2025, and we’ve been taking some time to listen back and reflect on the year that was here in Austin.
Austinites love supporting local shops and restaurants, but the hard truth is that running any kind of business is the city is a difficult and expensive pursuit. A look back at some local businesses that shuttered their doors for good this year.
Plus: New Year’s festivities bring on annual traditions — have you got yours ready? Come and share some good home cookin’ with us.
The importance of saving, how to get started and building good financial habits
Carl Stuart and Jimmy Maas discuss the importance of saving and investing for retirement, providing practical advice on how to get started and build good financial habits.
What Austin called 311 about in 2025
This year, Austinites reached out to 311 with 285,000 requests, covering everything from garbage and loud music to animal bites and scooters. We’ve got more about those requests — and some coyotes.
KUT News launched a new desk in 2025: the Art Beat. We’re talking about the year in arts in Austin, including the return of a beloved outdoor gallery and the venues that are planning for the future.
The Texas Longhorns wrap up their football season tomorrow against Michigan. It’s not the ending fans and pundits predicted at the start of the year, but perhaps things aren’t as dark as they seem.
Reflecting on the year of news in Austin
It’s the last week of 2025, and we’re reflecting on the year of news here in Austin, including:
Resolution in a decades-long cold case known as the Yogurt Shop Murders.
The summer’s deadly flooding in Austin and Central Texas.
School campuses set to shutter across the city.
We’re also taking a look at the status of Austin’s housing market heading into the new year.
Plus: Another favorite track from 2025, and a look at some of the artists we lost this year.
What it’s like to work as a Paramount usher
It’s been a busy year, and KUT’s multimedia team has been capturing the moments that defined Austin in 2025. So which ones stood out most? Visuals Editor Deborah Cannon takes us through the year in photos.
The Paramount Theatre is known for hosting unforgettable events — but have you ever wondered how audiences find their seats in the rush before showtime? What it’s like to work as an usher.
The year is winding down, but we still have songs for ya! Technical director Rayna Sevilla shares her top song of the year.
Plus: More local news coverage is headed to Austin with the launch of the Austin Current.
Caldwell library expands adult education classes
A library in Caldwell has become a beacon of hope for adults looking to get their GED or further their education — and volunteers are helping make that possible. The Texas Standard’s Sarah Asch has the story.
A look back at major developments in the business world this year and how they’re shaping the Austin area.
A Minnesota-based program that creates music inspired by stories of children in need worked with a 9-year-old Austin boy with a fatal genetic disorder on a piece that was performed by the Austin Children’s Choir.
Records in Ken Paxton divorce case are unsealed
Records in the divorce case for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton have been unsealed after a judge’s order. We’re talking with the Texas Newsroom’s Lauren McGaughy to find out what that means for the case.
Travelers at the Austin airport will soon have more options. KUT transportation reporter Nathan Bernier has the details on the newest flights coming to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
Plus: a look inside the Press Room in Hyde Park, which is home to a vintage letterpress and a vast collection of original cinema advertising prints.
A Year In Review 2025
On this episode we review our favorite moments from the show as well as our favorite moments from the culture at large. Hip-hop facts include facts about Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Will Smith and more. Fresh’s last Unpopular Opinion of the year is that dancing is more apart of hip-hop than people want to admit.
Austin reaches labor contract deal with city’s firefighters
Austin has reached a four-year, $63 million contract deal with the city’s firefighters, ending months of negotiations with the Austin Firefighters Association.
Calling all bird enthusiasts: Texas Standard’s Raul Alonzo explains what a bird count is, why it matters, and how you can take part.
KUTX’s Confucius Jones, one half of hip-hop podcast The Breaks, shares his favorite song of the year.
Plus: If you’re looking for TV shows to watch over the holidays, Jennifer Morgan, the ATX TV Festival’s head of programming, joins us with some picks.
Austin faces a high-stakes choice on funding parks over I-35
Austin faces a high-stakes choice on funding parks over I-35, with city leaders split over how to move forward. It all centers on the question of which highway decks the should city commit to paying for.
Catching up with longtime musician Robert Earl Keen, who’s gearing up for his Christmas shows here in Austin.
Plus, from KUTX: Maile Carballo checks in with the latest music news, and Ryan Wen rounds up his favorite songs of 2025.
State making list of trans Texans using driver’s license data
The state of Texas is collecting information on transgender Texans using data from driver’s licenses — and it’s not clear what exactly that information is being used for. The Texas Newsroom’s investigative reporter and editor, Lauren McGaughy, has the story.
The Trump administration is looking to make changes to federal policy that could affect how homeless service providers do their work here in the Austin area. We sit down with Kate Moore from the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition to learn more.
Under the twinkling lights of the 37th Street Lights is a surprising group of fluffy friends ready to be adopted. The price for a stuffed animal? One simple task.
How Austin is preparing to keep outages minimal this winter
The National Weather Service is forecasting warmer and drier-than-normal conditions for the Austin area this winter — but high-impact storms are still possible. What city officials and Austin Energy are doing to keep potential winter storm outages to minimum.
Austin music legend Joe Ely has died at 78. Jeff McCord, KUT and KUTX’s former music director, reflects on the life of Texas-born singer-songwriter.
We’ll also hear from another KUTX-er Marnie Castor gives us her favortie song coming out of Austin for 2025.
If you’ve lived in Austin long enough, you’ve seen the words “violet crown” around town — but what does it mean, and why are there so many? ATXplained digs in.
A look at the public health landscape in Austin
Austin Public Health has experienced some federal and city budget cuts this year, and the failure of Proposition Q means some of those holes won’t be filled. We look at the public health landscape in Austin.
The old Faulk Central Library in downtown Austin became the Austin History Center, and has been redone after a renovation that was eight years in the making. What’s new in a place that showcases what’s old.
Plus: We hear from the Black Austin Matters podcast and their guest, Pastor Gaylon Clark of Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
Tiny Texas town’s library could be adult education template
Houston, Fort Worth… Now three more Texas school districts are expected to be taken over by state education officials. Where, why and what comes next?
The son of Texas A&M’s campus rabbi is among those critically injured in the mass shooting at Bondi Beach near Sydney, Australia.
Mexican citizens who routinely cross into the U.S. at Texas’ southern border to donate plasma may be taking advantage of an immigration loophole.
And our own Sarah Asch tells us why a library in a tiny Texas town may be a template for preserving adult education programs nationwide.
Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit Interview
On this episode we interview Kevin Solka (Marketing & Digital Strategy Manager for the LBJ Library) about the Hip-Hop America: The Mixtape Exhibit. We also discuss hip-hop needing to go back underground to reclaim its roots. Hip-hop facts this week include facts about Mike Jones, Wu-Tang, Drake and more. Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion is that blog era rappers should’ve worked together more before they became super successful.
‘Bathroom bill’ in effect, but enforcement is unclear
A new “bathroom bill” approved by Texas legislators has been in effect across the state for just over a week, requiring people to use public restrooms aligned with the sex they were assigned at birth. But there are still questions about how the law will be enforced, and here in Austin, a lot of it depends on which building you happen to be in.
Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, the guiding hand behind the Voces Oral History Project, is stepping down after a quarter-century of documenting the stories of Latinos in Texas and the United States. She reflects on her work.
The 37th Street Lights will be lit tonight. But who started the Austin holiday tradition? ATXplained investigates.
Austin’s light-rail poised to clear major hurdle
The light-rail transit line long promised to Austinites could soon clear a major hurdle – and that could give new momentum to a project that’s been dragged down through legal and political resistance. The latest on where the project is headed.
Months after a Texas A&M professor was fired for discussing gender identity in a literature class, transgender college students in Texas are working out how to make their voices heard. Some are finding solace through expression in their community.
Plus, on the music side: Some Austin music history and more from KUTX’s favorite local songs of 2025.