Elon Musk

After environmentally destructive launch, will regulators let SpaceX blast off again?

A new law barring transition care for transgender youth has been temporarily blocked by a Texas judge, but it may take effect anyway Sept. 1. We’ll have the latest – plus how doctors are trying to prepare.

Officials were left in disbelief over the scale and scope of environmental damage after the failed test of a SpaceX starship in South Texas earlier this year, according to a new report.

A new book sheds light on the seldom-told tale of conscientious objectors who nonetheless went to the front lines in Vietnam.

Wendy Day Has Good Advice You Can Use

Confucius and Fresh talk to Wendy Day — who helped discover Eminem and helped Cash Money land an unprecedented $30 million dollar deal with Universal Music Group — about the realities of the music industry, and how independent artists should approach their careers.

You’ll learn Hip-Hop Facts about the first hip-hop website to have push notifications, what blogsite first debuted the Weeknd’s music, the origin of Okay Player, and more.

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that Pusha T does not deserve to be on Billboard’s Top 50 Rappers of all time.

Confucius talks about Elon Musk’s views on aliens, the rumors about a serial killer in Austin, Ron DeSantis’s trip to Washington, and more on Confucius Reads the News.

Astronaut Christina Koch on NASA’s upcoming Artemis 2 mission

Tensions are growing in Austin over the use of DPS officers to augment local police.

Facing resistance to a plan similar to school vouchers, an alteration getting attention at the state Capitol is focused on students with disabilities. Talia Richman of the Dallas Morning News Education Lab has more.

NASA’s plans to return to the moon: We’ll talk with Christina Koch, one of the astronauts assigned to the upcoming Artemis 2 mission.

And on this 4/20, a closer look at the complicated relationship between country music and Willie Nelson’s favorite way to kick back.

There’s a growing push to recycle fracking wastewater in Texas

As temperatures fall, a humanitarian crisis in El Paso deepens as there is a scramble to find shelter for thousands of migrants. Now Texas National Guard troops have been called in to maintain order at the scene. We’ll have the latest on a tenuous situation along the border. Plus, what to do with all the water used in fracking. Recycle it, maybe? We’ll hear why the idea is catching on now. And we’ve got one-on-one interview with a broadway star who’s got south Texas roots. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Nas, Clickbait, and Relevance

The fellas start with a two-parter inspired by 21 Savage’s recent comments on Nas; how much of it is embedded in clickbait culture and past that, what really is relevance in hip-hop?
Hip-Hop Facts covers a ton of chance connections: From Babyface, Whitney Houston, and Dr. Dre to Nas and DJ Envy, DJ Toomp and T.I. and yes, even Jay-Z and Gorillaz.
Kendrick fans may disagree with the Unpopular Opinion, but according to Fresh himself, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers basically came and went. Listen to all that plus reactions to the latest headlines from Donald Trump, Atlanta, Nancy Pelosi, Elon Musk, and more.

KUT Morning Newscast for November 18, 2022

Central Texas top stories for November 18, 2022. Austin ISD interim superintendent applications. Bastrop County wastewater request. Freedom of speech at UT. Texas maternal mortality report. APD intoxicated driver policy.

Rest in Power, Takeoff

In this relatively somber episode of The Breaks, Fresh and Confucius reflect on the untimely passing of Migos co-founder Takeoff. But a bigger, two-part discussion lies behind all the fond memories. What does this mean for the longevity of hip-hop artists and why are white people so quick to scapegoat the genre when tragedy strikes?

Hip Hop Facts fills you in on plenty of Migos trivia plus Paul Mooney’s role on In Living Color.

Just in time for Election Day, Fresh’s Unpopular Opinion pleads rappers to stay directly out of partisan politics…lookin’ at you, Killer Mike.

Lastly, Confucius Reads the News about Elon Musk’s Twitter changes, Drake & 21 Savage’s new collaboration, and the latest punches from Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice Roberts.

Cappin’ for Unhinged Creatives

Kanye West has made more than his fair share of outrageous headlines this past week, leading Confucius and Fresh to wonder…why continue to cap for unhinged creatives past their point of no return?

And when it comes to the current generation of younger rappers who seemingly can’t dress themselves, is it generational taste, or just objectively gaudy?

Hip-Hop Facts features tidbits on DJ Premier, Lil Jon, and Frank Ocean plus anecdotes on 8 Mile, Men in Black, and more.

Fresh’s latest Unpopular Opinion makes it clear: put Nicki Minaj alongside her rapper peers instead of atop the pop pedestal.

Finally, Confucius Reads the News on Steve Bannon’s prison sentence, Nick Cannon’s latest kid, Elon Musk’s Twitter purchase, and Rihanna’s new single.

For the Love of Money

Inspired by Akademiks comments about certain rappers’ behavior at Michael Rubin’s white party,  Confucius and Fresh discuss hip-hop’s fascination with billionaires and crime lords. Then they talk about whether today’s rap lyrics are more dangerous than they were in the past.

You’ll learn Hip-Hop Facts about the beef between Cypress Hill and Ice Cube, whose flow Method Man copied on Biggie’s “The What,” how Disney tried to sign Dr. Dre,  and more.

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that Tupac was a great writer, but not the best rapper.

Confucius talks about the death of James Caan, inflation and its impact on Kool-Aid, Twitter suing Elon Musk, and more.

 

 

Texas Standard: July 14, 2022

After confusing accounts over law enforcements response to the school shooting in Uvalde, the surveillance camera footage appears to offer clarity, but there’s been pushback over its publication.Tony Plohetski of the Austin American Statesman and KVUE joins us with more. And a new poll shows democratic challengers in the top 3 statewide races in Texas closing the gap on republican incumbents as election day approaches, just 5 points separating Governor Abbott and Beto O’Rourke. We’ll have the latest numbers plus much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: June 9, 2022

In the aftermath of the Uvalde shooting, wrenching testimony on Capitol Hill and questions about what comes next to protect school kids. We’ll have the latest. Also, what if anything Texas lawmakers might do to tighten gun regulations. And the fight for political control in South Texas this fall. But among democrats, fireworks and calls for recounts already in two close congressional runoff races. Also a new report on childcare deserts. And behind the scenes for primetime hearings on the January 6th insurrection. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Mo’Nique vs DL

Confucius and Fresh discuss the recent conflict between Mo’Nique and DL Hughley and talk about the golden age of streetball and the AND1 mixtapes.

You’ll learn Hip-Hop Facts about Black Music Month, the time Will Smith hit Anthony Mackie, Big K.R.I.T.’s baseball connection, Fat Joe’s start in hip-hop, and more.

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that not everyone is cut out to be a creative entrepreneur.

And Confucius talks about Canada’s freeze on handgun sales, Elon Musk’s email telling people to be in the office 40 hours a week or else,  the baby formula shortage,  and the final decisions in the Amber Heard / Johnny Depp case.

 

Texas Standard: April 28, 2022

Governor’s Abbott’s border security mission known as Operation Lone Star, what has it accomplished? We’ll do a check of the claims being made. Other stories were tracking, federal scrutiny on Galveston county after a redistricting plan eliminating the county’s only majority-minority district. Also, is Twitter ‘Texas-bound’ after its purchase by Elon Musk? We’ll ask tech expert Omar Gallaga. And its Green Ghost, not Gringo…So says an unlikely feature film star, better known in Texas as a car salesman than a big screen superhero. The story of Green Ghost and the Masters of the Stone plus a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Tales of Jay-Z

Confucius and Fresh talk about how important Hot 97’s Summer Jam was to the culture in the pre-internet era, and discuss whether the West Coast has fully gotten its due as a rap coast.

You’ll learn Hip-Hop Facts about the first hip-hop record to go diamond, how Big KRIT’s “Glass House” came to be recorded in Austin, who Atlanta rapper Baby Tate’s mother is, and more!

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that Chicago is not getting its due for the amount of influence that the city has had on the culture.

In Confucius Reads the News Confucius talks about Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter, Greg Abbott’s decision to bus migrants to Washington D.C., Patrick Beverly’s celebration at winning the 7th spot in the playoffs, and more.

 

 

Texas Standard: February 22, 2022

He’s been called Trump’s favorite cowboy; why Sid Miller’s attempt to hang on to his job as Texas Agriculture Commissioner is drawing a lot of national attention. And, a longtime democratic congressman in South Texas faces a repeat challenge from the left–a former intern. Also, why biorefineries could be the next big thing in Texas. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: January 3, 2022

With schools statewide returning to classes and Omicron cases rising, many Texans are asking: now what? Some answers from a doctor today on the Texas Standard.
Other stories we’re tracking- the US Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments this week over Biden Administration vaccination mandates. We’ll have the latest. Also, the 5th Circuit is set to hear arguments in another challenge to SB8- the state’s new abortion restrictions.
Earthquakes spark an order from state officials affecting fracking in the Midland area.
And, you’ve seen the bumper sticker “Don’t California my Texas”? Why some in South Texas are now saying don’t “Austin-ify our Brownsville”. Those stories and more.

Texas Standard: August 30, 2021

A U.S. Supreme court decision ends eviction bans, sending renters and relief groups in Texas scrambling for answers. We’ll have the latest. Also, 650 new laws set to take effect in Texas this week, and one’s been getting a lot of national attention. It would effectively ban abortions after about 6 weeks, and deputize ordinary citizens to enforce the new rule. We’ll have more. Plus SpaceX, the Cybertruck… now Elon Musk wants to enter another market in Texas: the electricity market. What this might mean for consumers and for the electric marketplace, already taking tons of heat for its shortcomings. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:

Long Before Elon Musk, A Different Man Had A Plan To Develop Boca Chica

One hundred years ago, Col. Sam Robertson stood on the same Boca Chica Beach in South Texas that Elon Musk owns today and dreamed a different dream. Instead of Musk’s spaceport, Robertson dreamed of seaports and an oceanside highway.  

Robertson owned 800 acres at Boca Chica, about 20 miles northeast of Brownsville and it was likely some of the same thousand acres now managed by Musk’s companies. Back then, Robertson built the railroad that connected the Rio Grande Valley to the wider world. He had founded the town of San Benito, serving as sheriff and helping to run the Ku Klux Klan out of the region.  

He had repurposed the old channels known as resacas to irrigate the lower valley. In 1926, he gathered RGV leaders in Brownsville’s El Jardin Hotel to make his pitch for an oceanside highway that would run from Boca Chica all the way up Padre Island to Corpus Christi. It would become, in his words, “the most beautiful 150 miles of highway in the world.”  

Robertson laid out his vision before the Rio Grande Valley Commercial Club. “I have traveled somewhat extensively in this world,” he said, “and have never seen any scenery wilder or more beautiful than this stretch of beach.”

Robertson was not only an entrepreneur; he was a decorated soldier and noted engineer. In 1915, he served as a scout for General Jack Pershing in the pursuit of Pancho Villa in Mexico. During World War I, he served in Europe as a commander of the 22nd Engineers, building railroads and bridges for Allied troops in France. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for bravery under fire. 

The business leaders of the Valley trusted his vision because they believed his claims. He wasn’t pitching a blacktop road. 

“The beach is as smooth as a billiard table,” Robertson said. “No road can be constructed by man as good for autoing as the beach, and the Gulf of Mexico maintains it.” All you would need is maintenance crews to move driftwood out of the way, he said, telling those assembled that he had explored the beach from Corpus Christi to the mouth of the Rio Grande River and that a highway was quite possible and would bring in enormous numbers of tourists. Just “throw across” some bay bridges at either end, he suggested, and you’d be open for business.  

Such a development would be good for the Rio Grande Valley, too, he argued. With good roads to Boca Chica Beach, Valleyites could have a Sunday lunch at home, then drive to the beach for a Sunday afternoon swim at the beach and still be home by 10 p.m. 

Robertson’s oceanside highway was never developed. But looking at South Padre and North Padre today, just north of Boca Chica with their causeway bridges, carefully maintained beaches, opulent hotels and verdant landscaping, you can see that his dream for the island has been partially realized. 

Robertson opened his Del Mar Resort on Boca Chica Beach in 1931, but the resort was virtually wiped out by a hurricane two years later. He rebuilt within six months and constructed an asphalt road from Brownsville to Boca Chica Beach because his personal mantra was: “Civilization follows transportation.” 

Musk would like that, too.

Texas Standard: May 20, 2021

The Legislature has the power, but does it have the will? Where’s the long promised fix to prevent massive outages like the one last winter? What happened to a much anticipated overhaul aimed at preventing another deadly round of power failures. Also an update on prison and bail reform. And as cryptocurrencies crash, the transplanted Texan who seems to have unusual power in the markets. Plus the best community college in the nation? a hint: it’s in the Lone Star State. And an historian pushes back on a project aimed at teaching what are described as Texas values. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

A Letter from Texas

If you had walked into the Neiman-Marcus store during the Christmas season in Dallas in 1939, you would have found a beautiful little book for sale titled A Letter from Texas.  The 20-page book, by the Texas poet, Townsend Miller, was commissioned by Stanley Marcus himself. He had the gifted printer Carl Hertzog publish an exquisite limited edition of the poem with the Neiman-Marcus imprint on the title page. Mr. Stanley, as Marcus came to be called, loved the Texcentric poem. He wanted to make it available in the store at Christmastime so that out-of-staters would have a unique gift to take back home or send to friends and family.. 

I happen to have a copy of Miller’s book. The poem is a letter to his friend, John. In it, Miller shares his passionate love for Texas with a kind of contagious exuberance: 

     John, it is a strange land.  John it is hard to describe.  

          But perhaps try this. Hold up your right hand, palm outward,

          And break the last three fingers down from the joint.

          And there you have it.  The westering thumb.

          The silent bleak land, the silent mesas

          Big Bend and the great canyons at its end

          El Paso, the Northern Pass, and they came down through it. 

          Southward and east, the slow hot river moving

          River of Palms, Grande del Norte, and over the wrist,

          To Brownsville, and it empties into the vast blue waters

 

Miller describes each part of the state using the geography of his hand as a model of the Texas.  He says “the tongue staggers” to describe the state’s  size.  

Miller was best known for the country music column he wrote for the Austin American-Statesman from 1972-to-1984.  He was less of a critic and more of a promoter of the then-nascent music scene in and around Austin – his hometown for most of his life. 

In his letter-poem to his friend John, Miller also writes:

Austin, the central city, and she is crowned with the sun

And twice-crowned westward with violet hills,

John, the thick roses swarming over the wall.

The moon in the white courts, the quivering mornings. 

 

Of the Llano Estacado Miller writes: 

And here I think is the heart of it;  

Here you begin to sense it, the size, the silence;

This is the land, empty under enormous sky,

In wide enormous air, nothing of man. 

 

Miller’s poem is the sort of letter we write when we want to convince a friend to move here. 

He concludes this way. 

So now tonight in the central city Texas lies around me.

All silent to the stars; so I write of it. 

Remembering the slow dusk of the Rio Grande

Remembering the high hawks of the violet hills

Remembering the dark eyes in the Calle de Flores,

And the breeze comes up from the Gulf and in the court

Pink oleanders brush on the white wall

And the moon at flood over the westering hills

And my heart is full of it and I send it to you. 

 

Mr. Stanley always had fine aesthetic tastes, especially for Christmas gifts.  His offering of this book long ago still holds up nicely as a gift idea today, if you can find a copy, which you can with some ambitious searching.  Might make a perfect gift for Tesla’s Elon Musk. Welcome to Texas, Elon.