Move over Sunday brunch! Today we are vibing at a Tardeada in Seguin, Texas. Travel with us as we fill our panzitas with Tacos and our soul with good music y good afternoon vibes at Burnt Bean Co. The Pope of BBQ Ernest Servantes will guide us through a Sunday ritual of some sacred tacos of Texas. We talk tardeada traditions, memorias, and some of our favorite tardeada tunes y comida.
ritual
Kasai Allstars: “Betrayal By Gossip”
With membership landing anywhere between fifteen and two dozen, Congolese collective Kasai Allstars is nothing short of spectacular; truly a sight and sound to behold. The Allstars represent five different ethnic groups originating in their namesake DRC region, and much like the diversity of their players, Kasai’s music takes cues from a wide range of sources, be it traditional spirituals or modern electronic.
Thirteen years after their 2008 debut In the 7th Moon, the Chief Turned Into a Swimming Fish and Ate the Head of His Enemy by Magic, Kasai Allstars has unleashed another mouthful, Black Ants Always Fly Together, One Bangle Makes No Sound. The twelve-song LP dropped last Friday and you can settle back into the work week with the patio-appropriate “Betrayal By Gossip”!
Higher Ed: The Community-Building Power Of Ritual In Education
The pomp and circumstance of graduation brings students, teachers, staff and family together to celebrate achievement and usher students onto their next steps in learning and life. That ritual not only honors students but also creates a shared opportunity for a campus community to strengthen bonds. In this episode of the KUT podcast “Higher Ed,” KUT’s Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger discuss the importance of ritual in education.
Graduation is probably the first ceremony that comes to mind when thinking about the rituals associated with education. Commencement certainly exists to celebrate achievements and bestow accolades. But Ed believes that ceremony also speaks to a deeper human truth.
“As human beings, we believe in community,” says Ed. “So the idea of having the community come together, which includes your family and your friends and your teachers and your colleagues who are students…. it’s a shared moment.”
Certainly the basic business of graduation could be done with no pomp and circumstance simply by mailing out diplomas at the end of the school year. Ed believes though that the entire community – not just the graduates – benefits from sharing in students’ triumphs.
“In today’s world, where everything moves so fast and everyone’s on their electronic devices,” says Ed, “to take a moment to come together as a community – whatever that definition means for that context of community, live in the same space – and celebrate that triumphant moment…it just uplifts the spirit. And so we want those moments of uplifting memories to hold onto.”
Most, if not all, of the rituals in education involve celebrating positive achievements. Left to his own devices to invent a new ritual in education, Ed would turn the focus to elevating something that is normally not celebrated – what he calls “effective failure” from which we learn lessons.
“I think the idea of having a big pomp and circumstance and genuine celebration when things don’t go right,” Ed believes, “as long as we have come to a place where we had an epiphany and we’re going to move forward in a way that will make us better – I think we should be celebrating that.”
Listen to the full episode for more on the role of ritual in education and what title Ed would give to his new ceremony. It is also time for the solution to last episode’s anagram puzzler. Listen closely, though, as it may not be as complicated as it first sounded.
This episode was recorded on April 2, 2019.