James Moody: We opened an outdoor
James Moody: room in Texas
James Moody: because the weather
James Moody: was fairly predictable.
James Moody: Wasn't that dramatic?
James Moody: You had what? Less than
James Moody: 60 days of quote
James Moody: unquote winter, and
James Moody: then the rest was some
James Moody: version of summer.
James Moody: How it's changed is
James Moody: that the ice has gotten
James Moody: more crazy and icy, and
James Moody: the sun has gotten
James Moody: hotter.
Elizabeth McQueen: I'm Elizabeth
Elizabeth McQueen: McQueen.
Miles Bloxson: And I'm Miles Bloxson.
Miles Bloxson: And you're listening to
Miles Bloxson: Pause play.
Miles Bloxson: A podcast about live
Miles Bloxson: music, why it
Miles Bloxson: matters, and what
Miles Bloxson: comes next.
Elizabeth McQueen: This season,
Elizabeth McQueen: we're exploring
Elizabeth McQueen: all the changes
Elizabeth McQueen: that are impacting
Elizabeth McQueen: Austin's live music
Elizabeth McQueen: ecosystem.
Miles Bloxson: And in this episode,
Miles Bloxson: we're talking all
Miles Bloxson: about climate change.
Miles Bloxson: We talked to venue
Miles Bloxson: owners, musicians and
Miles Bloxson: fans about how
Miles Bloxson: they're all coping.
Elizabeth McQueen: You'll also hear
Elizabeth McQueen: from weatherman David
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeomans.
Elizabeth McQueen: So if you live in
Elizabeth McQueen: Austin, you've
Elizabeth McQueen: dealt with extreme
Elizabeth McQueen: weather caused by
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change.
Elizabeth McQueen: Like that extremely
Elizabeth McQueen: hot summer we all
Elizabeth McQueen: endured last year.
Miles Bloxson: Yeah, it was one of
Miles Bloxson: the hottest summers
Miles Bloxson: on record.
Miles Bloxson: We had 80 days of 100
Miles Bloxson: degree heat.
Elizabeth McQueen: We had 45 days
Elizabeth McQueen: where the temperature
Elizabeth McQueen: reached 105 or
Elizabeth McQueen: higher.
Miles Bloxson: We Austinites are
Miles Bloxson: used to hot summers,
Miles Bloxson: let me tell you. But
Miles Bloxson: that was way too
Miles Bloxson: much.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, it was.
Elizabeth McQueen: And we've also
Elizabeth McQueen: experienced extreme
Elizabeth McQueen: storms here, like
Elizabeth McQueen: during Winter Storm
Elizabeth McQueen: Uri that brought
Elizabeth McQueen: snow and ice and
Elizabeth McQueen: so many days of
Elizabeth McQueen: freezing temperatures
Elizabeth McQueen: to Texas.
Miles Bloxson: It wreaked havoc on
Miles Bloxson: our unprepared
Miles Bloxson: electrical grid.
Miles Bloxson: Almost 70% of people
Miles Bloxson: in Texas lost power
Miles Bloxson: at some point during
Miles Bloxson: this stretch of cold
Miles Bloxson: weather, and almost
Miles Bloxson: half had some kind of
Miles Bloxson: water service interruption.
Elizabeth McQueen: And hundreds of
Elizabeth McQueen: people died
Elizabeth McQueen: during that time.
Miles Bloxson: And if you want to hear
Miles Bloxson: more about the Texas
Miles Bloxson: electrical grid and
Miles Bloxson: why it did so poorly
Miles Bloxson: during that storm,
Miles Bloxson: you should listen to the
Miles Bloxson: Katy podcast, The
Miles Bloxson: Disconnect.
Elizabeth McQueen: And then there
Elizabeth McQueen: was that storm last
Elizabeth McQueen: September with
Elizabeth McQueen: baseball sized
Elizabeth McQueen: hail. It caused
Elizabeth McQueen: $600 million of
Elizabeth McQueen: damage in Travis
Elizabeth McQueen: and Williamson counties
Elizabeth McQueen: alone.
Miles Bloxson: We are all having to
Miles Bloxson: deal with this new
Miles Bloxson: climate reality, and
Miles Bloxson: this includes everyone
Miles Bloxson: in our music ecosystem
Miles Bloxson: as well.
Elizabeth McQueen: But before we go
Elizabeth McQueen: any further, we
Elizabeth McQueen: wanted to hear from an
Elizabeth McQueen: expert who could
Elizabeth McQueen: tell us about climate
Elizabeth McQueen: change in Central
Elizabeth McQueen: Texas.
Elizabeth McQueen: So we turn to one
Elizabeth McQueen: of our favorite weatherman.
David Yeomans: I'm David Yeomans.
David Yeomans: I'm the chief meteorologist
David Yeomans: at KXAN on the first
David Yeomans: warning weather team.
David Yeomans: The NBC affiliate
David Yeomans: here in Austin.
Elizabeth McQueen: That was his job
Elizabeth McQueen: when we interviewed
Elizabeth McQueen: him. But this episode
Elizabeth McQueen: took a long time
Elizabeth McQueen: to put together.
Elizabeth McQueen: So long, in fact,
Elizabeth McQueen: that David has a
Elizabeth McQueen: new job at Wbhm
Elizabeth McQueen: in Chicago.
Elizabeth McQueen: We wish him all
Elizabeth McQueen: the best. But
Elizabeth McQueen: still, he had
Elizabeth McQueen: lived in Austin for
Elizabeth McQueen: a long time, and
Elizabeth McQueen: he knows a lot about
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change.
Elizabeth McQueen: He, like, integrates
Elizabeth McQueen: it into his
Elizabeth McQueen: weather reporting,
Elizabeth McQueen: which is why we
Elizabeth McQueen: wanted to talk to
Elizabeth McQueen: him.
Elizabeth McQueen: I mean, and for people
Elizabeth McQueen: who, like, maybe are
Elizabeth McQueen: listening and are
Elizabeth McQueen: unclear, could
Elizabeth McQueen: you like very
Elizabeth McQueen: simply, as simply
Elizabeth McQueen: as you can kind
Elizabeth McQueen: of explain what
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change
Elizabeth McQueen: is?
David Yeomans: I love that question
David Yeomans: because the physics
David Yeomans: of it is not scary.
David Yeomans: The way this works is
David Yeomans: so simple. Someone in
David Yeomans: the 1800s discovered
David Yeomans: it, a woman named
David Yeomans: Eunice Foote.
David Yeomans: She put a couple of
David Yeomans: tubes full of air out
David Yeomans: in the sun.
David Yeomans: Each one of them were stopped
David Yeomans: up and they had a thermometer
David Yeomans: stuck in them.
David Yeomans: One of them was just
David Yeomans: the air that we breathe. The
David Yeomans: other one had CO2
David Yeomans: artificially added to
David Yeomans: it, so it had a higher
David Yeomans: concentration of CO2.
David Yeomans: Well, after they were out in the sun
David Yeomans: for a couple hours, guess
David Yeomans: what? The one with
David Yeomans: CO2 in the tube.
David Yeomans: More of it got
David Yeomans: hotter.
David Yeomans: 1856 when we
David Yeomans: discovered that CO2
David Yeomans: is what we call a heat
David Yeomans: trapping gas.
David Yeomans: So the earth zooming
David Yeomans: out now is surrounded
David Yeomans: by this down
David Yeomans: comforter. Let's say
David Yeomans: it has a natural
David Yeomans: greenhouse effect.
David Yeomans: We have heat trapping
David Yeomans: gases in our atmosphere.
David Yeomans: We always have.
David Yeomans: That's what makes Earth
David Yeomans: a livable planet.
David Yeomans: But since the 1800s,
David Yeomans: since the Industrial
David Yeomans: Revolution, were
David Yeomans: burning fossil fuels,
David Yeomans: artificially
David Yeomans: increasing the concentration
David Yeomans: of these heat
David Yeomans: trapping gases,
David Yeomans: there's more CO2 than
David Yeomans: there used to be, 50%
David Yeomans: more.
David Yeomans: So of course, that's
David Yeomans: warming temperatures.
David Yeomans: The simplest way I
David Yeomans: can put it is this
David Yeomans: every particle of
David Yeomans: exhaust that comes out
David Yeomans: of your tailpipe,
David Yeomans: every particle of
David Yeomans: smoke that comes out
David Yeomans: of the fat coal plant
David Yeomans: an hour east of
David Yeomans: Austin, is another
David Yeomans: feather that's being
David Yeomans: added to the down
David Yeomans: comforter in our
David Yeomans: atmosphere.
David Yeomans: And they don't go away
David Yeomans: tomorrow.
David Yeomans: The residents time of
David Yeomans: CO2 up in the sky is
David Yeomans: about 100 years.
David Yeomans: So what we do today
David Yeomans: has huge impact for a
David Yeomans: long time going forward.
David Yeomans: Which is why when people
David Yeomans: argue, you know that
David Yeomans: the climate's not changing.
David Yeomans: The science on this is
David Yeomans: so simple. And it's
David Yeomans: something that we've known
David Yeomans: about for more than 150
David Yeomans: years.
Miles Bloxson: Climate change is
Miles Bloxson: something that's happening
Miles Bloxson: to the whole world,
Miles Bloxson: right? But we want
Miles Bloxson: to know how it's
Miles Bloxson: impacting Central
Miles Bloxson: Texas specifically.
Elizabeth McQueen: David started out
Elizabeth McQueen: by quoting the Texas
Elizabeth McQueen: state meteorologists
Elizabeth McQueen: from 1927.
Elizabeth McQueen: No one actually
Elizabeth McQueen: knows that person's
Elizabeth McQueen: name, but they remember
Elizabeth McQueen: this quote.
David Yeomans: Texas is the land of
David Yeomans: perennial drought,
David Yeomans: broken by the occasional
David Yeomans: devastating flood.
David Yeomans: Our average weather
David Yeomans: is just the mid-line
David Yeomans: on our extremes,
David Yeomans: right? We're always
David Yeomans: up and down, and we
David Yeomans: always have been.
David Yeomans: But since then,
David Yeomans: temperatures have gotten
David Yeomans: measurably hotter.
David Yeomans: In the last 20 years
David Yeomans: in Austin, the 100
David Yeomans: degree day count that
David Yeomans: we all keep track of
David Yeomans: every summer has shot
David Yeomans: through the roof, and
David Yeomans: it's more consistently
David Yeomans: higher than it used
David Yeomans: to be. We're seeing
David Yeomans: fewer freezes each
David Yeomans: winter. You know, the
David Yeomans: data is very clear
David Yeomans: when you look at this
David Yeomans: stuff every day, like
David Yeomans: I do. The line is
David Yeomans: going like this. It's
David Yeomans: going up.
David Yeomans: We used to.
David Yeomans: Average 15 triple
David Yeomans: digit days per year.
David Yeomans: 15 days per summer
David Yeomans: when we hit 100 or
David Yeomans: higher.
David Yeomans: Now we average over
David Yeomans: the last 30 years.
David Yeomans: 29 of them.
David Yeomans: We've already doubled
David Yeomans: our average 100
David Yeomans: degree day count.
David Yeomans: And how how many do
David Yeomans: we have last summer?
David Yeomans: 8100 degree days?
Elizabeth McQueen: I don't know why I
Elizabeth McQueen: talk about last
Elizabeth McQueen: summer. It was so
Elizabeth McQueen: hard to do.
Elizabeth McQueen: And do you like live
Elizabeth McQueen: music?
David Yeomans: I love live music.
David Yeomans: Who doesn't?
Elizabeth McQueen: Do you personally
Elizabeth McQueen: feel like the
Elizabeth McQueen: extreme heat has,
Elizabeth McQueen: like, affected
Elizabeth McQueen: your relationship to
Elizabeth McQueen: go to see shows?
David Yeomans: 100%. It's affected
David Yeomans: my relationship with
David Yeomans: everything. I mean,
David Yeomans: everything I love to
David Yeomans: do in Austin is
David Yeomans: generally outdoors.
David Yeomans: I love being on the lake,
David Yeomans: going to the greenbelt,
David Yeomans: but now the lakes are
David Yeomans: so low that people
David Yeomans: can't even put their boat
David Yeomans: on Lake Travis. So
David Yeomans: they all go to Lake Austin.
David Yeomans: Then it gets too crowded.
David Yeomans: The green belt either
David Yeomans: has no water because
David Yeomans: it's so dry and hot,
David Yeomans: or the water that is
David Yeomans: there is stagnant,
David Yeomans: and it has algae that
David Yeomans: can kill my dog.
David Yeomans: And it's way too hot
David Yeomans: to go to an outdoor show
David Yeomans: like you mentioned. So
David Yeomans: climate change is affecting
David Yeomans: a lot of things that I
David Yeomans: personally love about
David Yeomans: Austin. I could see
David Yeomans: it affecting the bottom
David Yeomans: line for concert
David Yeomans: venues.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, in fact,
Elizabeth McQueen: the heat did impact
Elizabeth McQueen: venues, and we're
Elizabeth McQueen: going to talk about that
Elizabeth McQueen: later in this episode.
Miles Bloxson: Up to this point,
Miles Bloxson: David had mostly
Miles Bloxson: talked to us about
Miles Bloxson: Austin's current
Miles Bloxson: climate situation.
Elizabeth McQueen: But we wanted to
Elizabeth McQueen: know what's
Elizabeth McQueen: coming.
Miles Bloxson: What do you feel like
Miles Bloxson: climate change will
Miles Bloxson: mean for Central
Miles Bloxson: Texas in the future.
David Yeomans: Even in an
David Yeomans: intermediate
David Yeomans: emissions scenario,
David Yeomans: meaning we continue
David Yeomans: to cut our greenhouse
David Yeomans: gas emissions at the
David Yeomans: rate we're doing, maybe
David Yeomans: a little faster than
David Yeomans: that even. Remember,
David Yeomans: this stuff stays in the
David Yeomans: air for a long time, though.
David Yeomans: So even in that situation,
David Yeomans: in 20 years, Austin
David Yeomans: is going to double our
David Yeomans: 100 degree day count
David Yeomans: again.
David Yeomans: So instead of an average
David Yeomans: of 29, it would be an
David Yeomans: average of over 5100
David Yeomans: degree days. So if
David Yeomans: you extrapolate that to
David Yeomans: our worst summers,
David Yeomans: 8090 days in our
David Yeomans: worst summers, well,
David Yeomans: let's double that in
David Yeomans: a worst case
David Yeomans: scenario. By the end
David Yeomans: of the century, we
David Yeomans: may not be around, but
David Yeomans: our kids will. Our
David Yeomans: grandkids, they could
David Yeomans: triple.
David Yeomans: In those situations.
David Yeomans: It is possible,
David Yeomans: according to these scientific
David Yeomans: projections, by people
David Yeomans: much smarter than I,
David Yeomans: that half of the days
David Yeomans: in a given year in
David Yeomans: Austin would be 100
David Yeomans: degrees.
Miles Bloxson: Okay, David, we got
Miles Bloxson: to find somewhere else to live.
Miles Bloxson: So where do you live?
David Yeomans: I used to be fun at
David Yeomans: parties, and now I'm
David Yeomans: not.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yikes.
Elizabeth McQueen: It's going to be getting
Elizabeth McQueen: really hot. Y'all.
Elizabeth McQueen: Like, in a serious
Elizabeth McQueen: way.
Miles Bloxson: Like hotter than a
Miles Bloxson: Nelly song.
Miles Bloxson: It's getting hot in
Miles Bloxson: here.
Elizabeth McQueen: Definitely hotter
Elizabeth McQueen: than a Nelly song.
Elizabeth McQueen: And like we talked about
Elizabeth McQueen: in the intro, it's
Elizabeth McQueen: not just the heat
Elizabeth McQueen: that's impacting
Elizabeth McQueen: us. The warming
Elizabeth McQueen: climate actually
Elizabeth McQueen: is making storms
Elizabeth McQueen: more intense.
Elizabeth McQueen: Take, for instance,
Elizabeth McQueen: that hailstorm in
Elizabeth McQueen: September.
David Yeomans: What contributed to
David Yeomans: that hail?
David Yeomans: And that storm being
David Yeomans: so bad at the end of
David Yeomans: September when it's
David Yeomans: supposed to be cooling off,
David Yeomans: was that it was 100
David Yeomans: degrees that day and
David Yeomans: more heat energy low
David Yeomans: in the atmosphere where
David Yeomans: we live and breathe.
David Yeomans: Feeds these storms
David Yeomans: and makes them more
David Yeomans: intense.
Miles Bloxson: And then there's this
Miles Bloxson: winter storm in 2021.
Miles Bloxson: David told us that
Miles Bloxson: he's seen research
Miles Bloxson: from Doctor John
Miles Bloxson: Nielsen Gammon out of
Miles Bloxson: Texas A&M that
Miles Bloxson: indicated that without
Miles Bloxson: climate change
Miles Bloxson: brought on by humans,
Miles Bloxson: that the Snowpocalypse
Miles Bloxson: could have been way
Miles Bloxson: colder.
Miles Bloxson: But climate change
Miles Bloxson: may also be the
Miles Bloxson: reason it stuck around
Miles Bloxson: for so long.
David Yeomans: We can get these crazy
David Yeomans: swings in the storm
David Yeomans: track across the
David Yeomans: country called the jet
David Yeomans: Stream, the jet
David Yeomans: stream, which carries
David Yeomans: these storms across
David Yeomans: the country from west
David Yeomans: to east. Generally,
David Yeomans: it's getting wavier
David Yeomans: and bumpier, which
David Yeomans: means that weather patterns
David Yeomans: get stuck more often.
David Yeomans: Remember, in February
David Yeomans: 2021 it was cold for
David Yeomans: a week. A week of
David Yeomans: really cold weather.
David Yeomans: It got stuck.
Elizabeth McQueen: So the climate is
Elizabeth McQueen: changing.
Elizabeth McQueen: Storms are getting
Elizabeth McQueen: stronger and sometimes
Elizabeth McQueen: lasting longer
Elizabeth McQueen: and things are getting
Elizabeth McQueen: hotter.
Miles Bloxson: So what does that all
Miles Bloxson: mean for the Austin
Miles Bloxson: music scene?
Elizabeth McQueen: I mean, a lot of
Elizabeth McQueen: our venues are
Elizabeth McQueen: outdoor venues.
Miles Bloxson: And James Moody, who
Miles Bloxson: owns a venue on Red
Miles Bloxson: River called Mojo,
Miles Bloxson: told us that historically,
Miles Bloxson: Austin was a good
Miles Bloxson: place to throw
Miles Bloxson: outdoor shows.
James Moody: We opened an outdoor
James Moody: room in Texas
James Moody: because the weather
James Moody: was fairly predictable.
James Moody: Wasn't that dramatic?
James Moody: You had, what, less
James Moody: than 60 days of quote
James Moody: unquote winter?
James Moody: And then the rest was
James Moody: some version of summer.
James Moody: How it's changed is
James Moody: that the ice has
James Moody: gotten more crazy
James Moody: and icy, and the sun
James Moody: has gotten hotter.
Elizabeth McQueen: And outdoor venues
Elizabeth McQueen: are having to contend
Elizabeth McQueen: with that hotter sun,
Elizabeth McQueen: especially last summer.
Miles Bloxson: Lawrence Boone, who
Miles Bloxson: books music for the
Miles Bloxson: Far Out Lounge in
Miles Bloxson: South Austin, told us
Miles Bloxson: what this past summer
Miles Bloxson: was like for them.
Lawrence Boone: It was very hot,
Lawrence Boone: very dry and very
Lawrence Boone: expensive
Lawrence Boone: because we were
Lawrence Boone: booking shows every
Lawrence Boone: single day and a lot
Lawrence Boone: of them really good
Lawrence Boone: shows with touring
Lawrence Boone: bands and bigger
Lawrence Boone: local bands, and no
Lawrence Boone: one was showing up
Lawrence Boone: because it was literally
Lawrence Boone: 112, 115
Lawrence Boone: degrees.
Lawrence Boone: For how many days in
Lawrence Boone: a row? 45 days in
Lawrence Boone: a row or something.
Lawrence Boone: There was just no reprieve.
Lawrence Boone: It was tough, even.
Lawrence Boone: Like physically, it
Lawrence Boone: was tough for the
Lawrence Boone: staff to be here.
Lawrence Boone: For an engineer to
Lawrence Boone: be here for six
Lawrence Boone: hours, whatever it
Lawrence Boone: is out there baking
Lawrence Boone: in the sun.
Lawrence Boone: And so our patrons
Lawrence Boone: felt the same way.
Lawrence Boone: It was just too hot,
Lawrence Boone: maybe even for a
Lawrence Boone: band they really, really
Lawrence Boone: like.
Lawrence Boone: They would maybe just
Lawrence Boone: say, maybe I'll catch
Lawrence Boone: them in the fall or
Lawrence Boone: spring, and go to
Lawrence Boone: the lake instead.
Elizabeth McQueen: And Laurence told
Elizabeth McQueen: us it wasn't just
Elizabeth McQueen: far out.
Lawrence Boone: We talked to other
Lawrence Boone: bars, other venues
Lawrence Boone: they were doing in
Lawrence Boone: the exact same boat.
Lawrence Boone: I know a couple of them
Lawrence Boone: just completely stopped
Lawrence Boone: having a door person
Lawrence Boone: because it was too hot
Lawrence Boone: for the door person to be out
Lawrence Boone: there, or they couldn't afford
Lawrence Boone: the door person
Lawrence Boone: because no one was
Lawrence Boone: going to the bars
Lawrence Boone: because again, it
Lawrence Boone: was just too hot for
Lawrence Boone: entertainment purposes.
Lawrence Boone: Outside, it was just
Lawrence Boone: too much.
Miles Bloxson: Lawrence and Far Out
Miles Bloxson: Lounge co-owner Pedro
Miles Bloxson: Cavallo, who you'll
Miles Bloxson: hear from later in
Miles Bloxson: this. Busload told us
Miles Bloxson: that overall business
Miles Bloxson: was down about 30%
Miles Bloxson: for their venue and
Miles Bloxson: other outdoor venues
Miles Bloxson: around town as well.
Elizabeth McQueen: James Moody told
Elizabeth McQueen: us that post-Covid,
Elizabeth McQueen: a lot of people in his
Elizabeth McQueen: world, venues and
Elizabeth McQueen: restaurants
Elizabeth McQueen: projected an increase
Elizabeth McQueen: in business last
Elizabeth McQueen: summer, and they
Elizabeth McQueen: built that into their
Elizabeth McQueen: budgets and their staffing
Elizabeth McQueen: and everything.
Miles Bloxson: And then the brutal
Miles Bloxson: heat came. And I
Miles Bloxson: mean, it's not like
Miles Bloxson: we don't expect
Miles Bloxson: extreme heat in
Miles Bloxson: Austin during the summer.
James Moody: Everyone's okay with a
James Moody: week of it.
James Moody: No one expected three
James Moody: months of it.
James Moody: Two things happened
James Moody: that I think people
James Moody: weren't prepared for.
James Moody: One, we're kind of used
James Moody: to locals packing up
James Moody: and going away during
James Moody: those hot runs
James Moody: because they're usually replaced
James Moody: by tourists that are
James Moody: curious about Austin.
James Moody: Right. So the locals
James Moody: will leave and the
James Moody: tourists will come and
James Moody: it all kind of work out.
James Moody: This particular summer,
James Moody: the locals left and the
James Moody: tourists left to
James Moody: the locals left.
James Moody: The news started hyper
James Moody: reporting on 108 degree
James Moody: weather.
James Moody: The tourists said,
James Moody: let's change that
James Moody: flight to somewhere
James Moody: else. And it was a
James Moody: double whammy for
James Moody: everybody in the city,
James Moody: no matter who admitted
James Moody: it or not. I can tell
James Moody: you it happened to
James Moody: everyone, and it was
James Moody: not just being
James Moody: surprised by the locals
James Moody: leaving and the tourists
James Moody: not replacing them, but
James Moody: then having to
James Moody: reconcile the
James Moody: projections that you
James Moody: placed for what the
James Moody: summer was supposed to
James Moody: be.
James Moody: Really brutal.
Elizabeth McQueen: And when you hear Austin
Elizabeth McQueen: based musician
Elizabeth McQueen: Caleb de Casper
Elizabeth McQueen: described his experience
Elizabeth McQueen: with the heat.
Elizabeth McQueen: It's no surprise
Elizabeth McQueen: that people weren't showing
Elizabeth McQueen: up this summer.
Caleb de Casper: Beat my psychology
Caleb de Casper: to a pulp.
Caleb de Casper: It was worse than
Caleb de Casper: like,
Caleb de Casper: seasonal things in
Caleb de Casper: the winter. It was
Caleb de Casper: just so
Caleb de Casper: unrelenting.
Miles Bloxson: I can so relate to
Miles Bloxson: what Caleb is talking
Miles Bloxson: about. Elizabeth.
Elizabeth McQueen: Oh, yeah. Last summer
Elizabeth McQueen: was so hot.
Elizabeth McQueen: I mean, you'd go outside
Elizabeth McQueen: and the wind would blow,
Elizabeth McQueen: and it would feel like
Elizabeth McQueen: someone was holding
Elizabeth McQueen: a blow dryer set
Elizabeth McQueen: on high heat, like,
Elizabeth McQueen: right up to your
Elizabeth McQueen: face. It was so
Elizabeth McQueen: intense.
Miles Bloxson: It was like you,
Miles Bloxson: like, had to
Miles Bloxson: literally set
Miles Bloxson: yourself up for
Miles Bloxson: success. Like, okay,
Miles Bloxson: I'm going outside and
Miles Bloxson: I'm going to feel all this
Miles Bloxson: heat coming at me,
Miles Bloxson: like, how am I going
Miles Bloxson: to handle it? What am
Miles Bloxson: I going to do?
Miles Bloxson: And God forbid if,
Miles Bloxson: like, your AC in your
Miles Bloxson: car doesn't.
Elizabeth McQueen: Work, because.
Miles Bloxson: What is happening
Miles Bloxson: right now?
Elizabeth McQueen: It took a real
Elizabeth McQueen: mental toll.
Elizabeth McQueen: And part of the way
Elizabeth McQueen: we were feeling mentally
Elizabeth McQueen: was because of
Elizabeth McQueen: what the heat was doing
Elizabeth McQueen: to us all physically.
Elizabeth McQueen: We asked neuropsychologist
Elizabeth McQueen: Bella Rockman what
Elizabeth McQueen: impact extreme
Elizabeth McQueen: heat can have on
Elizabeth McQueen: the mind and body.
Elizabeth McQueen: You heard her in our first
Elizabeth McQueen: episode and you're
Elizabeth McQueen: going to hear from her
Elizabeth McQueen: throughout this season.
Bella Rockman: Heat can impact us in
Bella Rockman: terms of our energy
Bella Rockman: levels, where a lot
Bella Rockman: of people and, you
Bella Rockman: know, talk about feeling
Bella Rockman: really lethargic and
Bella Rockman: tired in terms of our
Bella Rockman: brain. A lot of times
Bella Rockman: people experience
Bella Rockman: brain fog or even
Bella Rockman: like confusion, like
Bella Rockman: where it's like a delayed
Bella Rockman: response and making
Bella Rockman: decisions.
Bella Rockman: Excessive heat can
Bella Rockman: cause us to shoot off
Bella Rockman: more cortisol, the
Bella Rockman: neurochemical, cortisol.
Bella Rockman: And so we're having
Bella Rockman: like higher amounts of
Bella Rockman: stress being pumped
Bella Rockman: out at a time.
Bella Rockman: And so we've had a
Bella Rockman: lot of people report
Bella Rockman: actually, we talked about
Bella Rockman: this over this past summer
Bella Rockman: feeling like increased
Bella Rockman: agitation,
Bella Rockman: restlessness,
Bella Rockman: feeling, you know,
Bella Rockman: tired, disconnected,
Bella Rockman: having a hard time
Bella Rockman: recalling information
Bella Rockman: and performing their
Bella Rockman: day to day job function.
Elizabeth McQueen: So there's like a real
Elizabeth McQueen: physical
Elizabeth McQueen: response. Oh, I
Elizabeth McQueen: I didn't realize that
Elizabeth McQueen: all happened in the heat.
Bella Rockman: Yeah.
Miles Bloxson: Yeah, I know I was a
Miles Bloxson: lot more agitated
Miles Bloxson: this summer than normal,
Miles Bloxson: and I didn't. You don't
Miles Bloxson: really know why you
Miles Bloxson: don't think of that,
Miles Bloxson: because you just kind of like
Miles Bloxson: trucking along, just
Miles Bloxson: getting through. You got
Miles Bloxson: to go to work anyway.
Miles Bloxson: You got to get out of your
Miles Bloxson: car. You have to do
Miles Bloxson: things. So it's like,
Miles Bloxson: what can you do?
Bella Rockman: Yeah, yeah.
Bella Rockman: Anger management
Bella Rockman: became a theme.
Bella Rockman: The summer for sure.
Elizabeth McQueen: Was the cortisol.
Elizabeth McQueen: Would that make people
Elizabeth McQueen: more like
Elizabeth McQueen: irritated and
Elizabeth McQueen: angry?
Bella Rockman: Yeah. Yeah.
Bella Rockman: Increases our stress
Bella Rockman: levels. And and then
Bella Rockman: also just it's kind
Bella Rockman: of like our neocortex,
Bella Rockman: like our logical part
Bella Rockman: of our brain, our executive
Bella Rockman: function that can
Bella Rockman: make logical decisions
Bella Rockman: is kind of starts to go
Bella Rockman: offline a bit.
Bella Rockman: And we're kind of living
Bella Rockman: out of that amygdala
Bella Rockman: region more.
Bella Rockman: And so that's where a lot
Bella Rockman: of more of that reactivity
Bella Rockman: comes in.
Bella Rockman: I think everyone has had an
Bella Rockman: experience or they had a response
Bella Rockman: in there like, gosh, I really
Bella Rockman: wish I could have shown up
Bella Rockman: differently. They can
Bella Rockman: logically realize it,
Bella Rockman: but their immediate
Bella Rockman: sort of autonomic
Bella Rockman: thought or their autonomic
Bella Rockman: response is far more
Bella Rockman: reactive than what they would
Bella Rockman: have liked.
Miles Bloxson: Imagine the entire
Miles Bloxson: city walking around
Miles Bloxson: in a fog with the
Miles Bloxson: logical parts of our
Miles Bloxson: brain shut down like
Miles Bloxson: lethargic, but also
Miles Bloxson: angry and irritable.
Miles Bloxson: That was so me.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, that was like
Elizabeth McQueen: all of Austin
Elizabeth McQueen: last summer.
Miles Bloxson: I mean, it makes
Miles Bloxson: sense the way the
Miles Bloxson: heat impacted the way
Miles Bloxson: people acted at shows
Miles Bloxson: when they did show
Miles Bloxson: up.
James Moody: One of the funny quotes
James Moody: to this adjacent to
James Moody: your question was
James Moody: that my GM said, well,
James Moody: you can correlate the.
James Moody: Heat index to a
James Moody: 40% reduction in marsh
James Moody: quality.
James Moody: It's like when it's too
James Moody: hot, they marsh less
James Moody: like with less like
James Moody: energy or passion.
James Moody: And I just thought that was
James Moody: so hilarious. It's such
James Moody: a Red River thing to
James Moody: say.
Elizabeth McQueen: And like Pedro
Elizabeth McQueen: from the Far Out told
Elizabeth McQueen: us, when people
Elizabeth McQueen: did show up, the
Elizabeth McQueen: venue had to make sure
Elizabeth McQueen: they were taken care
Elizabeth McQueen: of, especially at
Elizabeth McQueen: things like festivals
Elizabeth McQueen: where shows were happening
Elizabeth McQueen: during the day.
Caleb de Casper: We threw a festival
Caleb de Casper: in July.
Caleb de Casper: Ripple effects, it's
Caleb de Casper: metal festival.
Caleb de Casper: Super fun.
Caleb de Casper: But that was one of
Caleb de Casper: our biggest challenges,
Caleb de Casper: is like making sure
Caleb de Casper: that people were
Caleb de Casper: safe during these
Caleb de Casper: like super hot
Caleb de Casper: days, like 110 112.
Miles Bloxson: And he said this was
Miles Bloxson: especially true if
Miles Bloxson: people were coming from
Miles Bloxson: out of town and
Miles Bloxson: weren't used to the Texas
Miles Bloxson: heat.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, they really
Elizabeth McQueen: had to prioritize
Elizabeth McQueen: health and safety.
Caleb de Casper: One of the bigger things
Caleb de Casper: we had to do, which is really
Caleb de Casper: kind of classes to
Caleb de Casper: have, EMT is on
Caleb de Casper: site for anything
Caleb de Casper: larger.
Caleb de Casper: They have like hydrating
Caleb de Casper: packs, and they
Caleb de Casper: could just kind of help you
Caleb de Casper: through it. And we
Caleb de Casper: saw a decent
Caleb de Casper: amount. The images
Caleb de Casper: were were busy, no
Caleb de Casper: one got hurt, but
Caleb de Casper: gets a little sketchy
Caleb de Casper: when it's that hot.
Caleb de Casper: People just don't know.
Caleb de Casper: And then we had to
Caleb de Casper: hire like basically
Caleb de Casper: full time people
Caleb de Casper: just to refill
Caleb de Casper: water stations.
Caleb de Casper: That was a job in
Caleb de Casper: and of itself.
Caleb de Casper: Because they were just
Caleb de Casper: depleting every ten
Caleb de Casper: minutes. That's
Caleb de Casper: pretty crazy.
Miles Bloxson: A whole job just
Miles Bloxson: refilling water like.
Miles Bloxson: Oh my gosh.
Elizabeth McQueen: I didn't even know that
Elizabeth McQueen: was a thing. But
Elizabeth McQueen: Far Out Lounge
Elizabeth McQueen: wasn't the only
Elizabeth McQueen: venue that had to make
Elizabeth McQueen: changes.
Miles Bloxson: Ryan Garrett, the
Miles Bloxson: general manager at
Miles Bloxson: Stubb's, says they
Miles Bloxson: also made sure they
Miles Bloxson: had water stations.
Miles Bloxson: Plus, they send an
Miles Bloxson: email out to people
Miles Bloxson: before the show with
Miles Bloxson: information about the
Miles Bloxson: weather and how to
Miles Bloxson: come prepared.
Elizabeth McQueen: They even had to make
Elizabeth McQueen: plans to deal with
Elizabeth McQueen: the lines and make
Elizabeth McQueen: sure people didn't
Elizabeth McQueen: have to stand in
Elizabeth McQueen: them too long.
Ryan Garrett: You know, if you've got
Ryan Garrett: a band that caters to
Ryan Garrett: a younger demographic,
Ryan Garrett: the lines can get long.
Ryan Garrett: Early in, our line
Ryan Garrett: faces west.
Ryan Garrett: That's tough to be on
Ryan Garrett: a city sidewalk facing
Ryan Garrett: west in July and
Ryan Garrett: August. Not
Ryan Garrett: recommended.
Elizabeth McQueen: They had to make plans
Elizabeth McQueen: to deal with lines
Elizabeth McQueen: and make sure people
Elizabeth McQueen: didn't have to stand
Elizabeth McQueen: in them too long.
Miles Bloxson: And they even move
Miles Bloxson: their set times to
Miles Bloxson: later.
Elizabeth McQueen: They were able to do
Elizabeth McQueen: that because the Red
Elizabeth McQueen: River Cultural District,
Elizabeth McQueen: an organization
Elizabeth McQueen: that works on behalf
Elizabeth McQueen: of the businesses
Elizabeth McQueen: on Red River Street,
Elizabeth McQueen: sought an extension
Elizabeth McQueen: to the city's sound
Elizabeth McQueen: ordinance.
Ryan Garrett: So we're exploring
Ryan Garrett: options instead of a
Ryan Garrett: 7:00 door.
Ryan Garrett: What about an 8:00
Ryan Garrett: tour on a Friday night
Ryan Garrett: and let that sun go
Ryan Garrett: down? Let that earth
Ryan Garrett: cool a little bit, where
Ryan Garrett: people aren't standing
Ryan Garrett: in direct sunlight and
Ryan Garrett: then run it to midnight
Ryan Garrett: or 1230 instead of
Ryan Garrett: wrapping at 11 p.m..
Elizabeth McQueen: These are just some of
Elizabeth McQueen: the ways that venues
Elizabeth McQueen: are dealing with heat.
Elizabeth McQueen: But what about
Elizabeth McQueen: fans?
Elizabeth McQueen: Coming up after
Elizabeth McQueen: the break? We'll
Elizabeth McQueen: look at what climate
Elizabeth McQueen: change might mean
Elizabeth McQueen: for people who go
Elizabeth McQueen: to shows.
Miles Bloxson: Welcome back to Pause
Miles Bloxson: Play, a podcast about
Miles Bloxson: live music, why it
Miles Bloxson: matters, and what
Miles Bloxson: comes next.
Miles Bloxson: And this episode,
Miles Bloxson: we're talking about
Miles Bloxson: climate change and
Miles Bloxson: what it might mean
Miles Bloxson: for the Austin music
Miles Bloxson: scene.
Elizabeth McQueen: Like, what does
Elizabeth McQueen: Extreme Heat like
Elizabeth McQueen: we had last summer
Elizabeth McQueen: mean for fans?
Miles Bloxson: Lots of people just
Miles Bloxson: didn't go out.
Miles Bloxson: Elizabeth.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, like me.
Elizabeth McQueen: But who were
Elizabeth McQueen: those people who did
Elizabeth McQueen: go see bands in
Elizabeth McQueen: 105 degree heat?
Elizabeth McQueen: Well, it turns out
Elizabeth McQueen: we work with someone
Elizabeth McQueen: who was one of those
Elizabeth McQueen: people.
Maile Carballo: Hi everyone.
Maile Carballo: My name is Maile
Maile Carballo: Carballo.
Miles Bloxson: Miley works here at
Miles Bloxson: KUT.
Miles Bloxson: She started as an
Miles Bloxson: intern doing graphics
Miles Bloxson: and guys, she's so
Miles Bloxson: good and she works
Miles Bloxson: here for us now as an
Miles Bloxson: official staff
Miles Bloxson: member.
Elizabeth McQueen: She's only a sophomore
Elizabeth McQueen: in college, so
Elizabeth McQueen: keep that in mind.
Elizabeth McQueen: I wonder, did you
Elizabeth McQueen: go to any shows
Elizabeth McQueen: outdoors this
Elizabeth McQueen: summer?
Maile Carballo: Oh, yeah. Too many.
Maile Carballo: You know, it's it's
Maile Carballo: one of those things.
Maile Carballo: Like, if you love music,
Maile Carballo: you're going to go to the show
Maile Carballo: anyways.
Maile Carballo: And that that kind
Maile Carballo: of sucks in Texas
Maile Carballo: because, you know, it's so
Maile Carballo: incredibly hot.
Elizabeth McQueen: Do you think that you
Elizabeth McQueen: went to like, the
Elizabeth McQueen: same amount of shows
Elizabeth McQueen: this summer as you
Elizabeth McQueen: would have normally gone
Elizabeth McQueen: to, like, did the heat
Elizabeth McQueen: impact you at all,
Elizabeth McQueen: or were you like,
Elizabeth McQueen: whatever, I'm just
Elizabeth McQueen: doing what I do,
Elizabeth McQueen: I don't care.
Maile Carballo: Honestly, I have a
Maile Carballo: whatever mentality.
Maile Carballo: I'm a pretty
Maile Carballo: practical person, so
Maile Carballo: I'm to the point now
Maile Carballo: to where I'm like,
Maile Carballo: I'll just sweat, you
Maile Carballo: know, stay hydrated
Maile Carballo: and come prepared.
Maile Carballo: It'll be okay.
Maile Carballo: Not everybody is
Maile Carballo: like that.
Miles Bloxson: Miley is right.
Miles Bloxson: Everybody's not like
Miles Bloxson: her.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, I'm not
Elizabeth McQueen: like her. I feel like
Elizabeth McQueen: I am too old to
Elizabeth McQueen: be seeing anything,
Elizabeth McQueen: even live music
Elizabeth McQueen: in 105 degree
Elizabeth McQueen: heat.
Miles Bloxson: I'm going to have to agree
Miles Bloxson: with that statement.
Miles Bloxson: I will not claim my
Miles Bloxson: age at this time, but
Miles Bloxson: I feel you on that.
Miles Bloxson: Elizabeth. We talked
Miles Bloxson: to Most buzzkill, the
Miles Bloxson: host of the disconnect,
Miles Bloxson: and he brought up this
Miles Bloxson: point that we hadn't
Miles Bloxson: really considered
Miles Bloxson: that maybe climate
Miles Bloxson: change, and specifically
Miles Bloxson: extreme heat will
Miles Bloxson: start to change. Who
Miles Bloxson: goes to shows in the
Miles Bloxson: summer? Medically
Miles Bloxson: vulnerable people may
Miles Bloxson: stay home.
Miles Bloxson: And so my older
Miles Bloxson: people.
Mose Buchele: You could very well
Mose Buchele: see crowds getting
Mose Buchele: younger and younger, which
Mose Buchele: is not what I always
Mose Buchele: see at Austin shows.
Mose Buchele: You know, I see a lot
Mose Buchele: of people from across
Mose Buchele: the age spectrum that
Mose Buchele: seem to really cherish
Mose Buchele: and go out to live
Mose Buchele: music, at least when I
Mose Buchele: was going out more and
Mose Buchele: checking shows out.
Mose Buchele: But yeah, when you
Mose Buchele: start dealing with
Mose Buchele: this kind of weather,
Mose Buchele: people are who are going
Mose Buchele: to be more more conscious
Mose Buchele: of that, are probably
Mose Buchele: more likely to stay home.
Elizabeth McQueen: So yeah, it was
Elizabeth McQueen: hot last summer
Elizabeth McQueen: and it impacted
Elizabeth McQueen: every part of our
Elizabeth McQueen: live music ecosystem.
Miles Bloxson: And moles, who thinks
Miles Bloxson: a lot about these things,
Miles Bloxson: brought up this point.
Mose Buchele: 2023 we were already
Mose Buchele: coming out of a super
Mose Buchele: hot, super drought
Mose Buchele: ridden summer.
Mose Buchele: The previous year we
Mose Buchele: thought maybe we'd get a break,
Mose Buchele: but no, we had heat
Mose Buchele: like we had never
Mose Buchele: experienced before in
Mose Buchele: Austin.
Mose Buchele: And what the climate
Mose Buchele: projections are telling
Mose Buchele: us is that that type
Mose Buchele: of heat will become
Mose Buchele: more and more normal
Mose Buchele: for us into the
Mose Buchele: future. So it's so
Mose Buchele: it's going to be bad. Maybe it
Mose Buchele: won't be like 80 days
Mose Buchele: of triple digit heat,
Mose Buchele: but a normal year
Mose Buchele: perhaps of over 50
Mose Buchele: days, and then the
Mose Buchele: anomalous year as well.
Mose Buchele: Way more than anything
Mose Buchele: we've experienced before.
Mose Buchele: We basically need to
Mose Buchele: start getting used to
Mose Buchele: the idea that that
Mose Buchele: summers are going to be
Mose Buchele: what would have been
Mose Buchele: considered unbearable
Mose Buchele: for people.
Mose Buchele: You know, I don't
Mose Buchele: know, a few decades
Mose Buchele: ago that's just going
Mose Buchele: to be part of the new
Mose Buchele: expectation.
Elizabeth McQueen: Which can seem
Elizabeth McQueen: pretty overwhelming.
Elizabeth McQueen: So like, what can
Elizabeth McQueen: the music scene do?
Miles Bloxson: James Moody said
Miles Bloxson: he'll be keeping an eye
Miles Bloxson: out to see if this
Miles Bloxson: summer is as brutal
Miles Bloxson: as last summer, and
Miles Bloxson: that will help him figure
Miles Bloxson: out if Mohawk needs
Miles Bloxson: to make changes.
James Moody: Do we need to prepare
James Moody: for a new future?
James Moody: Do we need to invest in
James Moody: overhangs?
James Moody: Do we need to, you
James Moody: know, look into shade
James Moody: structures and misting?
James Moody: Like, I don't know,
James Moody: because we're not
James Moody: in an environment where
James Moody: there's excess capital
James Moody: in the live music space
James Moody: where you have money
James Moody: setting aside for such
James Moody: equations or moments or
James Moody: strategies, you kind of
James Moody: don't have that money.
Elizabeth McQueen: What James is talking
Elizabeth McQueen: about is climate
Elizabeth McQueen: mitigation, you
Elizabeth McQueen: know, making adjustments
Elizabeth McQueen: to how we operate,
Elizabeth McQueen: things to accommodate
Elizabeth McQueen: the reality of climate
Elizabeth McQueen: change.
Miles Bloxson: But mitigation takes
Miles Bloxson: money.
Miles Bloxson: And where does all this
Miles Bloxson: money come from?
Elizabeth McQueen: We wondered if there
Elizabeth McQueen: was any money
Elizabeth McQueen: venues could use
Elizabeth McQueen: for climate
Elizabeth McQueen: mitigation available
Elizabeth McQueen: from the city of Austin.
Miles Bloxson: So we reached out to
Miles Bloxson: Ben Leffler, who
Miles Bloxson: works in Councilman
Miles Bloxson: Ryan Alice's office.
Elizabeth McQueen: He told us that
Elizabeth McQueen: though there is finally
Elizabeth McQueen: money available
Elizabeth McQueen: to venues from the
Elizabeth McQueen: city, there's
Elizabeth McQueen: nothing specifically
Elizabeth McQueen: available for improvements
Elizabeth McQueen: like shade structures
Elizabeth McQueen: and misters,
Elizabeth McQueen: though that could
Elizabeth McQueen: be something that becomes
Elizabeth McQueen: part of future programs.
Miles Bloxson: But there are rebates
Miles Bloxson: that businesses can
Miles Bloxson: access to make their
Miles Bloxson: building more energy
Miles Bloxson: efficient through
Miles Bloxson: Austin Energy and
Miles Bloxson: Austin Water.
Elizabeth McQueen: There's also the Austin
Elizabeth McQueen: Energy Commercial
Elizabeth McQueen: Demand Response
Elizabeth McQueen: program, where
Elizabeth McQueen: the city controls
Elizabeth McQueen: your thermostat depending
Elizabeth McQueen: on demand.
Elizabeth McQueen: So in the middle
Elizabeth McQueen: of a summer day
Elizabeth McQueen: at 5 p.m., when
Elizabeth McQueen: demand is highest,
Elizabeth McQueen: they may turn up
Elizabeth McQueen: a business's thermostat
Elizabeth McQueen: a little to conserve
Elizabeth McQueen: energy.
Miles Bloxson: Well, that can save
Miles Bloxson: businesses money and
Miles Bloxson: take pressure off of
Miles Bloxson: our easily stressed
Miles Bloxson: grid and put less
Miles Bloxson: fossil fuel into the
Miles Bloxson: atmosphere.
Miles Bloxson: He even suggested
Miles Bloxson: having bike racks at
Miles Bloxson: venues all as a way
Miles Bloxson: to help mitigate
Miles Bloxson: climate change.
Ben Leffler: No business, no
Ben Leffler: individual. Nobody is
Ben Leffler: going to individually
Ben Leffler: like, change our
Ben Leffler: trajectory, right?
Ben Leffler: But like if we as a
Ben Leffler: community can use less
Ben Leffler: water, can use less
Ben Leffler: power, can, you know,
Ben Leffler: put less carbon into
Ben Leffler: the atmosphere.
Ben Leffler: I would encourage you
Ben Leffler: to sort of think about that
Ben Leffler: as climate mitigation.
Ben Leffler: If a venue is able to
Ben Leffler: get into the demand
Ben Leffler: response program and
Ben Leffler: allow Austin Energy to
Ben Leffler: turn their power down a
Ben Leffler: little bit during those
Ben Leffler: times of peak demand,
Ben Leffler: that helps the whole
Ben Leffler: grid be more
Ben Leffler: sustainable.
Ben Leffler: That helps the whole grid
Ben Leffler: be more reliable in a
Ben Leffler: state where our grid
Ben Leffler: has not been so
Ben Leffler: reliable lately, right?
Ben Leffler: That itself is like
Ben Leffler: contributing to climate
Ben Leffler: change mitigation.
Elizabeth McQueen: But until there's a real
Elizabeth McQueen: concerted effort
Elizabeth McQueen: to help businesses
Elizabeth McQueen: prepare for the new
Elizabeth McQueen: climate reality,
Elizabeth McQueen: club owners will
Elizabeth McQueen: have to figure it out
Elizabeth McQueen: on their own.
Miles Bloxson: Lawrence told us that
Miles Bloxson: for people who run
Miles Bloxson: venues, when it comes
Miles Bloxson: to the weather, you
Miles Bloxson: have to remain extremely
Miles Bloxson: positive.
Ryan Garrett: You have to operate
Ryan Garrett: like the weather going
Ryan Garrett: to be beautiful every
Ryan Garrett: single day.
Ryan Garrett: You can't look at your
Ryan Garrett: calendar and be like,
Ryan Garrett: oh, a big band wants
Ryan Garrett: to play. Sorry.
Ryan Garrett: It might be hot that
Ryan Garrett: day, or it might be cold
Ryan Garrett: that day, or it might
Ryan Garrett: rain that month.
Ryan Garrett: You have to operate as
Ryan Garrett: if it's going to be
Ryan Garrett: flawless every single
Ryan Garrett: time, and you promote
Ryan Garrett: it that way, and you
Ryan Garrett: cross your fingers and
Ryan Garrett: hope that that's the way
Ryan Garrett: it turns out.
Ryan Garrett: And then as the event
Ryan Garrett: approaches, if you
Ryan Garrett: have to make changes,
Ryan Garrett: that's part of the job.
Ryan Garrett: And a big part of that
Ryan Garrett: is just taking losses.
Ryan Garrett: If we book a big band
Ryan Garrett: and it's, you know, a
Ryan Garrett: few thousand dollars
Ryan Garrett: in guarantees and people
Ryan Garrett: aren't buying tickets because
Ryan Garrett: it's too hot, you take
Ryan Garrett: a loss. Hopefully
Ryan Garrett: you've done enough the
Ryan Garrett: rest of the year to
Ryan Garrett: make up for those losses.
Ryan Garrett: When the weather's not
Ryan Garrett: in your favor.
Elizabeth McQueen: And venues are trying
Elizabeth McQueen: to figure out ways
Elizabeth McQueen: to create revenue
Elizabeth McQueen: that will offset those
Elizabeth McQueen: losses during the
Elizabeth McQueen: increasingly unpredictable
Elizabeth McQueen: summer and winter
Elizabeth McQueen: months.
Miles Bloxson: One way that the
Miles Bloxson: venues on Red River
Miles Bloxson: have found ways to
Miles Bloxson: make up some of this
Miles Bloxson: revenue is through
Miles Bloxson: free week and hot
Miles Bloxson: summer nights.
Elizabeth McQueen: For years, the
Elizabeth McQueen: Red River Cultural
Elizabeth McQueen: District has held
Elizabeth McQueen: free week during
Elizabeth McQueen: the first week of
Elizabeth McQueen: the year.
Miles Bloxson: All the shows during
Miles Bloxson: free week are, you
Miles Bloxson: guessed it, free.
Miles Bloxson: It's a way to get people
Miles Bloxson: out to see shows
Miles Bloxson: during a time that
Miles Bloxson: they would normally stay
Miles Bloxson: at home. And five
Miles Bloxson: years ago they
Miles Bloxson: started a summer version
Miles Bloxson: called hot Summer
Miles Bloxson: nights.
Elizabeth McQueen: It's a weekend of free
Elizabeth McQueen: shows in July,
Elizabeth McQueen: which is peak
Elizabeth McQueen: summer here.
Elizabeth McQueen: Hundreds of Austin
Elizabeth McQueen: bands play on over
Elizabeth McQueen: a dozen stages
Elizabeth McQueen: and it's been catching
Elizabeth McQueen: on.
James Moody: But that is a total
James Moody: effort of necessity
James Moody: of like, can we create
James Moody: spikes in these really
James Moody: difficult to read
James Moody: seasons?
Miles Bloxson: The venues on Red
Miles Bloxson: River are part of the
Miles Bloxson: Red River Cultural
Miles Bloxson: District, which is a
Miles Bloxson: group that can come
Miles Bloxson: together and help
Miles Bloxson: create solutions like
Miles Bloxson: hot summer nights as
Miles Bloxson: a team.
Elizabeth McQueen: But venues like Far
Elizabeth McQueen: Out, they're kind
Elizabeth McQueen: of on their own when
Elizabeth McQueen: it comes to figuring
Elizabeth McQueen: these things out.
Miles Bloxson: So venues can
Miles Bloxson: mitigate climate change
Miles Bloxson: by building out
Miles Bloxson: infrastructure and
Miles Bloxson: creating their own
Miles Bloxson: opportunities.
Elizabeth McQueen: They might also need
Elizabeth McQueen: to look outside
Elizabeth McQueen: of Austin for
Elizabeth McQueen: answers.
Miles Bloxson: Graham Williams runs
Miles Bloxson: resound, a company
Miles Bloxson: that books and promotes
Miles Bloxson: shows at independent
Miles Bloxson: venues like Mohawk.
Miles Bloxson: He deals with a lot
Miles Bloxson: of touring bands and
Miles Bloxson: that informs how he
Miles Bloxson: thinks about a hotter
Miles Bloxson: future.
Graham Williams: Other folks have
Graham Williams: tackled it. Before
Graham Williams: we did people in
Graham Williams: New Mexico and
Graham Williams: Arizona, they're in
Graham Williams: desert areas that
Graham Williams: weren't always deserts
Graham Williams: long, long before they
Graham Williams: live there.
Graham Williams: Their summers are wildly
Graham Williams: hot, and they've
Graham Williams: just kind of adjusted
Graham Williams: to it. And they can
Graham Williams: actually have big concerts
Graham Williams: in December if you
Graham Williams: want, where other folks
Graham Williams: are batting down
Graham Williams: the hatches. That
Graham Williams: might be how we adjust
Graham Williams: and be tough to get
Graham Williams: through summers, because
Graham Williams: there won't be as many
Graham Williams: of those concerts.
Graham Williams: But, they'll be
Graham Williams: other things will have
Graham Williams: to kind of work
Graham Williams: towards. I don't know
Graham Williams: what that is yet,
Graham Williams: that there's all that idea
Graham Williams: swimming around in
Graham Williams: the end. As long as you
Graham Williams: fill the gaps and
Graham Williams: artists are able to
Graham Williams: get on stage and play
Graham Williams: to their fans at
Graham Williams: other times of the year
Graham Williams: than it, you know,
Graham Williams: nets out to the
Graham Williams: same amount of
Graham Williams: shows for
Graham Williams: everybody.
Elizabeth McQueen: But what about artists?
Elizabeth McQueen: What can they do?
Elizabeth McQueen: Does it even make
Elizabeth McQueen: sense then, to
Elizabeth McQueen: try to play shows
Elizabeth McQueen: in the summer in
Elizabeth McQueen: Austin? Like did
Elizabeth McQueen: it make you rethink
Elizabeth McQueen: that part of it
Elizabeth McQueen: all?
Caleb de Casper: I'm going to say the quiet
Caleb de Casper: part out loud.
Caleb de Casper: Yeah, because
Caleb de Casper: it was miserable
Caleb de Casper: for me is miserable
Caleb de Casper: for them.
Caleb de Casper: Why do I want to
Caleb de Casper: play this show to a bunch
Caleb de Casper: of people who are, like,
Caleb de Casper: depleted?
Caleb de Casper: There's no energy.
Caleb de Casper: I'm an energy vampire,
Caleb de Casper: right? I have to, like,
Caleb de Casper: take that from
Caleb de Casper: them. And there's nothing.
Miles Bloxson: DGC venues at least
Miles Bloxson: trying to, like, help
Miles Bloxson: figure it out.
Miles Bloxson: Like maybe having a
Miles Bloxson: water person or.
Caleb de Casper: We've always done
Caleb de Casper: that though here.
Caleb de Casper: And it used to be.
Caleb de Casper: It used to be, okay,
Caleb de Casper: they have the misters
Caleb de Casper: going, they have
Caleb de Casper: the water. They
Caleb de Casper: have. But it was just so
Caleb de Casper: freaking hot.
Caleb de Casper: I know a lot of musicians
Caleb de Casper: actually like all
Caleb de Casper: genres. All they're
Caleb de Casper: like, I'm leaving.
Caleb de Casper: I'm leaving during
Caleb de Casper: the summer. I can't handle
Caleb de Casper: it. Can't handle it
Caleb de Casper: anymore.
Miles Bloxson: Yep. Musicians can
Miles Bloxson: tour like, they can
Miles Bloxson: just play other places
Miles Bloxson: in the summer and
Miles Bloxson: they play here when
Miles Bloxson: the weather is more
Miles Bloxson: reasonable.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah. You know, when
Elizabeth McQueen: I was on the road,
Elizabeth McQueen: they used to say,
Elizabeth McQueen: when you're booking tours,
Elizabeth McQueen: you want a tour north
Elizabeth McQueen: in the summer and
Elizabeth McQueen: south in the winter.
Miles Bloxson: Climate change can be
Miles Bloxson: so overwhelming.
Miles Bloxson: And talking about solutions
Miles Bloxson: around mitigation,
Miles Bloxson: whether that's building
Miles Bloxson: infrastructure are
Miles Bloxson: holding shows later
Miles Bloxson: or simply having
Miles Bloxson: fewer shows in the
Miles Bloxson: summer. Well, that's
Miles Bloxson: something.
Elizabeth McQueen: But we personally
Elizabeth McQueen: feel this larger
Elizabeth McQueen: question tugging
Elizabeth McQueen: at us, like, what
Elizabeth McQueen: can we do about
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change?
Elizabeth McQueen: It's such a big issue.
Elizabeth McQueen: And the ultimate solutions
Elizabeth McQueen: to climate change
Elizabeth McQueen: often feel really
Elizabeth McQueen: out of our hands.
David Yeomans: But some of these
David Yeomans: things are going to
David Yeomans: require bigger
David Yeomans: solutions and more
David Yeomans: people getting on board.
David Yeomans: Over history.
David Yeomans: Since we started burning
David Yeomans: all these fossil fuels,
David Yeomans: 100 major companies
David Yeomans: are responsible for
David Yeomans: 71% of
David Yeomans: all greenhouse gas
David Yeomans: emissions ever.
David Yeomans: Of course, they include things
David Yeomans: like shell, BP,
David Yeomans: Chevron.
David Yeomans: But to change all
David Yeomans: this on a big scale,
David Yeomans: it's not going to be you
David Yeomans: changing your light bulbs.
David Yeomans: It's going to be bigger
David Yeomans: solutions than that.
Miles Bloxson: So what can we do?
Elizabeth McQueen: Well, we have a
Elizabeth McQueen: coworker named
Elizabeth McQueen: Rosie Pena.
Elizabeth McQueen: She's a music fan,
Elizabeth McQueen: but she's also
Elizabeth McQueen: found a way to feel
Elizabeth McQueen: empowered around
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change.
Miles Bloxson: She got really involved
Miles Bloxson: in taking action
Miles Bloxson: around climate change.
Miles Bloxson: After the Bastrop
Miles Bloxson: fires of 2011.
Miles Bloxson: It burned 32,000
Miles Bloxson: acres over 55 days,
Miles Bloxson: and that was just
Miles Bloxson: down the road from
Miles Bloxson: Austin.
Elizabeth McQueen: So she decided to
Elizabeth McQueen: take action and
Elizabeth McQueen: got involved with
Elizabeth McQueen: Citizens Climate
Elizabeth McQueen: Lobby, which trains
Elizabeth McQueen: people to advocate
Elizabeth McQueen: for action around
Elizabeth McQueen: climate change.
Elizabeth McQueen: And she said, it really
Elizabeth McQueen: helped.
Rosie Pena: Made me feel
Rosie Pena: comforted because
Rosie Pena: I didn't see anybody
Rosie Pena: else talking about it.
Rosie Pena: And I thought, but this
Rosie Pena: is something that we
Rosie Pena: should be worried about.
Rosie Pena: And then also if you
Rosie Pena: can be worried and worried
Rosie Pena: and worried, but if you don't
Rosie Pena: have an outlet, you
Rosie Pena: know, you just kind of
Rosie Pena: sink further into
Rosie Pena: despair.
Rosie Pena: So this was my antidote
Rosie Pena: to despair.
Rosie Pena: Yeah. I just kind of
Rosie Pena: really believe in that
Rosie Pena: action as the antidote
Rosie Pena: to despair, where,
Rosie Pena: you know, doing
Rosie Pena: something, even just
Rosie Pena: talking. Katharine
Rosie Pena: Hayhoe. She says the
Rosie Pena: most important thing we
Rosie Pena: should do is just talk
Rosie Pena: to each other about
Rosie Pena: climate change, because
Rosie Pena: nobody's just having
Rosie Pena: these conversations. Not
Rosie Pena: enough people are having
Rosie Pena: these conversations.
Rosie Pena: And then through talking
Rosie Pena: to each other, like just
Rosie Pena: casually in
Rosie Pena: conversation, we can
Rosie Pena: educate each other more.
Rosie Pena: And if we feel more educated
Rosie Pena: on it, we're more likely
Rosie Pena: to do something like
Rosie Pena: vote or write to our
Rosie Pena: members of Congress are
Rosie Pena: more likely to be driven
Rosie Pena: to action.
Miles Bloxson: Action is the
Miles Bloxson: antidote to despair.
Miles Bloxson: I love that.
Elizabeth McQueen: Yeah, so do I.
Elizabeth McQueen: And we asked David,
Elizabeth McQueen: who thinks a lot
Elizabeth McQueen: about climate change,
Elizabeth McQueen: how he keeps his
Elizabeth McQueen: spirits up.
David Yeomans: It's very easy to
David Yeomans: feel like we're
David Yeomans: screwed, right?
David Yeomans: Nothing we do today
David Yeomans: will matter.
David Yeomans: And we are locked
David Yeomans: into some level of
David Yeomans: warming because of
David Yeomans: what we've done.
David Yeomans: But what we do now is
David Yeomans: going to make a huge
David Yeomans: difference in the
David Yeomans: future. And that's
David Yeomans: what keeps me
David Yeomans: motivated to talk
David Yeomans: about the science and
David Yeomans: to talk about what's happening
David Yeomans: with our climate and how
David Yeomans: humans are contributing
David Yeomans: to it.
David Yeomans: There are solutions
David Yeomans: to this. It's not
David Yeomans: unknown.
David Yeomans: What the heck can we
David Yeomans: do?
David Yeomans: Let's transition our
David Yeomans: electricity sources
David Yeomans: so that your phone is
David Yeomans: not charging from
David Yeomans: coal, because 60%
David Yeomans: of it is right now when
David Yeomans: you plug your phone in,
David Yeomans: let's transition. Make
David Yeomans: that 40% renewable
David Yeomans: hydropower, wind
David Yeomans: power, solar.
David Yeomans: Let's make that a bigger
David Yeomans: share.
David Yeomans: You can keep driving
David Yeomans: your pickup. You know,
David Yeomans: you don't have to change your daily
David Yeomans: life to do anything
David Yeomans: with that.
David Yeomans: I also feel a real
David Yeomans: responsibility as a
David Yeomans: scientist and someone
David Yeomans: with training in
David Yeomans: climate science to
David Yeomans: just get the facts
David Yeomans: out there, because there's
David Yeomans: so much bad
David Yeomans: information that
David Yeomans: creates doubt in
David Yeomans: people's heads, even
David Yeomans: well-intentioned people
David Yeomans: who just want to figure
David Yeomans: out what the heck is
David Yeomans: really going on.
David Yeomans: If they don't have training
David Yeomans: in how the atmosphere works,
David Yeomans: you see two sides of
David Yeomans: this thing and you think,
David Yeomans: well, who's right?
David Yeomans: It's 5050.
David Yeomans: What I want people to
David Yeomans: remember, and this is what motivates
David Yeomans: me every day to come
David Yeomans: in here to talk to you guys,
David Yeomans: is that I see the
David Yeomans: future in this.
David Yeomans: I see what's
David Yeomans: happening, and I see our
David Yeomans: trajectory in the
David Yeomans: world's climate and
David Yeomans: in Austin's climate.
David Yeomans: And I want people to
David Yeomans: know that.
David Yeomans: That's it.
Miles Bloxson: There's no easy
Miles Bloxson: answers when it comes
Miles Bloxson: to climate change,
Miles Bloxson: but that doesn't mean
Miles Bloxson: that people in our music
Miles Bloxson: scene can ignore the
Miles Bloxson: reality of it.
Elizabeth McQueen: And as we move
Elizabeth McQueen: forward, it's
Elizabeth McQueen: going to be very interesting
Elizabeth McQueen: to see how this city,
Elizabeth McQueen: filled with live
Elizabeth McQueen: music and outdoor
Elizabeth McQueen: venues, deals
Elizabeth McQueen: with a warming
Elizabeth McQueen: world.
Elizabeth McQueen: In the next episode
Elizabeth McQueen: of Pause Play. We're
Elizabeth McQueen: looking at how changes
Elizabeth McQueen: in the laws in Texas
Elizabeth McQueen: are impacting
Elizabeth McQueen: women and members
Elizabeth McQueen: of the LGBTQ plus
Elizabeth McQueen: community here in
Elizabeth McQueen: the Austin music
Elizabeth McQueen: scene.
Miles Bloxson: Pause/Play is a production of KUT
Miles Bloxson: and KUTX studios.
Miles Bloxson: It is reported
Miles Bloxson: produced and hosted
Miles Bloxson: by me, Miles Bloxson.
Elizabeth McQueen: And me, Elizabeth
Elizabeth McQueen: McQueen. Our
Elizabeth McQueen: executive producer
Elizabeth McQueen: is Matt Reiley.
Miles Bloxson: Zahra Crim helps
Miles Bloxson: write, record and
Miles Bloxson: edit this episode.
Miles Bloxson: Production assistants
Miles Bloxson: by his senior shop.
Elizabeth McQueen: Additional reporting
Elizabeth McQueen: by Jeff McCord,
Elizabeth McQueen: Jake Pearlman and
Elizabeth McQueen: Matt Largey also
Elizabeth McQueen: helped with editing
Elizabeth McQueen: and audio production.
Miles Bloxson: Stephanie Federico is
Miles Bloxson: our digital editor.
Miles Bloxson: Michael Minasi is our
Miles Bloxson: multimedia editor.
Elizabeth McQueen: Special thanks to
Elizabeth McQueen: Todd Callahan and
Elizabeth McQueen: Peter Babb for their
Elizabeth McQueen: technical support
Elizabeth McQueen: and guidance.
Miles Bloxson: Original music for
Miles Bloxson: this episode was
Miles Bloxson: created by the talented
Miles Bloxson: Jaron Marshall.
Elizabeth McQueen: Other music provided
Elizabeth McQueen: by the talented
Elizabeth McQueen: Jack Anderson and
Elizabeth McQueen: APM.