We are getting deeper into the
holiday season, and that brings flu
season along with your Yuletide
festivities.
Medical experts are saying this flu
season is gonna be an active one,
and they're reminding folks to get
their flu shot before sickness ruins
your holiday plans.
We've got more about that.
Plus, the performance Black Divas
is coming back to Austin this
weekend. The piece of art focuses on
black maternal health issues, and
its creator made it because she
didn't feel like there was any art
to describe the struggle she was
going through. We're gonna talk with
her about the show's evolution and
their upcoming performance.
The Austin Signal is a production of
K U T News, hosted by Jerry
Quijano.
And World Cup Soccer Action is
coming to Texas next year.
We'll soon get a better sense of
which teams and stars will be
visiting the Lone Star State.
That is coming up next, and it's
right here on Austin Signal.
Howdy Austin, thank you for tuning
in. This is Austin Signal here
on Listener Powered Public Radio
KUT News.
Happy Thursday.
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
It's December 4th.
Thank you for spending part of your
day here with us.
It's another chilly one here in the
capital city.
Our latest cold front is keeping
temperatures in the 40s and low 50s
today with on and off rain.
It's an unusual day with the high
temperature happening just after
midnight.
And it's another cloudy and cool day
tomorrow before the sunshine makes a
comeback and temperatures get up to
around 70 degrees this weekend.
Thank you for tuning in.
Let's get into today's show.
Well, we're about a month into flu
season, and experts KUT News
Spoke with say it's set to be an
active season.
And they're reminding folks that
getting a flu shot ahead of the
holiday time should be top
of mind.
For more about that, we're speaking
with KUT's healthcare reporter,
Olivia Aldridge.
Olivia, thanks for being here.
Hi, good to be here.
So you have seen some
early state medical data already.
What is the number showing?
Yep, right now it's kind of what
you'd expect to see this time of
year. Flu season typically starts
in November, kind of peaks in
December, January, February,
and of course we're seeing an uptick
in positive flu tests right now,
more hospitalizations associated
with flu as well, and also rising
cases of other respiratory viruses
like COVID and RSV.
And those illnesses
tend to pop up around this time,
especially s the flu.
But it's not just the symptoms that
cause concern, it's the
complications that come with it as
well, especially among children,
right?
Right. So most people who get the
flu, they're gonna have a crummy
time, you know, fever, body aches,
cough, runny nose, but they recover
well, and it feels like a normal
thing that happens once in a while,
right? But major complications
do happen, especially for
older people, you know, the very
young, pregnant people, people with
underlying conditions.
I spoke to a local pediatrician, Dr.
Jazmin Gonzalez, who actually
earlier in her career, before
joining Austin Regional Clinic where
she is now, cared for two children
who ended up dying after catching
the flu. And here's what she said
about that.
I do share with parents those
experiences, and I and I tell
them honestly, you know, this is
what I have seen and that's what I
don't want to see for for your
kiddos.
Again, most folks are going to
ultimately be okay, right?
Especially healthy people, but she
just encourages folks to take the
precautions that they can and not
forget that it can be a nasty
illness as common as it is, and that
means getting a flu shot.
Well speaking of nasty illness, I
feel as though since COVID
there's been a lot of discussion
about you know, oh this flu season
seems particularly bad and confusion
whether you have COVID or the flu.
Oh what do we know about the strain
of the flu right now that's going
around here in Texas?
Yeah, so so far the C D C
is reporting a lot of H3N2.
That's a subtype of influenza
A. You know, there's influenza A and
B. Mm-hmm.
And in the UK, which is usually a
little bit ahead of us with flu
season, they're seeing a lot of this
particular strain of H3N2
called subclade K,
which does look to be pretty
contagious. It's getting people
pretty sick.
And that's one reason why health
professionals are kind of thinking
it'll be an active flu season.
Newer variants like this can be
better at getting around vaccine
protections too, but there is some
early research from the UK that does
indicate that the flu shot is doing
a pretty good job of preventing
severe illness and hospitalizations.
Okay, we're speaking with KUT's
healthcare reporter Olivia Aldridge
on Austin Signal.
We're gonna switch gears a little
bit to a story that you recently
reported on for KUT dot org.
That's about a study done by the
city of Austin looking at the things
that are straining the health and
well being of Austinites.
What are some of the factors
identified by this study?
Well, there were a lot of them.
One of the big ones that I found
interesting, was that
was, you know, housing
affordability and the cost of
housing.
APH kind of emphasized that
high housing costs cause people
to make difficult trade offs when
they take up a disproportionate
share of your income because then
you're deciding between paying rent
and prior prioritizing other
essential needs like food or
transportation and medical
care sometimes.
In Austin around thirty six
percent of households are spending
thirty percent of m or more of their
income on housing.
And we know housing costs are always
a big deal here in Austin.
It was also noted that communities
of color are being particularly
affected by these costs, correct?
Yeah, and I think there are kind of
some overlapping factors there, and
I'd say it does relate to
affordability again.
With rising costs, families of color
were most often being pushed
into more affordable outlying
areas like Flugerville, Del Valley,
and Maynard.
And these are often areas where
there is sparser access to medical
care. And maybe you have to drive
further to reach the care that you
need. But if you're lower income,
maybe you don't have reliable
transportation and that could be
another barrier.
So that's one piece of this.
I will say that we're starting to
see more investments from healthcare
systems in some of these areas.
So like Maynard, for instance, Saint
David's just opened the city's
first full service emergency room.
So folks aren't having to drive
twenty minutes or more to get to the
ER anymore.
I guess that makes sense as more and
more people are having to move out
of the city proper.
Oh, you can read more about this
story over at K U T.org.
It's written by KUT's healthcare
reporter Olivia Aldridge, who we've
been speaking with, and we're gonna
have a link to her reporting at KUT
dot org slash signal.
Olivia, thank you for joining us.
Thanks, Jerry.
Thank you for tuning in.
This is Austin Signal.
Well, we're about half a year away
from the twenty twenty six World
Cup, and after tomorrow we're gonna
have a clearer idea of who
will need to beat who in order to
advance to the tournament final.
Here to give us a rundown of what's
going on is KUT's Juan Diego
Garcia, one of the hosts of the
podcast Vamos Verde.
Howdy one.
Always a pleasure, Jerry.
We're glad to have you in because I
need a little bit explain about
what's happening with this World Cup
draw. Okay.
But first off, this is gonna be a
big World Cup locally because
of where it's happening, obviously.
For those who don't know, who's
hosting?
Well the United States, Mexico, and
Canada are all jointly hosting
the tournament.
There's gonna be sixteen host
cities. Those are the cities where
they host matches.
Eleven of them are here in the
United States.
It is not one of those places.
It's a little on the small side
relative to some of the other
stadiums that they're hosting in.
They are actually gonna be hosting a
lot of games in the big football
stadiums. Okay.
So you'll see games up in Dallas,
you'll see games out in Houston.
But Austin is a decent hub
for access to the whole tournament.
Alrighty, well that's good to know.
I know this is where I start to get
confused a little bit.
This will be the twenty third World
Cup competition and some things
are changing with the format
happening next year. What's gonna be
different
The main thing is, as you said, this
is going to be a very big
tournament. It's bigger than any
other World Cup has been.
They're expanding now to feature
forty-eight nations.
That's up from thirty-two.
Those nations are being split into
twelve groups of four.
That's up from eight from the last
edition.
And just like in any
other World Cup, the top two teams
from each group will advance to the
knockout stage, along with
in this case, the eight best
performing third place teams
from the group stage.
Meaning now instead of going into
the round of sixteen, they're
starting at the round of thirty-two
from the knockout stage.
And because there's going to be a
few more groups, I'm wondering
is that you know, one thing I do
know about the World Cup is this
group of death, this very, very
competitive group, is that going
to sort of dilute the power of
a group of death, or are we still
gonna have a group that's kind of
low?
Loaded with talent.
That's a good question, Jerry.
I do think there is enough talent
in this World Cup to where at least
one group is going to jump
out and say, I don't know if
I want to be a part of this group
if, say, I was a player.
Just looking through the the pots
that the groups will be drawn from.
Obviously pot one has some of the
big heavyweights from the FIFA
rankings, all of the top teams, but
pot two features some perennial
deep runners in the World Cup,
Croatia, Uruguay, Colombia's
back in the tournament and they're
on good form, Senegal.
You've also got pot three with
teams like Norway in there
as well.
You know, going all the way down to
pot four, Ghana had a really good
World Cup last time around.
It wouldn't surprise me if any
combination of some of those nations
would strike fear into some of the
favorites.
Okay, well I wanna Ask about a team
that I don't think is going to be a
favorite, that is the United States.
We are one of the host countries.
There has been a lot of turnover
with the United States national
team. What's their form looking like
heading into next year?
Well they're on a bit of a winning
streak.
The caveat there is this happened
in international friendlies.
Okay.
The last match they played with
stakes was a loss to Mexico,
two to one in the Gold Cup final.
But coach Mauricio Pochetino,
he's been experimenting a lot with
the roster, calling up some younger
players, trying to find the right
balance, the right chemistry,
and things seem to start
to be gelling a little bit more
of late than s
sort of the rocky period earlier in
his tenure as the manager.
And for people who don't know, the
US didn't really have to qualify
for this World Cup, correct?
That is correct. Host nations go
straight into the tournament and
they get drawn in pot one
along with some of the top nations
on the FIFA rankings.
Okay, well at least they've had a
little bit of a run of success as of
late. Okay, well if not the US
then who is looking like the
favorites right now heading into
They tend to be some of the
perennial favorites for the World
Cup. Out of Europe, I'm looking at
France, Germany, Spain, and
England. They all blitz their
qualifying groups in the
in the qualifying stage for the
World Cup.
Also from Europe, they could spring
a surprise. Portugal and the
Netherlands.
From Latin America, Argentina
look very strong with defending
champions, right?
Right, that is correct.
And that is with and without Lionel
Messi, so they won't necessarily
have to rely on him.
If he does play in the tournament,
they could win it all by themselves.
There's a lot to
Take into consideration into who's
going to be the favorite and who's
going to win. And a big part of that
will be tomorrow's World Cup draw.
We have been speaking with K U T's
Juan Diego Garcia, one of the hosts
of the K U T podcast Vamos Verde,
all about Austin FC.
You can listen to the show at K U T
K U T X dot studio.
Thank you, Juan.
Always a pleasure, Jerry.
You are listening to Austin
Signal here on community
powered public radio.
This is K U T News 90.5.
We are on the KUT app
and online.
You can find more about us at K U
T.orgslash Signal.
Coming up, we're going to talk about
the show Black Divas with its
creator and talk about why she felt
she needed to create this piece of
art that wasn't out in the world.
Come back in one minute and
find out more about the story.
This is Austin Signal.
Welcome back.
We like to chat about the dresses
that we'll wear tonight.
We truda flat about her tresses
and her neighbors' fight.
Inconsequential things that men
don't truly care to know.
Become essential things that women
find so happy.
But just a game, we're all the same.
It's just a game, we call it
Girl Talk, Girl
Talk.
Okay. We are Tell me how about the
ups and downs of a call I bring.
Black Divas is a performance
showcasing the musical artistry
and connection of black women filmed
here in Austin.
The show spotlights opera, gospel,
R and B and Dance.
And we just heard a snippet from the
2024 performance.
Their next show is happening this
Saturday, live at Austin PBS.
It's called Black Divas, Her Life
on Cloud Nine.
For more, we are talking with the
creator of Black Divas and show MC
herself, Qi Data.
Qi, thank you for joining us here on
Austin Signal.
Thank you for having me.
Thank you.
Well, you are an integral part of
the Austin music scene and we're
here to talk about your show Black
Divas, but for our listeners who
might not be familiar with the work
that you've done, tell us a little
bit about your story and your time
here in Austin.
Well, my husband and I, Shaka,
which well, many, many people know
who's the founder of DAWA.
And we moved here about fifteen
years ago. Very different Austin.
But what we've always fallen in love
here with Austin is the fraternity
between musicians.
You know, it's known as the live
music capital of the world.
And that's debatable for a lot of
people across the country.
But the truth of the matter is I've
never felt such a camaraderie
between musicians than I have
while being here in Austin.
So we made it our home and we've
made history time and time again.
First hip hop band to headline
Blues on the Green,
first hip hop band to be on Blues
on the Green. And then also, you
know, we were Band of the Year here
three years consecutively.
I was the first African American
woman to win Band of the Year also.
So a little bit of history there,
just a little sprinkling of history.
So where did you get the the idea to
create Black Divos?
Where did that come from?
I definitely just felt like I had a
ch well, I had a child
about four years ago.
Our our beautiful son, me and
Shaka's beautiful son in Bele.
Shout out in Bele.
It's a beautiful girl.
Oh yeah. Shaka came up with it.
It means beyond in Kiswahili.
And so I was going
through that experience and just
didn't feel like I had any art that
spoke to my experience.
And I'm an artist.
I need that in order for me to
travel or traverse something that I
am growing through.
So, yes, there's a lot of songs
like that love your mama.
And there are even songs about how I
love my child, how I love becoming a
mother.
But I didn't feel like this
gargantuan event that
was the gargantuan event I was
experiencing that spoke to all the
hills and valleys and crevices
of what it means to cross
this threshold into into what
you call becoming a mother.
So I needed that.
And there were so many avenues of it
that weren't being spoken to.
No one told me being mother was
glamorous.
Like everyone's like, it's horrible.
This isn't that and it is all these
things. Yeah, sure.
But it's glamorous and it's humorous
and it needs community.
And so that was pri that
was primarily why I felt like
it was urgent to create it.
Did you feel like this was the first
experience that you ever had in your
life where there wasn't a piece of
art that could accompany you through
it? It seems like art and music is
such a big part of your life.
Was this the first time you felt
kind of lacking for something
that could you could latch onto?
To this degree, yeah.
To this degree.
I feel like, you know, being African
American, trying to find
representation growing up, being
black and brown is always there's
always that seeking.
But you I I also grew up in a
Caribbean enclave in a Caribbean
community. So there was always some
form of representation for me
personally of something.
So but this, I
don't know. Like it just felt like
motherhood was just always
c
I don't know, corraled
into this other thing that no one
talks about.
And I feel like we're in
this era where people
want more of that.
They want to talk more about the
reality of it.
And I I because people know
me as the priestess of the party,
I'm like, there's also a party here.
Like it's up to me to uncover
that. And so it that that's
imperative to me. Like I've even had
dreams of like, what if we had dance
parties at the grocery store?
Like
that's imperative to me.
Like that there you're you're we're
all gonna we're all marching towards
the exit in some way, shape, or
form. Let's just you just let's make
sure we have a party too.
So tell us a little bit about the we
heard a snippet from the twenty
twenty four performance.
When did you first start this show?
I actually started it in twenty
twenty three.
That was with KMFA
and we at their studio and
so it was just me,
my associate producer Janine Henry.
Shout out Janine Henry and the Ford
Divas. So we didn't have too much of
a team at that point.
And it was just a hit.
People felt beautiful about it
and I recorded it on my own
on some multicam and
I was just in my heart I could feel
it. I was like, This is a T V show.
I don't know what that means.
I don't know how to get there.
And then the opportunity came to
present and pitch it and it worked.
So it turned from this performance,
live performance into a T V show.
What other ways have you seen your
your art evolve in the
different iterations that you've
made?
I mean, I mean geez.
I you know, coming here to Austin
and altering the landscape in
many, many ways.
I think being a person of color
and altering the music landscape
here is pretty significant job.
And Shaka has done so
much advocacy work around that.
And so it's always been that.
I think that's what art is about.
It's about this evolution,
documenting it in this non
maybe non clinical way,
you know, in this more a atmospheric
way. And so that's always
w what I've known is that art is
going to evolve and it's there for
you to help you evolve,
in an organic capacity.
So yeah, it's always been there, I
think.
Okay, well let's we are talking with
Qi Data, the creator of
the Black Divas performance,
which is happening this Saturday.
Let's hear a little bit more from
their performance.
That's really beautiful, but it's so
different from what we heard in the
first clip, you know?
What so how how do you find ways to
fit so many things?
The crowd goes while I really
spoke over that. I really killed
that moment.
Okay.
How do you find ways to to to work I
mean I mean w how how do you create
the show? How do you start with it?
So I think one of the hallmarks
for myself and even with Shaka
is that we probably create some of
the most intersectional events
in the city and have for a very long
time. People know us for that.
So you'll come to our events and see
young, old, you know, all kinds
of class differences, et cetera.
And so for me,
one of my skills is just finding the
thread that seams all
of it together.
You know, it could be a different
patch of cloth here and a different
patch of cloth there, but there's a
thread that can hold them delicately
and also hold something that's
rougher, like wool, you know, with
strength. So it's about finding
that thread being that thread.
And so I think also for me, when
I think about classical music
specifically, when I brought this
a couple years ago to the
public here, there were so many
people of color that were like, you
know, I actually really love
classical music and I never
get to experience it with my
community.
Or it's commonly just kind
of like not given this
space that feels so
free. You know what I mean?
It can be conservative.
And I'm like, well, why can't it be
feel free and have all
these fun, frilly edges
and also highlight this excellence
in musicianship?
So for me, a lot a number
of the women in the production are
classically trained and they're also
contemporary vocalists
also. So the mashup just seemed
natural to me. I've seen most of
these women in the wild.
Shout out to Icy.
Monroe, Anitra Coulter
Blunt, Andrea Bridgman, and
Craven Rowry who have been putting
in so much work in the community
for a long time.
And I think that's also part of my
mission is like there are black
women I know personally who
may not get the highlight that they
deserve. I'm like, they deserve to
be on television.
They deserve, to make sure
that they're spotlighted because
they've been putting in work.
It's excellent work and they're and
they put service into the community.
Now we have a story about Qi over at
K U T.org.
It's got some really awesome photos
from a rehearsal that y'all had
recently. It looks like you're
having the time of your life.
You know, people are laughing and
smiling.
What sort of magic do you get to
create? I I feel like you're you get
to bring the the art to life every
time in this rehearsal space, right?
Yeah, and you fine-tune it.
And it's a it's an opportunity for
me to curate not just
the overall show, but
also the internal environment
of each artist as they're
approaching the music.
So and then putting it all together.
That's all very important to me.
And so as they, you know, as I said,
I'm the priestess of the party.
So it doesn't matter what
environment I'm in, I
have these, I'm multi-sensory,
you know, I'm very open.
I've learned to master what it means
to be very open and not feel
overwhelmed by that,
and be careful about what I'm
letting in.
But it allows me to kind of like
feel you know, what's going
on inside, what's going on outside,
what's going on on top, what's going
on on the bottom, and how does it
all pulsate together, just like
music, just like a beat, you know
what I mean? What how does this
you know, frequency carry on top
of this bass, etc.?
So it it just happens in
the in a in another type of
atmosphere. So I'm always there
feeling that when I'm walking
around, when I'm in, you know, shaka
just is like this chick's
imagination just be going off.
Can we just
She he loves it and also it's just
like practicalities, man.
So it's it situates itself
beautifully and I think that's why
we're great partners, but also
that's how I I I
enter and work through any space
that I'm conducting.
Well, we have about a minute left in
the show, so why don't you tell
people about the performance
happening this Saturday?
I know you've got a special guest
joining you this time, right?
Yeah. So this time we're bringing in
Kiki Wyatt, who is a
master vocalist.
She's your favorite vocalist,
favorite vocalist.
There's this whole story about Patty
LaBelle calling her up and being
like, I can't sing my song anymore
because you sing it and everybody
wants it sung the way you sing it.
Yeah.
And so she's going to be entering.
She's also a mother of 11, and she's
also a you know television
star. So it all kind of lined up
and synced up with the project just
right. And it's gonna be at PBS
Studios, Highland
Land Highland Drive
campus, and it's at 6 p.m.
Cocktail hour, studio doors close
at seven, and then we have a great
show with our vocalist, full
band. It's a you know, it's
fantastic for me.
It is an all black cast being
syndicated out of Austin, Texas.
Come on.
What more needs to be said, right?
We have been speaking with Qi Data
of Black Divas, the creator of Black
Divas, the twenty twenty five
performance again this Saturday,
taping live at Austin PBS.
We'll have a link to that and more
in the show notes.
Qi, thank you for your time and good
luck this Saturday.
Thank you.
And thank you to everyone out there
for tuning in to Austin Signal.
Kristen Cabrera is our managing
producer. Rayna Sevilla is
our technical director.
And I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
We will have more Austin Signal for
you tomorrow.
Have a great day.