With confirmation of cases of the
New World screwworm in Texas,
plenty of focus is on the potential
impact to the state's cattle
industry.
But they're not the only animals
vulnerable to the parasite.
We're going to have some prevention
tips.
And Texas Republicans dominated the
primaries by going all in on the
MAGA movement.
Now they have to sell that plan to
Texans come November.
We're gonna have more about these
stories coming up on today's show.
The Austin Signal is a production
of KUT News, hosted by
Jerry Quijano.
A comedy game show at Austin's
Fallout Theater has segments that
consistently go sideways,
and that's just how they want it.
Did I win?
Does it matter?
Plus, another excerpt from the
Accent Unmuted storytelling series.
More about all of these stories
coming up next.
It's right here on Austin
Signal.
Howdy out there.
This is Austin Signal.
Thank you for tuning in to
community-powered public radio KUT
News.
It is Thursday, June 11th.
I'm your host, Jerry Quijanoa.
Texans have made their picks for
which Democrats and Republicans will
be on the ballot for the general
election come November, which
will decide everything from railroad
commissioner to U.S.
Senator to governor.
But what should we make of the
results of the primary And
what do they tell us moving into
November?
The Texas newsroom's Blaise Ganey
has this story.
The most conservative Republicans
continue to win in Texas, from
Senate nominee Ken Paxton to the
Republican nominee for Railroad
Commissioner Beau French to the
GOP candidate for Attorney General
Maga Mays Middleton, as he
likes to be known.
John Taylor, a political scientist
at the University of Texas at San
Antonio, describes it as The
consolidation of MAGA power In
other words, outmagging the
Republican next to you on the
ballot. That led to the end of
political careers for longtime
incumbents like Senator John Cornyn,
who even claimed to vote with
President Donald Trump 99%
of the time.
Being essentially the
last of the old guard being swept
away.
Anybody who is not 100% MAGA,
100% committed to
Trump, is viewed as disloyal
and therefore must.
Must be purged.
Michael Adams is a political
scientist at Texas State University.
He says voters in Texas officially
moved into a new political era after
the primary.
It sent a clear signal,
I think, to the Republican Party
that the Bush or the
Perry wing of the
Republican Party, what we know as
the institutional Republican Party
or the traditional wing, I think
that has been put to rest.
Outmagging your opponent might have
worked in the primary since those
elections tend to draw out the most
extreme voters in either party.
But Nancy Sims, a political
scientist at the University of
Houston, says Republicans might have
to reconsider how they approach
November.
That's going to be their challenge.
They moved so far to the right to
win their nominations that
they're going to have to live with
the commercials they made side
by side with Trump.
And, and all the MAGA promises
they made for the general cycle
are not going to popular with
independent voters in my opinion.
There are several reasons for that.
Trump's approval rating is low, gas
prices are soaring, and the country
is at war.
But for the most part, the MAGA
candidates in Texas have ignored
those topics, instead focusing
on hot-button social issues like
gender identity and immigration
enforcement.
And while that strategy worked
during the Republican primary where
only 1.4 million voters
participated, political scientist
Geronimo Cortina with the University
of Houston isn't sure it'll be
so successful with the general
electorate.
Though on the one hand,
I don't know,
97% of
folks that did not participate in
the run of election,
whether they are
Democrats or Republicans,
support that type of
rhetoric or not.
Making things even more interesting
are polls showing the Democratic
nominee for US Senate James
Tallarico beating Paxton
by a few percentage points.
Here's Sims again.
Today, if you ask me,
I would say it
looks like Texas may
be competitive for
the first time in 30
years, but that
could shift if Trump's
popularity begins to rise again.
Democrats have their work cut out
for them. They haven't won a
statewide race in more than three
decades.
Here's Taylor Texas is not
really a red state, it's a low
turnout state, in which you've
got Democrats who, if they would
ever get off their butts and
actually mobilize, could actually
win elections.
I'm Blaze Gainey in Austin!
As the New World screwworm spreads
into Texas, much of the focus has
been on its potential impact on
the cattle industry, but livestock
aren't the only animals vulnerable
to the parasitic fly.
Last week, and a case was confirmed
in a dog in Andrews County, that's
in West Texas, though the dog was
apparently from a household in a
neighboring county in New Mexico.
Here to tell us more about the risk
to pets and how to protect them is
Dr. Rachel Gordon, veterinarian
with Austin Pets Alive.
Dr. Gordon, welcome to the show.
Hi, thanks for having me!
So first, it's probably important
to understand how the New World
screwworm is spread.
How do animals contract this
parasite?
So the main way that it is spread is
through the flies itself.
So if you have an animal that's
living outdoors or is outdoor at any
time, the fly only has to
find a little bit of either an
open wound or any of
our body's openings, whether that be
through the nose, the mouth, the
ears, it just needs to find some
way to contact some tissue and
have time to lay its eggs.
Okay, so why are we seeing this
more amongst livestock than
household pets right now?
So one of the main reasons is
because they do, you know,
live outside and as
farmers do their absolute best to be
able to keep track of everything.
A lot of times these can go
unnoticed for a little while because
there's very slight symptoms that
you're seeing in the animals.
So you might have some animals that
in terms of a ranching perspective,
they might go down on their feed,
they might down on there produce,
whether that being milk or gain
weight. They might have sores
that are popping up, they might show
up lame. So there's a lot of little
signs that they might see, but
because flies are just part of
the environment out there, they're
definitely at a higher risk for
getting that.
What are some things that pet owners
should be on the lookout for that
could indicate an infestation and
what should they do if they suspect
maybe their animal, their pet does
have the new world screw arm?
So the first thing I would recommend
doing is, if you have an
animal that has a recent injury or
has a recently surgery, is just
to make sure that you're monitoring
that area for any signs of
warmth or inflammation to
the area. Mainly you're gonna see
red skin, you might see swelling.
In some cases, you will start to
see the wound forming because this
is gonna be a very rapidly
developing wound.
These worms are really, really good
at finding not just the dead tissue
that normal flies would find.
But also going after the live
tissue. And so it's going to really
affect the animal very quickly
and can turn very dangerous, very
fast.
So being able to keep an eye on
everything so you can see from day
to day and you're able to see that
change immediately.
Now, if you do see those changes,
we would recommend going to follow
up with your veterinarian as soon as
possible because there's a lot of
other things going on right now.
You have the changing seasons.
So the pets can also have some
allergies. You can have some
hotspots showing up.
So it's just really important to be
vigilant looking out for those
symptoms. You might also see some
signs of pain.
So maybe we're limping around.
Maybe we're not eating as much.
We're not moving around as much, so
if you do see any of those symptoms,
I would make sure you follow up with
your vet as soon as possible so that
they can get the help that they need
and get treatment started as soon
possible if it were to be the case.
What are some things that pet owners
can do right now to prevent possible
infestation?
So one of the things you can do is
to make sure that your pets are
up-to-date on their flea and tick
medications.
The Isoxazoline class of
medications, that's gonna be your
NexGuard, Credelio,
Brevecto.
Those are actually used to
treat, to kill the maggots, but it's
also helpful to prevent them
from happening in the first place.
So making sure that they're up-
to-date on that.
And then just the close visual
monitoring.
If you are traveling to an area that
the screwworm is endemic to, or
they live in such as.
Crossing the border into Mexico or
going further down into Central
America, then you
might consider maybe not bringing
your pet at this time, just to be
extra safe, to make sure that
they're at a lower likelihood of
even coming into contact with this
potential.
Are have you heard any questions
from pet owners here in Austin about
the screw arm anything that we
haven't asked you about yet?
I know one thing that I have been
asked is, so how
quickly would I see the symptoms?
And it is going to vary depending
on each case, but typically,
you know, it takes about, you now,
15 minutes or so for the fly to lay
its eggs, and then within a day,
you'll have those eggs hatched, and
over the next week, you'll start
really seeing those symptoms.
So ideally, you would see
it within that first week, but it
kind of depends on.
Where the fly initially laid
the eggs, what all tissue is being
affected and such like that.
Okay, and what is
the prognosis for infestation,
like what, have we seen many
cases of infestations among pets?
So thankfully, not for a very long
time, this is something that,
in vet school, we're learning this
has already been eradicated, so it's
very interesting to be seeing it
coming about, but the
main thing is going to be the
treatment timeline.
So the sooner you're able to get the
treatment, the better the prognosis
is going be, because these maggots
will cause such severe trauma
to the entire body.
We're talking about the
skin, muscle, even bone
going into organs.
So If it does get
to that severity, it really depends
on where that wound is.
So a wound on the foot's gonna have
a better prognosis than say a wound
the head or the neck area.
All right, we have been speaking
with Dr. Rachel Gordon, a
veterinarian with Austin Pets Alive.
Dr. Gordon, thank you for your time.
Thank you.
And World Cup 2026
kicks off this afternoon in Mexico
City as the Mexican national team
takes on South Africa.
We had a local preview of the action
yesterday with Juan Diego Garcia of
the Vamos Verde podcast.
You can listen to that at kut.org
slash signal and Juan
and his co-host Jimmy Moss will be
updating the action throughout the
day throughout the tournament right
here on KUT
News.
This is listener-supported public
radio.
We'll be back after a break.
You're listening to Austin Signal.
I'm Nammy Sirur, creator of the
live storytelling event Accent
Unmuted.
Storyteller Victoria Granduri prides
herself on jumping head first into
challenges, until one
that nearly took the spirit out of
her.
What came to her rescue was one
phrase she kept repeating.
It's 2019, and
I'm in the middle of my MBA.
Summer break is just around the
corner, and while everyone is
scrambling to get an internship,
I decide I wanna do something
different, something
more nourishing.
One day, I'm on the phone
with my little sister, Julia,
and she asks me,
do you wanna climb Kilimanjaro
together this summer?
I pause.
You see, I hate hiking.
I hate camping and
I really hate not showering
after exercising.
Naturally, I answer, let's
do this.
A couple months later, we're on the
plane to Tanzania.
I bought my hiking boots a week
before the trip, wore
them probably two hours.
I skimmed through the
PDF with the detailed information
about our route and remembered
nothing.
Thankfully, our
guides, Oscar and Devoda,
would brief us every morning.
How high, how far,
what to wear. The rest?
Was simple.
Walk slowly, breathe
deeply, and enjoy the
sights and the company.
Every time Joy and I
looked at this immense peak
miles away that
never seemed to get any closer,
we'd point at it and say to
each other, piece of cake.
It became our thing when
the trail got long,
steep, windy, piece
of cake.
And it worked, honestly.
Our mental state carried us further
than any physical preparation
could have.
Summiting Mount Kilimanjaro happens
in the middle of the night.
You wake up at 12 and start walking
at one in the morning.
It's pitch dark.
And the only thing you can
see is a trail of
light from headlamps, slowly
zigzagging up the mountain.
At that point, my head
is pounding, my
lungs feel compressed,
and every decision feels
extremely slow.
Imagine going on a hike
during your worst hangover or
food poisoning.
Halfway up, people start
throwing up.
Altitude sickness is hitting hard.
And Julia, unfortunately,
is a victim of the altitude mountain
sickness.
Her oxygen levels get so
dangerously low, we need to
make a call.
She's gonna go back down and
I'll keep climbing with Oscar and
Devota.
Watching her turn back broke
my heart.
We'd done everything up till now
together, and I couldn't
imagine finishing this without her.
Now, alone,
every step feels heavier.
I'm cold, dehydrated,
and exhausted.
So, I develop a
strategy to trick my mind to keep
going.
With every step that I take,
I name someone I love.
Mom, dad,
Matias, Joya,
friends, family.
It goes on and on.
On a loop.
Three or four hours later, we
finally reach a stopping point.
Relief floods into my body, and
I burst into tears,
delirious with joy.
Oscar looks at me,
utterly confused.
Why are you crying?
Because we did it.
We made it. We're at the top.
He looks over at Devoda,
back at me.
Ah, no. This is tea break.
40 minutes more!
This is what I get for not
memorizing the itinerary.
So I drink my tea,
eat my snack,
and those last 40 minutes
really were a piece of cake.
When I finally reached the summit,
it felt anti-climactic.
I had already had my moment.
Victory wasn't the photo at
the top, it was
every little step that got
me there.
It was learning to slow down,
to be in the moment,
to laugh at the struggle,
and to choose to keep going,
one piece of cake
at a time.
Thank you.
That was Victoria Granduri telling
her story to a live audience at
a recent Accent Unmuted in Studio
1A here at KUT.
I'm Nami Sirur and this is Austin
Signal.
If you want to see some comedy
here in Austin, you have
two main options.
Heading down to 6th Street, where
you'll find a lot of stand-up shows
set up punchline one performer
at a time.
Then there are improv theaters.
Here comedy is more collaborative,
more theatrical, more experimental.
Texas Standard's Sean Saldana takes
us to one show where the truth
is stranger than fiction.
Comedian Quaid Petchi is backstage
at Fallout Theater, getting ready
for a big show.
All right, so you're pointing a
plastic gun at my face right now.
It doesn't have an orange tip on it.
That's the key right there.
You gotta remove the plastic orange
part that makes it think it might
be.
Fake.
Outside of this show, Petri is a
stand-up comic.
Tonight, he's a police officer
in the dimly lit theater.
Paths for a cop.
Right, I think I have the
somewhat look that like maybe maybe
it was like a rent-a-cop.
Petchy is on the cast of Did I Win,
a monthly show that creator and host
Trenton Bradley describes as...
A game show you would never want to
get pulled on to.
And did I win audience members get
called on stage to play games that
make no sense?
The game can be anything from
maybe a deal or no deal kind of
parody spin-off or something
as wacky as, you know, give somebody
a haircut.
When they arrive, people are told to
put their names in a bucket.
This volunteers them to become
contestants.
Not all of our bits go well.
Like, there was once where they had
somebody come on stage and reach
into a box and identify an item
without looking at it.
The first round, it was a wig.
The second was a fake spider.
Then finally,
The third run was a mousetrap.
And when it snapped shut on the
person's hand, everybody was
stunned, but it was totally fine
because this contestant was not
a paying audience member.
He was a plant.
He knew that a mousetrap was gonna
close on his hand But he played it
off so well that people
came up to us and were like that
is not funny
Every month, Bradley and his
co-hosts recruit local stand-up
comics to be random people in
the crowd.
Their segments go sideways, and none
of this is ever explained to the
audience.
They know it's a game show, but they
don't really know what
that game show entails.
Did I win Blur's reality?
In a way that makes it hard for me
to interview people in the lobby.
We've got a character out here in
the in the foyer that
is claiming to be a journalist
You're saying I look like a
character.
I think you're a character in the
show, that's right.
Bo Banaduchi is a first-time
attendee, and before the show even
starts, he's learned to stop
trusting his own eyes.
You don't know what's going to
happen, you can't expect anything.
I am unable to convince Banaduchi
that I am a real journalist,
so I start talking with comedian
Austin Silver.
Tonight, he'll play a savant who can
identify celebrities by their feet.
But I only know the women's feet.
You don't look like, you look like a
normal guy.
I'm glad that you think that I don't
look like a creep.
I appreciate that.
But real people might think that
of you as they're walking out of
this building.
You know, I've been humiliated
so much just as a regular comic
that it's
very hard to insult me.
Moments later, the audience files
into the theater and the show
starts.
Bradley and his co-hosts start
tossing jello shots into the
audience.
All right, question for this
audience.
I've been sober for six years,
should I relapse tonight?
The first game of the night is Guess
Who?
Epstein Files Edition,
and the name they pull out of the
bucket is Chris.
Has that started?
Oh sh**, is it the man?
Yes!
Is it an actor?
Oh
Okay, thank you.
Yes!
Donald Trump.
Ciao!
Couldn't go that easy right from the
start. You gotta try, you gotta try.
Chris is a real audience member,
and with the crowd's help, he gets
all of the answers right, which
means that he wins his very own set
of the real board game, Guess Who?
All the way, guys.
Give it up for Chris. I think he
won. Did he win?
For the next segment, Bradley calls
up a woman named Demi Chang.
You're going to fight the-
Fresh can!
Bradley pulls out a mid-sized
plastic can and places it on the
floor. Fight!
Fight!
Without hesitating, Chang raises her
leg and kicks it off stage.
Oh
Then comes round two.
One, two, three,
go! Oh, not this trash can.
A man wearing a trash can with arm
and leg holes cut out storms into
the theater and stomps onto stage.
He corners Cheng, but
Trenton Bradley does not care.
He shoves her into the middle of the
stage. Fight the trash, you're
losing the game!
You're losing game!
Finally, Cheng forfeits and heads
back to her seat.
She is a plant, but the
audience does not seem to notice.
Boo Demi guys, boo Demi,
the trash can wins, the Trash
can wins!
The next person called on stage is
another real audience member named
Alyssa.
So these are pictures of,
we're gonna show you pictures of
celebrity's feet.
Okay. You gotta guess whose feet
they are.
I don't know any celebrities so this
is going to be really hard.
Alyssa isn't lying.
She cannot identify any celebrity
feet and neither can anybody else in
the crowd.
They all fail the name LeBron James,
Leonardo DiCaprio, and Yoda.
Of course, the only exception is
comedian Austin Silver, who
can immediately identify the feet
of every woman they show.
Margot Robbie.
Margot Robby.
Margot.
Margot! Yes!
Yes!
Silver really leans into this
character.
He celebrates and cheers, and people
around him are equal parts impressed
and horrified.
Eventually though, Silver rallies
the crowd and gets them on his side.
After the show, I check in with Bo
Baneducci, the guy who
refused to believe that I was a
journalist.
I asked him if any of the segments
seemed planned.
No, I don't think there's anything
that totally stood out to me as
fake.
I gave him an exact breakdown of
what was real and what was staged.
Oh my god,
of course!
I did not even suspect that!
And then he turns to his friend.
I know you're not an actor.
I invited you to this.
Yeah.
Did I Win is part comedy, part
immersive theater.
The humor comes from confusion,
awkward moments, and segments that
unravel.
It's also hosted by a maniac.
If you're in on the joke, it looks
like performance art.
If you not, it's just
a train wreck.
For KUT's Art Beat, I'm Sean
Saldana in Austin.
And that is it for today's
show. Thank you for tuning in.
There's more about today's stories
in the podcast show notes and
at kut.org
slash signal.
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
director.
Alexandra Hart is our producer.
And Kristen Cabrera is our managing
producer.
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
We will be back at the same time
tomorrow. We will talk to you then.