Statesman Shots

On the show today: black bbq, food appropriation, culinary wokeness, online dating when you’re 30+, selena gomez, media literacy, comments sections, the new OJ Simpson documentary, a new podcast about race and identity, and we open nominations for the summer 2016 jam. A recent article called “How the Texas BBQ Boom Marginalizes Its African-American Roots” by … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #113: Addie Broyles on food appropriation, Eric Webb on Selena Gomez"

On the show today: Artist and gentleman adventurer Kevin Tong and his upcoming “Info-Rama” show, are dumb dads over?, Austin’s (alleged) rock thrower, “Orange is the New Black,” sensory-deprivation tanks, and a tiny bit (not nearly enough, in fact) of Dolly Parton. Kevin Tong is well-known — dare we say beloved? — for his poster art. … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #112: Kevin Tong on Info-Rama"

On the show today: Workout! with Erica Nix, a “Friday Night Lights” reunion at Panther Field, a little Crucifictorious with Landry Clarke (aka Jesse Plemmons), being on “This American Life,” Chris Gerben on man-dates and making friends as an adult. Erica Nix is an artist, owner of Austin Queer Weddings, YouTube personality, diehard fan of … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #111: Workout! with Erica Nix; Chris Gerben on ‘man-dates’"

[cmg_anvato video=”3924881″] It’s OK to let your Tim Riggins love burn bright. Ours will never die as we continue our “Friday Night Lights” re-watches forever. But you know should know that actor Taylor Kitsch is not Tim Riggins the character and he has not slowed down since the beloved NBC TV show ended, appearing in movies … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #91: Taylor Kitsch on African Children’s Choir and post-‘FNL’ life"

On the show today: How to be a Texan, Andrea Valdez from Texas Monthly, gender neutral bathrooms and the Alamo Drafthouse with its architect, Richard Weiss. Plus! Richard sings Radiohead at the Statesman, and it’s totally beautiful. Andrea is the editor of TexasMonthly.com where she wrote a 40-column series called “The Manual,” offering short lessons on activities every Texan should … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #110: Andrea Valdez on being Texan, Richard Weiss on gender-neutral bathrooms"

On the show today: Austin’s “Stand Up Empire” hits TV, emo puppet band Fragile Rock, learning to love Snapchat, and our listeners get sassy. Brently Heilbron started doing stand-up comedy when he was 15 years old. Now, he hosts “Stand Up Empire,” an “Austin City Limits”-like show about the city’s comedy scene, produced by Christopher Shea. Each episode … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #109: Brently Heilbron and Christopher Shea on ‘Stand Up Empire’"

On the show today: Andy Langer! Mehcad Brooks! SUPERGIRL renewed! And a very spicy papaya salad! First up, esteemed Austin music journalist Andy Langer got his start at The Daily Texan. Now, he writes for Esquire. He also books “Blues on the Green” for his broadcast home, KGSR, emcees just about every Austin music-related awards … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #108: Andy Langer and Mehcad Brooks on Austin music & acting"

On Episode 107 of “Statesman Shots,” one of our segments led you in a Mindful Driving session with Meditation Bar’s Lauren Foreman. But that was a shortened version of our journey through Friday MoPac traffic in Austin. So here now is the fuller-length version of the session, which runs about 10 and a half minutes. … Continue reading "Shots Bonus Pod: Mindful Driving with Meditation Bar’s Lauren Foreman"

Meditation has been around for millennia, but now, it has its own bar in Austin. That’s right, a meditation…bar. Meditation Bar opened up in Austin the wake of the Paris attacks, and operated for free through 2015 as a place to offer healing. The tech crowd is going, moms and priests are going, and now … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #107: Lauren Foreman on the Meditation Bar"

In the wake of Haruka Weiser’s homicide, an uproar of social media activity emerged regarding Austin’s homeless. Part of it was a slight misunderstanding – Haruka’s alleged killer was not actually, chronically homeless, and was technically listed as a runaway with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services – but part of it was genuine concern … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #106: Alan Graham on Austin’s homeless"

On the show this week: #CakeGate, y’all. Whole Foods Market v. Pastor Jordan Brown, why we’re obsessed with viral, ragey stories like this, and how to report on still-developing stories with hateful slur-containing images. Did we (the people) effectively CSI this thing? Did they (the media) frame the story appropriately? Eric Webb, Statesman’s social media editor, … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #105: Eric Webb on covering #CakeGate & coffee fanaticism"

On Friday, we recorded a special bonus segment of “Statesman Shots” about the life and legacy of the Purple One, Prince. We spoke with our frequent guest, pop-culture critic Joe Gross, and the American-Statesman’s social media editor (and himself a pop culture expert) Eric Webb about the loss of this musical genius, what it means for … Continue reading "Shots Bonus Pod: discussing Prince’s pop life Joe Gross and Eric Webb"

On the show this week: comedian Maggie Maye, y’all! Seen her on “Conan?” Super funny, super nerdy, super sweet? She and Jim Ritts, executive director of Paramount Theater, joined us to talk about Moontower Comedy Fest and all the goodies they have planned this year, plus Moontower’s origin story and Maggie’s comic craft. (Which, apparently, involves a … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #104: Jim Ritts and Maggie Maye on Moontower Comedy Fest"

On the show this week: journalists used to be trained to keep their opinions out of the news. But now, are we seeing the opposite tendency? Do millennial reporters have to try harder to be objective? Should we still even try to be objective? Alberta Phillips, news reporter-turned-opinions writer at the Austin American-Statesman, joins us to talk … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #103: Alberta Phillips on opinions in the news, and her son Mehcad Brooks"

On the show this week: Mayor Steve Adler, people! Austin has long been a place for freaks and geeks – but are affordability woes driving them out? We ask Mayor Adler whether Austin can stay weird, even as it gets rich. Are those two things in conflict? Mayor Adler talks to us about what the city is … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #102: Mayor Steve Adler on affordability, traffic and Guns N’ Roses"

We’re back and we brought the President, folks! All right, maybe just a discussion about the POTUS, as in how did an Austin entrepreneur named Whurley (short for “William Hurley) manage to find himself the host for Barack Obama at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser earlier this month at Austin Music Hall? Whurley, the co-founder and … Continue reading "Statesman Shots #101: Whurley on bringing Obama to Austin and Honest Dollar"

What’s better than goofing around on the red carpet with Key and Peele? Nothing, that’s what. Omar was lucky enough to interview the comedic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele who were in Austin during South by Southwest for a work-in-progress screening of their upcoming comedy “Keanu,” which features an adorable kitten, code switching and … Continue reading "Shots @ SXSW 2016 #5: Laughs with Key and Peele at the ‘Keanu’ red carpet + premiere"

You’d be hard-pressed to find an Austin writer/director more beloved than Richard Linklater. Even with huge commercial successes like “Boyhood,” his filmography still retains a cult fave quality, drawing in a self-selected audience with a taste for his film themes. The passage of time. Personal stories slowly unspooling. Ethan Hawke. So perhaps it’s no surprise that Mondo – movie … Continue reading "Shots @ SXSW 2016 #4: Richard Linklater, Mondo Gallery, & other filmmakers we’d like artists to interpret"

Welcome #fsociety! On our second dispatch from South by Southwest Interactive 2016, we visit the “Mr. Robot” installation at 4th Street and Congress Ave, including the big Ferris wheel, the midway and all the Coney Island tagging. It’s for the USA Network TV show, which returns for a second season in the summer. You can … Continue reading "Shots @ SXSW 2016 #2: Hackers and unreliable narrators at ‘Mr. Robot’ Coney Island installation"

It’s not easy finding a place to stay during SXSW. Space is limited. Hotel rooms get snatched up. Fortunately, you’ve still got a last-minute option: a human-sized birdhouse. [cmg_anvato video=”3923987″] In our first “Statesman Shots” SXSW dispatch video we visited the downtown offices of HomeAway, which is auctioning off its birdhouse to one lucky SXSW … Continue reading "Shots @ SXSW 2016 #1: World’s largest human birdhouse at HomeAway"