Latest / Austin Signal / Texts show officials’ confusion amid Hill Country floods

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Texts show officials’ confusion amid Hill Country floods · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Messages from officials in Kerr
• 0:10
  County reveal confusion last
• 0:12
  July 4th, as information
• 0:14
  and misinformation spread amid the
• 0:16
  flooding that killed more than 130
• 0:18
  people, including counselors
• 0:20
  and campers at Camp Mystic.
• 0:21
  We're going to talk about those
• 0:23
  messages.
• 0:24
  And plenty more changes are coming
• 0:25
  to I-35 as work continues on
• 0:27
  overhauling the highway at the
• 0:28
  center of the city of Austin.
• 0:30
  What to expect on the roads and how
• 0:32
  it could impact your travels.
• 0:33
  That's on today's show.
• 0:36
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:38
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:40
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:41
  Plus, Alamo Drafthouse is doing away
• 0:43
  with pen and paper ordering, and
• 0:44
  folks have feelings about it.
• 0:46
  We're going to hear from them, and a
• 0:48
  chat about the TV shows you and
• 0:50
  everyone else will be talking about
• 0:52
  all year long.
• 0:54
  That is coming up next on today's
• 0:56
  Austin Signal.
• 1:06
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:07
  tuning in. This is Austin Signal
• 1:10
  here on listener-powered
• 1:11
  public radio KUT News.
• 1:14
  It is Wednesday, January 14th.
• 1:16
  I'm your host, Jerry Keconnell.
• 1:17
  Thank you for making us part of your
• 1:19
  day.
• 1:21
  A Travis County judge will decide
• 1:22
  next month whether to clear the
• 1:24
  names of four men falsely accused
• 1:25
  of Austin's yogurt shop murders.
• 1:28
  Maurice Pierce, Michael Scott,
• 1:30
  Robert Springsteen, and Forrest
• 1:31
  Wellborn were wrongly implicated
• 1:33
  in the murders of four teenage girls
• 1:34
  in the 90s.
• 1:36
  The Austin Police Department last
• 1:37
  year said it found the man
• 1:38
  responsible for the deaths of
• 1:40
  Amy Ayers, Eliza Thomas,
• 1:42
  and Sarah and Jennifer Harbison.
• 1:44
  Travis County District Attorney Jose
• 1:46
  Garza last month moved to exonerate
• 1:48
  the four men who were wrongly
• 1:49
  accused.
• 1:50
  Garza said Tuesday that Travis
• 1:52
  County Judge Dana Blasey will hear
• 1:53
  that case on February 19th.
• 1:56
  And of course, we're going to have more
• 1:57
  on that at kut.org
• 1:59
  and here on Austin Signal.
• 2:02
  Six months after a devastating flood
• 2:04
  swept through central Texas in the
• 2:05
  Hill Country, messages detailing
• 2:07
  when and how first responders
• 2:08
  reacted as the emergency was
• 2:10
  unfolding at Camp Mystic have come
• 2:12
  to light, and they highlight the
• 2:13
  confusion that unfolded over the
• 2:15
  course of that July 4th.
• 2:17
  The messages were revealed in a
• 2:18
  story co-reported by the Texas
• 2:19
  Newsroom and the Texas Tribune.
• 2:21
  For more, we are speaking with
• 2:23
  Lauren Magahee, investigative
• 2:24
  reporter and editor at the Texas
• 2:26
  newsroom. Lauren, thanks for coming
• 2:27
  on the show.
• 2:27
  Thanks for having me, Jerry.
• 2:29
  So these messages were revealed
• 2:31
  in the story.
• 2:32
  When did y'all first ask for these
• 2:33
  messages?
• 2:34
  A long time ago, we asked
• 2:36
  for them, I think that first week
• 2:38
  after the July 4th floods,
• 2:40
  and we had to fight for them
• 2:42
  for several months.
• 2:43
  The county repeatedly delayed
• 2:45
  their release and then eventually
• 2:47
  charged us several hundred
• 2:49
  dollars to get them.
• 2:50
  And finally we did and were able
• 2:52
  to, you know,
• 2:54
  see hundreds of back and forth
• 2:56
  messages between the county's top
• 2:57
  leaders just right there in
• 3:00
  as they were responding the floods
• 3:01
  on July 4th.
• 3:02
  And, of course, we're here in a big
• 3:03
  city, Austin, in Travis County.
• 3:05
  I think it's worth reminding
• 3:06
  listeners who might not be familiar,
• 3:08
  Kerr County, pretty tiny county in
• 3:09
  comparison to other counties across
• 3:11
  the state, yes?
• 3:12
  Yeah, that's right.
• 3:12
  And you know, the floods didn't just
• 3:14
  affect Kerr County.
• 3:15
  Obviously, we saw effects
• 3:17
  of the floods here in Travis County.
• 3:20
  You know, this this storm was
• 3:21
  historic. It was it was deadly.
• 3:23
  But we wanted to focus on
• 3:25
  seeing if we could learn more
• 3:26
  specifically about what county
• 3:28
  leaders knew right in that 24 hours
• 3:30
  as the flood was happening and
• 3:32
  how they responded.
• 3:33
  Yeah, you mentioned this storm was
• 3:35
  historic.
• 3:36
  It was obviously a very chaotic
• 3:37
  situation that morning and that day
• 3:39
  in the Hill Country.
• 3:40
  So from the messages that you all
• 3:42
  got, were officials in Kerr
• 3:44
  County on the same page that
• 3:45
  morning?
• 3:46
  You know, we didn't want to make
• 3:48
  a lot of value judgments about what
• 3:50
  we saw in the text messages.
• 3:52
  Our number one goal with publishing
• 3:55
  these hundreds of text messages
• 3:56
  was to get them out into the public
• 3:58
  domain.
• 3:59
  There are lawsuits that parents have
• 4:01
  filed against Camp Mystic.
• 4:02
  There's discussions about how this
• 4:03
  could have been done better.
• 4:04
  And so we want people to have access
• 4:05
  to those. What we did see in
• 4:07
  the messages is there was a lot
• 4:09
  confusion about how to respond,
• 4:12
  when to respond.
• 4:13
  And in particular with Camp Mystics,
• 4:15
  county leaders really struggled to
• 4:17
  find out anything that was going on
• 4:19
  there for you know more than twelve
• 4:21
  hours they they were struggling
• 4:23
  to understand if anyone
• 4:25
  had died uh...
• 4:26
  Let alone how many people were
• 4:27
  missing and that hampered their
• 4:29
  ability to get that information to
• 4:31
  the public and to parents
• 4:32
  Yeah, you mentioned a little bit
• 4:33
  there of why the Texas Tribune
• 4:35
  and the Texas Newsroom wanted
• 4:38
  to get these messages out.
• 4:39
  Can you just speak a little more
• 4:40
  about that?
• 4:41
  Yeah, you know, we reached out
• 4:43
  to the parents that have sued
• 4:45
  the camps over this, and we reached
• 4:47
  to the camp's lawyers about what we
• 4:49
  saw in these messages, kind of
• 4:50
  asking them, like, what does this
• 4:52
  tell you about what happened in
• 4:54
  those first 24 hours?
• 4:55
  The camp responded and said, hey,
• 4:57
  look, maybe they weren't getting
• 4:58
  this, maybe it doesn't appear that
• 5:00
  they were getting information from
• 5:01
  us. We were focused on what was
• 5:02
  going on on the ground.
• 5:03
  We were, you now, focused on what
• 5:05
  was happening right in front of our
• 5:06
  eyes, trying to find people,
• 5:08
  rescue people.
• 5:09
  And I hope that these
• 5:11
  text messages provide a little bit
• 5:13
  more context to elected
• 5:15
  officials about what might have
• 5:17
  been able to be done better
• 5:19
  in terms of communication.
• 5:21
  There's a lot of back and forth in
• 5:22
  the thread about who's doing
• 5:24
  what, where, and when, where they're
• 5:26
  going to get information, what
• 5:28
  information is going to be official
• 5:29
  that should be released to the
• 5:30
  public, and hopefully they will
• 5:32
  shed some light to policymakers on.
• 5:34
  How to tighten things up in
• 5:36
  the event that we have another, you
• 5:37
  know, historic weather event,
• 5:39
  which we unfortunately probably will
• 5:41
  at some point.
• 5:42
  Yeah, it's very likely.
• 5:44
  Again, you can read these messages
• 5:45
  over at KUT.org and we're going to
• 5:47
  have the story in our
• 5:49
  show notes. Yesterday we heard a
• 5:50
  story from the Texas newsroom's Lucy
• 5:52
  Ovasquez checking in six months on
• 5:54
  from the flooding.
• 5:55
  I just wanted to ask you, what else
• 5:57
  is the Texas Newsroom working on in
• 5:59
  regards to following up on these
• 6:01
  floods from last July?
• 6:03
  Yeah, we, you know, we and
• 6:04
  other news outlets are still combing
• 6:06
  through 911 calls.
• 6:08
  There's been some reporting from
• 6:09
  some other outlets on what they've
• 6:11
  heard in those calls.
• 6:12
  We want to go a little bit deeper
• 6:13
  and see what we can find out about
• 6:15
  water rescues from those.
• 6:17
  There does appear to be a lot of
• 6:19
  confusion in those call about
• 6:20
  whether first responders were
• 6:22
  able to get directly to people who
• 6:24
  were calling in to the
• 6:26
  county sheriff and to 911.
• 6:27
  You know, again,
• 6:29
  these are hundreds of audio
• 6:31
  recordings and As you can imagine,
• 6:33
  they're terrible.
• 6:36
  And so we're hoping to see if we can
• 6:38
  glean anything from the public about
• 6:40
  how those responses could
• 6:42
  be improved in future.
• 6:43
  Okay, well, as that reporting
• 6:44
  continues to unfold, we will bring
• 6:46
  it here on Austin Signal to
• 6:49
  you. We have been speaking with
• 6:50
  Lauren McGahee, an investigative
• 6:51
  reporter and editor with the Texas
• 6:53
  Newsroom.
• 6:54
  Thank you for your reporting.
• 6:55
  Thanks for coming on the show.
• 6:56
  You're welcome.
• 7:04
  If you're driving around right now
• 7:06
  and listening to us, first off,
• 7:07
  thanks, either live on the podcast,
• 7:09
  you probably, or you might be on
• 7:11
  I-35 right now, or at least thinking
• 7:13
  about ways to avoid it or being
• 7:15
  grateful that you're not anywhere
• 7:17
  near I- 35.
• 7:18
  All that to say I-35 is on
• 7:20
  everyone's mind here, especially in
• 7:22
  central Texas where major
• 7:23
  construction to the interstate is
• 7:25
  coming our way this year.
• 7:27
  So what can we expect and
• 7:28
  when? Well, we've got KUT's
• 7:30
  transportation reporter Nathan
• 7:32
  Bernier. Here to talk us through it
• 7:33
  all. Nathan, thanks for coming on
• 7:34
  the show. Hey, Jerry.
• 7:37
  So what's going on?
• 7:38
  What are we building here?
• 7:39
  Remind us about the overhaul that's
• 7:40
  happening at 35.
• 7:41
  Yeah, it's big.
• 7:43
  So throughout Travis County, they're
• 7:44
  expanding I-35 from Williamson
• 7:46
  to Hayes, and it's split into three
• 7:48
  sections. So you have North,
• 7:49
  Central, and South.
• 7:51
  South, two elevated express
• 7:53
  lanes in both directions, HOV
• 7:55
  lanes in both directions and untold.
• 7:57
  That's what those columns going
• 7:59
  up in the middle of I- 35 in South
• 8:01
  Austin are all about.
• 8:02
  And a bunch of other stuff too.
• 8:03
  North, it is like one
• 8:05
  HOV lane in each direction, of
• 8:07
  course, they're also rebuilding
• 8:09
  bridges and adding sidewalks
• 8:11
  and things like that as well,
• 8:12
  widening the highway.
• 8:14
  The biggest piece of this, of,
• 8:16
  course, is central,
• 8:18
  and that's from Ben White Boulevard
• 8:20
  to U.S. 290 East,
• 8:22
  two HOV lanes in each
• 8:24
  section. They're lowering the main
• 8:26
  lanes of the highway from Holley to
• 8:27
  Airport, building
• 8:29
  new bridges.
• 8:31
  Do sidewalks and a whole bunch of
• 8:33
  other stuff, but the main purpose of
• 8:34
  this is to add capacity to the
• 8:36
  highway in the form of those HOV
• 8:38
  lanes.
• 8:38
  Yeah, and also putting most
• 8:40
  of the highway, or a good chunk of
• 8:41
  the highway, going underground
• 8:43
  with the highway.
• 8:43
  Not under, well, low, I
• 8:45
  always struggle with how to word
• 8:46
  this. Like they're sinking the main
• 8:48
  lanes, but not necessarily covering
• 8:50
  them. That's up to the city of
• 8:51
  Austin.
• 8:52
  Right now, the city council is
• 8:53
  debating how much of this do we
• 8:55
  want to cover? And they could build
• 8:56
  parks on top of the highway, but
• 8:58
  that will be up to the city
• 9:00
  taxpayer to foot that bill.
• 9:01
  Okay.
• 9:02
  Okay, so there's a lot going on as
• 9:03
  you can tell.
• 9:05
  Can you talk us through some of the
• 9:06
  timeline, what we might be looking
• 9:07
  like or looking at in
• 9:09
  2026?
• 9:10
  And this is
• 9:10
  going to be a big year for this
• 9:12
  highway project.
• 9:14
  And so I got some rough estimates.
• 9:15
  I mean, the text dot can't provide
• 9:17
  specific dates, uh, until they
• 9:19
  get closer to these projects, but
• 9:20
  some of the.
• 9:20
  The construction projects usually
• 9:22
  run exactly as they're scheduled,
• 9:24
  Nathan. To the second.
• 9:25
  Yeah, exactly. I mean, you can set your...
• 9:25
  I mean, you can set your stopwatch,
• 9:26
  your watch to it.
• 9:27
  But yeah, no, so in the early part
• 9:29
  of the year, some of the stuff we're
• 9:30
  gonna see here is work
• 9:32
  on that bridge over
• 9:35
  Lady Bird Lake, that
• 9:37
  crossing. One of the interesting
• 9:38
  things, because they're gonna be
• 9:39
  rebuilding that bridge from east to
• 9:41
  west, somewhere
• 9:43
  sometime before March,
• 9:45
  TxDOT plans to limit
• 9:48
  passage under the bridge to
• 9:50
  a 75 foot wide passage.
• 9:51
  So if you, you know, ride a boat on
• 9:53
  the lake.
• 9:53
  It's gonna be a 75 foot wide
• 9:55
  passage.
• 9:56
  The first thing they're gonna start
• 9:57
  doing is they're going to close
• 10:00
  the eastern
• 10:02
  most sidewalk over the bridge.
• 10:04
  And that's in preparation,
• 10:07
  partly in preparation to build a
• 10:09
  new standalone pedestrian
• 10:11
  bridge over Lady Bird Lake East.
• 10:13
  That's the first thing that's gonna,
• 10:15
  they're they're, gonna start working
• 10:16
  on that in the
• 10:18
  summer at some point.
• 10:19
  Also, one of the big things
• 10:21
  they're going to start doing is
• 10:22
  actually boring a massive
• 10:24
  tunnel beneath I-35,
• 10:26
  and eventually that's going to go
• 10:28
  down Cesar Chavez Street.
• 10:30
  That's going to be 22 feet
• 10:32
  in diameter, and that's gonna be a
• 10:33
  big drainage tunnel, because to
• 10:35
  lower those main lanes when it
• 10:36
  rains, we live in Flash Flood Alley,
• 10:38
  that water's got to go somewhere,
• 10:40
  that's the purpose of that tunnel.
• 10:41
  So you may have seen the big drop
• 10:42
  shafts they've already started
• 10:44
  working on.
• 10:45
  The tunnel boring machine is going
• 10:46
  to get here in the spring, And then
• 10:48
  there gets from Germany.
• 10:49
  Going to assemble it, they're going
• 10:50
  to start boring.
• 10:51
  And then a lot of work on the Martin
• 10:53
  Luther King Jr.
• 10:54
  Bridge.
• 10:56
  They expect that bridge actually
• 10:58
  to be done sometime between July
• 11:00
  and September.
• 11:01
  Oh, okay.
• 11:02
  And a bunch of other little things
• 11:04
  as well. You know, people always ask
• 11:06
  when are they going to tear down the
• 11:07
  upper decks, because that's part of
• 11:09
  this project as well?
• 11:12
  They're probably not
• 11:13
  this year, maybe in 2027.
• 11:15
  It's not till like late October
• 11:17
  or December that they're to bring.
• 11:19
  Contractor on board for that segment
• 11:21
  of I-35, but that's something else.
• 11:23
  And they'll do that one
• 11:25
  side, they'll tear down one side and
• 11:27
  then shift traffic over,
• 11:29
  you know, and then they'll
• 11:31
  tear down the other side.
• 11:32
  Like they always do, but always
• 11:33
  three lanes open in each direction,
• 11:36
  three main lanes open each direction
• 11:37
  except for maybe a few nighttime
• 11:39
  closures here and there.
• 11:40
  Okie dokie, well yeah, lots to look
• 11:42
  forward to in 2026, and you know
• 11:44
  that we'll be bringing Nathan back
• 11:45
  on the show to talk you through
• 11:47
  everything. He is QUT's
• 11:48
  transportation reporter, and we
• 11:50
  appreciate your time, Nathan.
• 11:51
  Thanks, Jerry.
• 11:58
  If you've been to an Alamo
• 11:59
  Drafthouse cinema recently, you
• 12:01
  might have heard Dolly Parton tell
• 12:03
  the crowd to turn them phones off
• 12:05
  before the lights go down and the
• 12:06
  movie starts.
• 12:07
  But as KUT's Katy McAfee
• 12:09
  tells us, changes coming to the
• 12:11
  Dine-In theaters will now require
• 12:12
  phone usage to order food,
• 12:14
  drinks, or request service.
• 12:17
  Pulling your phone out during a
• 12:19
  movie has always been a big no-no
• 12:21
  at Alamo Drafthouse.
• 12:22
  In fact, you can't get to the start
• 12:24
  of the movie without hearing a PSA
• 12:25
  from a celebrity.
• 12:26
  Matthew, they don't like telephones
• 12:29
  at the Alamo Drafthouse, apparently.
• 12:31
  No, no, no no no.
• 12:34
  And those announcements haven't
• 12:35
  always been so cheery.
• 12:37
  In 2013, then-Austin
• 12:39
  Mayor Lee Leffingwell said if he
• 12:41
  hears about people leaving their
• 12:42
  phones on during a movie...
• 12:43
  I will work to destroy them.
• 12:47
  But a new mobile ordering policy
• 12:49
  might loosen the reigns on phones
• 12:51
  in the theater.
• 12:52
  Starting in mid-February, instead of
• 12:54
  ordering food and drinks on pen and
• 12:56
  paper, guests will place orders
• 12:58
  through the company's app before and
• 13:00
  during the movie.
• 13:01
  In a press release, Alamo Drafthouse
• 13:02
  said, the new system will be more
• 13:04
  efficient and cause less
• 13:06
  disruptions.
• 13:07
  A company spokesperson said, the app
• 13:09
  has dark screen technology,
• 13:11
  which is designed to work at a low
• 13:12
  brightness level.
• 13:13
  And talking, texting, or
• 13:15
  scrolling on social media will still
• 13:17
  be strictly enforced.
• 13:19
  But movie buffs aren't convinced.
• 13:21
  A Change.org petition asking Alamo
• 13:23
  Drafthouse leadership to reinstate
• 13:25
  analog ordering has reached over
• 13:27
  1,000 signatures in just a couple
• 13:29
  of days.
• 13:30
  A post about the new ordering system
• 13:31
  on Austin's subreddit received over
• 13:33
  1 ,000 upvotes and hundreds
• 13:35
  of comments calling the changes,
• 13:37
  quote, devastating and genuinely
• 13:39
  terrible.
• 13:40
  Julian Singleton, an Austin-based
• 13:42
  film critic and frequent Alamo
• 13:43
  Drafthouse patron, says the change
• 13:45
  is bound to cause distractions.
• 13:47
  You have to turn on your phone,
• 13:49
  which is not automatically on the
• 13:51
  app. Like if I turn on my
• 13:53
  phone, it doesn't pull up a dark
• 13:54
  screen. It'll pull up that giant
• 13:55
  bright picture of two of my dogs.
• 13:57
  Not everyone is convinced the move
• 13:59
  is good for staff, either.
• 14:01
  According to the company, no
• 14:02
  employees will be laid off due to
• 14:03
  the changes, and a spokesperson says
• 14:05
  all base wages for current staff
• 14:07
  will stay the same.
• 14:08
  But former Alamo Drafthouse server,
• 14:10
  Tad Kistner, wonders about the
• 14:12
  impact on morale.
• 14:13
  I have a feeling they're going to
• 14:14
  have a lot of people quit.
• 14:15
  You know, I don't think they'll be
• 14:16
  laying off anyone because I think
• 14:19
  people will be not wanting to do
• 14:21
  this anymore.
• 14:22
  Kissner, who worked at the cinema
• 14:23
  for about four years, said he left
• 14:25
  after he saw Alamo Drafthouse
• 14:27
  becoming, quote, very corporate.
• 14:29
  That was before the company was
• 14:31
  bought by Sony Pictures
• 14:32
  Entertainment in 2024.
• 14:34
  His main gripe about the new
• 14:35
  ordering policy, he says it'll
• 14:37
  make going to the movies feel more
• 14:39
  transactional.
• 14:40
  As the server, I enjoyed meeting
• 14:42
  the people before the movie and
• 14:43
  talking about the movie or even as
• 14:45
  a movie goer, talking to some of the
• 14:48
  employees about what's coming up,
• 14:50
  you know, it was a good way to
• 14:52
  spread the word.
• 14:53
  Whether the mobile ordering policy
• 14:54
  will minimize or add distractions
• 14:56
  is yet to be seen.
• 14:58
  Alamo Drafthouse will begin rolling
• 15:00
  out the new system in mid-February
• 15:01
  at theaters nationwide.
• 15:03
  I'm Katy McAfee in Austin.
• 15:14
  Thank you for making Austin Signal
• 15:15
  part of your Wednesday afternoon.
• 15:19
  You're listening to us here on KUT
• 15:21
  News 90.5,
• 15:23
  on the KUT app, and online
• 15:25
  at KUT.org.
• 15:27
  And if you have an appointment
• 15:29
  at 1 o'clock, maybe you're doing
• 15:31
  some online ordering at Alamo at a
• 15:33
  movie at 1 O'clock.
• 15:34
  Don't worry.
• 15:35
  You can still get Austin Signal
• 15:36
  wherever you listen to
• 15:38
  your shows, and you can
• 15:40
  Find all of our episodes at KUT.
• 15:44
  Talking movies
• 15:47
  before this, talking TV
• 15:49
  after this break.
• 16:00
  This is Austin Signal.
• 16:01
  Thank you for tuning in today.
• 16:03
  Well, we are a couple of weeks into
• 16:04
  the new year and perhaps you're
• 16:06
  getting back into your routine and
• 16:08
  you're looking for something to
• 16:10
  watch to add to your evening
• 16:11
  viewings.
• 16:12
  But we gotta talk about the most
• 16:13
  anticipated shows of the year and
• 16:15
  who better to do that with than
• 16:17
  the folks at ATX TV Fest.
• 16:19
  Now joining us today is Kaelyn
• 16:21
  Montoya, social media manager
• 16:23
  of ATXTV.
• 16:24
  Kaelyn, thanks for joining us on
• 16:25
  Austin Signal!
• 16:26
  Thanks so much for having me.
• 16:27
  So I'm sure there
• 16:29
  are tons of shows that you know
• 16:30
  about that are gonna be launching
• 16:32
  this year or coming back this year.
• 16:33
  So first off, let's just talk about
• 16:35
  the one that is your most
• 16:36
  anticipated show of 2026.
• 16:38
  Yeah, so I am really excited.
• 16:40
  So this was announced not that
• 16:42
  long ago, but Ted Lasso,
• 16:44
  season four.
• 16:45
  Oh really?
• 16:46
  Which is huge.
• 16:46
  Ted Lass is coming back.
• 16:48
  Ted Lasser is a big hit around this
• 16:49
  newsroom.
• 16:50
  I thought he was done for.
• 16:51
  I think that's what we all thought.
• 16:53
  We thought that I think they said
• 16:54
  they weren't going to do a season
• 16:56
  four and then mid
• 16:57
  2025 they confirmed that they were
• 16:59
  in the works with season four.
• 17:01
  Okay.
• 17:02
  Coming back with Ted himself
• 17:04
  and the AFC Richmond
• 17:06
  like universe.
• 17:07
  But it sounds like he'll be teaching
• 17:09
  or coaching a
• 17:11
  women's division team.
• 17:13
  So it very exciting new
• 17:15
  team and I don't know what
• 17:17
  to expect from it.
• 17:18
  All I know is I love Ted Lasso,
• 17:20
  believe is probably like
• 17:22
  top of four of my mind all the
• 17:24
  time. And I think everyone's
• 17:26
  super excited. We don't have a lot
• 17:27
  of details about it yet, but.
• 17:29
  Uh, we're anticipating it'll be out
• 17:31
  this year or early next year,
• 17:33
  but I'm really thinking it'll be
• 17:34
  late this year and I'm excited
• 17:36
  for it.
• 17:36
  Okay, we'll see if Ted Lasso
• 17:38
  can handle this new challenge thrown
• 17:40
  his way.
• 17:41
  Tell us about another one that
• 17:42
  you're excited about.
• 17:42
  So The Pit, it was actually
• 17:44
  named ATX TV's top
• 17:46
  show of the year for 2025.
• 17:49
  Our members, our
• 17:51
  own like programming and
• 17:53
  staff voted and
• 17:55
  the fans, I mean, it just won a
• 17:56
  global, a Golden Globe, sorry.
• 17:58
  That's right, that was its best Sunday,
• 17:59
  right? Yeah, best TV drama.
• 18:01
  It's actually back, it already came
• 18:02
  back last week, I believe.
• 18:05
  And I mean if
• 18:07
  you want like drama,
• 18:09
  like sharp drama, you want real time
• 18:11
  stress and You just love
• 18:13
  the world of like ER and medical and
• 18:15
  just the topics that they're
• 18:16
  hitting. It's such a great show.
• 18:18
  It's captivated, I think, all of its
• 18:20
  audience.
• 18:21
  And it also didn't take a long time
• 18:23
  to come back, which I think is huge
• 18:25
  when a show with that momentum and
• 18:27
  love comes back within, I believe
• 18:29
  it was like 10 months.
• 18:31
  I mean, I was ready.
• 18:32
  For sure. It's going to be, I think
• 18:33
  it's going to be a phenomenal
• 18:35
  season.
• 18:36
  And I could see it on everyone's top
• 18:38
  list again this year.
• 18:39
  Okay, well completely unrelated to
• 18:41
  shows taking forever to come back,
• 18:42
  let's talk about Game of Thrones.
• 18:44
  I'm a really bad TV watcher, right
• 18:46
  now I'm re-watching The Wire on
• 18:48
  HBO Max, so before
• 18:50
  I start every episode I'm seeing a
• 18:52
  preview for this Game of Thrones
• 18:53
  spinoff. I gotta admit, the first
• 18:54
  time I saw it I wasn't
• 18:56
  paying attention, so I thought it
• 18:58
  was kind of satirical, it looked
• 19:00
  kind of funny, the people looked
• 19:01
  really pale.
• 19:02
  What's the deal?
• 19:03
  Is this a serious spinof?
• 19:04
  Yeah, so this is a prequel
• 19:06
  to the original Game of Thrones that
• 19:08
  we know. So this happens a
• 19:10
  hundred years before,
• 19:12
  so a century before, and I think it
• 19:14
  focuses more on like the common
• 19:16
  people of the show.
• 19:19
  So we're not going to be looking at
• 19:21
  the noble families in the way that
• 19:22
  we do Game of Thrones and even
• 19:24
  House of Dragons, which is also set
• 19:26
  to come back this year.
• 19:28
  That's on Amazon, correct?
• 19:30
  That's the other one?
• 19:30
  HBO Max.
• 19:31
  HBO Max.
• 19:32
  Okay, it's the same. This is all the
• 19:33
  same universe.
• 19:34
  Like I said, I'm not a TV person.
• 19:35
  No, all good.
• 19:37
  House of Dragons takes place, I
• 19:39
  think it's 200 years
• 19:41
  plus before.
• 19:42
  And then you'll have this prequel
• 19:44
  to Game of Thrones, but that
• 19:46
  actually takes place after House of
• 19:47
  Dragon. So a lot to
• 19:49
  keep up with there.
• 19:51
  But this will focus more on
• 19:53
  like the day to day of the
• 19:54
  folks living in Westeros and
• 19:56
  not necessarily all of the noble
• 19:58
  fighting that happens and
• 20:00
  that we're used to in Game of
• 20:01
  Throne. So this will be a little bit
• 20:02
  more story driven and character
• 20:04
  driven.
• 20:05
  Uh, versus the more
• 20:07
  fantasy war-driven
• 20:09
  dragons, the fun, exciting.
• 20:11
  So I am curious how they're going
• 20:13
  to balance that, uh, with
• 20:15
  story driving versus magical,
• 20:17
  you know, fantasy creatures
• 20:19
  and how it'll do.
• 20:20
  But we are very excited for that one
• 20:22
  too.
• 20:22
  Okay, well, this is a town that
• 20:23
  enjoys its TV, but TV
• 20:25
  is also produced around here
• 20:27
  made right here in Austin
• 20:29
  There's a show that's coming back.
• 20:31
  The first season was filmed here in
• 20:33
  Austin, correct?
• 20:34
  Yes. So tell us more about the
• 20:35
  series of the show
• 20:36
  Yeah, so the last thing he told
• 20:38
  me was actually a book by
• 20:40
  Laura Dave, and it filmed
• 20:42
  its first season here in Austin.
• 20:44
  The book takes place here.
• 20:45
  And it actually had some
• 20:47
  scenes at UT and down
• 20:49
  Congress and all of our famous,
• 20:51
  like well-spotted
• 20:54
  areas in town.
• 20:55
  Season one was very good.
• 20:56
  It's about the disappearance of
• 20:59
  her husband, and she's
• 21:00
  now left with his daughter and
• 21:02
  trying to understand the mystery of
• 21:04
  what happened to him.
• 21:06
  Really his past before
• 21:08
  she knew him.
• 21:10
  And we see a lot of Austin in that
• 21:11
  and it's really cool.
• 21:13
  They're, they just announced season
• 21:14
  two. I don't think it'll take place
• 21:16
  in town.
• 21:17
  It's called the first time I saw
• 21:18
  him, which is the sequel of
• 21:20
  the book as well.
• 21:22
  And I think if you want to
• 21:23
  watch season two, you'll have to
• 21:25
  watch, season one.
• 21:25
  That makes sense, yeah.
• 21:27
  You'd want to catch up and
• 21:28
  especially to catch all of the
• 21:30
  Austin locations that you might be
• 21:31
  able to catch in that show.
• 21:33
  Okay, last question before you get
• 21:34
  out of here.
• 21:35
  There's been a sort of a big
• 21:36
  surprise TV hit, everyone.
• 21:38
  Certainly in this newsroom is
• 21:39
  talking about it. It's called Heated
• 21:41
  Rivalry. In fact, there's a pair of
• 21:43
  hockey sticks in the KUT newsroom
• 21:44
  now. I don't even know what the...
• 21:45
  I'm sure that's related to that.
• 21:47
  I admit I haven't seen it yet, so if
• 21:50
  anyone out there is listening,
• 21:51
  please don't email me with
• 21:54
  is an adaptation of a book and
• 21:56
  I know that you have a couple of
• 21:58
  other adaptations on your list
• 22:00
  as well, right?
• 22:01
  Yes, so I have also not
• 22:03
  watched Heated Rivalry yet, which my
• 22:05
  friends are giving me so much flack
• 22:06
  for.
• 22:08
  Lots of TV to be watched, people,
• 22:09
  come on.
• 22:10
  I have a cue and I've been trying,
• 22:12
  you know, it's a lot to go through
• 22:14
  and I want to really dedicate some
• 22:15
  time, but we have Imperfect Women
• 22:17
  is coming out early spring,
• 22:19
  which is actually with Kerry
• 22:20
  Washington, Elizabeth Moth
• 22:22
  and Kate Mara, which also
• 22:25
  based on a book and it's going to be
• 22:26
  a thriller.
• 22:27
  And we also have Margo's Got Money
• 22:29
  Problems, which should be really fun
• 22:30
  and comes with a stacked cast.
• 22:32
  We have Elle Fanning in it.
• 22:34
  We have Michelle Pfeiffer, Nicole
• 22:36
  Kidman and Nick Offerman in
• 22:38
  it And that is also
• 22:40
  a TV to book adaptation or book
• 22:42
  to TV adaptation.
• 22:43
  We're seeing a lot of those right
• 22:44
  now. We just had the people we meet
• 22:46
  on vacation came out last week,
• 22:48
  which is a movie.
• 22:49
  And with the summer I turned pretty,
• 22:51
  there's a lot of really
• 22:53
  good books being turned into TV,
• 22:54
  which I love because I'm an avid
• 22:56
  reader. I run a book club.
• 22:58
  So this is fun for me.
• 22:59
  Our conversations are lively
• 23:01
  and heated as everyone's comparing
• 23:03
  the two. So it's making for a really
• 23:04
  good conversation, which I think
• 23:06
  heated rivalry has also done.
• 23:07
  Excellent. Well, we'll have more
• 23:09
  about these shows in our
• 23:11
  show notes here at Austin Signal.
• 23:13
  We've been speaking with Kaelyn
• 23:14
  Montoya. She is the social media
• 23:16
  manager for ATX TV.
• 23:18
  This year's festival is happening
• 23:19
  May 28th through 31st.
• 23:22
  Again, we're going to have a link at
• 23:23
  kut.org slash
• 23:24
  signal and in our podcast
• 23:26
  show notes. Kaelyn, thanks for
• 23:28
  coming on the show.
• 23:29
  Thanks for having me.
• 23:30
  And that's it for today's episode
• 23:32
  of Austin Signal.
• 23:34
  Thank you to Nathan Bernier,
• 23:36
  Lauren McGaughy, Katy McAfee,
• 23:38
  and Kaelyn Montoya for making it
• 23:40
  happen.
• 23:41
  Kristen Cabrera is our managing
• 23:43
  producer, and Rayna Sevilla is
• 23:45
  our technical director.
• 23:46
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano, and
• 23:48
  we'll talk to you tomorrow.