Latest / Austin Signal / What next after UT Austin fires KUT head Debbie Hiott

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What next after UT Austin fires KUT head Debbie Hiott · Austin Signal

0:08
KUT public media general manager
0:10
Debbie Hyatt was fired Monday by
0:12
leadership at UT Austin.
0:14
The dismissal followed a dispute
0:15
ahead of KUT's inaugural festival in
0:18
May, and comes at a time when public
0:19
radio stations across the country
0:21
are dealing with mounting financial
0:22
and political pressures.
0:24
The university named today an
0:26
interim general manager to lead the
0:28
station going forward.
0:29
We'll tell you what we know about
0:30
the firing and the new leader,
0:32
coming up on today's show.
0:33
The Austin Signal is a production
0:35
of KUT News, hosted by
0:37
Jerry Quijano.
0:39
And the firing has raised questions
0:40
from listeners and readers about how
0:42
KUT and the university are
0:44
connected, and how monetary
0:46
donations to the stations impact
0:48
the university.
0:49
We're going to answer those
0:50
questions and bring you the latest
0:51
on this developing story.
0:53
That is up next, it's right here
0:55
on Austin Signal.
1:07
This is Austin Signal.
1:09
It is Tuesday, June 16th.
1:10
I'm your host, Jerry Kikono.
1:12
Thank you for being with us today.
1:14
Leadership at the University of
1:16
Texas at Austin on Monday fired KUT
1:18
Public Media's general manager,
1:20
Debbie Hyatt.
1:21
The Texas newsroom's Nina Satija,
1:23
investigative reporter and editor,
1:24
has been reporting on this
1:26
developing story and she is here
1:27
with us now.
1:28
Nina, thanks for being here.
1:30
Thanks so much for having me.
1:31
So this all happened
1:33
really quickly yesterday afternoon.
1:34
I got an email about 3.30 with the
1:36
news. Can you tell us what exactly
1:37
happened with Debbie's firing?
1:40
Debbie told me in a phone interview
1:42
yesterday that she was
1:44
invited to a meeting with the
1:45
interim dean of the Moody College of
1:47
Communications.
1:48
That's the department that houses
1:49
KUT.
1:51
On Monday morning, that was
1:51
yesterday morning. So she got this
1:53
invite. She wondered if that
1:55
meant she might be about to be
1:56
fired.
1:57
A few hours later, she attended this
1:59
meeting with the Interim
2:01
Dean of Moody college and she
2:03
was presented with the option to
2:04
either resign or be fired
2:06
And what was the reasoning for that
2:09
being on the table?
2:11
Debbie says that according to
2:13
her resignation letter, or I'm
2:15
sorry, to the termination letter
2:16
that they gave her a chance to look
2:18
at,
2:20
the firing is because of
2:22
her performance.
2:24
And we have a little bit of tape
2:25
from that. Let's listen to it real
2:26
quick.
2:27
A letter from the dean to me
2:29
saying that because
2:31
of planning
2:33
problems with the KUT
2:35
festival and
2:37
security issues and
2:42
my behavior after
2:43
we were told we would have
2:45
to relocate the festival that
2:48
she had lost her
2:50
faith in my ability, my leadership
2:53
of the station.
2:56
That's right, so basically a job
2:57
performance issue, as the letter
2:59
sort of describes, and it has to
3:01
do with this weeks old by now
3:03
dispute over the planning and the
3:05
running and the location of the KUT
3:07
Festival.
3:08
And that letter was sent by the
3:10
interim dean. What did they have to
3:11
say about this?
3:12
You know, we all had a chance to
3:14
talk to the interim dean at
3:16
a meeting this morning.
3:18
That's KUT staff and KUTX staff.
3:21
She did own the decision for
3:22
deciding to fire Debbie Hyatt,
3:25
but she would not comment on
3:27
why we pointed out.
3:29
I pointed out that I thought that
3:30
was interesting.
3:31
She said, you know, the university
3:32
doesn't comment on employment
3:34
matters, but the reality is the
3:35
university publicly shared a
3:37
letter they had sent to Debbie Hyat
3:39
weeks ago, accusing her of making
3:41
false statements related to the
3:42
festival and kind of accusing
3:44
her of a whole host of things
3:45
related to poor planning.
3:47
So we couldn't really square this
3:49
understanding of, well, we don't
3:50
comment on personnel matters, but we
3:52
did make this letter public weeks
3:54
ago, you know,
3:56
regarding allegations about Debbie
3:57
Hyatt's job performance.
3:58
So we don't really know what to make
4:00
of that.
4:01
That was the interim dean.
4:02
What about other university
4:03
leadership have we heard from
4:04
anybody else?
4:05
I reached out to the University of
4:07
Texas at Austin spokesperson, Mike
4:09
Rosen. He also said the university
4:10
doesn't comment on employment
4:12
matters.
4:13
But the dean, of course, did
4:14
announce to us that we have a
4:16
new interim general manager.
4:18
His name is Gerald Johnson.
4:20
He is the interim general manger.
4:23
He is currently the
4:25
executive director for innovation
4:26
and partnerships at the Moody
4:27
College. And he's worked with
4:29
KUT and even with Debbie Hyatt
4:31
before.
4:32
So, he's going to be,
4:34
as he described to us during the
4:35
staff meeting, leading us through
4:37
this transition for at
4:39
least three months, that's according
4:41
to him.
4:42
Was there anything else that he said
4:43
during that meeting that stood out
4:44
to you?
4:46
He told us that he does not
4:47
anticipate further changes
4:50
to the way we do our jobs, or any
4:52
changes to the ways we do jobs at
4:54
KUT. Now we don't really know,
4:55
you know, that's just what he said.
4:57
He also vowed that
4:59
we would be able to remain
5:00
editorially independent and continue
5:02
our operations, and that
5:04
he had been given authorization to
5:05
immediately start a search for the
5:07
new general manager.
5:09
So those are the things that
5:11
he was trying to emphasize that we
5:13
would continue to be able to
5:16
be KUT, be KutNews
5:17
and KutX just as we have been,
5:20
despite this very unsettling
5:22
development for the whole staff.
5:24
And so we'll just see how that plays
5:25
out.
5:26
This has been a developing story
5:28
for almost 24 hours
5:30
now, and you are
5:32
reporting on it. Lots of members of
5:33
the KUT newsroom have been reporting
5:35
on, and you were basically reporting
5:36
on it as you came into the studio
5:37
today. What other questions are you
5:39
and other reporters following up on
5:40
right now?
5:42
We have a lot of questions.
5:43
I think we are interested in what's
5:45
going to happen to the station.
5:47
What's the future of KUT?
5:49
KUT is entirely funded by community
5:51
and business donations, even though
5:53
it is housed on UT's campus.
5:54
And so what happens to those
5:56
donations?
5:58
How do the station's
6:00
business operations sort of maintain
6:01
that continuity and make members
6:03
feel like they should keep donating?
6:04
And then we also still want to
6:06
understand what actually happened
6:07
here.
6:08
I've already done some reporting
6:10
indicating that.
6:11
We just don't have a lot of evidence
6:13
for what the university has been
6:14
saying about the planning of the KUT
6:16
Festival.
6:17
And if anything, we've gotten
6:18
records indicating the opposite of
6:20
what the University has claimed.
6:22
And so we are still reporting that
6:24
out and trying to figure out what
6:25
actually happened there.
6:26
Was there a security issue?
6:27
Was there something else going on?
6:28
We're still working on that.
6:30
Okay, well, there has been a lot of
6:31
reporting that the KUT Newsroom has
6:33
been doing on this story.
6:35
We will put all of that in today's
6:37
podcast show notes.
6:38
And as it continues to develop, we
6:40
will bring you the latest here on
6:41
Austin Signal.
6:42
We have been speaking with Nina
6:43
Satija, investigative editor and
6:45
reporter for the Texas Newsroom.
6:47
Thank you for coming on the show.
6:48
Thank you.
6:49
Okay, Well, this story has generated
6:51
tons of questions from listeners
6:53
and readers of KUT News and
6:55
KUTX in the Texas Standard.
6:57
Namely, more specifics about the
6:59
connection between KUT Public Media
7:01
and UT Austin and
7:03
the funding mechanism for the
7:05
stations and for the shows.
7:06
Here to answer some of those
7:08
questions and talk about KUT's
7:09
path forward is Matt Riley,
7:11
Associate General Manager for
7:13
Programming at KUT and KUTx.
7:15
Matt, thank you for coming on the
7:16
show. Thanks for having me.
7:17
So we've had a lot of questions.
7:19
We've been seeing lots of questions
7:20
from lots of listeners.
7:21
And I wanted you to explain as
7:22
clearly as you can the relationship
7:24
between UT and KUT.
7:27
So the University of Texas owns the
7:29
licenses for KUT and KUTx.
7:31
So for all intents and purposes,
7:33
we are a part of the University
7:35
of Texas and we are housed inside
7:37
the Moody College of Communications
7:39
and we report to the Dean.
7:42
Of the movie college and this is not
7:44
a lay outer situation
7:46
that's unique to KUT
7:48
and UT this happens with lots of
7:50
other radio stations in the country
7:51
correct
7:51
Yes, we are a university licensee.
7:54
So a lot of stations are what they
7:56
call community licensees where
7:58
they are
8:00
governed by a board
8:01
made up of members of the community.
8:04
We are governed by the University
8:06
of Texas and then we have an
8:07
advisory board that just kind of
8:09
helps us make decisions.
8:11
After yesterday's firing of
8:13
Debbie Hyatt, I think there may be
8:15
some concern among the community
8:16
that this move will effectively
8:18
result in censorship going forward
8:20
for KUT or for KU-TX.
8:22
How will this move affect KUT's
8:23
coverage?
8:24
Not at all.
8:26
We are continuing to
8:28
do the work we have always done.
8:30
Nothing for
8:32
the audience or for you, the
8:34
listener, is going to change in that
8:36
regard. We are committed to
8:38
providing the best news, music,
8:40
entertainment coverage of Austin and
8:42
Central Texas.
8:44
And none of that changes with
8:46
this news.
8:47
Okay, well, still looking
8:49
forward, I think there also may be
8:51
concerns among some in the audience
8:53
that Debbie's successor could
8:54
somehow be chosen by
8:56
the university leadership.
8:58
Can you talk about the hiring
8:59
process that is gonna happen going
9:00
forward?
9:01
Yeah, so you may have seen the news
9:03
that we now have an interim general
9:05
manager, Gerald Johnson.
9:07
Gerald and I have worked together
9:09
for many years. I've known Gerald
9:11
for over 10 years, and he
9:13
was a staff member
9:14
of KUT for two
9:16
years, and he has helped
9:18
us in numerous ways
9:20
around fundraising and revenue.
9:22
And so I'm very familiar,
9:24
and a lot of the staff is very
9:25
familiar with Gerald. I just wanna
9:27
get that out of the way.
9:27
He is not an unknown.
9:30
Entity to us.
9:31
So we like Gerald, we know Gerald,
9:33
but going forward, Gerald is
9:35
a caretaker in his words.
9:37
And so he is here to help shepherd
9:39
the search process for
9:41
the next general manager of KT
9:43
and KTX.
9:44
And, so what we were told
9:46
today by the dean and by
9:48
Gerald is that this will be a
9:50
national search. It will be open
9:52
to applicants from all over.
9:55
It won't uh...
9:56
Not be a closed door process it
9:58
will be very similar to
10:01
every other general manager search
10:02
we've had in the past
10:04
I wanted to ask when
10:06
there is leadership change in these
10:08
types of news organizations,
10:10
a lot of times the first things
10:11
people think to do is to pull their
10:13
financial support if they don't
10:15
agree with the moves that might
10:16
happen.
10:17
What would be your message to
10:19
supporters of KUT and KUTX right now
10:21
in this moment of change, of
10:22
leadership change.
10:23
Well, let me back up a little bit
10:25
to a year ago.
10:26
So the federal government
10:28
rescinded public
10:31
media funding.
10:32
We still are reckoning
10:34
with that from a year.
10:36
And so we're
10:38
looking at a new budget year coming
10:40
up September 1st.
10:41
We're looking potentially a
10:43
deficit going into
10:44
a fiscal year 27.
10:48
So I would.
10:51
Ask that folks who are fans
10:53
of KUT and KUTX and like the
10:55
work that we do to continue
10:57
your support.
10:58
I understand if this news
10:59
gives you some trepidation around
11:01
that, but just know
11:03
that all money we raise goes right
11:05
back into the programming here.
11:06
It doesn't disappear into
11:08
mysterious coffers.
11:10
It goes right into the programing
11:12
on the news and the music side.
11:14
So it enables us to
11:16
do the best work we can when
11:18
we get a good flow of donations.
11:21
Any last message, Matt, for KUT
11:23
and KUTx listeners about the
11:25
station and the sound of
11:27
it going forward?
11:29
I mean, I understand that this is
11:31
totally unsettling.
11:32
It is internally for us here
11:34
at the radio stations.
11:35
I mean this caught us all
11:37
off guard yesterday when it
11:38
happened.
11:40
We're all still processing it.
11:42
And the main thing, I think,
11:44
is that we're not changing how
11:46
we do business here.
11:48
Nothing's going to change.
11:49
We are still going to report on the
11:50
same things we report on.
11:51
We're still going play the same
11:52
songs and we're still gonna
11:54
mine for the best talent.
11:57
Uh, to put on the radio and
11:58
the most newsworthy stories
12:00
out there in our region.
12:02
So none of that is changing.
12:05
And you, the audience,
12:08
if you sense that,
12:10
let us know because we
12:12
are not, uh, changing
12:14
anything we do editorially.
12:16
I can tell you that right now.
12:17
There, there is no, uh...
12:18
There is not chance that's
12:19
happening.
12:20
All right, that is Matt Riley.
12:22
He is the Associate General Manager
12:23
for Programming here at KUT and
12:25
KUTx.
12:26
Matt, thank you.
12:27
Thanks for having me.
12:29
Okay, well, as you might understand,
12:31
it's been a hectic 24 hours
12:34
or so here at kut
12:36
with lots of changes.
12:37
But one thing that hasn't changed is
12:39
the commitment from our newsrooms
12:40
and our music nerds here to bringing
12:42
you the best darn radio that
12:44
you've come to count on from KUT.
12:47
So thank you for tuning in every
12:48
single day, but especially today,
12:50
we appreciate you.
12:52
And we have more Austin Signal
12:54
coming up after this break.
13:01
This is Austin Signal, welcome
13:03
back.
13:04
The World Cup is in full swing with
13:06
exciting matches over the past week
13:08
in Dallas, Houston and many other
13:10
arenas across North America.
13:13
Our football experts Jimmy Moss and
13:14
Juan Diego Garcia from the podcast
13:16
Vamos Verde are following all
13:18
the action and bringing you daily
13:20
updated sprinkles throughout
13:23
your day here on KUT news.
13:25
And in the latest episode of
13:27
Vamos Verde, the fellas caught up
13:28
with KUTX host and professional
13:31
soccer announcer Adrian Healy
13:33
about the squads that they think
13:34
have the best chance of emerging
13:36
victorious this summer.
13:38
Top 2
13:40
going to be a surprise right anyone
13:41
but which order that's what I'm
13:43
waiting for yeah that is correct so
13:45
in second I have
13:47
France okay
13:48
Hey, we are in agreement.
13:50
We agree.
13:50
We agree. OK, yeah, I think they're
13:52
they have this is the Mbappe
13:54
that.
13:55
Everything we just talked about,
13:56
Cristiano Ronaldo.
13:57
Yes. Comes to play for Mbappe.
13:59
Yeah. And they could,
14:01
I mean, France could win without
14:03
Mbappé.
14:04
Like they could like, they have a,
14:05
they're lowed out.
14:06
They're just loaded.
14:07
But I feel like the,
14:09
I don't know,
14:11
the gravity pull that he
14:14
requires.
14:15
I mean he had
14:17
an amazing year for,
14:19
I mean statistically an amazing year
14:20
for Real Madrid.
14:22
I think like. Yeah.
14:23
45 two goals and
14:25
44 appearances or something crazy
14:27
like that.
14:27
And not a great Real Madrid team.
14:31
And constantly the kind of the
14:32
chatter was like, mm, eh,
14:34
you know, it's just the chemistry's
14:36
just not working.
14:37
Even though like, I mean, I think
14:39
in the entire history of Austin FC,
14:41
they've scored 42 goals.
14:43
So you're being generous.
14:45
So my point being, there
14:48
is something there that
14:50
doesn't quite work.
14:52
Now, it worked when he was a
14:55
young up
14:57
and comer with veterans
14:59
on the team to kind of like, you
15:01
Minimize that yeah, but I
15:03
mean he can't we're talking a
15:05
whisper thin Margin away from
15:07
winning last time and we could have
15:08
gone any way.
15:10
Yeah in penalties, but
15:12
he didn't and that's the way it goes
15:14
So I'm not saying that this is a
15:15
bad team and I'm saying Mbappe will
15:17
lose it for them But I just feel
15:19
like there's it's a it's vibes
15:21
call I guess, you know It's just
15:23
kind of like that's why I put them
15:24
at two Just because I feel like
15:26
something there that people can't
15:28
really put a finger on and those
15:29
kind of the Rinaldo thing
15:31
And what not to messy for so long
15:33
is until us.
15:34
Yeah
15:35
I feel like Mbappé
15:37
is, his game
15:39
is better suited to play
15:41
off of someone like
15:43
they had at the last tournament,
15:45
such as Olivier Giroud.
15:46
Kind of like that Cristiano Ronaldo
15:47
finisher up top,
15:49
sort of focal point for him to sort
15:51
of drift around.
15:52
I don't know if Ousmane Dembele
15:54
is that player.
15:55
And that's where I think the big
15:57
question is, is can Mbappe be
15:59
that striker or
16:01
is he better off.
16:03
Playing off of somebody else that
16:05
they just don't have on the team
16:06
this year.
16:07
Yeah, because they've got Elise and
16:08
they've got due to, I mean, it's
16:10
just, as you said, it is
16:11
unbelievably loaded. But that's a
16:12
problem for Disharm, because they
16:13
all want to play similar
16:15
positions. They can't all, you know,
16:17
maybe he can find a way to shoehorn
16:18
all four of them in.
16:19
But I think their Achilles heel,
16:22
yeah, exactly.
16:23
Their Achilles heels is at the other
16:24
end. So they may have to
16:26
find ways to win
16:28
shootouts in this competition.
16:30
You know, win three two, rather than
16:31
two nothing or one nothing.
16:32
They have the goal scorers.
16:33
They do.
16:34
And they can certainly do
16:36
it and
16:38
you know it almost came out of
16:40
nowhere to win it in 2018 that was
16:41
when Mbappe was you know what was he
16:43
wasn't even 20 at that time and then
16:45
they've got back to another can they
16:46
make three finals a row brazil were
16:48
the last time to make last team to
16:49
make three finals in a row they won
16:51
it in 94 lost to
16:52
france in 98 and then won it again
16:54
in 02 so france looking to
16:56
follow that can judge it's de champs
16:58
last tournament so he's got his
16:59
legacy to think about.
17:01
It's funny, for a World Cup winning
17:02
coach, he's still not that loved in
17:04
France because they still consider
17:06
him a bit of a defensive coach,
17:07
which is strange with all these
17:09
attacking options.
17:10
You can't argue with that.
17:10
You can't argue with success.
17:12
Yeah. I find generally
17:14
it is the national pastime
17:15
everywhere to be upset at your
17:17
national coach.
17:18
Yes.
17:19
That's very true. I mean, Leon
17:20
Scaloni for Argentina was derided
17:23
when he first came in and he's
17:25
done nothing but win.
17:27
So let's let's land on
17:29
I think Spain is
17:31
is great you
17:34
I also think Spain is number one.
17:36
Going into this.
17:37
Why is Spain so good
17:39
and why do a lot of maybe
17:41
not all, but why do
17:43
many, many
17:46
betting sides and others and ours
17:48
feel they are
17:49
odds on one of the two at least.
17:51
Yeah, well they seem they seem the
17:53
most complete team doesn't they when
17:54
you look at the technical ability
17:56
from from back to front it
17:58
doesn't it does there's no drop-off
17:59
like we're talking with France
18:00
perhaps the defense is a little bit
18:02
of a weakness maybe the midfield
18:04
with Brazil when we mentioned Brazil
18:06
yet but um but with Spain they're
18:08
just the continuity
18:10
across the board yeah and again
18:12
talking about continuity it's
18:14
pretty much the same team.
18:15
From 2024 that not many
18:17
people picked to win the Euros, you
18:19
know, the European World Cup two
18:21
summers ago, and they beat England
18:22
in that final. And that was
18:24
Lameen Yamal's coming out party at
18:26
the age of 16.
18:27
Oh, by the way, he's still only 18.
18:29
I think he's actually going to turn
18:30
19 during this tournament.
18:32
And this could be his,
18:33
his tournament.
18:34
He could, he could take over if
18:37
he's fully fit.
18:38
So this year's in buffet.
18:39
Well, exactly.
18:41
Oyafabal, they have an amazing
18:43
goalscorer who doesn't ever get the
18:44
credit he deserves because he
18:46
doesn't play at a, he plays for
18:48
Real Sociedad, who are not one of
18:49
the superstar clubs in Spain, but
18:51
he's just Mr. Consistency
18:53
and with
18:55
Pedri and all the midfield
18:57
talent they have, it's hard
18:59
to make a case that they're not
19:01
the favorites and going to
19:03
be.
19:04
Were thereabouts.
19:05
2010, who was
19:07
picking Spain to win that World Cup?
19:09
They were talented.
19:10
They were definitely like in
19:11
contention, but I don't remember
19:13
Spain being an obvious World
19:15
Cup champion that year.
19:16
Yeah. And then they went and won it
19:18
all.
19:19
That's a good point and they like
19:20
2010 they're coming in having won
19:22
the euros because in 2010 they'd won
19:24
the Euros in 2008 and still
19:26
weren't considered.
19:28
Yeah, they may have been top five in
19:29
South Africa in 2010 but they
19:30
definitely weren't the favorites.
19:32
Technically, there is no better team
19:35
when they're on.
19:36
There is no more fun team to watch,
19:38
despite what Alexi Lawless might say
19:40
in some of his broadcasts.
19:42
I just think there
19:44
is, there's a point where
19:47
momentum gets behind you and
19:49
you know how to win your
19:51
way through weird situations,
19:53
which inevitably come up in
19:54
tournaments.
19:56
This is a team that seems to
19:58
have that package put together.
19:59
They understand a lot of
20:01
those things. And There's the,
20:03
they have the benefit of youth.
20:05
Like there's a lot of people that
20:06
just, you know, they don't know they
20:07
can die. You know?
20:09
Lamine Yamal is not only turning
20:11
19, he's also two
20:13
years better than he was
20:15
at the Euros. Right.
20:17
It's, when, when
20:19
you're on that side of youth,
20:21
I feel like the extra
20:23
time between tournaments helps
20:25
because you're still kind of in your
20:27
physical or approaching your
20:28
physical prime, but now you have the
20:30
experience to kind of back it up.
20:31
Yeah. As opposed to a team like
20:33
Argentina that is the same team
20:35
four years on from the
20:37
time when.
20:38
Folks expected Leonel Messi to
20:40
retire from international football.
20:42
And now he's back in another turn.
20:43
Everything was like this.
20:43
Back in another turn. Everything was like this could be
20:44
his last cup last round and here we
20:46
are again.
20:48
And if you want to hear more from
20:50
the fellas, head on over to
20:51
the Vamos Verde podcast.
20:53
We'll have a link in today's show
20:54
notes too.
20:56
The Texas Longhorn baseball team is
20:57
still alive in the College World
20:58
Series after beating Alabama
21:00
yesterday.
21:01
Texas will now face Georgia in an
21:03
elimination game that's set for
21:05
tonight at seven o'clock.
21:06
Texas already lost to Georgia on
21:08
Saturday night in their opening game
21:10
of this year's College World
21:11
Series.
21:12
And from KUT's Art Beat,
21:14
this weekend in honor of Juneteenth,
21:16
the Poetry Collective Every Word
21:18
will host Freeverse, a
21:20
Juneteeth open mic.
21:22
It's scheduled for June 20th at
21:24
8 p.m. Out at the Vortex Theater,
21:26
highlighting black poets and
21:28
musicians.
21:29
Poets can sign up at the theater's
21:31
box office, and we're gonna have
21:32
more coverage of Junetenth
21:34
activities later this week right
21:36
here on Austin Signal.
21:38
That is it for today's show.
21:39
Thank you for listening.
21:40
And seriously, thank you for your
21:42
support of KUT and KUTX
21:44
and Texas Standard.
21:46
We couldn't do what we do every
21:47
single day without you.
21:49
Thank you a million.
21:51
Thank you to the Austin Signal crew,
21:53
and we will be back at the same time
21:55
tomorrow.
21:56
Talk to you then.