Latest / Austin Signal / Blue Cross policyholders could lose in-network care at Ascension

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Blue Cross policyholders could lose in-network care at Ascension · Austin Signal

• 0:09
  Austinites and many other across
• 0:11
  Texas, insured through Blue Cross
• 0:13
  Blue Shield, could soon lose
• 0:15
  in-network access to Ascension
• 0:17
  Seat and facilities.
• 0:18
  That's set to take effect on January
• 0:20
  1st, unless the two sides
• 0:22
  can agree on a new contract.
• 0:24
  We're gonna talk about how that
• 0:25
  could affect folks here in our
• 0:27
  community. Plus, Austin has been
• 0:28
  a testing ground for autonomous
• 0:30
  vehicles, Zooks Robo
• 0:32
  Taxis, Waymo's, oh my,
• 0:34
  but Waymo has now issued
• 0:36
  a software recall after videos
• 0:38
  showed some vehicles passing stop
• 0:40
  Austin ISD busses.
• 0:42
  We're gonna have more about that
• 0:43
  coming up on today's show.
• 0:45
  Awesome.
• 0:50
  And we're gonna take a listen back
• 0:52
  to some of this year's KUTX
• 0:54
  Artists of the Month.
• 0:55
  That's up next here on Austin
• 0:57
  Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:10
  tuning in. This is Austin Signal,
• 1:12
  and you're listening here on
• 1:13
  community powered public radio.
• 1:15
  This is KUT News 90.5
• 1:18
  on the KUT app and online
• 1:20
  at KUT.org.
• 1:22
  Thank you for making us part of your
• 1:24
  day. Got a lot to get into
• 1:26
  today, so let's start the
• 1:28
  show.
• 1:30
  Folks with a Blue Cross and Blue
• 1:32
  Shield insurance could be losing
• 1:33
  in network access to some Austin
• 1:35
  area facilities starting in 2026.
• 1:38
  That is, unless a new contract
• 1:40
  can be agreed upon before the new
• 1:42
  year. KUT's healthcare reporter
• 1:44
  Olivia Aldrich has the story over
• 1:46
  at KUT.org, and she's
• 1:48
  joining us now on Austin Signal
• 1:50
  to tell us more about it.
• 1:50
  Howdy, Olivia.
• 1:52
  Hi Jerry.
• 1:52
  So let's start simple enough.
• 1:54
  Where is the dispute here?
• 1:56
  Well, so obviously insurers
• 1:58
  and hospital systems like this
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  negotiate all the time to, you know,
• 2:02
  to strike a contract so that,
• 2:04
  you know, care at that hospital
• 2:06
  system or those clinics or by,
• 2:08
  you know, a certain physician group
• 2:10
  can be considered in network.
• 2:11
  And for most people, that's what
• 2:13
  will make it affordable if their
• 2:14
  insurance says this, you know, this
• 2:16
  this place is in network.
• 2:18
  Right now they're negotiating their
• 2:20
  hospital and facility agreements and
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  kind of what this means is that this
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  involves the reimbursement rates
• 2:26
  that Ascension gets from Blue Cross
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  for the healthcare services that
• 2:30
  Ascension doctors and staff are
• 2:32
  providing at their facilities.
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  So from what we know, Ascension
• 2:36
  basically feels that what Blue Cross
• 2:37
  is bringing to the table isn't
• 2:38
  enough to account for rising costs
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  of things like equipment, medication
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  costs, and you know, general
• 2:44
  inflation.
• 2:45
  And how many people do we know are
• 2:47
  insured by Blue Cross Blue Shield
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  here in Texas? It's a big name, you
• 2:51
  know, it's a lot of name
• 2:52
  recognition. How many people are
• 2:53
  insured through them?
• 2:53
  Yeah, Blue Cross says it's something
• 2:55
  like eight million people in Texas.
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  It's the state's largest insurer,
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  by a lot. So they have about a
• 3:00
  quarter of the market share.
• 3:02
  And that includes us here at KUT.
• 3:04
  We get our benefits through Blue
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  Cross. It affects a lot of people.
• 3:06
  Maybe that's why I have the name
• 3:07
  recognition.
• 3:08
  So let's talk about Ascension
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  Seaton. How many facilities do they
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  operate locally?
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  They have about twelve hospitals
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  that they operate and then dozens of
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  other, you know, primary care
• 3:18
  clinics and specialty care clinics.
• 3:19
  And so anybody who has a blue cross
• 3:21
  blue shield would lose in network
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  access to those facilities, correct?
• 3:26
  Yeah, and that doesn't include
• 3:27
  emergency care.
• 3:28
  Yeah, and that that brings me to my
• 3:29
  next question. I is there any leeway
• 3:32
  for folks who are going through
• 3:33
  something big like a pregnancy or
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  some kind of life threatening
• 3:36
  illness right now?
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  Yes, so if you're pregnant, if
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  you're getting again life
• 3:40
  threatening illness or you're being
• 3:42
  treated for an acute condition right
• 3:44
  now, you may qualify for
• 3:46
  what they're calling continuity of
• 3:48
  care, which essentially just means
• 3:50
  that you can kind of get a special
• 3:52
  allowance to remain in network,
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  but you you shouldn't just assume
• 3:55
  that that's going to happen.
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  Blue Cross is urging members to kind
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  of call the number on their
• 4:01
  insurance card and speak
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  to someone about it if they think
• 4:04
  they might qualify.
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  Okay, we talked a little bit about
• 4:06
  Blue Cross Blue Shield.
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  What have we heard from Ascension on
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  this matter?
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  Yeah, I mean they again they say
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  what Blue Cross is offering just
• 4:14
  doesn't account for their financial
• 4:15
  realities and they're asking at
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  at this point Blue Cross to come to
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  the table with a new proposal that
• 4:20
  does that. Of course Blue Cross says
• 4:22
  it's it's looking out for its own
• 4:24
  policy holders by trying to keep
• 4:25
  costs lower on their end and they
• 4:27
  both say they're negotiating in good
• 4:29
  faith.
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  It seems like these sorts of
• 4:31
  contract disputes happen a lot.
• 4:34
  Not not just with insurers
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  and hospitals.
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  I was thinking recently of like
• 4:38
  YouTube T V and Disney.
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  There's always this back and forth,
• 4:41
  this c you know, finagling
• 4:43
  of trying to figure out the deal.
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  Am I right? Are these sorts of last
• 4:48
  minute contract negotiations
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  becoming more normal around here?
• 4:52
  I mean, yes, we've we've seen this
• 4:53
  happen a good bit in the last few
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  years, specifically with Blue Cross.
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  There have been a number of kind of
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  eleventh hour contract deals
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  that have been resolved.
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  That includes Ascension in 2023,
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  early 2023, they kind
• 5:07
  of resolved you
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  know, a dispute like this at the end
• 5:10
  of an extended deadline.
• 5:12
  There was a similar situation with
• 5:13
  Baylor Scott and White last year.
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  And generally, you know, we do
• 5:17
  see these things get resolved
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  because it is a really big deal and
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  you know, it's it's
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  significant for both the hospital
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  and the insurer.
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  But obviously it's a nerve wracking
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  if you're, you know, a patient in
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  the situation waiting to see what
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  happens.
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  Yes, yes, yeah. I compared it to the
• 5:34
  YouTube TV and Disney thing, but
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  obviously this is of much more
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  importance when you're dealing with
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  something like a life threatening
• 5:40
  illness, a pregnancy, or y as
• 5:42
  you said, just the uncertainty of
• 5:44
  going into this time of the
• 5:45
  year or going into whatever you're
• 5:47
  going into with that uncertainty is
• 5:49
  never a good thing.
• 5:50
  Again, you can read more about this
• 5:51
  story over at KUT
• 5:53
  dot org. It is from Olivia Aldridge,
• 5:55
  she is KUT's health care reporter.
• 5:58
  Thank you for being on the signal.
• 5:59
  Thanks for having me.
• 6:10
  Austin has been a top testing
• 6:12
  ground for autonomous vehicles.
• 6:14
  On the streets, you might see the
• 6:16
  Tesla Robo Taxi,
• 6:18
  Amazon's Zooks.
• 6:19
  I love saying that word.
• 6:20
  And perhaps if you're on the road
• 6:22
  right now, you're watching a Waymo
• 6:24
  roll by those white cars
• 6:26
  with the spinny thing on top.
• 6:28
  Or maybe you might have seen videos
• 6:30
  recently of Waymo's illegally
• 6:32
  passing Austin ISD school
• 6:34
  busses when they're stopped.
• 6:35
  Now this has caused the company to
• 6:37
  issue software recalls for its
• 6:39
  fleet of vehicles.
• 6:40
  For more about that, we're speaking
• 6:41
  with Texas Standards Shelly Brisbin.
• 6:43
  Shelley, welcome back to Austin
• 6:44
  Signal.
• 6:45
  Hey Jerry, thanks for having me.
• 6:46
  So tell us w what does this software
• 6:48
  recall mean?
• 6:49
  I I I believe this is a voluntary
• 6:51
  recall, yes?
• 6:52
  Yeah, it's a voluntarily voluntary
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  recall, which means two things.
• 6:56
  It means first of all that the
• 6:58
  software for the Waymo vehicles that
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  are out there in Austin streets
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  right now is going to be updated,
• 7:03
  but the actual recall process
• 7:05
  is alerting the federal government
• 7:07
  that there is a recall happening.
• 7:09
  Hey, we're changing the software to
• 7:11
  account specifically for
• 7:13
  bad behavior, illegal behavior
• 7:15
  around busses.
• 7:17
  So are there any Waymo's coming off
• 7:19
  the road? Is is the number changing
• 7:21
  right now?
• 7:22
  No. So far Waymo has not
• 7:23
  taken any cars off the road.
• 7:25
  As you mentioned it's voluntary
• 7:26
  recall. The AISD actually
• 7:28
  had asked Waymo to stop
• 7:30
  running their vehicles during school
• 7:32
  drop off and pickup hours, but Waymo
• 7:35
  has so far not done that and they're
• 7:36
  certainly are running in near the
• 7:37
  elementary school in my neighborhood.
• 7:39
  Okay. Have has this sort of software
• 7:41
  recall happened in other cities
• 7:43
  across the country?
• 7:44
  Actually the school bus issue
• 7:46
  specifically was first noticed
• 7:47
  in Atlanta where Waymo also
• 7:49
  operates. And there's a voluntary
• 7:51
  recall there. There were also there
• 7:53
  were incidents and videos showing
• 7:55
  Waymo Waymo's either
• 7:57
  passing school busses or not
• 7:59
  s not going behind a school bus as
• 8:01
  the law requires.
• 8:02
  And so Atlanta and Austin are sort
• 8:03
  of ground zero.
• 8:04
  There's something like five
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  incidents reported in Atlanta.
• 8:06
  There are actually more incidents in
• 8:08
  Austin, although I think some of the
• 8:09
  more serious ones seem
• 8:11
  to have been caught on video in
• 8:13
  Atlanta in any case.
• 8:14
  And the the incidents in Austin, do
• 8:16
  we know w when those occurred?
• 8:17
  Have those all occurred over twenty
• 8:18
  twenty five or has that just been in
• 8:20
  the recent school year?
• 8:22
  AISD says there have been at least
• 8:23
  nineteen incidents this school year,
• 8:25
  and a lot of what we know about
• 8:27
  these incidents does come from
• 8:29
  camera footage on the busses, and
• 8:31
  AISD has captured that footage
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  itself.
• 8:34
  Okay, so AISD has
• 8:36
  raised an a a complaint in
• 8:38
  this matter.
• 8:39
  Can you tell us more w what does
• 8:40
  that actually mean?
• 8:42
  So they sent a letter to the
• 8:43
  National Highway Traffic Safety
• 8:45
  Administration, which is a federal
• 8:46
  agency that supervises
• 8:50
  traffic laws in the in a big picture
• 8:52
  level, for for lack of a better
• 8:53
  way to describe it.
• 8:55
  And they've basically asked the
• 8:56
  agency to undertake an
• 8:58
  investigation of Waymo to find
• 9:00
  out whether it's the software that's
• 9:02
  at fault and why this is happening,
• 9:03
  specifically since it relates to
• 9:05
  school busses.
• 9:06
  And so that complaint
• 9:08
  with the video evidence went out.
• 9:10
  There's a there's a letter that you
• 9:11
  can find on the National Highway
• 9:12
  NTSA website that
• 9:14
  describes the school district
• 9:16
  complaints.
• 9:17
  And the district says
• 9:18
  that even since the software
• 9:21
  recall was announced by Waymo
• 9:23
  in mid November, there have been
• 9:25
  additional incidents and that's what
• 9:27
  occasioned the letter that they
• 9:28
  wrote to NHTSA on December
• 9:30
  third.
• 9:31
  So we have the Way Moses
• 9:33
  private company and we have the
• 9:34
  local school district, the Austin
• 9:36
  ISD. Is there a reason that this
• 9:37
  complaint went to the federal
• 9:38
  government?
• 9:40
  Well the N T T S
• 9:42
  A, which is very hard to say.
• 9:44
  That is the federal agency that
• 9:46
  deals with traffic regulations.
• 9:47
  Now the state regulations involving
• 9:49
  Waymo's specifically and and
• 9:51
  it all robotaxis, by the way,
• 9:53
  have to do with whether there is a
• 9:54
  driver in the car or not.
• 9:56
  Waymo's do not require that because
• 9:57
  they have a higher level of
• 9:59
  autonomous driving software than,
• 10:00
  say, the Tesla robotaxis, where they
• 10:02
  have to have a a safety driver
• 10:04
  in the front seat of the car.
• 10:06
  And so those are the kind of
• 10:07
  regulations that the state imposes.
• 10:09
  You may remember that some years ago
• 10:11
  the state legislature passed a law
• 10:13
  that the that prevents local
• 10:14
  governments like Austin's or like
• 10:16
  AISD from imposing any rules
• 10:18
  on robotaxis.
• 10:19
  So most of the regulation is going
• 10:21
  to come from either the federal or
• 10:22
  the state government.
• 10:24
  Okay, well I know that this
• 10:25
  complaint was just lodged recently.
• 10:28
  What happens next?
• 10:29
  It sounds like, you know, you said
• 10:31
  AISD asked Waymos to
• 10:32
  take their cars off the road, but
• 10:34
  you s have still seen them recently.
• 10:36
  Where where do we go next?
• 10:38
  Well, there is always the
• 10:39
  possibility that either Waymo would
• 10:41
  do another voluntary recall or that
• 10:43
  NHTSA
• 10:45
  would require them to take some sort
• 10:47
  of further action.
• 10:48
  The school district actually told
• 10:49
  the American statesman that they
• 10:51
  were pursuing their legal options.
• 10:52
  I'm not certain what those were, but
• 10:54
  I think the district is very
• 10:55
  concerned and so it's it's a story
• 10:57
  to continue to watch.
• 10:58
  Okay, well we will continue watching
• 11:00
  it here on Austin Signal.
• 11:01
  We have been speaking with Shelley
• 11:03
  Brisbane.
• 11:04
  She has been covering autonomous
• 11:05
  vehicles for Texas Standard.
• 11:07
  You can find more of her work at
• 11:08
  Texas Standard dot org.
• 11:10
  Shelley, thank you for joining us.
• 11:11
  Thank you.
• 11:23
  All right, well, thank you for
• 11:24
  spending part of your Tuesday here
• 11:25
  with us on Austin Signal.
• 11:28
  Just as a reminder, we're here every
• 11:29
  weekday from 1 until 1:30.
• 11:31
  And if you can't listen to the show
• 11:33
  live, that's okay.
• 11:34
  We are a podcast.
• 11:35
  You can find us wherever you listen
• 11:37
  to your shows.
• 11:38
  And you can find more shows by
• 11:40
  going to K U T.org
• 11:42
  slash Signal.
• 11:43
  Tonight at the Paramount in downtown
• 11:45
  Austin, they're hosting a night for
• 11:47
  Rich Brotherton, the awesome
• 11:49
  musician, producer, and teacher
• 11:50
  dealing with ALS.
• 11:52
  Patty Griffin, Charlie Crockett,
• 11:54
  and Lyle Lovett are joining in on
• 11:56
  the celebration tonight.
• 11:57
  And our old friend K U T X
• 11:59
  DJ Jody Denberg is going to
• 12:01
  be serving as the master of
• 12:02
  ceremonies.
• 12:03
  There might still be a ticket
• 12:05
  or two out there to find, but
• 12:07
  if you can't make it out tonight,
• 12:09
  you can still hear more about Rich
• 12:11
  from some of the people who know him
• 12:13
  pretty well.
• 12:13
  Austin Signal spoke with Andrea
• 12:15
  McGee, Pat Byrne, and Scrappy
• 12:18
  Judd Newcomb, who will also be
• 12:20
  performing tonight.
• 12:21
  You can hear more from them about
• 12:23
  Rich and about their musical
• 12:25
  connection. Again, K U
• 12:27
  T.org slash
• 12:29
  Signal.
• 12:30
  Well, we're coming up on a break,
• 12:32
  but after that, we are gonna talk
• 12:34
  about K U T X's
• 12:36
  artists of the month for 2025.
• 12:39
  Your morning drive time host Taylor
• 12:41
  Wallace is gonna be joining us.
• 12:42
  That's up next on Austin
• 12:44
  Signal.
• 12:47
  Thank you for tuning in to Austin
• 12:49
  Signal. We're nearing the end of
• 12:50
  2025.
• 12:52
  And we're gonna start taking a look
• 12:53
  back at the year that was here in
• 12:54
  Austin. Today we're talking about
• 12:56
  some of the K U T X artists of
• 12:58
  the month featured in twenty twenty
• 13:00
  five. You can find write ups on
• 13:02
  all the artists featured this year
• 13:04
  over at KUTX dot
• 13:06
  org. But right now to help us go
• 13:07
  through a few of them, we're joined
• 13:09
  by your K U T X morning drive time
• 13:11
  host, Taylor Wallace.
• 13:12
  Howdy, Taylor?
• 13:13
  Hello, hi.
• 13:14
  I'm gonna start off first with the
• 13:15
  band. I love when an artist takes a
• 13:17
  word and they you know take a letter
• 13:18
  out, they add some punctuation, they
• 13:20
  make things kinda funky.
• 13:21
  So tell us about Jacuzzi, Taylor.
• 13:23
  Jacuzzi was our July artist
• 13:25
  of the month and it is I
• 13:27
  call it art punk, but also cork
• 13:29
  punk. That's that's a me word, not a
• 13:31
  floating in the ether word.
• 13:33
  So jacuzzi, they
• 13:35
  are this duo of
• 13:37
  Gorge Bones and Trey Razzle
• 13:39
  Dazzle.
• 13:41
  And they Gorge
• 13:43
  especially has never been in a band
• 13:44
  before. And you wouldn't guess it
• 13:45
  from like, first of all, they're
• 13:47
  they sound fantastic, but then to
• 13:49
  see them live, they are
• 13:50
  ostentatious.
• 13:52
  I was just looking at the write up
• 13:53
  at K U Text dot org.
• 13:54
  They look like rock stars.
• 13:55
  Yeah. So to hear that is very
• 13:57
  surprising.
• 13:57
  Yeah, they're fantastic and
• 14:00
  they're playing this Saturday.
• 14:01
  If you haven't had the chance to see
• 14:02
  them yet, first of all, you can find
• 14:03
  their MyKUTX guest DJ
• 14:05
  set and their studio one A over on
• 14:07
  our website.
• 14:08
  But they are playing the holiday
• 14:09
  hootin' nanny that we are supporting
• 14:11
  this Saturday at Radio East.
• 14:12
  So not only can you see Shannon and
• 14:14
  the clams, Toon Yards and Rubble
• 14:15
  Bucket, you can see Jacuzzi
• 14:17
  as well.
• 14:18
  Alright, well let's hear a little
• 14:19
  bit from Jacuzzi right now.
• 14:48
  Next is a band that we featured as
• 14:50
  part of our hour-long Austin City
• 14:51
  Limits music festival special
• 14:53
  for Austin Signal.
• 14:55
  For those who are not familiar, tell
• 14:56
  us about Next of Kin and and the
• 14:58
  kind of year that they've had.
• 14:59
  Okay, Next of Ken has had a
• 15:01
  gangbusters year.
• 15:02
  Really? Their debut EP came out
• 15:04
  back in May.
• 15:05
  Not only one sold-out night at
• 15:06
  Continental Club, two sold-out
• 15:08
  nights. And it's a trio of Lily
• 15:11
  Hickman of Florin Fauna, also
• 15:12
  Madison Baker, and Kaylin
• 15:15
  Trelongo.
• 15:15
  They make up this trio, and it is
• 15:17
  all about the harmonies.
• 15:18
  It is queer country.
• 15:20
  Their cover of The Chain by
• 15:21
  Fleetwood Mac is transcendent.
• 15:24
  And they played ACL Fest this
• 15:26
  year. They also hooked up with
• 15:28
  Austin FC and they got to model.
• 15:30
  Austin FC did some sort of like
• 15:32
  live music merch
• 15:34
  line, and they got to model for
• 15:35
  that. It's like a fashion show kind
• 15:37
  of thing. Yeah, kind of, yeah.
• 15:38
  And they also got invited by
• 15:40
  Texas Monthly to do their like dig
• 15:42
  through our archives series.
• 15:44
  Cool. So all of that is exciting
• 15:46
  on its head, and who knows what's
• 15:48
  coming up. I foresee very
• 15:49
  big things for this trio.
• 15:51
  And we're presenting their New
• 15:52
  Year's Eve show at Antones.
• 15:54
  So all the info you can find that at
• 15:56
  K U T X.org.
• 15:57
  And they'll be joined by TC
• 15:58
  Superstar Nane and Quentin
• 16:01
  Arispe.
• 16:01
  Okay, cool, let's hear a little
• 16:02
  something from Next of Kin.
• 16:07
  Yeah.
• 16:09
  How right?
• 16:10
  Yeah.
• 16:11
  Come and find you
• 16:15
  When you kiss in the curb
• 16:17
  and bend from every bar
• 16:22
  See the ugly truth
• 16:24
  on its leg
• 16:28
  one of my favorite things that K U T
• 16:30
  X does is a lot of people on staff
• 16:32
  get a chance to speak with the
• 16:33
  artists. You actually got to do the
• 16:35
  interview with Next of Ken.
• 16:37
  What did you learn? What did you
• 16:38
  enjoy about spending time with them?
• 16:39
  Because I got to interview them and
• 16:41
  they are like all on the same
• 16:42
  wavelength, you know?
• 16:43
  There are so they are so insane.
• 16:45
  Agreed. And I think it's such a
• 16:47
  testament to women
• 16:48
  supporting women and women falling
• 16:50
  in love with other women, not
• 16:52
  romantically, but with their
• 16:54
  music and their spirit.
• 16:56
  And so all three of them had
• 16:58
  been fans of each other's.
• 17:00
  And then they all kind of got
• 17:01
  together and just kind of became
• 17:03
  like this immediate like sisterhood.
• 17:06
  And it I think that translates
• 17:09
  very, very well through their music.
• 17:11
  And it seems like it's been very
• 17:12
  organic for them, which is
• 17:14
  wonderful.
• 17:15
  Yeah, you know, I think kinda
• 17:16
  naively I always assume that
• 17:17
  everyone in a band must like each
• 17:19
  other, but after speaking to them,
• 17:20
  it was like, wow, they are really
• 17:21
  their best friends.
• 17:22
  They actually like each other.
• 17:23
  Yeah, and it's so really cool.
• 17:25
  You can hear some of their their
• 17:27
  interactions, some of their bon from
• 17:28
  that special ACL episode of
• 17:30
  our show. That's at K U T.org
• 17:33
  slash signal.
• 17:34
  Okay, next up is September's Artists
• 17:36
  of the Month.
• 17:36
  Now, Taylor, anytime I tell somebody
• 17:38
  that I work at K U T, they always
• 17:40
  tell me how much they love K U T
• 17:42
  X.
• 17:42
  And the point was a band that
• 17:44
  multiple people in the community
• 17:45
  would come up to me and say, They
• 17:46
  rock. The point rocks, I love them.
• 17:49
  Who are they and why do they have
• 17:50
  everyone so hyped?
• 17:51
  Okay, well, let me tell you this.
• 17:53
  We think Next of Kin had a
• 17:55
  gangbusters year and the point said,
• 17:57
  Hold my beer, which is takes nothing
• 17:58
  away from Next of Kin.
• 17:59
  But these guys went on tour with
• 18:01
  Mdumakhtar earlier
• 18:03
  this year. They played Levitation,
• 18:05
  they played ACL Fest,
• 18:07
  and they next year
• 18:09
  are going on tour with St. Paul and
• 18:10
  the Broken Bones.
• 18:12
  And they, as the person at K
• 18:14
  U T X who keeps up with all of the
• 18:15
  shows for all the artists we're
• 18:17
  playing, they keep me the most
• 18:19
  busy. I would say on average,
• 18:21
  I kid you not, four
• 18:23
  local shows a month on average.
• 18:25
  Like they are hot, hot, hot.
• 18:27
  And they have a show this Sunday at
• 18:29
  Antones where Adrian Quesada
• 18:31
  will be doing a DJ set.
• 18:38
  I'm leaving even mama,
• 18:44
  but I don't know where to
• 18:46
  go.
• 18:47
  I'm even leaving
• 18:49
  mama.
• 18:53
  But I don't know where to
• 18:55
  go.
• 19:00
  Very, very cool.
• 19:01
  Okay, lastly, Taylor, let me ask a
• 19:03
  a more personal question.
• 19:04
  What was your twenty twenty five
• 19:05
  year of music like here in the
• 19:06
  Austin scene?
• 19:07
  How are you feeling about the local
• 19:09
  scene as we move into twenty twenty
• 19:11
  six?
• 19:11
  I am very excited.
• 19:13
  I think our whole class of 2025
• 19:15
  paints a really good tapestry that
• 19:17
  everything from RB,
• 19:19
  hip hop, country, rock,
• 19:22
  punk, it's all here and it's
• 19:24
  all happening. And I really think
• 19:26
  we've got several of our artists of
• 19:27
  the month from this year
• 19:29
  that really are not only great
• 19:31
  Austin bands, but certainly have
• 19:33
  breakout potential.
• 19:35
  Aside from all of these, there's
• 19:36
  just been so many other artists.
• 19:37
  Like it's been a really fun year
• 19:39
  to be in our artist of the month
• 19:41
  Slack channel talk discussing it
• 19:43
  because it's just overwhelming
• 19:45
  with like how many awesome
• 19:47
  albums and everything are coming out
• 19:49
  month to month to month.
• 19:50
  And so I am hotly
• 19:52
  excited.
• 19:53
  And if you want to kind of get an
• 19:55
  early step into what Austin
• 19:56
  in 2026 could look like, free
• 19:59
  week is the first week of January,
• 20:00
  as we all know, and we will be
• 20:02
  having a free week show, the
• 20:04
  announcement to come later this
• 20:05
  week. But some of them might be some
• 20:07
  of the artists that you'll have
• 20:09
  heard about today.
• 20:10
  And and even with that show,
• 20:12
  it's a good it's a good mosaic,
• 20:14
  sonic mosaic of who's
• 20:16
  who and who you should love.
• 20:18
  All right, well when that
• 20:19
  announcement is made, we'll let you
• 20:20
  know right here on Austin Signal.
• 20:22
  We have been speaking with Taylor
• 20:23
  Wallace, your weekday morning drive
• 20:24
  time host for our sister station
• 20:26
  KUTX, breaking down a few
• 20:28
  of the artists of the month featured
• 20:30
  as the twenty twenty five KUTX
• 20:32
  artists of the month.
• 20:33
  We're gonna have a link in our show
• 20:35
  notes at KUT dot org
• 20:37
  slash signal.
• 20:38
  Taylor, thank you for your time.
• 20:39
  Always a pleasure.
• 20:57
  This is Austin Signal.
• 20:59
  Thank you for making us part
• 21:01
  of your Tuesday.
• 21:03
  Well, if you weren't paying
• 21:04
  attention yesterday, we had lots of
• 21:06
  movement on the political front.
• 21:08
  It was the last day to file
• 21:10
  ahead of next year's midterms.
• 21:12
  Colin Alrid dropped out of the race
• 21:14
  for U.S. Senate, while Congresswoman
• 21:16
  Jasmine Crockett joined
• 21:17
  in. Locally, Democratic
• 21:19
  State Senator Sarah Eckhart
• 21:21
  announced that she is running for
• 21:23
  Texas Comptroller.
• 21:24
  The Austin area politician said
• 21:26
  in October that she was running for
• 21:28
  the newly drawn 10th Congressional
• 21:30
  District after Republican rep
• 21:32
  Michael McCall announced that he was
• 21:34
  not going to seek re-election, but
• 21:36
  things have since changed.
• 21:38
  Eckhart said that as Comptroller,
• 21:40
  she will stand up for public school
• 21:41
  funding and fight fraud, waste,
• 21:43
  and abuse in government spending.
• 21:45
  You can read more about that over at
• 21:47
  K U T.org.
• 21:49
  You can also find more about Waymo's
• 21:51
  voluntary software recalled
• 21:53
  there. And so much more from
• 21:56
  our KUT Newsroom.
• 21:58
  And that is it for today's show
• 22:00
  here on Austin Signal.
• 22:02
  Thank you to KUT's Olivia
• 22:04
  Aldridge, Texas Standard Shelly
• 22:06
  Brisbin, and K U T X's
• 22:08
  Taylor Wallace.
• 22:09
  We hit the trifecta on today's
• 22:11
  show. We couldn't do it without
• 22:13
  all the help here.
• 22:14
  And I couldn't do it without
• 22:16
  managing producer Kristen Cabrera,
• 22:18
  technical director Rayna Sevilla,
• 22:20
  and our theme music is by
• 22:22
  Rene Chavez.
• 22:24
  Don't forget about our show, Dad
• 22:26
  Jimmy Mass, and I'm your host,
• 22:28
  Jerry Quijano.
• 22:29
  Thank you for making Austin Signal
• 22:31
  part of your day.
• 22:32
  We really appreciate spending this
• 22:34
  time with you. We'll be back
• 22:35
  tomorrow at one o'clock, and
• 22:37
  we'll talk to you then.