Latest / Austin Signal / A federal trial underway in Austin could decide whether Texas must provide air conditioning to all prisons

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A federal trial underway in Austin could decide whether Texas must provide air conditioning to all prisons · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Summer temperatures in Texas prisons
• 0:09
  can often exceed 100 degrees,
• 0:12
  and lawyers have argued these
• 0:13
  conditions constitute cruel and
• 0:15
  unusual punishment for incarcerated
• 0:16
  Texans.
• 0:17
  A federal trial underway this
• 0:19
  weekend in Austin Court could decide
• 0:20
  whether Texas must provide air
• 0:22
  conditioning to all inmates,
• 0:24
  and a group of scientists with UT
• 0:25
  Austin and MD Anderson Cancer Center
• 0:27
  have developed a potential
• 0:29
  chemotherapy drug that may prompt
• 0:31
  a person's immune system to attack
• 0:32
  cancer cells as if they were
• 0:34
  infected by a virus.
• 0:35
  The work on the drug started a
• 0:37
  decade ago and still has many years
• 0:38
  to go. We'll tell you about the
• 0:40
  progress they've made so far, coming
• 0:41
  up on today's show.
• 0:43
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:45
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:47
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:48
  Plus the lifestyles of Austin's
• 0:50
  rich and famous cats,
• 0:52
  a catio tour raising awareness about
• 0:54
  local birds.
• 0:55
  That's up next, right here on
• 0:57
  Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:10
  tuning in to Austin Signal.
• 1:12
  We are coming to you from community
• 1:13
  powered public radio.
• 1:15
  This is KUT News.
• 1:18
  It is Tuesday, excuse me,
• 1:19
  Thursday, the second day of
• 1:22
  April. This is not April Fool's Day
• 1:23
  joke. It really is Thursday.
• 1:25
  And I'm Jerry Quijano, I'm glad
• 1:27
  you're with us.
• 1:28
  We started the day with a bit of
• 1:30
  good news. Lots of rain for
• 1:32
  lots of Austinites and people here
• 1:33
  in central Texas.
• 1:34
  And even better news, rain continues
• 1:36
  into the weekend.
• 1:38
  Right now, the National Weather
• 1:39
  Service is forecasting a 100%
• 1:41
  chance of showers on
• 1:43
  Saturday and some rain sticking
• 1:45
  with us through Sunday night,
• 1:47
  followed by some cooler than normal
• 1:49
  temperatures.
• 1:50
  So make the most of it, take it in,
• 1:51
  and thanks for spending part of the
• 1:53
  day here with us.
• 1:54
  This is Austin Signal.
• 1:58
  A trial happening this week in an
• 1:59
  Austin federal courtroom could
• 2:01
  decide whether the state of Texas
• 2:02
  must provide air conditioning inside
• 2:04
  its prisons.
• 2:05
  Temperatures inside can eclipse the
• 2:07
  triple-digit mark on some sweltering
• 2:09
  Texas days.
• 2:10
  Conditions that lawyers have argued
• 2:11
  for decades constitute cruel
• 2:13
  and unusual punishment for
• 2:15
  incarcerated Texans.
• 2:17
  KUT's government accountability
• 2:18
  reporter, Andrew Weber, is covering
• 2:20
  the trial. He's with us now to tell
• 2:22
  us more. Welcome back, Andrew.
• 2:23
  Thanks, Drew.
• 2:24
  So tell us first, what's the
• 2:25
  argument being made against the
• 2:26
  Texas Department of Criminal
• 2:28
  Justice?
• 2:28
  It's a really simple argument.
• 2:31
  Basically, lawyers are saying that
• 2:32
  the heat in these prisons, which
• 2:34
  regularly tops 90 degrees
• 2:36
  in the summer, that's according to
• 2:38
  our former colleague Lauren
• 2:40
  McGaughy's work, is
• 2:41
  unconstitutional.
• 2:42
  That it's cruel and unusual
• 2:43
  punishment.
• 2:44
  And that the state hasn't
• 2:47
  really done anything in a sort
• 2:48
  of holistic way to address
• 2:50
  those conditions and that people
• 2:52
  have died because of it.
• 2:54
  Uh, and so this trial is going on
• 2:56
  this week, plaintiffs are calling
• 2:58
  witnesses and presented arguments
• 3:00
  and next week, the state will,
• 3:02
  will do the same.
• 3:02
  And then it will be, uh, decided by,
• 3:04
  by a federal judge, whether that's
• 3:06
  the case.
• 3:07
  So this week I was in court, I spoke
• 3:09
  with, um, one of the attorneys
• 3:11
  who's trying this case, Brandon
• 3:12
  Duke. And he's said that, yeah,
• 3:15
  TDCJ has done something to
• 3:17
  address some units.
• 3:18
  Uh, but that he's
• 3:20
  in his view that the, the,
• 3:22
  state is kind of trying to slow walk
• 3:24
  this.
• 3:25
  They've chosen basically the
• 3:26
  slowest, least efficient process
• 3:28
  that will take a significant
• 3:30
  number of years longer to air
• 3:31
  condition the system.
• 3:33
  What has TDCJ said that
• 3:35
  they've done to provide air
• 3:36
  conditioning so far?
• 3:37
  Like I said, they have air
• 3:39
  conditioned some units.
• 3:42
  It's kind of been interesting this
• 3:43
  week hearing testimony from
• 3:45
  the former head of the agency and
• 3:47
  the current head, where they
• 3:48
  basically say, yeah, AC
• 3:50
  would stop people
• 3:52
  dying in prisons because they're so
• 3:54
  hot, but they've
• 3:56
  said that they're also trying
• 3:58
  to do their best with what
• 4:00
  they have.
• 4:01
  So far, since 2018, they've
• 4:03
  air-conditioned 15,000 units.
• 4:05
  And they have a plan to do
• 4:07
  that for 40,000 more units,
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  but plaintiff's attorneys say it's
• 4:11
  not moving fast enough.
• 4:12
  Well, the state agency says that
• 4:13
  providing AC to all inmates is
• 4:15
  one of many quote competing
• 4:17
  priorities or what are some of those
• 4:18
  other priorities?
• 4:19
  Yeah, security is one,
• 4:21
  obviously it's a prison,
• 4:24
  and there's also maintenance.
• 4:26
  Some of these buildings, one of
• 4:27
  these building is, and I didn't
• 4:29
  realize this until this week when I
• 4:30
  started covering it, was built in
• 4:31
  1850. Oh, dang.
• 4:33
  Yeah. So there's a lot of upkeep
• 4:34
  that is non-AC related.
• 4:36
  Also there's healthcare, obviously.
• 4:38
  You have to take care of people in
• 4:40
  the custody of the state,
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  but the biggest obstacle
• 4:44
  as the state sees it.
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  Is cost. This would cost $1.5
• 4:48
  billion to put AC
• 4:50
  in all of its units, and that's
• 4:52
  10 times the amount, more than 10
• 4:53
  times the amount that they get from
• 4:55
  the state legislature.
• 4:56
  The trial is being overseen by U.S.
• 4:58
  District Judge Robert Pittman.
• 5:00
  What do his previous ruling signal
• 5:01
  about his position on this matter?
• 5:04
  Plainly unconstitutional is what he
• 5:05
  called it.
• 5:06
  That was in a ruling last year,
• 5:09
  almost a year to the date.
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  And this was basically plaintiffs
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  wanted to immediately order
• 5:14
  the state to do this.
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  He said, no, let's take this to
• 5:16
  trial. And in that ruling, he said,
• 5:18
  you know, the state is admitting
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  that these conditions are dangerous
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  and they're not doing enough to
• 5:23
  address it.
• 5:25
  The trial has also garnered the
• 5:26
  attention of Austinite and filmmaker
• 5:28
  Richard Link later.
• 5:29
  How did he get connected to this
• 5:30
  cause?
• 5:31
  Yeah, the 2011 movie,
• 5:33
  Bernie, which is a deeply
• 5:35
  Texan movie that is also a
• 5:36
  very, very dark comedy.
• 5:38
  After that movie, he sort of
• 5:40
  connected with Bernie's story.
• 5:41
  He's advocated for him, and he helps
• 5:43
  sort of spur this lawsuit that
• 5:46
  started with Bernie.
• 5:47
  And since then, he's been moved to
• 5:49
  an air-conditioned unit.
• 5:50
  But a lot of other folks have joined
• 5:52
  because this is a very
• 5:54
  novel case because it would require
• 5:56
  all prison units to
• 5:58
  have air conditioning.
• 5:59
  I spoke with him Tuesday outside the
• 6:01
  courtroom.
• 6:02
  I think they felt legally they
• 6:03
  didn't have to, but morally they
• 6:07
  probably should have.
• 6:08
  You know, think of the millions and
• 6:10
  millions of hours of suffering.
• 6:12
  Think of all the deaths, all the
• 6:14
  illness.
• 6:15
  Not just for the incarcerated, but
• 6:16
  the state employees who
• 6:18
  work there.
• 6:20
  Okay Andrew, about 20 seconds left.
• 6:21
  If the judge does indeed rule
• 6:23
  against TDCJ, how soon
• 6:25
  could we see change inside Texas
• 6:26
  prisons?
• 6:27
  Unclear. Plaintiffs want it by 2029,
• 6:29
  but this will likely go to the Fifth
• 6:31
  Circuit Court of Appeals.
• 6:32
  Alrighty, we have been chatting with
• 6:34
  Andrew Weber, he is KUT's Government
• 6:36
  Accountability Reporter.
• 6:37
  We're going to have a link to his
• 6:38
  reporting in today's show notes and
• 6:40
  at KUT.org slash
• 6:43
  Signal.
• 6:43
  Andrew, thanks to you.
• 6:44
  Appreciate you, too.
• 6:56
  Cancer Research at UT Austin
• 6:58
  and MD Anderson Cancer Center
• 7:00
  has taken another step forward.
• 7:02
  This time, researchers say the
• 7:03
  secret may be tricking the
• 7:05
  immune system.
• 7:06
  For more about that, we are speaking
• 7:08
  with KUT's healthcare reporter,
• 7:10
  Olivia Aldridge. Howdy, Olivia.
• 7:11
  Hi.
• 7:12
  So tell us, what have these
• 7:13
  researchers found exactly?
• 7:15
  Essentially, they discovered that
• 7:17
  this new chemotherapy agent
• 7:19
  that they were testing appeared to
• 7:21
  be causing immune cells to attack
• 7:23
  cancer just as they would a cell
• 7:25
  infected by a virus,
• 7:27
  which could open up a lot of
• 7:28
  possibilities for how the science
• 7:30
  community approaches cancer research
• 7:32
  and treatment.
• 7:33
  And your story features one
• 7:35
  Jonathan Sessler.
• 7:36
  Tell us a little bit about him.
• 7:37
  Yes, he has led
• 7:39
  this team of chemists at UT.
• 7:41
  They've been testing this potential
• 7:43
  chemotherapy drug, which they're
• 7:45
  calling Compound One.
• 7:46
  It essentially stresses
• 7:48
  cancer cells by causing this
• 7:50
  buildup of toxic molecules.
• 7:52
  I'm simplifying it, but.
• 7:54
  Thank you
• 7:55
  During their experiments with mice,
• 7:57
  they saw something unexpected
• 7:58
  happening though that they didn't
• 8:01
  anticipate, which was that in these
• 8:02
  mice, their immune cells were
• 8:04
  forming a response and attacking
• 8:06
  pre-treated cancer cells.
• 8:08
  This is notable because cancer
• 8:10
  usually is really good at evading
• 8:12
  our immune responses.
• 8:13
  The immune system doesn't attack
• 8:15
  its own cells usually.
• 8:16
  So how do you make the immune system
• 8:18
  see these cancer cells as a threat?
• 8:20
  And what the researchers believe
• 8:22
  is happening with compound one is
• 8:24
  it's triggering the immune cells
• 8:26
  to activate genes that are
• 8:28
  Associated with a protein that
• 8:29
  recognizes viruses.
• 8:31
  So it's a similar
• 8:32
  response as you'd see if you're
• 8:34
  infected with something like
• 8:35
  COVID-19
• 8:36
  Okay, okay, so chemo therapy
• 8:38
  traditionally has weakened the
• 8:39
  immune system because it kills those
• 8:41
  dangerous cells, but also kills
• 8:42
  healthy cells.
• 8:44
  So as I understand it, this compound
• 8:45
  one is helping to
• 8:47
  better aim the chemo where it
• 8:49
  needs to go, I guess?
• 8:51
  Sort of. Okay.
• 8:52
  Chemo is good at attacking cells
• 8:54
  that are dividing really quickly,
• 8:56
  cancer cells do that, but
• 8:58
  so do some types of healthy cells
• 9:00
  that includes immune cells and
• 9:02
  hair cells.
• 9:03
  So chemo can weaken your immune
• 9:04
  defenses at the same time as it's
• 9:06
  killing the cancer.
• 9:08
  The questions that Dr.
• 9:10
  Sessler and these other scientists
• 9:12
  at UT have is, if
• 9:13
  we can calibrate the right dose
• 9:15
  of chemo, in certain cases, maybe
• 9:17
  a lower dose, can we
• 9:19
  preserve those immune defenses while
• 9:22
  priming the immune system to
• 9:23
  actually attack the cancer?
• 9:26
  Their hypothesis at this stage is
• 9:27
  that maybe there are other chemo
• 9:29
  agents that could do this too, not
• 9:31
  just this one compound.
• 9:33
  And they imagine that this method
• 9:34
  could potentially work in
• 9:36
  combination with other types of
• 9:38
  established immunotherapy out there
• 9:39
  that focus on activating
• 9:41
  the immune system in cancer
• 9:43
  patients.
• 9:43
  And this is something he's been
• 9:44
  working on for at least a decade,
• 9:46
  correct?
• 9:47
  That's right.
• 9:47
  Okay, and and they published their
• 9:49
  findings recently in a peer-reviewed
• 9:51
  journal That means other folks
• 9:52
  in the field can try to build on
• 9:54
  what they're currently doing,
• 9:55
  correct?
• 9:56
  Yes. So it's been 10 years,
• 9:58
  but it's still early research.
• 10:00
  Right now they have promising
• 10:01
  results and experiments done on
• 10:03
  mice. So, it's a long way from
• 10:05
  being applied in a clinical setting
• 10:07
  with actual cancer
• 10:09
  patients.
• 10:10
  But they want others in the
• 10:12
  chemistry and oncology communities
• 10:13
  to take a look and test their
• 10:15
  hypothesis and also maybe
• 10:17
  look at any observations from their
• 10:19
  own clinical practices that might
• 10:21
  align with these findings.
• 10:22
  Okay, so it sounds like there's
• 10:23
  still a fair amount of work to be
• 10:25
  done in the development of this
• 10:26
  chemotherapy drug.
• 10:28
  So now I'm going to ask you the
• 10:29
  obvious question.
• 10:30
  How long before people might be
• 10:32
  able to actually use this?
• 10:34
  They told me they're thinking about
• 10:36
  it like probably another 10 years.
• 10:38
  OK.
• 10:39
  But you know, this is a kind of a
• 10:40
  good example of how all of this
• 10:42
  research that happens at UT and MD
• 10:44
  Anderson all the time
• 10:46
  happens.
• 10:47
  This is this is what's going on
• 10:49
  behind the scene with medical
• 10:50
  research.
• 10:52
  And it's all happening right here in
• 10:53
  our backyard.
• 10:54
  Very cool. We have been speaking to
• 10:56
  KUT's healthcare reporter,
• 10:58
  Olivia Aldridge.
• 10:59
  We're gonna have a link to her story
• 11:00
  in our podcast, Show Notes, and at
• 11:02
  kut.org slash signal.
• 11:04
  Some great photos in there of
• 11:06
  scientists looking like scientists,
• 11:07
  you know. If I was gonna have a
• 11:09
  photo of me doing a journalism, it
• 11:10
  would be what I'm doing right now,
• 11:12
  talking to this microphone.
• 11:13
  So check out that story, as well
• 11:15
  as the reporting from Andrew.
• 11:16
  Olivia, thanks for talking with us.
• 11:30
  And thank you out there for spending
• 11:31
  part of your Thursday.
• 11:33
  Yes, it's Thursday here with us on
• 11:35
  Austin Signal.
• 11:36
  We are proud to be community powered
• 11:39
  public radio.
• 11:40
  Coming up after the break, we're
• 11:41
  gonna take you on a catio tour of
• 11:43
  Austin. What's more Austin than a
• 11:45
  catiotour?
• 11:46
  Well, come find out.
• 11:47
  That is coming up next.
• 11:48
  It's right here on Austin signal.
• 12:00
  This is Austin Signal, welcome
• 12:02
  back.
• 12:03
  Every year billions of migrating
• 12:05
  birds pass through Texas, but
• 12:06
  not all of them make it to their
• 12:08
  destination.
• 12:10
  That's for many reasons, but one of
• 12:12
  them is cats.
• 12:13
  They are adorable, yes, but prolific
• 12:15
  hunters, and it's estimated that
• 12:17
  each year they kill more than two
• 12:19
  billion birds across the United
• 12:21
  States.
• 12:22
  An Austin Bird Conservation
• 12:23
  Nonprofit hosts an event aimed at
• 12:25
  preventing some of these deaths.
• 12:27
  Sean Saldana from the Texas Standard
• 12:30
  takes us on a caddio
• 12:31
  tour.
• 12:36
  I'm in Jacob Smigel's backyard, and
• 12:38
  we're standing in front of a 10-foot
• 12:39
  wooden frame that is covered
• 12:41
  in wire.
• 12:42
  It's got about 10,000 staples
• 12:44
  in it that I put in there, too.
• 12:46
  There's a slanted middle roof, a
• 12:48
  catwalk that extends out to a nearby
• 12:49
  tree, and a tiny pet door for
• 12:51
  his three kitties.
• 12:53
  I feel like I know people who
• 12:54
  wouldn't invest this much in their
• 12:55
  children, much less their cats.
• 12:58
  You know, I didn't want to go
• 13:00
  overboard. What he's showing me is a
• 13:01
  catio, an outdoor but enclosed
• 13:04
  space for cats.
• 13:05
  It's the same concept as yard time
• 13:07
  for prisoners, and Smygle introduced
• 13:09
  me to one of the inmates.
• 13:11
  Hi Quinn.
• 13:15
  She's pushing.
• 13:15
  Microphone away.
• 13:17
  Quinn is a six-month-old tabby
• 13:19
  who was sunbathing for our entire
• 13:21
  interview like a total diva.
• 13:23
  And there are about a dozen people
• 13:24
  here to see her and this massive
• 13:26
  catio, like Rebecca Wells
• 13:28
  and her friend Lexi Somerville.
• 13:30
  We both have orange cats, which we
• 13:32
  have a theory. I don't know if
• 13:32
  you've heard of the orange cat
• 13:33
  theory.
• 13:34
  Yeah, they all share a brain cell.
• 13:36
  Yes, exactly!
• 13:38
  But Smygle and his family are the
• 13:39
  final stop on a citywide tour put
• 13:41
  on by Travis Audubon, where
• 13:43
  Kaylee Zazoula is program director.
• 13:45
  If anyone is listening to this and
• 13:47
  they think, why does Travis Audobon
• 13:49
  hate cats, what would your
• 13:51
  response to that be?
• 13:53
  We love cats.
• 13:54
  We think cats are great pets.
• 13:57
  This is us trying to
• 13:59
  speak to cat owners and
• 14:01
  think about the effects
• 14:03
  that keeping your cats
• 14:05
  outdoors can have on wildlife.
• 14:07
  They do this event because it's
• 14:09
  impossible for cats like Quinn to
• 14:11
  turn off their hunting instinct.
• 14:12
  She thinks my
• 14:15
  fuzzy microphone is a toy.
• 14:16
  Oh, she's biting it.
• 14:18
  Cats are known to hunt more than
• 14:19
  2,000 species, and have
• 14:21
  been linked to the extinction of 40
• 14:23
  types of birds.
• 14:24
  Cats would be particularly
• 14:26
  problematic for species
• 14:28
  that spend time near
• 14:30
  the ground.
• 14:31
  So think larks barrows
• 14:33
  here in central Texas or
• 14:36
  ground nesting birds in particular.
• 14:37
  Grant Sizemore is with the American
• 14:39
  Bird Conservancy, and he
• 14:41
  explains that cats don't even need
• 14:43
  to kill to disrupt an ecosystem.
• 14:45
  They do this through something
• 14:46
  called the ecology of fear.
• 14:49
  When a cat is nearby a nest, even if
• 14:51
  the cat doesn't directly attack
• 14:53
  that nest, it causes
• 14:55
  a change in the behavior of the
• 14:57
  adult bird.
• 14:57
  When cats are around, birds have
• 14:59
  to focus on not getting eaten,
• 15:01
  which takes time away from other
• 15:03
  activities.
• 15:04
  And they're not spending that time
• 15:05
  feeding their young.
• 15:06
  This year's Catio Tour had an
• 15:07
  estimated 350 attendees,
• 15:10
  like Rachel and Jonah Jackson.
• 15:11
  We have three cats, they're all
• 15:13
  named after food.
• 15:14
  There is Marshmallow,
• 15:16
  Peanut, and Rotten Banana.
• 15:18
  That's cute that
• 15:21
  you've named your cat Rotten.
• 15:22
  I was going to say, we had trouble
• 15:24
  with her and then she grew
• 15:26
  into her name.
• 15:27
  The Jacksons are not birders.
• 15:29
  They are catio-curious, and they are
• 15:30
  using today to gather inspiration.
• 15:33
  We have a little pergola in the
• 15:34
  backyard and it's just occurring to
• 15:35
  me that maybe we could route them
• 15:36
  over there and run them around, you
• 15:38
  know.
• 15:39
  The Jacksons are just looking for a
• 15:41
  home project and to keep their
• 15:43
  kitties safe.
• 15:44
  Because cats that spend time
• 15:46
  outdoors sometimes wander off and
• 15:48
  turn into lunch.
• 15:49
  It protects them from coyotes, which
• 15:50
  we have a lot of.
• 15:51
  Nicolette Pink is married to Jacob
• 15:53
  Smeigel, whose catio we've been
• 15:55
  admiring.
• 15:55
  She told me about a Bengal cat they
• 15:57
  once had.
• 15:58
  Anytime he could, he would slip out
• 16:00
  of the house and explore the shrubby
• 16:01
  limestone of central Texas.
• 16:03
  Then one day, he didn't come back.
• 16:06
  The Bengal met his fate.
• 16:08
  Oh, really?
• 16:09
  Oh, I'm so sorry to hear.
• 16:12
  Catios make sure that kitties like
• 16:13
  Quinn and her twin sister Clover can
• 16:15
  enjoy the outdoors and stay safe.
• 16:18
  And if it weren't for this event,
• 16:20
  neither of them would be here right
• 16:21
  now.
• 16:21
  I met the foster for these
• 16:23
  about four years ago on the
• 16:25
  catio tour. She came here.
• 16:27
  I met her. I kept her in the back of
• 16:28
  my mind because I knew she rescued.
• 16:30
  And then when I was ready to get
• 16:31
  more cats, I reached out to her
• 16:33
  and we adopted these
• 16:35
  two from her.
• 16:36
  Quinn and Clover barely acknowledge
• 16:37
  the crowd.
• 16:39
  Inside the catio, they are just
• 16:40
  relaxing.
• 16:42
  Outside, they're ruthless
• 16:43
  predators and easy prey.
• 16:46
  In Austin, I'm Sean Saldana.
• 16:57
  Traffic is one of the constants
• 16:59
  of life here in Austin, and now
• 17:01
  the surrounding area too.
• 17:02
  That's just the way it is.
• 17:05
  But every so often, there's
• 17:07
  something that breaks the monotony
• 17:08
  of the brake lights.
• 17:10
  A sign off in the distance that
• 17:12
  reads, Baby Yoda uses
• 17:14
  a car seat.
• 17:16
  Be safe, he will.
• 17:18
  Baby Yoda is actually here in
• 17:19
  studio, but I'm not gonna talk to
• 17:20
  him anymore because someone asked
• 17:22
  our ATXplain project, who
• 17:24
  is behind these?
• 17:25
  Sometimes clever signs reminding
• 17:27
  you to be safe on the road.
• 17:30
  Former KUT reporter Samuel King
• 17:32
  has the story.
• 17:35
  Like many Austinites, UT student
• 17:37
  Evan Hearn spends a lot of time
• 17:39
  on the road.
• 17:40
  I live up north.
• 17:41
  And so I'm a student and I have a
• 17:43
  couple jobs.
• 17:44
  So I'm constantly either in
• 17:46
  the car or on the bus, you know,
• 17:48
  going one way or another.
• 17:50
  All that time on the road, stuck
• 17:52
  in traffic, could make Hearn and
• 17:53
  other drivers go mad.
• 17:55
  You know you hate
• 17:56
  everything about your life in that
• 17:57
  moment you hate everybody around you
• 17:59
  but then it appears like a beacon of
• 18:01
  call sign reminding you that
• 18:03
  you're not a candle so don't drive
• 18:04
  lit or designate a driver
• 18:07
  be vo the
• 18:07
  Around the holidays there's always
• 18:09
  like some sort of pun that they do
• 18:11
  like it's a really there's always
• 18:12
  like no offense to the guy but it's
• 18:14
  they're really lame like sort of dad
• 18:15
  puns that they that they do about
• 18:17
  like Easter or like Christmas or the
• 18:19
  Fourth of July or whatever
• 18:20
  Evan wondered who is behind the
• 18:22
  messages on the electronic signs
• 18:23
  along Austin's roads.
• 18:25
  Who is this mythical, omniscient
• 18:26
  person or dad algorithm
• 18:28
  who spits out bad jokes
• 18:30
  and good advice?
• 18:31
  If the sign is telling me, like if
• 18:33
  the sign is calling me out on
• 18:35
  my bad driving, I should probably
• 18:37
  calm down. I'm gonna get home
• 18:38
  eventually, so.
• 18:39
  Well, who that person is, and it is
• 18:40
  a person, not a robot, yet,
• 18:43
  depends on the road.
• 18:44
  The big highways, it's someone from
• 18:46
  TxDOT. On the toll roads, it could
• 18:47
  be someone from the Central Texas
• 18:49
  Regional Mobility Authority.
• 18:51
  On city streets like Lamar and Cesar
• 18:53
  Chavez, it's a team from the city
• 18:55
  of Austin.
• 18:56
  Engineer Joshua Batpuria is on
• 18:58
  that team.
• 18:58
  He isn't a dad, but he
• 19:00
  takes pride in his dad joke.
• 19:03
  I enjoy it, but my coworkers
• 19:04
  sometimes get a little bit tired of
• 19:06
  it, so they just retreat to their
• 19:07
  corner.
• 19:09
  Oh, so you make bad jokes in person,
• 19:11
  too. I do, I do.
• 19:12
  Only the best reach the signs, I
• 19:14
  would say.
• 19:15
  Or worse, it depends on how you
• 19:17
  define it.
• 19:18
  Thankfully, he doesn't always have
• 19:19
  the final say.
• 19:20
  It's a group effort.
• 19:21
  There's a whole team whose job it is
• 19:23
  to come up with these signs.
• 19:24
  We would come up with something
• 19:25
  simple that everybody understands
• 19:27
  like a
• 19:29
  Drake reference or Matthew
• 19:30
  McConaughey reference and from there
• 19:31
  we would just come up a rhyme
• 19:33
  or something simple that we could be
• 19:34
  like oh this is a quick 15
• 19:37
  words that people would laugh at but
• 19:38
  then it would also stick the memory
• 19:39
  in their head.
• 19:40
  It's harder than it sounds.
• 19:42
  In 2017, the city asked people to
• 19:44
  come up with their own signs.
• 19:45
  And while 15 submissions made the
• 19:48
  cut, hundreds more were rejected,
• 19:50
  including one saying, cars don't
• 19:52
  cuddle. Leave some room.
• 19:55
  And everyone yearns for signaled
• 19:57
  turns.
• 19:58
  Joshua's boss, Jen Duthie, says it's
• 20:00
  not always fun and games.
• 20:01
  Duthy says even the signs with jokes
• 20:03
  actually serve a serious purpose.
• 20:05
  They remind people the signs are
• 20:07
  there. And they often display
• 20:09
  serious messages like the recent
• 20:11
  signs aimed at reducing traffic
• 20:13
  fatality.
• 20:14
  So we do get questions sometimes,
• 20:15
  you know, why are we putting these
• 20:17
  somewhat silly messages up there,
• 20:19
  but they always have a
• 20:21
  key point that we're trying to get
• 20:22
  across.
• 20:23
  Even if you haven't eaten at El
• 20:25
  Arroyo on West Fifth, you probably
• 20:27
  know their other claim to fame,
• 20:28
  funny signs.
• 20:30
  And they apparently felt Bapuria and
• 20:31
  the other road sign artists were
• 20:33
  edging in on their turf.
• 20:35
  El Arroyo made one of their signs
• 20:37
  that said, who's the intern
• 20:39
  trying to steal our marquee
• 20:41
  thunder?
• 20:41
  And I was just like minorly
• 20:43
  offended because on the one hand
• 20:45
  I was like, we're not a textile
• 20:46
  intern, I work with signals, I'm
• 20:48
  an engineer.
• 20:49
  On the other hand, I was, like,
• 20:51
  hey, I got featured on a lot of
• 20:53
  a little bit, so I'll take that as a
• 20:54
  win. If the jokes get you to notice
• 20:56
  the signs, then maybe you'll get the
• 20:58
  message they're trying to get
• 20:59
  across.
• 21:00
  After learning the method behind the
• 21:02
  madness, Evan Hearn sure thinks
• 21:04
  so.
• 21:04
  We can agree that objectively people
• 21:06
  who block the box are the worst kind
• 21:08
  of people, so maybe by seeing
• 21:10
  the sign they will sort
• 21:12
  of rethink what they're doing, so
• 21:13
  that's like an actual impactful,
• 21:17
  like impactful in the real world
• 21:18
  sort of situation.
• 21:23
  Samuel King, KUT News.
• 21:35
  That story was originally part
• 21:37
  of an ATXplained live show
• 21:39
  back at the Paramount Theater.
• 21:42
  Our next one with brand new stories
• 21:43
  is coming up on May 21st.
• 21:45
  This one is happening at the Bass
• 21:47
  Concert Hall.
• 21:49
  You can get your tickets at
• 21:50
  TexasPerformingArts.org
• 21:52
  and I gotta say that the
• 21:53
  anticipation is beginning to build
• 21:55
  in the newsroom about this upcoming
• 21:57
  show. Now I don't have any
• 21:59
  permission to tell you anything
• 22:00
  about what's going to happen EXCEPT
• 22:03
  that it's gonna be a great night, a
• 22:04
  community here in Austin.
• 22:06
  If you've never been to an A.T.
• 22:07
  Explained live show, it is,
• 22:10
  first off, it's just a really great
• 22:11
  night of storytelling, but I
• 22:13
  feel, and I hear so many people
• 22:15
  saying I feel better connected to my
• 22:16
  community after I go to one of these
• 22:18
  shows. And if you just heard Sam's
• 22:20
  story right there, you know why that
• 22:21
  is. You just get that connection
• 22:24
  to the person, and when you go to
• 22:25
  an AT Explained Live Show, you get
• 22:27
  that collection to your entire
• 22:29
  community. Again, the show is
• 22:30
  happening May 21st.
• 22:32
  Get your tickets at
• 22:33
  texasperformingarts.org.
• 22:36
  Well, that is it for today's show.
• 22:38
  We're gonna have more about the
• 22:39
  stories that we shared with you in
• 22:41
  our podcast Show Notes, and you can
• 22:43
  always find more from us
• 22:45
  at kut.org
• 22:47
  slash signal.
• 22:49
  Rayna Sevilla is our technical
• 22:50
  director, Kristen Cabrera is our
• 22:52
  managing producer, and I'm your
• 22:54
  host, Jerry Quijano.
• 22:55
  Thank you for being with us.
• 22:56
  Have a great day.