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Why bats in Austin may be living rent-free in your apartment · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Early voting for the upcoming
• 0:10
  primaries in Texas begins next
• 0:11
  month, and up in Williamson County,
• 0:13
  things will be a little different
• 0:14
  this election cycle.
• 0:16
  Voters there will no longer be able
• 0:17
  to vote at any polling site on
• 0:19
  Election Day.
• 0:20
  Why that is and the impacts it could
• 0:22
  have coming up and protests
• 0:24
  against immigration and customs
• 0:25
  enforcement have continued in the
• 0:27
  area this week.
• 0:28
  Demonstrators gathered outside
• 0:29
  Austin City Hall on Tuesday.
• 0:31
  We'll hear more from that
• 0:33
  demonstration coming up on today's
• 0:35
  show.
• 0:35
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:37
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:39
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:40
  Plus, bats have long found a cozy
• 0:42
  home here in Austin, but they're not
• 0:44
  just nestling up under the South
• 0:45
  Congress Bridge.
• 0:47
  That story, plus living, dying,
• 0:49
  and grief is the subject of a short
• 0:50
  film premiering in town this
• 0:52
  weekend.
• 0:53
  Come explore those stories and a
• 0:55
  whole lot more today on Austin
• 0:57
  Signal.
• 1:09
  Howdy out there, this is
• 1:11
  Austin Signal.
• 1:12
  Thank you for making us part of your
• 1:14
  Wednesday. I'm your host, Jerry
• 1:16
  Quijano.
• 1:17
  Things have warmed up a bit today in
• 1:19
  Austin, but we are expecting things
• 1:20
  to take a turn this weekend.
• 1:22
  We've got our eyes on the weather,
• 1:24
  and we have ways to prepare for
• 1:25
  those freezing temperatures over at
• 1:28
  KUT.org.
• 1:30
  Let's jump into today's show.
• 1:33
  We're coming up on the registration
• 1:34
  deadline for voters to participate
• 1:36
  in the upcoming Texas primaries.
• 1:38
  For voters in Williamson County,
• 1:40
  things will be slightly different
• 1:41
  this primary election day from those
• 1:43
  in years past.
• 1:45
  For more about that change, we're
• 1:46
  talking with KUT's Williamson
• 1:48
  county reporter, Kailey Hunt.
• 1:49
  Thanks for coming on the show,
• 1:50
  Kailey. Hey, Jerry.
• 1:52
  So tell us just right
• 1:54
  off the bat, what is gonna be
• 1:55
  different this election in
• 1:56
  Williamston County?
• 1:58
  Yeah, so what voters need to know is
• 1:59
  that on primary election
• 2:01
  day on March 3rd, they will
• 2:03
  no longer be able to cast their
• 2:05
  ballot at just any polling location
• 2:07
  within the county.
• 2:09
  In years past, you know,
• 2:11
  we've had county-wide voting
• 2:13
  centers, basically centralized
• 2:14
  polling locations.
• 2:15
  That's been kind of popular all
• 2:17
  across Texas.
• 2:17
  Right, exactly.
• 2:19
  Many counties do this, and
• 2:21
  it's meant to be more convenient.
• 2:23
  Well, yeah, that's no longer going
• 2:25
  to be a thing, at
• 2:27
  least for this upcoming primary
• 2:29
  election day.
• 2:30
  Okay, just primary election day,
• 2:32
  right? Early voting starts in
• 2:33
  February, but it doesn't apply then
• 2:35
  just that one Tuesday?
• 2:36
  That's right, and that is because
• 2:39
  the county's
• 2:41
  parties, the Republican party
• 2:42
  chair and the Democratic party
• 2:44
  chair, they are responsible for
• 2:46
  running those elections
• 2:48
  on actual primary election
• 2:50
  day.
• 2:50
  Okay, did both parties
• 2:53
  ask for this change?
• 2:54
  No, so yeah,
• 2:56
  that's kind of the story is,
• 2:59
  you know, the Republican Party
• 3:01
  decided that they no
• 3:03
  longer want to offer countywide
• 3:05
  polling locations on
• 3:06
  primary election day.
• 3:08
  And the way the
• 3:10
  state law is right now, that means
• 3:12
  that the county's Democratic Party
• 3:14
  has no choice but to basically
• 3:16
  follow the Republicans' lead, right?
• 3:17
  Okay, yeah, that makes sense right
• 3:18
  since they're both, you know, we're
• 3:20
  used to voting you either choose a
• 3:22
  Democrat or Republican or
• 3:23
  independent But on primary days,
• 3:25
  you're just choosing for the party
• 3:26
  that you're choosing to vote in,
• 3:28
  right?
• 3:28
  Correct, right.
• 3:29
  Both parties have to agree to use
• 3:31
  county-wide polling in order for
• 3:33
  it to be offered by either party.
• 3:35
  OK, so the Republicans
• 3:37
  in Williamson County asked
• 3:39
  for this change.
• 3:40
  So what has been the response from
• 3:42
  folks opposed to this change?
• 3:44
  Yeah, so I had a chance to, you
• 3:46
  know, chat with both
• 3:48
  the chair of the Republican party
• 3:49
  and the Democratic party in
• 3:51
  Williamson County.
• 3:53
  The Williamson county Democratic
• 3:54
  party was very adamant that
• 3:56
  they are opposed to this change.
• 3:59
  But say that, you know,
• 4:01
  due to state law, they really have
• 4:03
  no choice but to go along with
• 4:05
  it for the moment.
• 4:08
  You know, they say they don't want
• 4:09
  to.
• 4:10
  Try to challenge it at this point,
• 4:12
  um, because they're, they're
• 4:14
  afraid that that might put some of
• 4:15
  their candidates, um at
• 4:17
  risk or open, you know, the party
• 4:19
  open to lawsuits.
• 4:20
  Yeah.
• 4:20
  Yeah, because we are very close
• 4:21
  already to primary days and things
• 4:23
  will just continue to roll, right?
• 4:24
  Right, correct.
• 4:25
  OK, so you
• 4:28
  mentioned earlier the word
• 4:29
  convenience. Someone you spoke with
• 4:30
  in your story also mentioned the
• 4:32
  convenience of voting at any polling
• 4:34
  location.
• 4:35
  What do they have to say?
• 4:36
  Yeah, so I spoke to Joshua
• 4:38
  Blank. He is a research director
• 4:40
  at the Texas Politics
• 4:42
  Project.
• 4:43
  And he spoke a lot about, yeah,
• 4:45
  voting for
• 4:48
  a lot of people is seen as like a
• 4:49
  marginal decision, right?
• 4:51
  It comes down to convenience.
• 4:53
  And so what
• 4:55
  he was arguing was that
• 4:57
  any efforts that make voting
• 4:59
  easier or more accessible is
• 5:01
  likely to increase voter turnout.
• 5:02
  Therefore, the opposite, if
• 5:04
  you're to...
• 5:05
  Make it less convenient,
• 5:07
  then there's a good chance that
• 5:09
  there will be a decrease in
• 5:11
  voter turnout.
• 5:12
  Okay, so that seems simple
• 5:14
  enough that that argument of
• 5:16
  convenience. Did you get any
• 5:17
  response on that statement?
• 5:19
  Yeah, Jerry, I did.
• 5:20
  Yeah, the Republican party
• 5:23
  chair in Williamson County, Michelle
• 5:24
  Evans, replied to that
• 5:26
  argument. And she said that she
• 5:28
  would, quote, encourage the
• 5:30
  Democrats and other critics to have
• 5:32
  far more confidence in their fellow
• 5:34
  man to figure out where their
• 5:35
  polling location is.
• 5:37
  All righty.
• 5:38
  Well, again, early voting for the
• 5:40
  March primary elections begins
• 5:41
  February 17th runs through
• 5:43
  the 27th and Election
• 5:45
  Day is March 3rd.
• 5:47
  We're going to have more coverage at
• 5:48
  KUT.org.
• 5:50
  We've been chatting with KUT's
• 5:51
  Williamson County reporter, Kailey
• 5:53
  Hunt. Thank you for your reporting.
• 5:55
  Thanks, Jerry.
• 5:59
  Around 300 people rallied
• 6:01
  Tuesday at Austin City Hall
• 6:03
  to demand that local police
• 6:04
  stop cooperating with Immigration
• 6:06
  and Customs Enforcement.
• 6:08
  As Moe's Boo Shell reports for the
• 6:10
  Texas Newsroom, anger in Austin
• 6:12
  is growing since it became clear
• 6:14
  that some officers have been
• 6:15
  reporting undocumented immigrants to
• 6:17
  federal agents.
• 6:21
  Passing cars honked their support
• 6:23
  as protesters chanted,
• 6:25
  banged drums, and waved signs
• 6:27
  that said things like, Texas needs
• 6:29
  rain, not ice.
• 6:30
  All right, we're going to have our
• 6:31
  first speaker come up.
• 6:32
  The event was put together by local
• 6:34
  groups in response to the detention
• 6:36
  and deportation of a Honduran
• 6:38
  woman and her five-year-old child
• 6:40
  earlier this month.
• 6:41
  The pair was deported after an
• 6:43
  APD officer turned them over to ICE
• 6:44
  after finding out federal
• 6:46
  immigration agents had issued a
• 6:47
  warrant for the mother.
• 6:49
  Speakers argued that local police
• 6:51
  don't have to enforce these
• 6:52
  civil warrants, but some are
• 6:54
  doing it anyway.
• 6:55
  ¿Por qué ocurrió esto?
• 6:57
  Why did this happen, asked Sulma
• 6:59
  Franco, a speaker with the group
• 7:01
  Grassroots Leadership.
• 7:03
  Because APD is choosing to go
• 7:04
  further than what they are required
• 7:06
  to do by the law, she said.
• 7:11
  Records show APD officers have
• 7:13
  contacted ICE dozens of times over
• 7:15
  these civil warrants in the last
• 7:17
  year.
• 7:17
  After the speeches, protesters
• 7:19
  delivered a petition to several
• 7:21
  Austin City Council members
• 7:22
  demanding they stop this
• 7:24
  cooperation.
• 7:25
  Thank you all so much for being out
• 7:26
  here.
• 7:30
  But even as they applauded the
• 7:32
  protesters' demands, some council
• 7:34
  members said there were limits to
• 7:36
  what they could do.
• 7:37
  That's because of state law,
• 7:39
  specifically a law called Senate
• 7:41
  Bill 4 that prohibits cities
• 7:43
  from stopping officers from
• 7:45
  calling ICE.
• 7:46
  So we certainly want to review all
• 7:48
  of the written policies of the
• 7:49
  police department to make sure we're
• 7:51
  not unnecessarily using police
• 7:53
  forces to support civilian
• 7:54
  immigration enforcement actions by
• 7:56
  ICE.
• 7:57
  Here's Councilmember Mike Siegel.
• 7:59
  But unfortunately in this
• 8:00
  environment with Senate Bill 4
• 8:02
  and the way the state of Texas
• 8:04
  treats cities like Austin,
• 8:06
  we cannot promise people safety
• 8:08
  when they work with our police
• 8:10
  department. And that's a real shame
• 8:11
  because that makes all of us less
• 8:12
  safe.
• 8:13
  That sentiment that the city could
• 8:15
  not guarantee that
• 8:17
  local police won't report people to
• 8:19
  ICE was echoed by councilmembers
• 8:21
  Zoe Kadri and Vanessa Fuentes.
• 8:23
  They're hoping the city will stop
• 8:25
  officers from participating in
• 8:27
  some immigration enforcement if
• 8:29
  local resources are already spread
• 8:31
  too thin.
• 8:32
  For example, if waiting for ICE
• 8:34
  to pick up a person with a warrant
• 8:35
  would take a local officer away
• 8:37
  for more pressing duties.
• 8:39
  Here's Vanessa Fuente.
• 8:41
  So with that, to me, it's gonna
• 8:42
  be important that we establish
• 8:45
  a threshold of when
• 8:48
  and what happens when an officer
• 8:50
  decides to
• 8:52
  contact ICE.
• 8:56
  Austin police are in the process of
• 8:58
  updating their policy regarding ICE
• 8:59
  cooperation.
• 9:01
  Fuentes said she and other
• 9:02
  councilmembers have requested a
• 9:04
  public meeting with APD Police
• 9:06
  Chief Lisa Davis next week
• 9:08
  to discuss the changes.
• 9:09
  In Austin, I'm Moes Buchal.
• 9:17
  And we have more Austin signal
• 9:18
  coming your way after this break.
• 9:20
  Thank you for tuning in on this
• 9:22
  Wednesday.
• 9:30
  This is Austin Signal, thank you for
• 9:31
  tuning in.
• 9:32
  One of Austin's famous monikers is
• 9:35
  Bat City, and it's not for nothing.
• 9:37
  Austin's bat population attracts
• 9:39
  tourists and locals alike to watch
• 9:40
  them fly out of their home under
• 9:42
  South Congress Bridge in the
• 9:43
  evenings.
• 9:44
  But of course, that's not the only
• 9:45
  place that bats make their home.
• 9:47
  And as skyscrapers and condos
• 9:48
  continue to be built up around
• 9:50
  downtown, well, they're likely
• 9:52
  to find more homes there.
• 9:54
  Andrea Ball of the Austin Current
• 9:56
  reports that those dwellings are
• 9:58
  looking more comfortable to more
• 9:59
  than just humans.
• 10:01
  Andrea is joining us on Austin
• 10:03
  Signal to talk more about how bats
• 10:04
  are moving and living in downtown.
• 10:06
  Thanks for coming on the show.
• 10:08
  Thank you for having me.
• 10:09
  So you're reporting, you're right,
• 10:11
  obviously 25 years ago, the Austin
• 10:13
  skyline looked a lot different.
• 10:16
  Has this always been a problem here
• 10:17
  in Austin?
• 10:18
  Yeah, if you talk to the
• 10:20
  people at Austin Bat Refuge, they
• 10:22
  say, bats have always been getting
• 10:23
  in trouble.
• 10:24
  And it's really not necessarily
• 10:26
  because they think, I wanna be human
• 10:28
  and not like to live in their space.
• 10:29
  They just kind of get into places.
• 10:31
  They can squish really,
• 10:33
  really thin. They have kind of
• 10:35
  expandable rib cages so they
• 10:37
  can get into tiny spaces and
• 10:39
  they will go into them.
• 10:40
  And so they've always been kind of
• 10:41
  popping up here and there, but now
• 10:43
  they're really like
• 10:45
  getting summer homes and enjoying
• 10:47
  life downtown.
• 10:48
  Well, the bats have been popping up
• 10:49
  in some of the buildings in the
• 10:51
  Austin skyline.
• 10:51
  We've had more and more buildings.
• 10:53
  So are we maybe hearing about it
• 10:55
  more now because more people are
• 10:57
  living in these buildings downtown?
• 10:58
  Well, they didn't exist.
• 11:00
  So there's more opportunities.
• 11:02
  And apparently, a lot of these
• 11:03
  really tall buildings that have
• 11:05
  residences, they have patios.
• 11:07
  Everybody loves to go outside.
• 11:09
  And bats love to fly.
• 11:11
  And so they will open up their patio
• 11:13
  doors, but they often don't have
• 11:15
  screens.
• 11:16
  And so somebody goes inside, and a
• 11:17
  bat is enjoying their life, doing
• 11:19
  their best. And then they were like,
• 11:21
  hey, cool, what's that?
• 11:22
  And goes right in and.
• 11:23
  Sometimes people think they're birds
• 11:25
  and they're like, cool.
• 11:26
  And then as soon as they think it's
• 11:27
  a bat, they hit the floor as if
• 11:29
  the bat's coming to get them.
• 11:30
  Yeah, and your story features the
• 11:32
  story of a man named Chris, what was
• 11:34
  his experience like?
• 11:35
  OH MY GOD
• 11:36
  Kinda crazy.
• 11:37
  It was wild.
• 11:37
  It was wild. So Chris had just come
• 11:39
  back from a business meeting and
• 11:41
  he comes into his apartment on the
• 11:43
  11th floor and he
• 11:45
  can see something fly over his head,
• 11:47
  right? And he's like, ah, I guess
• 11:49
  that's a bird.
• 11:50
  And this was like a whole drama,
• 11:53
  Jerry, a drama, because here's what
• 11:54
  happened.
• 11:56
  So he says, he's, like, okay,
• 11:58
  it's a and it's whizzing,
• 12:00
  and then he sees it stop.
• 12:02
  And land on an air conditioning
• 12:04
  vent and drop down
• 12:06
  and hang upside down, at
• 12:08
  which point he dropped to the
• 12:10
  ground. Now, it's not like he just
• 12:12
  had a broom in his closet.
• 12:14
  His mother lives multiple floors up,
• 12:16
  he had to call his mother and say,
• 12:18
  give me my broom.
• 12:19
  So he's trying to like be kind to
• 12:21
  the bat, right? Chris is not trying
• 12:22
  to harm the bat. Of course.
• 12:23
  Of course, of course, yeah.
• 12:24
  He just wants, you know, to take
• 12:25
  your business elsewhere, but you
• 12:27
  know the things flying around so
• 12:29
  much you kind of swing wrong and
• 12:30
  there you go.
• 12:31
  So then the
• 12:33
  bat stuck between
• 12:35
  a Buddha statue and the
• 12:37
  patio lip.
• 12:38
  I mean, I really feel that's so very
• 12:39
  Austin.
• 12:41
  It really does seem particularly
• 12:43
  Austin.
• 12:44
  You mentioned Austin Bat Refuge a
• 12:46
  little earlier.
• 12:47
  How have they been working to help
• 12:49
  address the situation?
• 12:50
  They are really very
• 12:52
  much into getting in, they're in the
• 12:54
  educational space where they, you
• 12:55
  know, they talk about these things.
• 12:57
  They, you know do interviews, they
• 12:59
  speak to groups, that kind of thing,
• 13:00
  I believe.
• 13:01
  But they're also really
• 13:03
  trying to work with groups to safely
• 13:05
  remove bats.
• 13:07
  One of the ways basically you get
• 13:08
  rid of a bat is let
• 13:10
  it go, like let it do its thing
• 13:12
  and it will get out.
• 13:14
  I don't know that I would be able to
• 13:15
  do that if it was in my house.
• 13:17
  I think I'd be a lot more like
• 13:18
  Chris, unfortunately, you know?
• 13:20
  This one guy told me a story
• 13:22
  about how he he knew a person
• 13:24
  who he and his wife grabbed a sheet
• 13:25
  and Ran through the building
• 13:27
  like to get the bat like I
• 13:29
  mean when we see a bat we lose
• 13:31
  our business
• 13:32
  That's funny because you're talking
• 13:33
  earlier about the bird, you know, if
• 13:34
  you see a bird you think I whatever
• 13:36
  I let it do its thing But then it
• 13:37
  turns into a bat and it's they're
• 13:39
  very similar But all of a sudden
• 13:41
  things kind of things go out the
• 13:43
  window when it becomes once it
• 13:44
  becomes a bat
• 13:45
  You know, Jerry, the
• 13:47
  entire bat industry
• 13:49
  has a bad PR agency.
• 13:52
  I mean, let
• 13:54
  me just tell you what happened in my
• 13:55
  office the other day.
• 13:57
  I'm talking to my wonderful
• 13:58
  co-worker. And
• 14:01
  who I don't know.
• 14:02
  Who you don't know, and I refuse to
• 14:03
  name for what he said.
• 14:06
  I said, hey, I'm doing the story on
• 14:07
  the bats. And he looked at me with
• 14:09
  this look of pure disgust and
• 14:11
  said,
• 14:13
  bats are rats
• 14:15
  with wings.
• 14:17
  And I said sir,
• 14:19
  how dare you, they are
• 14:21
  sky puppies.
• 14:24
  And that's where I stand on that
• 14:25
  issue.
• 14:26
  Okay well last question for you,
• 14:28
  has Austin's bat population been
• 14:30
  impacted the number specifically as
• 14:32
  we see more skyscrapers in town or
• 14:34
  more people coming to Austin?
• 14:35
  This is a great question.
• 14:37
  I talked to
• 14:39
  Mr. McKenzie
• 14:41
  from Austin Bat
• 14:42
  Refuge.
• 14:43
  And that was the original question
• 14:45
  I had when I started this
• 14:47
  story.
• 14:48
  I'm like, hey, is all this
• 14:49
  construction affecting the bats?
• 14:52
  And I start looking them up, and I
• 14:54
  see this thing, and it says,
• 14:56
  human-bat
• 14:57
  conflict. And I was like, what?
• 15:00
  Anyway, when I talked them, I said,
• 15:02
  this was my question. Are they going
• 15:03
  away? They're like, no.
• 15:04
  They're not, and in
• 15:07
  fact, they were still
• 15:09
  out there flying pretty
• 15:10
  late into the
• 15:12
  season, which is pretty crazy.
• 15:15
  So no, not only are they not
• 15:17
  leaving, but they
• 15:19
  are enjoying new accommodations
• 15:21
  with their human friends.
• 15:22
  All right, well, we have been
• 15:23
  speaking with Andrea Ball, Growth
• 15:25
  and Development Reporter with Austin
• 15:27
  Current.
• 15:28
  They are KUT's collaborator on the
• 15:30
  Austin Signal and a partner with KUT
• 15:32
  in covering the city of Austin.
• 15:34
  You can find more from this story in
• 15:36
  our show notes with some of the
• 15:37
  cutest pictures you've ever seen of
• 15:39
  some bats.
• 15:40
  Andrea, thanks for coming on the
• 15:41
  show and talking with us.
• 15:42
  Thank you so much, and P.S., did you
• 15:43
  know that bats purr?
• 15:46
  I didn't!
• 15:46
  They do.
• 15:47
  OK, we're going to have to find a
• 15:48
  sound of that and add that into
• 15:49
  there again.
• 15:50
  Thank you.
• 15:51
  Thanks
• 15:58
  living, dying, and
• 16:00
  the grief that, try as we might,
• 16:02
  we cannot outrun.
• 16:04
  That's the story at the heart of the
• 16:05
  short film Walk with Death,
• 16:07
  which is premiering this weekend at
• 16:08
  the Austin Public Library Film
• 16:10
  Festival.
• 16:11
  The film follows an end-of-life
• 16:13
  practitioner slash death doula.
• 16:16
  For more, we are speaking with the
• 16:17
  director of the film, Melissa Winn.
• 16:19
  Melissa, thank you for joining us on
• 16:20
  Austin Signal.
• 16:21
  Thank you for having me.
• 16:23
  So, uh, for folks who might not be
• 16:25
  familiar, tell us a little bit about
• 16:26
  yourself and how you got into
• 16:27
  filmmaking.
• 16:28
  I'm based here in Austin.
• 16:30
  I've been in and out of Austin for
• 16:31
  the last 20 years.
• 16:33
  And I just have been
• 16:35
  around the film industry a lot.
• 16:37
  I've volunteered for the
• 16:39
  Austin Asian American Film Festival
• 16:41
  since my college years, so for 20
• 16:43
  years, and then CAM
• 16:45
  Fest as well, the Austin Film
• 16:46
  Festival.
• 16:47
  And so I've always been interested
• 16:48
  in film, and this was the first
• 16:50
  project where I thought, let me try
• 16:51
  to make a film.
• 16:52
  Okay so tell us a little bit about
• 16:54
  the short film you submitted it's
• 16:56
  called walk with death it's about a
• 16:58
  little longer than ten minutes uh...
• 17:00
  Where did where did this idea come
• 17:01
  from
• 17:02
  Yeah, so my mom died in 2024.
• 17:05
  And so that really started me
• 17:07
  on my grief journey.
• 17:09
  Since then, I've been exploring,
• 17:12
  telling, and producing stories
• 17:13
  and spaces around grief, death, and
• 17:15
  dying.
• 17:16
  And so, that's been my focus for the
• 17:18
  past two years since her passing.
• 17:20
  And so for this film specifically,
• 17:22
  it's a documentary short, again,
• 17:23
  called Walk With Death.
• 17:25
  And it's about Brianna Popoca
• 17:26
  Salpeter, a death doula
• 17:28
  here in Austin's Indigenous
• 17:30
  community.
• 17:31
  And the film highlights grief work
• 17:32
  and what she's learned and gained
• 17:34
  from her work with those who are
• 17:35
  dying.
• 17:35
  Now how did you meet Brianna?
• 17:37
  So I was part of
• 17:39
  a grief group at the Austin Center
• 17:41
  for Grief and Loss, which is
• 17:42
  unfortunately not a resource for the
• 17:44
  community anymore.
• 17:45
  It closed in April of last year.
• 17:47
  But I had reached out to
• 17:49
  a member in the grief group looking
• 17:51
  for a death doula.
• 17:53
  And I learned about the term death
• 17:55
  doulo when I was visiting some
• 17:56
  friends in Tacoma, Washington.
• 17:58
  And I came across a
• 18:00
  really hyper-local zine called
• 18:02
  Grit City Magazine.
• 18:04
  And that magazine had an
• 18:06
  article about a death doula in
• 18:07
  Tacoma, Washington.
• 18:08
  And so that was the first time I
• 18:10
  heard the term death doulua.
• 18:12
  And that was about a year after my
• 18:13
  mom passed.
• 18:14
  So that term stuck in my head.
• 18:16
  And I really wanted to explore what
• 18:17
  is a death doula, what is that grief
• 18:19
  work.
• 18:20
  So when I got back to Austin, I
• 18:22
  asked the members of my grief
• 18:24
  group.
• 18:24
  And my friend Robin sent
• 18:27
  me Brianna's website.
• 18:28
  And when I was looking for a death
• 18:30
  doula here in Austin, I really
• 18:31
  Wanted to spotlight a queer black
• 18:34
  indigenous or woman of color who
• 18:36
  was doing grief work.
• 18:37
  I think it's important to highlight
• 18:39
  and amplify marginalized voices.
• 18:41
  And so when I saw Brianna's
• 18:43
  website, I reached out to her and
• 18:45
  said, I lost my mom.
• 18:47
  Could I talk to you about your grief
• 18:49
  work? And so within that
• 18:51
  one hour phone call with Brianna, I
• 18:53
  knew that she was a natural
• 18:54
  storyteller.
• 18:55
  She has a beautiful perspective on
• 18:57
  life.
• 18:58
  And I just knew she could talk about
• 19:00
  death in a way that was accessible,
• 19:01
  relatable and not scary.
• 19:04
  And that's really important when you
• 19:05
  talk about grief and death.
• 19:06
  And so I wanted to highlight her
• 19:08
  work and just feature her in this
• 19:10
  film.
• 19:11
  I'm sorry for the loss of your
• 19:12
  mother, first off, but I wanted to
• 19:13
  follow up on something you said.
• 19:15
  Austin Center for Grief and Loss,
• 19:16
  you mentioned that close. I didn't
• 19:17
  realize that, you know, I've been
• 19:19
  working here since 2018 and we
• 19:21
  would do these community reads for
• 19:23
  meetups and things like that.
• 19:25
  I didn't realize they had closed.
• 19:27
  Did you make this film in part to
• 19:29
  kind of provide a space for people
• 19:30
  to continue working through their
• 19:32
  grief as you were working through
• 19:33
  yours?
• 19:33
  I think so.
• 19:34
  I think all my work in these past
• 19:35
  two years has been to create space
• 19:38
  around grief, for grief,
• 19:40
  and to open conversation about death
• 19:41
  and dying.
• 19:42
  And so when the center abruptly
• 19:44
  closed in April of last year, it
• 19:46
  was another thing of
• 19:47
  grief that our community had to take
• 19:49
  on. We were grieving the loss of
• 19:51
  someone, and then we were suddenly
• 19:52
  grieving the loss of community and
• 19:54
  spaces to gather.
• 19:55
  And, so, yes, I made this
• 19:57
  film to also invite.
• 19:59
  Those who are grieving and those who
• 20:01
  are curious about death to come
• 20:02
  together, talk about it,
• 20:04
  and just have a space to grieve and
• 20:06
  be curious around death and grief.
• 20:08
  So what was the process of making
• 20:10
  a film like?
• 20:11
  I mean, I'm sure you were quite
• 20:12
  familiar with the process, having
• 20:13
  the experience that you've had
• 20:15
  around the film industry, but
• 20:17
  making your own.
• 20:17
  You're the director and executive
• 20:19
  producer of the film.
• 20:20
  So what, what was that like?
• 20:22
  I was at the Austin Asian-American
• 20:24
  Film Festival in June of last
• 20:26
  year, and that is my favorite
• 20:29
  film festival and local event at
• 20:31
  Austin Film Society every June.
• 20:33
  And I was getting ready to see the
• 20:34
  next screening, so I was sitting in
• 20:36
  a dark theater waiting for the
• 20:38
  film to start, and I was telling my
• 20:40
  friends about my ACC screenwriting
• 20:42
  class at Austin Community College
• 20:44
  when someone in front of me turns
• 20:46
  around and they say,
• 20:48
  I wasn't eavesdropping,
• 20:50
  but I was eavesdropping.
• 20:52
  And I'm a local videographer, and
• 20:54
  I'm looking for stories to tell.
• 20:56
  And so that is Zach Carter, the
• 20:58
  cinematographer of this film.
• 21:00
  And so then I saw
• 21:02
  the call for submission
• 21:04
  for the Austin Public Library Film
• 21:06
  Festival.
• 21:06
  And I emailed Zach and I said,
• 21:08
  let's make something for this
• 21:10
  film festival.
• 21:11
  Let's just play.
• 21:13
  No pressure, no expectations.
• 21:15
  Let's see what we can create.
• 21:17
  And Zach said, yes, thankfully.
• 21:20
  So how can people see the film this
• 21:21
  weekend?
• 21:22
  So, Walk With Death will
• 21:24
  screen at Austin Public Library's
• 21:26
  Spicewood Springs branch at 4.30
• 21:28
  p.m. This Saturday, January 24th,
• 21:30
  with a Q&A.
• 21:31
  Please come see the film.
• 21:33
  Say hi to Brianna, Zach, and
• 21:35
  me.
• 21:35
  And there will be several death
• 21:37
  doulas and grief workers in
• 21:38
  attendance, too.
• 21:40
  Bring your grieving self, your
• 21:41
  curiosity about death, and let's be
• 21:43
  in community and have open
• 21:45
  discussions about dying, a universal
• 21:47
  human experience.
• 21:48
  Well I think your movie is a very
• 21:50
  good exploration of grief
• 21:52
  and death and life and the
• 21:54
  need to grapple with those
• 21:56
  things. So I hope if you're
• 21:57
  listening out there you'll check it
• 21:59
  out this weekend and hopefully the
• 22:00
  weather will cooperate with
• 22:02
  us as well.
• 22:03
  We have been speaking with Melissa
• 22:04
  Nguyen, director of the short film
• 22:06
  Walk with Death, which again is
• 22:08
  premiering at the Austin Public
• 22:09
  Library Film Festival this weekend.
• 22:11
  We're going to have a link to more
• 22:13
  information on the festival in our
• 22:14
  show notes and at kut.org.
• 22:17
  Well, that's it. Thanks for coming on
• 22:18
  the show.
• 22:19
  Thank you for having me.
• 22:25
  And that is it for today's
• 22:27
  episode of Austin Signal.
• 22:29
  Thank you for making us part of
• 22:31
  your Wednesday.
• 22:33
  A special thank you to Kailey Hunt,
• 22:34
  Mose Buchele, Andrea Ball, and
• 22:36
  Melissa Nguyen for their help with
• 22:38
  today's show.
• 22:39
  And a big thanks to Kristen Cabrera
• 22:41
  and Rayna Sevilla, who help make
• 22:43
  this show happen every
• 22:44
  single day.
• 22:46
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
• 22:48
  Austin Signal will be back tomorrow,
• 22:50
  same time.
• 22:51
  We will talk to you then.
• 22:52
  Have a great day.