Latest / Austin Signal / Flock cameras in the Austin area, Texas Republican donors, Halal tacos

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Flock cameras in the Austin area, Texas Republican donors, Halal tacos · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Flock cameras are under scrutiny for
• 0:10
  a variety of reasons, and that has
• 0:12
  police departments in the Austin
• 0:13
  area considering their future use
• 0:14
  of that technology.
• 0:16
  Even so, you should still expect to
• 0:17
  see the cameras here in central
• 0:19
  Texas. We're gonna tell you why.
• 0:21
  And with less than two months left
• 0:22
  until election day, the Republican
• 0:24
  National Committee is bringing a
• 0:25
  first-of-its-kind midterm convention
• 0:27
  to the state this week.
• 0:29
  Why now, and why Texas?
• 0:31
  That's coming up on today's show.
• 0:32
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:34
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:36
  Jerry Kehano.
• 0:38
  Here in Austin, there are plenty of
• 0:39
  taco choices to explore.
• 0:41
  Bougie or basic, flour or
• 0:43
  corn, with cheese or not.
• 0:45
  But when's the last time you had a
• 0:47
  halal taco?
• 0:48
  It wasn't even on the menu at an
• 0:50
  East Austin taco truck.
• 0:51
  That is until a customer asked.
• 0:53
  We've got that story and a whole lot
• 0:55
  more. That's up next, right here on
• 0:57
  Austin Signal.
• 1:07
  Howdy out there, thank you for
• 1:09
  tuning in to Austin Signal.
• 1:11
  I'm your host, Jerry Keconnell.
• 1:12
  It is September 8th, it is a
• 1:14
  Tuesday, just in case you need a
• 1:16
  little reminding.
• 1:17
  We are very glad that you're here
• 1:18
  with us.
• 1:20
  Police departments across Central
• 1:21
  Texas are reconsidering their use
• 1:23
  of Flock Safety's license plate
• 1:25
  reading cameras.
• 1:26
  You have probably seen one, or
• 1:28
  surely it's seen you.
• 1:29
  Maybe during your back to school
• 1:31
  shopping at the mall, or a quick
• 1:32
  weekend trip to grab something at
• 1:34
  the store.
• 1:35
  Amid a wave of national backlash,
• 1:37
  Texas Governor Greg Abbott last
• 1:38
  month paused state agencies from
• 1:40
  spending money on that technology.
• 1:43
  But as KUT's Andrew Weber reports,
• 1:45
  here in the Austin area, cameras
• 1:47
  will continue be around and
• 1:48
  in use for some time to come.
• 1:51
  If you've been really anywhere near
• 1:53
  a screen in the last few weeks,
• 1:55
  you've probably heard the word.
• 1:57
  Lookerville City Council has decided
• 1:59
  not to renew the city's
• 2:01
  with flock safety.
• 2:03
  The city of Elgin is the latest to
• 2:04
  pause its use of flock cameras.
• 2:06
  Fast Drop City Council voted to
• 2:08
  consider terminating its contract
• 2:10
  with Flock Safety next week.
• 2:12
  This summer, residents in central
• 2:13
  Texas and across the state have
• 2:15
  pushed police departments and city
• 2:17
  councils to abandon Flock Safety's
• 2:19
  AI-empowered cameras that constantly
• 2:21
  scan license plates along roads.
• 2:23
  People have found a lot to dislike
• 2:25
  about these cameras and Flock.
• 2:27
  The company has been accused of
• 2:29
  lying to police departments and
• 2:30
  local leaders.
• 2:31
  They own all of the images from
• 2:33
  these cameras, so police can't
• 2:35
  always control where that data ends
• 2:36
  up. And on top of that,
• 2:38
  some police officers have abused the
• 2:40
  technology to stalk people.
• 2:42
  The wave of anti-flock sentiment
• 2:44
  even got Governor Greg Abbott's
• 2:45
  attention.
• 2:46
  The flaw cameras are being reduced
• 2:47
  dramatically and they're gonna be
• 2:49
  required to be used responsibly if
• 2:51
  they're used at all.
• 2:52
  That appearance on the Glenn Beck
• 2:53
  program came hours after
• 2:55
  Abbott paused state funding for
• 2:57
  all new flock cameras.
• 2:59
  That was earlier this month, but
• 3:00
  these cameras have been around for
• 3:02
  years and people have been
• 3:04
  disliking them for years.
• 3:06
  Mackenzie Ryan is one of those
• 3:07
  people. She's a digital rights
• 3:09
  attorney and an advocate with the
• 3:10
  Electronic Frontier Foundation.
• 3:12
  Ryan helped push the Austin Police
• 3:13
  Department to take down its cameras
• 3:15
  last year.
• 3:16
  I always knew, I was pretty
• 3:17
  optimistic that once people knew
• 3:19
  these were up, and with the
• 3:22
  flagrant lies and the
• 3:24
  particular egregiousness of
• 3:26
  Flock as a company, that this
• 3:28
  would likely result in a lot
• 3:29
  of people talking about this issue.
• 3:31
  But these cameras aren't going
• 3:33
  anywhere in central Texas.
• 3:34
  For one, there are private flock
• 3:36
  cameras all over the city.
• 3:38
  Malls like Barton Creek Square Mall
• 3:40
  and the Domain have cameras.
• 3:41
  Plenty of HOAs have cameras too.
• 3:44
  And big box stores like Home Depot
• 3:46
  and Academy still have cameras, too.
• 3:48
  And DPS still maintains a whole
• 3:50
  network of flock cameras along
• 3:51
  state-owned roads in Austin.
• 3:54
  And Austin police can still request
• 3:55
  data from those cameras.
• 3:57
  Nearby police departments, Hutto,
• 3:59
  Taylor, Kyle Lakeway,
• 4:01
  Cedar Park, and B-Cave, also
• 4:03
  still have flock cameras.
• 4:05
  Round Rock has one of the largest
• 4:07
  flock networks in Central Texas.
• 4:09
  Over the past month, images from its
• 4:10
  cameras have been shared with more
• 4:12
  than 1,400 other agencies,
• 4:14
  most of them out of state.
• 4:16
  Round Rock Police Chief Alan Banks
• 4:18
  says he understands concerns,
• 4:20
  but the cameras have helped solve
• 4:22
  crimes, particularly car thefts,
• 4:24
  and he plans to keep them.
• 4:26
  We will not make everybody happy,
• 4:28
  we won't.
• 4:29
  But I also have an obligation to
• 4:31
  take care of our community and
• 4:33
  if somebody commits a crime,
• 4:36
  it's our job to hold
• 4:38
  them accountable.
• 4:39
  Just a few months ago, flock cameras
• 4:41
  were touted as a solution here
• 4:43
  in Austin, when three suspects
• 4:44
  allegedly went on a shooting spree
• 4:46
  across the city.
• 4:47
  The Austin Police Department doesn't
• 4:48
  have flock cameras anymore, but
• 4:50
  Maynard Police did, and Maynards
• 4:52
  flock cameras helped APD find the
• 4:54
  suspect.
• 4:55
  Austin Mayor Kirk Watson addressed
• 4:56
  that, thanking the Maynarded Police
• 4:58
  Department, but adding things could
• 5:00
  have played out differently if
• 5:01
  Austin still had its cameras.
• 5:03
  Probably having license
• 5:05
  plate readers would have been
• 5:06
  helpful under these circumstances.
• 5:07
  But a lot has changed since
• 5:09
  May. Just ask Maynard Police Chief
• 5:11
  Ryan Phipps.
• 5:12
  Since then, Phipp's says there's
• 5:14
  been a lot of frustration.
• 5:16
  Frustration with the
• 5:18
  defending of the company
• 5:21
  being placed on law enforcement
• 5:23
  and having law
• 5:25
  enforcement have to explain,
• 5:28
  you know, when another agency
• 5:30
  misused the system
• 5:32
  or anything, it seemed like it was
• 5:34
  always on us.
• 5:36
  Phipps says flock as good as it
• 5:38
  is for helping cops catch criminals
• 5:39
  wasn't worth the trouble the
• 5:41
  department stopped using the cameras
• 5:43
  last week
• 5:44
  The trust in
• 5:46
  my community is
• 5:48
  more important than that camera.
• 5:50
  That sentiment has taken hold across
• 5:52
  the country and Texas,
• 5:54
  but state lawmakers haven't put any
• 5:56
  guidelines in place for these
• 5:57
  cameras.
• 5:58
  Without those guidelines, privacy
• 6:00
  advocate Mackenzie Ryan says,
• 6:01
  another company is likely going
• 6:03
  to fill the flock-shaped hole
• 6:05
  in the market.
• 6:06
  Now what we're going to see is a
• 6:08
  company that learned from Flock's
• 6:09
  mistakes. They have better PR,
• 6:11
  they're going have nicer language.
• 6:14
  They're going find a way to
• 6:15
  facilitate the same things Flock
• 6:16
  does with a nice veneer.
• 6:18
  Ryan says the issue of mass
• 6:20
  surveillance cuts across party
• 6:21
  lines, and she hopes lawmakers set
• 6:24
  up statewide guardrails for cities
• 6:26
  and counties and cops
• 6:27
  when they meet next year.
• 6:29
  I'm Andrew Weber in Austin.
• 6:39
  We are less than two months away
• 6:40
  from the 2026 midterm elections.
• 6:43
  At stake this year, whether
• 6:45
  Republicans will keep their hold on
• 6:46
  Washington, or lose control of
• 6:48
  Congress to the Democrats.
• 6:50
  With so much on the line, the GOP
• 6:52
  is heading down to Texas.
• 6:54
  The Republican National Committee's
• 6:56
  first ever midterm party convention
• 6:58
  is this week in Dallas.
• 6:59
  It'll feature a slew of candidates
• 7:01
  who are on the ballot this fall,
• 7:03
  plus one big name that isn't, that's
• 7:05
  President Donald Trump.
• 7:07
  To many, the RNC choosing Texas
• 7:09
  for this convention makes sense.
• 7:11
  We're home to one of the year's most
• 7:12
  watched U.S.
• 7:13
  Senate races, and arguably as
• 7:15
  important, Texas is a top
• 7:17
  source for GOP campaign cash.
• 7:20
  The Texas newsroom's Blaise Ganey
• 7:21
  reports on what makes the state such
• 7:23
  a Republican fundraising powerhouse,
• 7:25
  and what motivates the party's
• 7:27
  donors, both large and small.
• 7:30
  RNC organizers say they expect
• 7:31
  20,000 people at the American
• 7:33
  Airlines Center in Dallas this week,
• 7:36
  and no matter how far they've
• 7:37
  traveled to attend, those
• 7:39
  Republicans will be walking in the
• 7:40
  door well aware of Texas'
• 7:43
  importance to the party.
• 7:44
  Texas hasn't elected a Democrat to
• 7:46
  statewide office since 1994,
• 7:48
  and Republicans have won majority
• 7:50
  of Texas congressional seats since
• 7:52
  the 2004 election.
• 7:54
  But the state provides the party
• 7:56
  with much more than millions of
• 7:58
  reliably read voters.
• 8:05
  Brandon Rottinghouse is a political
• 8:06
  scientist with the University of
• 8:08
  Houston. Here, he says the
• 8:09
  GLP has a uniquely powerful
• 8:11
  donor network.
• 8:12
  No other state where there's
• 8:15
  such a convergence of
• 8:16
  ideology and money as
• 8:19
  Texas.
• 8:19
  Money from oil, gas, and energy
• 8:21
  are a big part of it.
• 8:23
  Many of the state's wealthiest
• 8:24
  Republican donors made their
• 8:25
  fortunes in the industry.
• 8:27
  That group includes names you've
• 8:29
  likely heard before, Tim Dunn,
• 8:31
  Ferris Wilkes, Jeffrey Hildebrand,
• 8:33
  Kelsey Warren, and more.
• 8:35
  Rottinghouse says other big
• 8:36
  Republican donors from Texas sit
• 8:38
  at the top of the State's real
• 8:40
  estate, finance, and business
• 8:41
  sectors.
• 8:41
  Texas is the epicenter
• 8:44
  financially of so many
• 8:46
  different industries and
• 8:47
  so many big money players
• 8:50
  are involved in Texas.
• 8:52
  From the start of 2025
• 8:54
  through July of this year, nearly
• 8:56
  one-third of the Republican National
• 8:58
  Committee's itemized individual
• 8:59
  contributions came from Texas,
• 9:02
  almost $29 million.
• 9:06
  But what motivates people to
• 9:07
  give?
• 9:08
  I wanted to talk to some Republican
• 9:10
  mega-donors for this story.
• 9:11
  I emailed and called more than two
• 9:13
  dozen. While I couldn't get any
• 9:15
  billionaires or millionaires on the
• 9:16
  phone, one of them did write back
• 9:18
  to my email, while they declined
• 9:20
  a formal interview.
• 9:22
  The donor wrote, quote, as a
• 9:23
  traditional Republican, I feel it's
• 9:25
  a part of citizenship to be somewhat
• 9:27
  involved in who we choose to lead
• 9:29
  our state.
• 9:30
  Republican strategist, Brendan
• 9:31
  Steinhauser says, people's reasons
• 9:33
  for giving vary.
• 9:34
  Typically, it is a combination of
• 9:37
  they do support the agenda,
• 9:38
  they support the platform and the
• 9:40
  president, but also they're looking
• 9:41
  for access and so money helps open
• 9:43
  doors, there's no secret in that.
• 9:45
  But he stresses that giving a large
• 9:47
  amount doesn't guarantee you'll
• 9:49
  get what you want.
• 9:50
  Steinhauser says the hope truly is
• 9:52
  that they will at least be able to
• 9:54
  provide their input on matters they
• 9:56
  care about.
• 9:57
  Of course, Texas isn't just home to
• 9:59
  a booming economy and wealthy
• 10:00
  financiers and oil executives
• 10:02
  who will get out their checkbooks.
• 10:03
  It's also home to lot of people,
• 10:06
  period, including more than six
• 10:08
  million who voted for Trump in 2024.
• 10:10
  Even if just a fraction of those
• 10:12
  voters give to the RNC or Republican
• 10:14
  campaigns.
• 10:15
  That adds up.
• 10:16
  These smaller dollar donors are also
• 10:18
  more willing to talk to a reporter,
• 10:20
  like Rebecca Trahan, a finance
• 10:22
  executive who lives in Katy and does
• 10:24
  work as a Republican strategist.
• 10:26
  I first donated
• 10:28
  to the Republican National
• 10:30
  Committee, I think I was
• 10:32
  19 years old.
• 10:34
  Back in the early 90s.
• 10:35
  And I didn't have a lot back then,
• 10:37
  but I wanted to start contributing
• 10:39
  and I've donated ever
• 10:41
  since.
• 10:42
  Trahan says while it's true some
• 10:43
  people do donate simply for access
• 10:45
  and to influence policies, that's
• 10:48
  mostly a mindset for the big guys.
• 10:50
  I would say people like that are
• 10:51
  more on the fringe, they're not the
• 10:53
  average person.
• 10:54
  For Houston small-dollar Republican
• 10:56
  donor Tom Slocum, who's an oil
• 10:58
  and gas consultant.
• 10:59
  It's definitely skin in the game.
• 11:01
  Giving is less about access than
• 11:03
  personal investment.
• 11:04
  You helped elect this
• 11:06
  person with your time
• 11:08
  and your treasure.
• 11:09
  Even if it's $20,
• 11:11
  you're a lot more likely
• 11:13
  to go vote.
• 11:14
  That combination of wealthy
• 11:15
  contributors and committed
• 11:17
  small-dollar donors helps explain
• 11:19
  why Texas remains a Republican
• 11:20
  fundraising powerhouse and an
• 11:22
  attractive destination for the RNC.
• 11:25
  I'm Blaise Gainey in Austin.
• 11:30
  And you're listening to community
• 11:32
  powered public radio.
• 11:34
  This is Austin Signal right
• 11:36
  here on KUT News.
• 11:38
  We're thankful you're spending your
• 11:39
  Tuesday here with us.
• 11:41
  Hope you're staying cool out there.
• 11:42
  We are still expecting triple digit
• 11:44
  temps all week long.
• 11:46
  Maybe a break next week,
• 11:48
  maybe.
• 11:49
  If it does happen, we'll keep you
• 11:51
  updated right here on Kut
• 11:53
  and on Austin Signal.
• 11:55
  We've got more show for you after
• 11:57
  this break.
• 13:02
  This is Corey Pereira,
• 13:04
  Audio Area Head here at UTRTF,
• 13:07
  and you are listening to Austin
• 13:08
  Signal.
• 13:11
  So specifically Foley involves
• 13:14
  watching a picture on the
• 13:15
  screen and having a Foley artist
• 13:17
  perform those actions you see.
• 13:19
  So I'd say the biggest misconception
• 13:21
  is that when you watch a film,
• 13:23
  all the sounds you're hearing were
• 13:24
  captured on set.
• 13:26
  But the reality is
• 13:28
  a set is a really noisy place.
• 13:30
  It's then in post-production that
• 13:32
  the world begins
• 13:34
  to sound like what
• 13:36
  you hear when you go down to
• 13:38
  a movie theater or turn on Netflix.
• 13:41
  All right, we are now standing on
• 13:43
  the brand new-ish Foley
• 13:45
  Stage here at Texas
• 13:47
  Moody.
• 13:48
  So a Foley stage is a space where
• 13:51
  our students can come in, look up
• 13:53
  at the screen, and
• 13:55
  then be able to perform
• 13:57
  all the actions the characters are
• 13:58
  doing on screen.
• 14:00
  So I'd say the coolest part of this
• 14:02
  is we do actually have multiple
• 14:04
  Foley pits.
• 14:05
  So if a student wants to walk in the
• 14:07
  dirt, we have a
• 14:09
  box where they can
• 14:13
  walk on dirt, and if they need to
• 14:15
  walk on leaves...
• 14:19
  They can do that too.
• 14:21
  The back of the room, we have
• 14:22
  multiple baker's racks full
• 14:24
  of hundreds and hundreds of props.
• 14:27
  The idea here is we kind of gave the
• 14:30
  students a starting point so
• 14:32
  that they can.
• 14:36
  Find a number of sounds they need
• 14:38
  for their given project.
• 14:40
  So whether you need a motorcycle
• 14:41
  helmet.
• 14:44
  Or a purse,
• 14:47
  or an old school telephone.
• 14:51
  Our students can do that right here
• 14:52
  in this space.
• 14:54
  When someone has a specific project
• 14:56
  where they have a straw hat in it,
• 14:59
  they're going to go to Goodwill or
• 15:00
  their closet and find a straw Hat
• 15:02
  and we encourage them to leave that
• 15:04
  here for the next students
• 15:06
  that come into the space.
• 15:08
  This is Corey Pereira,
• 15:11
  sound artist and audio area head
• 15:13
  here at the University of Texas at
• 15:15
  Austin, and this is Austin
• 15:17
  Signal.
• 15:24
  We've all heard the saying that the
• 15:26
  customer is always right,
• 15:28
  but for Chef John Escamilla of
• 15:30
  Vecinos Tacos in East Austin,
• 15:32
  one hint, a subtle suggestion from
• 15:34
  a regular, opened up an entire
• 15:36
  community for a budding business.
• 15:38
  In this excerpt from the
• 15:40
  latest episode of the Tacos of Texas
• 15:42
  podcast, host Mando Rayos spoke
• 15:43
  with Escamillas and Vecino's
• 15:45
  regular Imad Ahmed about
• 15:47
  the journey to making a halal
• 15:49
  taco truck, when at first the
• 15:51
  primary goal of Vesinos was to
• 15:53
  be one of the few taco places in
• 15:54
  Austin to make their own tortillas,
• 15:57
  complimenting the South Texas
• 15:58
  flavors and family recipes.
• 16:01
  So, Puffy Tacos was originally,
• 16:03
  like, I didn't realize how big of a
• 16:04
  thing it was in San Antonio.
• 16:05
  Yeah, it's a thing.
• 16:06
  It's a, it is a thing, but we got it
• 16:08
  from, well, at least our inspiration
• 16:10
  was more of like the Mexico City
• 16:11
  fraud quesadilla.
• 16:12
  Oh, okay. Okay.
• 16:13
  Yeah. And then we kind of merged it
• 16:15
  with the Puffy Taco and kind of made
• 16:17
  a blend of those two things.
• 16:20
  And that's where like Manny's
• 16:22
  parents came in, like they're, you
• 16:23
  know, his mom and all that, they
• 16:24
  came in and like changed our flavors
• 16:26
  and kind did some things.
• 16:27
  We had the voila touch.
• 16:29
  Yeah, yeah.
• 16:29
  On everything.
• 16:30
  So we, we, we were trying to see
• 16:31
  your hands. They, they don't look
• 16:33
  like to, to a boiler to me.
• 16:34
  No, but we had the moms
• 16:36
  come in and the grandmas and they're
• 16:38
  like, all right, come tweak
• 16:39
  everything before we open.
• 16:41
  So we definitely, a lot of
• 16:43
  recipes from them that we
• 16:45
  got, you know, from everything.
• 16:47
  You might tell me a little bit about
• 16:48
  yourself, your community, and
• 16:50
  what drew you to Vecinos.
• 16:52
  Yeah, absolutely.
• 16:54
  So Imad Ahmed, I've lived in Austin
• 16:56
  for 26 years.
• 16:58
  I was born and raised in West
• 16:59
  Virginia, a little brown hillbilly
• 17:01
  there.
• 17:02
  And I moved to East Austin about
• 17:04
  three years ago.
• 17:06
  And, you know, one thing I
• 17:08
  always wanted,
• 17:10
  so growing up, I used to watch
• 17:11
  Cheers, if you remember.
• 17:13
  There's a bar where everyone
• 17:15
  knows your name.
• 17:16
  So this idea of having a
• 17:19
  place close to you, a business close
• 17:20
  to where you can go and get
• 17:22
  breakfast or lunch or whatnot or
• 17:24
  a snack.
• 17:25
  And they know you and they're part
• 17:26
  of your community and they know your
• 17:28
  regular order or whatnot always
• 17:30
  really appealed to me and I never
• 17:31
  had it.
• 17:32
  So I was very eager to
• 17:34
  see this business open.
• 17:35
  And when it finally happened, I was
• 17:37
  just very excited and I was probably
• 17:38
  one of the first customers you
• 17:40
  guys had. Oh my God, that's awesome.
• 17:42
  And went there and tried
• 17:44
  the food and it
• 17:46
  was amazing.
• 17:48
  The one thing that really excited me
• 17:50
  was the homemade tortillas,
• 17:52
  because the few places where I've
• 17:54
  had that, I've loved it.
• 17:56
  Being Pakistani, I
• 17:58
  grew up eating paratas,
• 18:00
  which are homemade flatbread.
• 18:02
  And so homemade flour
• 18:04
  tortillas can often taste like that,
• 18:06
  right? And I remember asking
• 18:08
  if they had lard in them, which
• 18:09
  is a very common thing in many
• 18:11
  parts of Mexico from what I've seen.
• 18:13
  And he said they did have
• 18:15
  lard. Pork lard, pork lard exactly.
• 18:17
  So I could eat them. I tried
• 18:18
  everything else. Not the fake lard?
• 18:19
  Yeah, yeah.
• 18:21
  I had the corn tortillas
• 18:23
  and I loved it, but it
• 18:26
  was a little bit disappointed inside
• 18:27
  that I couldn't try these amazing
• 18:29
  tortillas, a lot of tortillas that
• 18:30
  others were eating.
• 18:32
  And so that's kind of how it started
• 18:34
  and then it kind of evolved from
• 18:36
  there over the
• 18:38
  course of weeks, months.
• 18:40
  So you started knocking
• 18:42
  on his door, hey, the trailer
• 18:44
  opened, I got an idea for
• 18:46
  you. How did that happen?
• 18:47
  I think I mentioned it, it was
• 18:49
  probably tongue in cheek.
• 18:50
  I'm like, this guy, you know, these
• 18:51
  guys are not gonna change the recipe
• 18:53
  for me. But like, it doesn't hurt to
• 18:54
  mention it.
• 18:56
  And sure enough, I think a
• 18:57
  few weeks later, I remember
• 19:00
  going up to the food truck and
• 19:02
  I think it was John that was telling
• 19:03
  me, hey, we've been messing around
• 19:05
  with a few recipes without
• 19:07
  lard and I thinking we're gonna have
• 19:09
  some flour tortillas without lards.
• 19:11
  Now it's just ecstatic.
• 19:12
  I couldn't believe that these guys
• 19:13
  were even doing it.
• 19:15
  Yeah, I couldn't believe that it had
• 19:17
  anything to do with my request or
• 19:19
  not.
• 19:20
  But it was amazing.
• 19:21
  And sure enough, when they finally
• 19:23
  came out with it and I got to try
• 19:24
  it, it was amazing.
• 19:25
  It was just like the parathas I used
• 19:27
  to have, nothing like the
• 19:28
  store-bought flour tortillas
• 19:30
  that you have in a lot of other
• 19:31
  places.
• 19:33
  I already enjoyed the food, but
• 19:35
  that's when I kind of became hooked.
• 19:36
  So is the customer always right?
• 19:40
  He's not, he's not just a customer,
• 19:41
  right?
• 19:43
  Family now.
• 19:44
  That's cool. He knows.
• 19:45
  Yeah. It was, I think it was a
• 19:46
  couple of weeks that we were messing
• 19:47
  around and, you know, that was part
• 19:49
  of the, the Abuela disagreement
• 19:50
  where they're like, what do you mean?
• 19:51
  You're taking a lot out of it.
• 19:53
  I don't know.
• 19:54
  Trust me oh man it sounds
• 19:56
  like a like a telenovela
• 19:58
  What happened, bro?
• 19:59
  That's still an argument.
• 20:01
  The idea I was creating all this
• 20:02
  drama.
• 20:04
  It's still a discussion every now
• 20:05
  and then, but, you know, they're
• 20:07
  happy. No.
• 20:08
  So, okay, so let's break it down.
• 20:10
  If somebody doesn't know
• 20:12
  what halal is, because, you go
• 20:14
  to your truck and you can see it,
• 20:16
  right? You haven't written fully
• 20:17
  halal.
• 20:18
  For somebody that doesn't what that
• 20:19
  is, what is the definition of halal?
• 20:21
  Sure. I'm absolutely no religious
• 20:23
  expert, but it's kind of the
• 20:25
  Muslim equivalent to what kosher
• 20:26
  meat might be.
• 20:27
  And so it's a humane
• 20:30
  way of slaughtering animals,
• 20:32
  where essentially the
• 20:34
  animal is cut in a way where
• 20:36
  all the blood is drawn out as
• 20:38
  quickly as possible,
• 20:40
  and God's name is mentioned during
• 20:42
  the time of slaughter and it's done
• 20:43
  in the most humane way possible.
• 20:47
  So it's something that's
• 20:48
  common in Muslim tradition,
• 20:51
  to eat meat that's prepared this
• 20:53
  way. There is disagreement where
• 20:55
  some Muslims will eat
• 20:57
  meat without it being slaughtered
• 20:59
  in a halal way or in another
• 21:02
  term for a zabiyah in a zabiya way.
• 21:04
  And some are very strict with that.
• 21:06
  And John, so tell us how were
• 21:08
  you able to, I guess,
• 21:10
  change your menu in that way?
• 21:12
  It honestly wasn't the heart of a
• 21:13
  change.
• 21:14
  The hardest change was the prep side
• 21:16
  of things, right?
• 21:18
  But as far as changing,
• 21:20
  the marinade stayed the same, the
• 21:22
  flavor stayed the the same.
• 21:23
  There was no real difficult change
• 21:25
  other than taking the lard out of
• 21:27
  the tortillas.
• 21:28
  Yeah, yeah, the lard, because the
• 21:29
  pork is part of that.
• 21:31
  Yeah, so it's no pork.
• 21:32
  We have no pork,
• 21:35
  so beef chorizo, beef bacon,
• 21:37
  everything is either beef or
• 21:39
  chicken. And we've played around
• 21:40
  with some fish. We've played with a
• 21:41
  couple different things.
• 21:43
  And Ahmad's been a couple tester on
• 21:45
  all of them.
• 21:46
  Thank you.
• 21:47
  It's my pleasure.
• 21:48
  You always need a good taste tester.
• 21:51
  Only I could do that full-time.
• 21:52
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right.
• 21:54
  Then you end up being like me.
• 21:57
  So the change wasn't that bad.
• 21:59
  Like it really wasn't, you know, it
• 22:00
  was just the work.
• 22:01
  And then they went behind it.
• 22:03
  And once we got in that rhythm,
• 22:05
  it's pretty, it was pretty smooth
• 22:06
  sailing from there.
• 22:07
  Like beef cheek, Halal beef cheek is
• 22:09
  the hardest thing to find.
• 22:10
  So when we decided to slowly start
• 22:12
  committing, okay, we changed the
• 22:14
  chicken, that's easy.
• 22:15
  Um, got some beef.
• 22:16
  We can do that.
• 22:18
  Well, we started having some scraps,
• 22:19
  like, okay. We can make our own
• 22:20
  chorizo.
• 22:21
  We can our own sausage, um,
• 22:23
  which we started doing.
• 22:25
  And then it's like, well, We
• 22:27
  had a conversation with Ahmaud and
• 22:28
  we did this event at
• 22:30
  the mosque.
• 22:30
  Mm-hmm.
• 22:31
  And, you know, our conversation
• 22:33
  was like, dude, we can't commit to
• 22:34
  Fulahilal because we cannot find
• 22:36
  beef cheeks.
• 22:37
  And I don't want to make barbacoa
• 22:39
  that just throw random things in
• 22:40
  there. I want beef cheeks,
• 22:43
  and he's like, okay, we were at an
• 22:44
  event, he's like, give me five
• 22:45
  minutes. Five minutes later,
• 22:47
  somebody else came. The rancher.
• 22:49
  Are you serious?
• 22:50
  I was going to do everything to
• 22:51
  help. You got a barbacore hook that
• 22:54
  we don't know about?
• 22:57
  He brings me this rancher and I'm
• 22:59
  like, we're really busy at this
• 23:01
  event. And I'm, like, okay, but I
• 23:02
  gotta get this conversation done.
• 23:03
  Yeah, yeah.
• 23:05
  Manny's looking at me, he's like,
• 23:06
  bro, I need your help, like come on.
• 23:08
  But the rancher comes and is like,
• 23:10
  okay, you need it?
• 23:11
  Give me five minutes.
• 23:12
  Then the butcher shop came.
• 23:13
  And so within 15 minutes, we had
• 23:16
  Mamad and two others and
• 23:18
  they were just like, okay, we can
• 23:20
  get it to you. What's your price?
• 23:21
  I was like, look, this is our price.
• 23:22
  This is what we're trying to get.
• 23:24
  So wait a minute, you're saying
• 23:26
  that a Mexican,
• 23:28
  a Muslim, and a rancher walk into a
• 23:30
  bar.
• 23:31
  Exactly.
• 23:32
  Exactly.
• 23:34
  That's exactly it.
• 23:34
  Oh my god.
• 23:37
  It's crazy.
• 23:38
  It's very much like the Latin
• 23:39
  community, right?
• 23:40
  Because it's so close knit, so
• 23:42
  much family.
• 23:43
  And everybody knows that everybody,
• 23:45
  right, they all like, let me help
• 23:47
  you out, let me help.
• 23:47
  And that's, you know,
• 23:50
  part of me felt at home with that
• 23:51
  conversation or that time because
• 23:53
  that's exactly how it's like in
• 23:55
  our, you know, the tight knit, I'm
• 23:57
  a big family guy, like that's how it
• 23:58
  is.
• 24:00
  That was Mando Rayo, host of
• 24:02
  the Tacos of Texas podcast, talking
• 24:03
  with Chef John Escamilla of
• 24:05
  Vecinos Tacos in East Austin,
• 24:07
  and his ultimate customer, Imad
• 24:09
  Ahmed.
• 24:10
  We'll have a link to the full
• 24:11
  podcast in today's show
• 24:13
  notes.
• 24:14
  One final item today, the Texas
• 24:15
  football team moved up one spot in
• 24:17
  this week's AP poll, setting up
• 24:19
  this weekend's matchup between the
• 24:21
  fourth ranked Longhorns and number
• 24:22
  one Ohio State.
• 24:24
  Kickoff this Saturday night is set
• 24:26
  for 6.30.
• 24:27
  We're gonna have more about the big
• 24:28
  game later this week.
• 24:30
  But for now, that's it for us
• 24:32
  today on Austin Signal.
• 24:34
  There's more about stories we shared
• 24:35
  with you in today's podcast, Show
• 24:37
  Notes, and at kut.org
• 24:40
  slash signal.
• 24:42
  Rene Chavez is our technical
• 24:44
  director, Alexandra Hart is
• 24:45
  our producer, and Kristen Cabrera
• 24:47
  is our managing producer.
• 24:49
  I'm your host, Jerry Keconnell.
• 24:51
  We're going to be back at the same
• 24:52
  time tomorrow.
• 24:53
  We'll talk to you then.