Latest / Austin Signal / Local food influencer gives peek at new docuseries ‘David Eats Everywhere’

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Local food influencer gives peek at new docuseries ‘David Eats Everywhere’ · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  More than 60,000 Austinites
• 0:10
  work in the city's food industry.
• 0:12
  And a local nonprofit wants to help
• 0:14
  these food workers get health
• 0:15
  insurance.
• 0:17
  We're going to tell you about the
• 0:17
  work that they're doing.
• 0:19
  And peaches from Fredericksburg may
• 0:20
  be harder to find because of yet
• 0:22
  another warm winter.
• 0:24
  More from the Texas Hill Country.
• 0:26
  That's coming up on today's show.
• 0:28
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:29
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:32
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:33
  Plus, an Austin food influencer
• 0:35
  is moving from the small screen to
• 0:36
  the big screen with his new show,
• 0:38
  highlighting immigrant-owned
• 0:39
  eateries across town, what he's
• 0:41
  learned by going inside the kitchen.
• 0:43
  And World Cup 2026 kicks
• 0:45
  off tomorrow.
• 0:46
  Our soccer slash football expert
• 0:49
  will have some teams to watch and
• 0:50
  a local connection to the Canadian
• 0:52
  national team.
• 0:54
  More about these stories coming
• 0:56
  up next here on Austin Signal.
• 1:08
  Howdy out there, you are listening
• 1:10
  to Austin Signal.
• 1:12
  This is community powered public
• 1:13
  radio KUT news.
• 1:15
  It's Wednesday the 10th of June.
• 1:17
  I'm your host, Jerry Kihono.
• 1:18
  We are glad to be part of your
• 1:20
  day.
• 1:22
  Around 65,000 people work
• 1:24
  in Austin's food industry and
• 1:26
  many of those servers, chefs,
• 1:28
  and food prep workers make low wages
• 1:30
  and they don't receive benefits like
• 1:32
  health insurance.
• 1:34
  KUT's Olivia Aldridge reports a
• 1:36
  local non-profit wants to change
• 1:37
  that.
• 1:38
  Every morning at Brentwood Social
• 1:40
  House, there's a glimmering case
• 1:41
  full of fresh-baked bread and
• 1:43
  pastries.
• 1:44
  What customers don't see is all the
• 1:46
  heavy lifting that made it happen.
• 1:48
  Lead baker T Nguyen says slinging
• 1:50
  around all that flour and sh-
• 1:52
  sugar isn't light work.
• 2:03
  Up before dawn five days a week
• 2:04
  to start the morning bake.
• 2:06
  She says she loves the work, but
• 2:08
  it is physically taxing.
• 2:10
  And up until recently, she was
• 2:11
  putting off regular checkups because
• 2:13
  she didn't have health insurance.
• 2:15
  She said her health plan was pretty
• 2:17
  much just crossing your fingers.
• 2:20
  Sick, will I be okay?
• 2:22
  Stuck with like a huge bill, is it
• 2:23
  gonna break me?
• 2:24
  That changed this year after she
• 2:26
  was accepted to a pilot program
• 2:28
  through Good Work Austin, a
• 2:30
  nonprofit with a mission of
• 2:31
  improving conditions for local food
• 2:33
  workers and businesses.
• 2:35
  Good Work, Austin partnered with the
• 2:37
  local publicly funded organization,
• 2:39
  Central Health to cover insurance
• 2:40
  premiums for a small cohort of food
• 2:42
  workers in 2026.
• 2:44
  It's a really tough industry to work
• 2:46
  in and our city kind of
• 2:48
  depends on that industry.
• 2:50
  Hanaoka.
• 2:50
  Is the executive director of Good
• 2:52
  Work Austin.
• 2:53
  Like, we're known as this food
• 2:55
  city now. We're known for our
• 2:56
  Michelin stars, and that's our
• 2:58
  tourism, and in turn,
• 3:00
  our sales tax, and in term,
• 3:02
  that's what funds our city
• 3:03
  government.
• 3:03
  Hanaoka sees a lot of parallels
• 3:06
  between Austin food workers and
• 3:07
  Austin musicians, two groups
• 3:09
  that are integral to the city's
• 3:11
  culture, but may struggle to keep up
• 3:13
  with the cost of living.
• 3:14
  A lot of times musicians are,
• 3:16
  you know, they don't have a stable
• 3:17
  employer, they're kind of bouncing
• 3:19
  around, and a lot of time food
• 3:20
  workers are really similar like
• 3:22
  that.
• 3:22
  But musicians in Austin have an
• 3:24
  established resource available,
• 3:26
  the Health Alliance for Austin
• 3:27
  Musicians, or HAM, which
• 3:29
  provides insurance premium
• 3:30
  assistance for thousands of people
• 3:32
  each year.
• 3:33
  This served as the model for Good
• 3:35
  Work Austin's Health Care Access
• 3:36
  pilot.
• 3:37
  It started small, with just 25
• 3:39
  participants.
• 3:40
  To qualify, they had to make less
• 3:42
  than $31,300 per
• 3:44
  year. That's the federal limit to
• 3:46
  qualify for something called the
• 3:48
  Advanced Premium Tax credit.
• 3:50
  Which offsets the cost of
• 3:51
  marketplace health plans for low
• 3:53
  earners.
• 3:54
  Pilot participants enrolled in
• 3:55
  insurance from Sandero Health Plans,
• 3:57
  Central Health's marketplace
• 3:58
  insurance option.
• 4:00
  They received the tax credit, and
• 4:01
  Central Health paid for the balance
• 4:03
  of their premiums.
• 4:04
  Moving forward, Hanaoka would like
• 4:06
  to expand the pilot to make these
• 4:08
  benefits available to more people.
• 4:10
  She also wants to brainstorm ways to
• 4:12
  support people who make too much
• 4:13
  money to qualify.
• 4:14
  Quite a few people who applied for
• 4:16
  the program made a little bit
• 4:18
  too much.
• 4:19
  It's a lot of people that are in
• 4:21
  that 40 to $45,000
• 4:24
  range that are just kind of being.
• 4:26
  Soon, that group could include Ti
• 4:28
  Nguyen. Last year, her income
• 4:30
  was low enough to qualify for the
• 4:32
  pilot, but she's since picked up
• 4:34
  a second job to bring in some more
• 4:36
  money.
• 4:36
  I'm going to get the most use out of
• 4:38
  it I can right now, get like all
• 4:40
  my physicals done while I have this
• 4:42
  free healthcare because I won't
• 4:44
  be broke enough to qualify next
• 4:46
  year.
• 4:46
  Anaoka already has some ideas about
• 4:48
  other ways to support healthcare
• 4:50
  access in Austin's food industry.
• 4:52
  One is a proposal for the city to
• 4:54
  create a tax rebate program for food
• 4:56
  and beverage businesses that invest
• 4:58
  in healthcare access, paid leave,
• 5:00
  and living wages for employees.
• 5:02
  She's also already looking ahead to
• 5:04
  year two of the pilot.
• 5:05
  She briefed the Austin-Travis County
• 5:06
  Food Policy Board on early takeaways
• 5:08
  from the program this week, and
• 5:10
  will present to Central Health later
• 5:12
  this month.
• 5:13
  I'm Olivia Aldridge in Austin.
• 5:18
  When mid-May rolls around,
• 5:20
  Texas peach lovers descend upon
• 5:22
  the hill country.
• 5:24
  The area around Fredericksburg is
• 5:25
  famous for its peaches, and they're
• 5:27
  best enjoyed as close to harvest
• 5:29
  as possible.
• 5:31
  In recent years, though, the peaches
• 5:32
  have been harder to get your hands
• 5:34
  on because of a series of small
• 5:36
  crops.
• 5:37
  Texas Standard's Michael Marks has
• 5:39
  more about that story.
• 5:42
  At their farm stand outside
• 5:43
  Fredericksburg, Eckhardt Orchards
• 5:45
  has all kinds of local produce
• 5:47
  for sale.
• 5:48
  Watermelons, squash, jalapenos,
• 5:50
  tomatoes, but the peaches are
• 5:52
  the big drop.
• 5:54
  I've been coming here since I was
• 5:55
  a little girl to Fredericksburg
• 5:57
  to buy peaches.
• 5:59
  That's Marlene Russell, she drove
• 6:00
  100 miles from her home in
• 6:02
  Fort McCavet on a clear Thursday
• 6:04
  morning to get Fredericksburg
• 6:05
  peaches.
• 6:06
  She likes to stock up so she can eat
• 6:08
  some, free some, and make cobblers
• 6:10
  too.
• 6:11
  If it's a big crop, sometimes
• 6:13
  I make three or four trips down
• 6:15
  here.
• 6:16
  But it's not a big peach crop
• 6:18
  in the hill country this year.
• 6:21
  In a kitchen that smells like
• 6:22
  coleslaw and cobbler attached to the
• 6:24
  farm stand, Diane Eckhart says
• 6:26
  the small harvest is due to a
• 6:28
  warm winter.
• 6:29
  The piece that we were
• 6:31
  lacking this year to
• 6:33
  have a full crop was the
• 6:35
  cold hours, the chill hours,
• 6:37
  we were marginal on them.
• 6:39
  Diane is part of the third
• 6:41
  generation of ecarts to grow peaches
• 6:43
  in the hill country.
• 6:44
  After the first frost of winter, she
• 6:46
  and other growers start counting
• 6:48
  chill hours, generally defined
• 6:50
  as time between 45 and
• 6:52
  32 degrees Fahrenheit.
• 6:53
  Particularly January and February,
• 6:56
  is when we get the majority of our
• 6:57
  colds.
• 6:58
  We want those nice, cloudy
• 7:00
  January and February
• 7:02
  days.
• 7:03
  Too few chill hours in the winter
• 7:05
  means the tree won't bear much
• 7:07
  fruit in the spring.
• 7:08
  So that's been the big struggle
• 7:10
  the last three years is
• 7:12
  we just haven't had the
• 7:14
  cold weather.
• 7:14
  That's Larry Stein, professor and
• 7:16
  horticulturalist for the Texas A&M
• 7:19
  AgriLife Extension Service.
• 7:20
  He's been studying Texas peaches for
• 7:22
  40 years.
• 7:24
  Stein says that year after year of
• 7:26
  minimal chill can stress trees
• 7:28
  long-term.
• 7:29
  It can impact fruit quality as
• 7:31
  well as quantity.
• 7:32
  Low chill peaches are elongated
• 7:34
  and they don't necessarily develop
• 7:37
  full quality like a
• 7:39
  typical peach would.
• 7:40
  The hill country became a peach
• 7:42
  mecca because it has the right soil
• 7:44
  and climate.
• 7:45
  The winters were cold enough without
• 7:47
  freezing too frequently.
• 7:49
  A layer of clay under a sandy loam
• 7:51
  helped carry the trees through
• 7:52
  droughts.
• 7:54
  Earlier growers could rely solely on
• 7:55
  rainfall to water their trees.
• 7:58
  That's harder to do now with drier
• 8:00
  weather.
• 8:01
  Eckhardt orchards now irrigate some
• 8:03
  of their crops to supplement
• 8:04
  rainfall. Behind the stand,
• 8:07
  in a small orchard, Diane points out
• 8:08
  trees with skimpy branches.
• 8:11
  This is a variety that did not
• 8:13
  set real well this year.
• 8:14
  This is Dixieland.
• 8:16
  So there's very, not a whole lot
• 8:18
  of fruit on these trees.
• 8:20
  Eckhart has some peaches for
• 8:22
  sale.
• 8:22
  Availability will vary as different
• 8:24
  varieties ripen throughout the
• 8:26
  summer. The day I was there, you
• 8:28
  could buy an eighth of a bushel,
• 8:29
  about six pounds, of crimson
• 8:31
  lady peaches, for $29.
• 8:34
  Drought and warmer winters may
• 8:36
  make it harder to grow peaches.
• 8:38
  But Eckhart, has no plans to
• 8:40
  stop.
• 8:41
  For my generation, I was gifted
• 8:43
  with it. I didn't have to buy this
• 8:44
  land. And it's a gift
• 8:46
  that it grows, wonderful
• 8:48
  thing. So that, just like you can't
• 8:50
  ignore that.
• 8:51
  You kind of feel like you gotta
• 8:53
  do what the land does best,
• 8:55
  you know?
• 8:55
  She's going to plant some new crops
• 8:57
  for the fall in order to make up for
• 8:59
  the small peach harvest including
• 9:00
  pumpkins, okra, and blackberries.
• 9:03
  I'm Michael Marks for the Texas
• 9:04
  Standard.
• 9:06
  Thank you for tuning in to Austin
• 9:08
  Signal here on KUT News.
• 9:11
  This is listener-supported public
• 9:13
  radio.
• 9:13
  We've got more show for you coming
• 9:15
  up after this break.
• 9:30
  Welcome back, this is Austin
• 9:32
  Signal.
• 9:33
  Ever been to a spot around town
• 9:34
  where you take a look at the menu
• 9:36
  and you want to eat, well, just
• 9:38
  about everything that they have?
• 9:39
  Well, luckily for our next guest,
• 9:41
  part of his job affords him the
• 9:43
  chance to do that very thing.
• 9:45
  From social media food influencer
• 9:46
  to Austin PBS docu-series
• 9:49
  host, David Douglas' new show
• 9:51
  premieres today on Austin PBS
• 9:52
  and YouTube.
• 9:53
  It's called David Eats Everywhere.
• 9:56
  David, welcome to Austin Signal!
• 9:57
  Hey, thanks for having me.
• 9:59
  It's great to be here.
• 9:59
  We're glad to have you and we're
• 10:02
  excited to learn more about your
• 10:03
  show as we understand It's about six
• 10:05
  episodes in this first season taking
• 10:07
  a look at several well-known Austin
• 10:08
  eateries But tell us more about
• 10:10
  you in case our listener might not
• 10:11
  be familiar You've got two hundred
• 10:13
  thousand followers on Instagram
• 10:14
  where you review food already
• 10:16
  Why did you want to make the jump
• 10:18
  from the tiny screen to the big
• 10:19
  screen?
• 10:20
  Yeah, I mean, I love talking about
• 10:21
  food on Instagram.
• 10:22
  I think it's a perfect format for
• 10:24
  basically giving you the rundown of
• 10:26
  a place and saying, hey, let's
• 10:27
  go there this weekend.
• 10:28
  That's what most people, I would
• 10:30
  say, do with my videos.
• 10:30
  They check it out. They're like,
• 10:31
  this looks good.
• 10:33
  Send it to their buddy.
• 10:34
  We got our weekend plans to eat some
• 10:36
  dinner.
• 10:36
  But for the show, you know, I
• 10:38
  really wanted to, like I spent a lot
• 10:40
  of time in these restaurants and I
• 10:41
  got to know some of these owners and
• 10:42
  they were really cool people and
• 10:43
  their stories were really
• 10:45
  interesting.
• 10:46
  A lot of the places in the show
• 10:48
  they, put a lot more
• 10:50
  effort in than like a similar
• 10:52
  style of restaurant and
• 10:54
  it was kind of curious like what is
• 10:55
  like really motivating them to work
• 10:57
  so hard to like go in early
• 10:59
  and prep stuff to roast the coffee
• 11:01
  beans themselves to kind
• 11:03
  of do all these extra steps and it
• 11:04
  was mostly because they had some
• 11:05
  passion for it from their childhood
• 11:07
  or their grandma or they miss their
• 11:09
  you know the food from home every
• 11:11
  episode of the show is a restaurant
• 11:12
  that's either immigrant owned or
• 11:14
  first generation.
• 11:15
  So that's why a lot of these people
• 11:17
  are motivated.
• 11:17
  They kind of have these outside
• 11:18
  heritage factors that are like
• 11:20
  really pushing them to make the best
• 11:22
  food in town.
• 11:24
  And hearing about their stories was
• 11:26
  a lot more possible in like 10
• 11:27
  minutes than it is in 45 seconds
• 11:29
  with me just kind of yapping on on
• 11:31
  Instagram.
• 11:31
  Is that something that you
• 11:32
  identified early, talking to
• 11:34
  immigrant-owned restaurants?
• 11:35
  Is it something that sort of just
• 11:36
  happened organically as you were
• 11:38
  creating the show?
• 11:39
  I think it was just a natural
• 11:40
  interest of mine.
• 11:41
  A lot of the restaurants I go to
• 11:42
  for Instagram and for my normal
• 11:44
  work are that.
• 11:45
  And that's just because I grew up in
• 11:47
  Jersey with a lot of immigrant-owned
• 11:48
  spots around me.
• 11:49
  My mom's an immigrant.
• 11:51
  You know, I ate all Arabic food
• 11:52
  growing up.
• 11:53
  And so the idea of eating food
• 11:55
  from another country has just always
• 11:56
  been appealing to me.
• 11:58
  Kind of came through on my Instagram
• 11:59
  work and then just
• 12:01
  felt natural. If I was gonna tell a
• 12:03
  bigger story, those are the stories
• 12:04
  I wanted to tell.
• 12:05
  What's been the most challenging
• 12:07
  part, moving from a more
• 12:08
  short-form video into longer
• 12:10
  TV episodes?
• 12:11
  I had zero prac-
• 12:13
  practice working with other creative
• 12:14
  people.
• 12:15
  Mostly you're just setting up your
• 12:17
  phone on the table.
• 12:17
  I'm guessing in recording these
• 12:19
  reviews. Do you normally have
• 12:20
  somebody with you?
• 12:21
  Nobody's with me, nobody edits with
• 12:23
  me. Nobody tells me my jokes
• 12:24
  are too crazy or
• 12:27
  you know, I should do this or that
• 12:28
  thing and the other thing.
• 12:29
  And so when you're working with
• 12:30
  other really smart, creative people,
• 12:32
  it's really smart to get their
• 12:34
  opinions and to make a
• 12:36
  show that's been built together.
• 12:37
  So you got to, you know harness
• 12:38
  everybody's skills and everyone's
• 12:40
  talents and opinions.
• 12:41
  And that was just so new for me.
• 12:42
  I was like, Oh, wow, we can't do
• 12:44
  every single little idea that I have
• 12:46
  because we have other people
• 12:48
  and we're paying for their time.
• 12:49
  And it's not just like.
• 12:50
  Me can edit this at 9 p.m.
• 12:52
  When, you know, I'm bored.
• 12:54
  So that was the hardest thing.
• 12:55
  I was like, oh man, I really gotta
• 12:57
  work on this as a skill.
• 12:58
  Yeah, and I'm assuming that with
• 13:00
  most of your Instagram reviews,
• 13:02
  you're going to the place of
• 13:03
  business while they're operating.
• 13:05
  I know for one of the episodes, you
• 13:06
  woke up really early to go and meet
• 13:08
  with the staff from Comandre
• 13:09
  Panaderia and Mariela Camacho,
• 13:12
  a James Beard Award-winning baker.
• 13:13
  What did you learn during your visit
• 13:15
  there?
• 13:16
  I got reinforced the idea that
• 13:18
  being a baker is incredibly hard
• 13:20
  and difficult because
• 13:22
  the hours are really intense and
• 13:24
  they're usually baking things all
• 13:26
  in different sequential order.
• 13:27
  So they have to start one dish while
• 13:29
  they're finishing another dish.
• 13:31
  You have this oven that's kind of
• 13:32
  like your that's your zone and you
• 13:34
  got to move everything in and out of
• 13:35
  that as it best flows.
• 13:37
  And to do all that multitasking
• 13:39
  at 4am, I could barely talk
• 13:41
  like the episode I barely talk in
• 13:43
  that episode because.
• 13:44
  I'm trying my best to engage with
• 13:46
  Mariela who's so articulate and
• 13:48
  so passionate and so well spoken.
• 13:51
  And I'm just like, that is,
• 13:53
  that's so great.
• 13:54
  And I just had no thoughts coming to
• 13:56
  my head.
• 13:57
  So waking up early and
• 13:59
  having to see them do all that work
• 14:01
  and all that multitasking
• 14:03
  was super impressive.
• 14:04
  What are some of the other places
• 14:05
  you're highlighting in this first
• 14:06
  season of the show?
• 14:07
  The third episode will be Desnudo
• 14:09
  Coffee, which is run by
• 14:11
  two Colombian brothers.
• 14:12
  We also talked to the folks at
• 14:14
  El Granpa Barbecoa, which the only
• 14:16
  in-ground whole lamb
• 14:18
  barbecoas in central
• 14:20
  Texas. They're up in Georgetown,
• 14:22
  I believe.
• 14:25
  We also have an episode about El
• 14:26
  Camino Barbecue, which a Chinese
• 14:28
  barbecue over charcoal.
• 14:30
  That guy's story is really
• 14:31
  interesting because he's an asylum
• 14:32
  from China. He had, uh, political
• 14:34
  issues there with, uh...
• 14:36
  Hiring Uyghur people, which are
• 14:38
  a minority in China that are
• 14:39
  discriminated against by the
• 14:40
  government, and then the last
• 14:42
  episode, Tatsumi Sushi,
• 14:44
  which is a really
• 14:46
  great story of someone who's
• 14:48
  putting a lot of effort into
• 14:49
  sourcing fish from Japan,
• 14:51
  spends a lot of time over there, and
• 14:53
  we got to know some of the people
• 14:54
  that are involved with the sourcing
• 14:55
  of the business as well.
• 14:56
  All right, sounds like a lot of
• 14:57
  great stories to come from those
• 14:59
  episodes.
• 14:59
  I'm a kid of the 90s, I watched a
• 15:01
  lot of Food Network growing up.
• 15:02
  So many different kinds of shows.
• 15:05
  How did you want to set yours apart
• 15:06
  and how difficult was it
• 15:08
  to make it your own?
• 15:10
  I think it's very challenging.
• 15:11
  I think I did a great job
• 15:12
  picking the restaurants and picking
• 15:14
  a talented team to work with.
• 15:15
  Getting all of my ideas into
• 15:17
  a show the first time I'm doing it
• 15:19
  was very challenging.
• 15:20
  And I think one thing, you
• 15:23
  know, I'm very proud of the show,
• 15:24
  but the other thing I kept thinking
• 15:25
  was, oh, I'm so new at
• 15:27
  this part. Like I can talk about
• 15:29
  food, but usually I'm writing it.
• 15:30
  You know, I can rewrite it.
• 15:31
  So talking about some food live on
• 15:33
  the spot, every time I was like,
• 15:35
  I'm gonna get so much better at
• 15:36
  this. Like if there's a season two,
• 15:37
  if there is another show I get to
• 15:38
  make, I'm going to be so much better
• 15:40
  at that.
• 15:41
  And that's really exciting for me
• 15:42
  too, to just be even better at
• 15:43
  conveying the hard work that these
• 15:45
  restaurateurs put into their
• 15:46
  businesses.
• 15:47
  How did you get started talking
• 15:49
  about food?
• 15:50
  I had a friend in college
• 15:52
  who was finishing film school while
• 15:54
  I was finishing a business degree.
• 15:55
  I had not done any creative work in
• 15:56
  a while and we were in New York
• 15:58
  and I started describing this
• 16:00
  bagel tin. This was sesame bagel and
• 16:02
  I was talking about how it's so nice
• 16:03
  when you toast the sesame bagel
• 16:05
  because not only do you get that
• 16:06
  extra roasted flavor from the sesame
• 16:08
  but the texture of that
• 16:10
  toast really contrasts
• 16:12
  with the like creamy soft nature of
• 16:14
  the cream cheese And that's just
• 16:15
  like a really satisfying bite.
• 16:17
  And he was like, Hey man, did you
• 16:19
  ever like think about doing
• 16:20
  something with food? And I'm like,
• 16:21
  what do you mean? He's like, you
• 16:22
  could like write about food or like
• 16:23
  make videos about food or something.
• 16:24
  And I was like huh, never thought
• 16:26
  about that.
• 16:27
  A couple of months later, when I was
• 16:28
  finishing college, I started writing
• 16:29
  a blog.
• 16:30
  Nobody read that.
• 16:32
  I did food photography after working
• 16:33
  in corporate, uh, lost all
• 16:35
  my money doing that.
• 16:37
  Uh, and I kept making these little
• 16:38
  food videos.
• 16:39
  Nobody watched. I wasn't very good
• 16:40
  at making them.
• 16:41
  Um, they weren't very interesting.
• 16:43
  I didn't really say anything in the
• 16:44
  videos. I'd kind of just show
• 16:46
  off food.
• 16:47
  Kind of poorly and blurry and
• 16:49
  eventually I got kind of good at it
• 16:50
  and I had a video that took off and
• 16:52
  I kept doing that style of video,
• 16:54
  which is a little bit similar to
• 16:55
  what I do now.
• 16:56
  And, uh, yeah, just, that was like
• 16:58
  three and a half years ago that that
• 17:00
  first video got some traction and
• 17:02
  it just kept snowballing.
• 17:03
  I think I got a little bit better
• 17:04
  over the years as well at
• 17:05
  communicating and showing off food
• 17:07
  and then now I get some really
• 17:09
  cool opportunities like working with
• 17:10
  Austin PBS.
• 17:11
  All right, David Eats Everywhere
• 17:13
  premieres today on Austin PBS.
• 17:15
  We're gonna have a link in today's
• 17:16
  podcast, Show Notes.
• 17:17
  We have been speaking with the host
• 17:19
  of the show, David Douglas.
• 17:20
  Congrats and thank you for your
• 17:21
  time. Sweet, thanks for having me.
• 17:28
  The World Cup kicks off on
• 17:31
  Thursday, and here to tell us more
• 17:33
  about this year's tournament is Juan
• 17:34
  Diego Garcia.
• 17:36
  He is one of the hosts of the Vamos
• 17:37
  Verde podcast, all about Austin
• 17:39
  FC and World Cup 2026.
• 17:41
  He's with us now, hi Juan.
• 17:43
  Hi Jerry, always a pleasure.
• 17:44
  It's great to have you back in the
• 17:46
  studio. It's an exciting time, lots
• 17:48
  of great sports happening around us.
• 17:50
  So first off, tell us, is Vamos
• 17:52
  Verda doing anything special for
• 17:53
  this year World Cup?
• 17:54
  We are, in a way,
• 17:56
  yes, we are going nationwide.
• 17:58
  You can hear Jimmy and I on public
• 18:00
  radio stations pretty much across
• 18:02
  the country at some of the
• 18:04
  host cities.
• 18:05
  Very cool!
• 18:05
  We're gonna be covering the whole
• 18:06
  tournament there and we'll be
• 18:08
  talking all sorts of World Cup stuff
• 18:10
  on our podcast feed as well So make
• 18:11
  sure you look out for that
• 18:12
  Alright, well let's get right into
• 18:14
  the action since I know you're
• 18:15
  keenly aware of what's going on.
• 18:18
  Games are going to be happening across
• 18:19
  three countries for the next few
• 18:20
  weeks.
• 18:21
  Which teams are going be playing
• 18:22
  just a few hours away from us here
• 18:24
  in Austin?
• 18:25
  Well, folks here in Texas have
• 18:26
  a treat coming for them because you
• 18:29
  got a good mix.
• 18:30
  You have some perennial heavy
• 18:31
  hitters, those sort of title
• 18:33
  hopefuls every year, including
• 18:35
  Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands,
• 18:38
  England, Argentina, defending
• 18:39
  champs.
• 18:40
  You also have this upstart Japan
• 18:43
  team that I think could cause some
• 18:44
  folks some trouble.
• 18:46
  They're looking to be pretty good.
• 18:48
  And also some tournament debutants,
• 18:50
  you've got Uzbekistan, Kurasal,
• 18:52
  are all gonna be featured in games
• 18:54
  here in Texas.
• 18:55
  I think if I could give you two
• 18:56
  games to look out for, for sure,
• 18:59
  two games happening in Dallas.
• 19:00
  The first one on the 14th,
• 19:02
  Netherlands takes on Japan.
• 19:04
  And on the 17th, England will
• 19:06
  be taking on Croatia.
• 19:08
  And those two are teams that,
• 19:10
  every time the tournament happens,
• 19:12
  always show pretty well for
• 19:13
  themselves.
• 19:15
  It's a very exciting time for the
• 19:17
  soccer world here in Austin.
• 19:18
  People over the weekend were posting
• 19:19
  pictures of Lino Messi and
• 19:21
  College Station, and that's not a
• 19:22
  sentence I ever thought I was gonna
• 19:23
  say. No.
• 19:24
  Lino, Messi, and College station,
• 19:26
  but that's just what the World Cup
• 19:27
  has done, and it's been really
• 19:29
  great ramping up.
• 19:30
  As I mentioned, there are three host
• 19:31
  countries, the U.S., Mexico,
• 19:34
  and Canada. They all automatically
• 19:35
  qualified for the field because they
• 19:37
  are the host countries.
• 19:38
  Of those three, Juan, which do you
• 19:40
  think has the best chance to advance
• 19:41
  the furthest in this tournament?
• 19:43
  Canada is still relatively new
• 19:45
  to the World Cup stage.
• 19:47
  Mexico always performs well when
• 19:49
  they host the tournament, but I
• 19:51
  don't know if I'm entirely sold by
• 19:52
  the current generation of
• 19:54
  Mexican players.
• 19:56
  So I'm gonna give it to the U.S.
• 19:57
  Men's National Team.
• 19:59
  I think they have a good mix of some
• 20:00
  experienced players.
• 20:01
  They have a lot of exciting young
• 20:03
  talent, a lot it playing out in
• 20:05
  Europe, some of their talent
• 20:07
  playing right here in Major League
• 20:09
  Soccer.
• 20:10
  But one of the biggest things is
• 20:11
  they're led by a coach that has
• 20:13
  proven they can win it all at club
• 20:14
  level. It's this guy Mauricio
• 20:16
  Pochettino, and he's gonna be
• 20:18
  trying to show the world that he can
• 20:19
  do it on the international stage as
• 20:21
  well.
• 20:21
  So my choice is the U.S.
• 20:23
  Men's team.
• 20:23
  One thing that we're gonna be
• 20:25
  keeping an eye on for sure is
• 20:27
  the temperatures at some of
• 20:29
  these games. We're already
• 20:30
  experiencing it here in Texas.
• 20:31
  Not only is it hot, it's extremely
• 20:33
  humid.
• 20:34
  And lots of these game are going to
• 20:36
  be played in a similar type of
• 20:38
  climate. How are the games adapting
• 20:39
  to the climate that they're gonna
• 20:40
  played in?
• 20:41
  Well, FIFA themselves implemented
• 20:44
  something relatively new for this
• 20:45
  tournament, which is a mandatory
• 20:47
  three-minute water break.
• 20:49
  They are going to happen right in
• 20:50
  the middle of each half, so soccer's
• 20:52
  played in two 45-minute halves.
• 20:54
  Halfway through, you're going to get
• 20:55
  three minutes where you see all of
• 20:57
  the players going to the sideline
• 20:58
  for a hydration break.
• 21:00
  That's, I guess, the way the
• 21:02
  folks that are running the
• 21:03
  tournament are adapting to the heat.
• 21:05
  Something that I think is worth
• 21:06
  looking out for, for folks that
• 21:08
  going to be paying attention to the
• 21:09
  tournament is uh...
• 21:11
  This heat might make for
• 21:13
  some very boring football,
• 21:16
  usually more defensive teams,
• 21:17
  teams that are not going to be
• 21:19
  running down the pitch,
• 21:21
  kicking and screaming, trying to
• 21:22
  score a goal.
• 21:24
  Those teams that will be more
• 21:26
  designed to sit back, absorb
• 21:27
  pressure, and then hit when
• 21:30
  the time is right.
• 21:31
  Those teams could use
• 21:33
  this weather as somewhat
• 21:35
  of a...
• 21:36
  Almost home field advantage, if you
• 21:38
  will. The team that comes to mind
• 21:39
  that I think could spring a big
• 21:41
  surprise this year is Ecuador.
• 21:43
  They are extremely well drilled
• 21:45
  defensively.
• 21:46
  They're going to hit you on the
• 21:47
  counter. They're probably gonna get
• 21:49
  one or two opportunities to hurt you
• 21:50
  in a game and they're gonna take
• 21:52
  advantage of those.
• 21:53
  So I would keep an eye on Ecuador
• 21:55
  because the way they play the game
• 21:57
  is kind of built for this kind of
• 21:59
  heat and the war of attrition that
• 22:01
  happens from that.
• 22:02
  So that's a team that might surprise
• 22:04
  some folks, but ultimately only
• 22:06
  one team is going to come out on
• 22:07
  top. Who do you think right now,
• 22:09
  Juan, going into the World Cup,
• 22:11
  who do you expect to come out on the
• 22:12
  top in a few weeks?
• 22:14
  The decision is not as tough.
• 22:15
  Tough as you might think it is,
• 22:17
  in my opinion, at least.
• 22:19
  Uh, I can't look past Spain.
• 22:22
  Now they do carry one question,
• 22:24
  which is, uh, their star player,
• 22:26
  La Minha Mal, he got hurt in
• 22:28
  the sort of latter end of
• 22:30
  the Barcelona season.
• 22:32
  Uh, if he can come back fully
• 22:34
  healthy, there's nobody
• 22:36
  stopping Spain.
• 22:37
  Now, if she's dealing with a
• 22:39
  little bit of an injury still,
• 22:41
  I still think Spain is...
• 22:43
  The deepest team, the most talented
• 22:45
  team at the tournament, with or
• 22:46
  without Lamin Yamal at 100%,
• 22:49
  I would put the betting odds
• 22:51
  on Spain winning a
• 22:53
  second World Cup this year.
• 22:55
  Okay, once you've given us maybe a
• 22:56
  Dark Horse team to keep an eye on,
• 22:58
  is there a local connection from
• 23:00
  Austin FC that we maybe can just
• 23:02
  root behind a local guy?
• 23:04
  Yes, Jaden Nelson, the
• 23:05
  winger for Austin FC,
• 23:07
  was a very late addition
• 23:09
  to the Canadian national team.
• 23:12
  He's taking the spot of someone
• 23:13
  who's unfortunately not available
• 23:15
  due to injury, which does
• 23:16
  tend to happen right around the time
• 23:18
  these squads start to come out.
• 23:20
  There's preparation friendlies and
• 23:21
  some folks will pick up some knocks.
• 23:23
  Some folks, it costs them their
• 23:24
  tournament, but he gets a benefit
• 23:26
  from that and make his
• 23:28
  debut for the Canadian National Team
• 23:30
  at the World Cup.
• 23:31
  He's already played for the Canadian
• 23:32
  national team.
• 23:33
  This is just another feather in his
• 23:35
  cap that he gets to say he did it at
• 23:37
  the biggest international tournament
• 23:38
  there is.
• 23:39
  That is Juan Diego Garcia,
• 23:41
  he is a host of the Vamos Verde
• 23:43
  podcast, and they're gonna be doing
• 23:44
  some special things throughout the
• 23:46
  World Cup, so be sure to listen to
• 23:47
  Vamos Verdes wherever you get your
• 23:50
  shows, Juan.
• 23:51
  Thank you very much and enjoy the
• 23:52
  games. You always flatter me, Jerry,
• 23:53
  thank you.
• 23:55
  And that is it for today's
• 23:57
  show. Thank you for spending some
• 23:58
  time with us. We're gonna have links
• 23:59
  to the stories we shared with you
• 24:01
  today in the podcast show notes and
• 24:03
  at kut.org
• 24:06
  slash signal.
• 24:07
  Casey Cheek is our technical
• 24:09
  director, Alexandra Hart is our
• 24:11
  producer, and Kristin Cabrera is
• 24:13
  our managing producer.
• 24:14
  I'm your host, Jerry Kihannel.
• 24:16
  We'll talk to you tomorrow.