Latest / Austin Signal / Smokable hemp products legal again in Texas — for now

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Smokable hemp products legal again in Texas — for now · Austin Signal

0:08
It is legal again for Texas
0:10
businesses to sell smokable forms
0:12
of hemp.
0:13
New state rules that went into
0:14
effect in March had effectively
0:16
outlawed these sales while raising
0:17
fees on the businesses who carry
0:19
them. The state of the Texas
0:21
hemp market and the State Board of
0:23
Education gave preliminary approval
0:25
to a mandatory list of books that
0:27
all Texas public schools will teach
0:28
starting in 2030.
0:31
Critics of the list say it lacks
0:32
diversity and emphasizes
0:34
Christianity.
0:35
More about both of those stories
0:37
coming up in today's show.
0:39
The Austin Signal is a production of
0:41
KUT News, hosted by Jerry
0:43
Kehanel.
0:44
Plus, what's the story behind the
0:45
freaky sculpture hanging in the
0:47
Barton Creek greenbelt?
0:48
Well, that's the exact question
0:50
someone asked us for our AT Explain
0:52
project.
0:53
Now we've got the answer and we've
0:54
gotten it for you up next on
0:56
Austin Signal.
1:08
Howdy out there, you are listening
1:09
to Austin Signal.
1:11
Thank you for making us part of your
1:13
Monday. It's April 13th.
1:15
I'm your host, Jerry Kiechanow.
1:17
Hopefully, wherever you're tuning in
1:19
from today saw a little bit of rain
1:21
over the weekend.
1:22
The National Weather Service says
1:24
we've still got a small rain chance
1:25
for this afternoon with the
1:27
possibility of showers forecasted
1:29
for about half of the days this
1:30
week. We'll keep you up to date with
1:33
the latest right here on Community
1:35
Powered Public Radio.
1:38
Smokable forms of hemp can,
1:40
once again, be legally sold here
1:42
in the state of Texas.
1:43
That's after a Travis County judge
1:44
granted on Friday afternoon a
1:46
temporary restraining order against
1:48
Department of State Health Services
1:49
rules that went into effect at the
1:51
end of March.
1:52
For more about that, we are talking
1:54
with KUT's Nathan Bernier.
1:56
Nathan, thanks for joining us on the
1:57
show.
1:58
Glad to be with you, Chair.
1:59
So can you please refresh us on the
2:01
basics quickly, what were these new
2:02
regulations that took effect last
2:04
month?
2:04
Right. They took effect March 31st
2:06
from the state's health regulators.
2:08
They did not change the laws around
2:10
possessing smokeable hemp products,
2:12
but they changed what can be sold.
2:13
So the biggest shift is how THC
2:15
is calculated.
2:16
The state now counts something
2:17
called THCA as
2:21
Delta 9 THC.
2:23
Really quick. It's just, I always
2:24
have to explain this because it gets
2:25
so confusing, even for people who
2:27
think they're familiar with this.
2:29
I'm surprised how many don't know
2:31
this. Delta 9 THC is
2:33
the main ingredient in cannabis that
2:35
gets people high, and the
2:37
amount of that determines whether
2:39
cannabis in Texas is legal hemp or
2:40
illegal marijuana.
2:41
But there are many other compounds
2:43
in cannabis that can get people
2:44
high. One of them is THCA.
2:46
When that's heated or smoked, it
2:47
turns into Delta 9.
2:48
So what the state basically decided
2:50
to do, among many other things,
2:52
but this is the most contentious, is
2:54
say THCA is now
2:56
being counted as Delta 9, or 88%
2:58
Delta 9 And that is effectively what
3:00
made. Most of these products
3:01
unlawful for sale.
3:03
The state also increased fees
3:05
exponentially on businesses,
3:07
in some cases 40 times what they
3:09
were, these annual fees, and they
3:10
added stricter testing, packaging
3:12
rules, and a permanent
3:14
restriction on selling to miners.
3:17
Who filed this lawsuit and why did
3:18
they want to...
3:19
Filed by the Texas Hemp Business
3:20
Council and
3:22
hemp companies and another industry
3:24
group, and they're suing state
3:25
health agencies and the attorney
3:26
general. And their core argument is
3:28
that regulators really went beyond
3:29
the law that lawmakers passed.
3:31
State law says, this is what hemp
3:33
is, this is, what's legal.
3:34
And they're saying, actually, you're
3:36
redefining what hemp is by using
3:38
a broader formula.
3:39
They also argue the fees are too
3:41
high and serve as an
3:42
unconstitutional tax.
3:43
And they claim these state agencies
3:46
did not follow their own proper
3:48
rulemaking steps in adopting these
3:49
rules. So their goal was to block
3:51
the rules and stop enforcement and
3:53
they got a partial win on Friday.
3:55
Yeah, so tell us about that partial
3:56
win and which part were they
3:58
successful with?
3:59
They were successful, the judge
4:01
in Travis County blocked enforcement
4:02
of that THC standard.
4:05
So that means businesses could
4:06
immediately start selling smokeable
4:09
hemp again temporarily.
4:11
This temporary restraining order
4:12
remains in effect for two weeks
4:13
until another hearing on April
4:15
23rd that will,
4:17
where lawyers will argue whether
4:18
there should be a longer term hold
4:20
or pause of these rules while the
4:22
case plays out in court.
4:23
But the higher fees, those are still
4:25
in place. So the long-term
4:27
outcome of this is uncertain.
4:30
What reaction have you heard since
4:31
Friday's news?
4:33
Well, I spoke to some hemp
4:34
businesses, you know,
4:37
cannabis shops in Austin, asking,
4:38
hey, are you selling smokeable
4:39
products again?
4:40
Some of them say, yes, everything's
4:42
back on the shelves.
4:43
Some of the have a
4:45
very limited stock, limited supply
4:47
until later in the week where
4:48
they're trying to basically
4:50
order more.
4:51
I also spoke with the executive
4:53
director of the Hemp Business
4:54
Council, Mark Bordas.
4:56
And he said that they are
4:58
very happy with what
5:00
played out in court.
5:01
But they're also really looking
5:03
forward to April 23 because they
5:04
want to have these fees put
5:06
on hold. They feel like they didn't
5:08
really have enough time to make the
5:10
case during the hearing on Friday.
5:12
And so that's what they are looking
5:13
forward too. What's interesting
5:15
though, Jerry, is that not all
5:16
companies immediately need to pay
5:17
these fees, which amount to $5,000
5:19
per retail location per year and
5:21
$10,000 per manufacturing facility
5:23
per year. It's really based on.
5:25
When the renewal period is when you
5:27
first received your permit or
5:28
registration.
5:29
This is how Mark Bordas explained it
5:31
to me. So it's a rolling requirement
5:34
here. So there are many businesses
5:35
that don't have to pay these fees
5:36
yet. They're like fingers crossed
5:38
for April 23rd and there are some
5:39
where those fees may come due within
5:41
the next couple weeks.
5:43
Okay, now we have reached the stage
5:45
where there is a temporary halt.
5:47
What happens next in this case?
5:49
So again, this ruling is a
5:50
temporary restraining order, lasts
5:52
about two weeks.
5:53
The next step is a hearing on
5:54
whether to have a temporary
5:56
injunction to extend that
5:58
pause.
5:59
And that's April 23rd.
6:00
And at that point, the judge could
6:01
keep the rules blocked or allow them
6:03
to take effect again or change which
6:04
rules are blocked.
6:06
So right now, smokeable hemp is
6:07
back, but whether it stays that way,
6:09
it depends on what happens in court
6:11
on April 23.
6:12
And I've just been parsing some data
6:14
here and I'm looking at the number
6:15
of retail businesses and Texas has
6:17
just really.
6:18
Boomed in the last few months.
6:19
In Austin alone, it's gone up from
6:21
648 businesses registered
6:24
to sell hemp products to 951
6:25
since August. That's actually August
6:27
to March.
6:28
So an almost 50% increase
6:30
in Austin in the number of
6:32
businesses registered to sell these
6:33
products.
6:34
So it's, you know, critics will say,
6:36
look, these, these businesses are
6:37
flourishing. It's out of control.
6:39
And supporters will say this
6:41
is a going to be a huge hit to the
6:42
state's economy.
6:44
We have been speaking with KUT's
6:45
Nathan Bernier. We're gonna have a
6:46
link to his latest.
6:47
In today's show notes, Nathan,
6:49
thanks for talking with us on Austin
6:50
Signal.
6:51
Thanks for having me, Jerry.
6:59
The Texas State Board of Education
7:00
gave preliminary approval on Friday
7:02
to a list of required K through 12
7:05
reading materials for public
7:06
schools.
7:07
The list will still need to be
7:09
revised until a final vote in June,
7:11
but some educators say they have
7:12
concerns with it.
7:14
For more about that, we are speaking
7:15
with KUT's education reporter
7:17
Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
7:19
Greta, thanks for being with us.
7:20
Hi, Jerry.
7:21
So why did the save board want to
7:23
create this required reading list in
7:24
the first place?
7:25
That's a good question.
7:27
This is part of a bill passed during
7:28
the 2023 legislature.
7:31
So HB 1605 says
7:33
the State Board of Education should
7:35
specify a list of at least one
7:37
literary work to be taught in
7:39
each grade level.
7:40
But the initial list that was
7:42
proposed had over 300 readings,
7:45
so way much more than one book
7:47
per grade.
7:49
And that list was proposed by the
7:50
Access Education Agency or TEA.
7:53
After revising a list from other
7:54
states and also through a survey
7:56
with teachers.
7:57
Okay, so it is a big list,
7:59
300 or so titles.
8:01
What do we know about the list so
8:02
far?
8:03
Yeah, so members of the State Board
8:04
of Education discussed the proposed
8:06
list and then two members had their
8:07
own proposals that were amendments
8:09
to the initial one, to that 300
8:12
words list.
8:14
So one of the members who
8:16
had their list was Kevin Ellis, who
8:18
was one of Republican members of
8:19
their board, and his list cut around
8:21
100 titles from the initial list,
8:23
but in essence, it remains pretty
8:25
similar. And so
8:28
Ellis list was
8:30
the one that was pre-approved last
8:32
Friday with a nine to five vote.
8:34
I have to say all Democrats, five
8:35
Democrats on the board voted no to
8:37
this list.
8:38
And during the meeting last week,
8:40
there was space for public
8:41
testimony. More than 120
8:42
people spoke there on
8:44
Tuesday, some in favor,
8:46
but most of them against
8:48
the list. There were teachers,
8:49
parents, religious leaders and
8:52
students as well.
8:53
Teachers mainly said they worried
8:54
that there were too many readings in
8:56
this list to cover in one school
8:58
year that they wouldn't have the
8:59
time.
9:00
Others raised concerns about the
9:01
lack of diversity of authors.
9:04
And some others, including multiple
9:05
religious leaders, said that they
9:07
had concerns about the risks of,
9:08
quote, turning public schools into
9:10
Sunday school.
9:11
I have to say the current reading
9:13
list includes multiple passages
9:15
from the Bible, but does not include
9:17
other religions.
9:17
And so.
9:18
I talked to Reverend Mara Bim
9:20
outside of the meeting and she's a
9:21
pastor at a church in North Texas
9:23
and this is what she had to say.
9:25
Children should be taught religion
9:27
at home.
9:28
Again, as a pastor, I
9:30
value religion.
9:31
I believe in scripture.
9:32
But I want to be the
9:34
one to teach my child that.
9:36
And I don't want my faith pushed
9:38
on other people,
9:41
especially impressionable young
9:42
children.
9:44
So the list that was pre-approved
9:45
Friday, once again, it's shorter,
9:47
but people have the same concerns.
9:50
So you mentioned the things that
9:51
people were saying prior to the
9:53
vote, now that the vote has actually
9:54
been cast, what have you heard from
9:56
people?
9:56
Yeah, so I've talked again to people
9:58
who were at the meeting and teacher
9:59
organizations and some have told
10:01
me that they worry that it's still
10:03
too long, even though they cut
10:04
around 100 readings.
10:06
Some grades have over 20 titles
10:08
and that's on top what teachers have
10:10
to teach or to cover
10:12
from the curriculum.
10:13
Yeah, the regular curriculum.
10:15
So the school year has 36
10:17
weeks and teachers have take into
10:19
account, I don't know, picture day,
10:20
field trips and many other factors,
10:22
you know, people getting sick.
10:24
Life happening. Yeah, life happening.
10:26
And then they have to incorporate
10:27
all those readings.
10:28
And so to have an idea, English One,
10:30
this is taught in high school, has
10:31
14 readings and that includes the
10:33
Odyssey. If you know this book, it's
10:35
a book that has over 500 pages.
10:37
And then it has Animal Farm and
10:39
To Kill a Mockingbird.
10:40
Those are only three books out of 14
10:42
for English One.
10:43
And so people are also worried about
10:45
representation in the list.
10:47
They said that there's not enough
10:48
women or people of color,
10:50
authors, women and people of color,
10:52
teachers, parents, and advocates,
10:53
when kids sit.
10:54
In Texas to see themselves reflected
10:56
in what they're reading and they
10:58
say, this new list does not
10:59
represent everyone.
11:01
And then finally, there's still
11:02
religious readings and passages from
11:04
the Bible in this list.
11:05
Ok, just about 15 or 20 seconds
11:07
left.
11:08
What happens next?
11:10
Yeah, so the list will be discussed
11:11
once more in June before a final
11:13
vote when the board meets again.
11:15
And between then and now, the Texas
11:17
Education Agency has to open a
11:19
30-day period for public feedback.
11:22
All right, we have been speaking
11:23
with Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez.
11:25
She is KUT's education
11:27
reporter. Thanks for coming on the
11:28
show, Greta.
11:29
Thank you, Jerry.
11:31
And thank you out there for spending
11:32
part of your Monday afternoon here
11:34
with Community Powered Public Radio.
11:37
This is KUT News and
11:39
this is Austin Signal.
11:41
You can find more from us at
11:42
kut.org
11:44
slash signal.
11:46
We're going to have more after this
11:48
break.
11:55
You're tuned in to Austin Signal.
11:57
Welcome back to the show.
11:59
It's getting to be perfect hiking
12:01
weather here in Austin, at least
12:03
when it's not raining.
12:05
The blue bonnets are blooming.
12:06
It's not too hot yet.
12:08
And if you go to the right trail,
12:10
you just might see something a
12:12
little unusual.
12:14
We got a question about it for our
12:16
ATXplain project.
12:17
KUT's Katie McAfee got to
12:19
the bottom of it.
12:21
Zach Dallas first saw it in high
12:23
school.
12:23
He was hiking with some friends in
12:25
the Barton Creek Greenbelt.
12:27
It was late and dark.
12:29
They hiked for about a mile from the
12:30
Gusfrew entrance when everyone
12:32
suddenly stopped.
12:34
You know, we're worried about
12:35
raccoons or whatever and then we
12:36
look up and we see that thing.
12:38
High in the trees, Zach saw
12:40
something.
12:41
It wasn't quite human, but not
12:44
an animal either.
12:45
A supernatural being was
12:47
mysteriously suspended in midair.
12:50
A few years after he saw it, Zach
12:52
met Anna Javed.
12:54
The two seriously hit it off,
12:56
and Zach wanted to treat Anna to a
12:58
memorable experience.
13:00
So we took her to the Greenbelt to
13:02
see it. And then we come across this
13:03
little area and it was quiet, there
13:05
was no one else here.
13:06
And then we see it and we're just
13:08
like of freaked out.
13:10
Okay, here's what it is.
13:11
It's a life-size sculpture made
13:13
of green fabric.
13:14
It's got long arms stretching
13:16
outward, a big muscular
13:18
butt, strangely prominent
13:20
nipples, and a tiny
13:22
little head.
13:23
It looks like it's been there for a
13:25
long time.
13:25
It is covered in moss.
13:27
It is not appealing to
13:29
the eye at first.
13:31
It just does not put me
13:33
at ease. Zach and Anna have walked
13:35
past the sculpture in the Greenbelt
13:37
dozens, maybe hundreds of times
13:39
in the past decade.
13:40
And after so many years, Anna wanted
13:42
to know just the story and the
13:44
history behind this
13:46
figurine, why it was put
13:48
up, and then also what
13:51
are we as hikers supposed to take
13:53
away from it when looking at it.
13:54
I asked Zach and Ana if they had any
13:56
theories to get me started.
13:58
Oh yeah, absolutely.
14:00
So people saying that it's it's here
14:02
to scare tech bros back
14:03
to California, that hadn't
14:06
worked.
14:06
Anna had a more reasonable theory.
14:08
She thought an artist got permission
14:10
from the parks department to install
14:11
it. Because obviously they have to
14:13
be on board with that too, right,
14:15
for it to be kind of permanently
14:16
there. A couple of good theories,
14:18
but still not a lot to go on.
14:20
I started sleuthing online for
14:22
clues.
14:23
Theories piled on Reddit.
14:25
Someone thought it was Slender Man.
14:27
Another said they heard it was a
14:28
totem made to stave the real thing
14:30
off.
14:31
But then an unlikely hero emerged
14:33
from the comments section.
14:35
Someone shared an article published
14:36
a few years ago about an artist
14:38
named Magdalena Yarkopietz
14:40
who makes giant mutant
14:42
dolls.
14:43
Dolls very similar to the ones
14:45
suspended from the trees and the
14:47
green belt.
14:49
We got a really nice day, huh?
14:51
Yeah. Oh, this is beautiful.
14:54
I met up with Magda in front of the
14:56
sculpture last summer.
14:57
She told me, yes, she was the
14:59
artist behind this thing.
15:02
She's a sculpture artist and a
15:04
dancer. She's been doing ballet
15:05
since she was a kid and she still
15:07
choreographs dances.
15:12
I found one on YouTube.
15:13
Magda and two other dancers are
15:15
wearing these huge shoulder pads.
15:17
Their biceps look like puffy clouds.
15:20
They're jumping around in a line.
15:22
I'm not really sure what's going on.
15:28
It was looking as though Anna's
15:29
theory was right.
15:31
This was an art installation,
15:33
but there was one key thing she got
15:34
wrong.
15:35
Anna said whoever put the sculpture
15:37
up in the green felt must have
15:39
gotten permission.
15:40
Not exactly.
15:42
We hung the doll in the middle of
15:43
the night. I think because I'm
15:45
a rule follower, so I would never
15:47
just go out there.
15:48
I mean, I guess I'm not entirely a
15:50
rule-follower.
15:51
Magda wanted people to see her work,
15:53
but she didn't know how to get into
15:55
galleries.
15:56
The next best thing was putting it
15:57
in the green belt.
15:58
Her husband, Shane, was her
16:00
accomplice.
16:01
Had it wrapped in a sheet.
16:02
Like we parked at Gus Fru and we're
16:04
like carrying a body
16:07
in a sheep into the green velvet.
16:09
Then they had to get it up into the
16:11
trees.
16:12
Luckily, Shane's a skilled rock
16:13
climber.
16:14
Yeah, I just stood here and Shane
16:16
climbed up the tree and I was like,
16:17
no further.
16:19
Higher and higher, until he got the
16:21
sculpture to where it's lived for
16:22
the last decade.
16:24
But what does it mean?
16:26
I'm not gonna lie, I was really
16:28
intimidated to talk to Magda about
16:29
this, because sometimes art
16:31
stresses me out.
16:33
I get worried that I won't get it,
16:35
or I won't come to the same
16:36
conclusion everyone else does.
16:38
And to be honest, the first time I
16:40
saw this sculpture in the Greenbelt,
16:42
I wasn't thinking about it like it
16:43
was art.
16:44
I just thought it was weird.
16:46
I suddenly felt like I was working
16:48
on a story completely out of my
16:49
wheelhouse.
16:54
I put these feelings aside and
16:55
focused on the basics.
16:57
I asked Magda how this all got
16:58
started.
16:59
My grandma sewed us clothes when
17:01
we were little. She's Polish.
17:02
I was born in Poland.
17:03
She's the reason I wanted to sew
17:05
because she had this like,
17:07
you know, magical power.
17:09
Magda taught herself how to sew in
17:10
high school.
17:11
She started with clothes, and the
17:13
more she did it, the more realized
17:14
she also had that magical
17:16
power.
17:17
When she got to college, she started
17:19
using her craft to make sculptures.
17:22
Her first one was just as creepy
17:23
as the sculpture in the green belt,
17:25
and had a long neck, no face,
17:28
one arm, and a leg that starts
17:30
out normal at the hip and then
17:32
fizzles out like a ribbon on a
17:33
Christmas present.
17:34
Magda named her Bella.
17:36
After that, she got the bug.
17:38
Magda started making a bunch of
17:40
sculptures.
17:41
She keeps a lot of them in her
17:42
studio, each one more bizarre
17:44
than the last.
17:45
This is that.
17:45
Guy with the little head.
17:47
Oh yeah and she has uni, like I
17:49
called them uni fingers.
17:51
Her fingers are connected.
17:52
Another doll has ginormous hips,
17:55
saggy boobs, and arms so long
17:57
they graze the floor.
17:59
Her work evolved.
18:00
She added faces to the dolls.
18:02
And then, genitalia.
18:04
I think in general,
18:06
genitalia and nipples, when I
18:08
realized I can make them pretty
18:09
anatomically accurate with fabric,
18:13
I don't know.
18:14
That just really excited
18:16
me. I was like, this, it felt
18:17
hilarious, like it felt unlikely.
18:21
It really bothers my husband, I
18:23
think. He's like, This is so weird.
18:25
Some of her work is just genitalia.
18:28
A while back, she made a bunch of
18:29
cloth vulvas and installed them in
18:31
some trees outside the anthropology
18:33
on North Lamar.
18:34
But it got taken down in like 24
18:36
hours.
18:36
The way Magda describes this time in
18:38
her life, it's like she was just
18:40
struck with inspiration at every
18:42
turn.
18:42
She said she needed to make art like
18:44
she needed eat.
18:46
But what inspired her to
18:48
make dolls specifically?
18:50
And not just any dolls, but dolls
18:51
that are sort of the antithesis to
18:53
Barbies, with arms and
18:55
legs and boobs that spill out
18:57
all over the place.
18:58
She says growing up practicing
19:00
ballet had something to do with it.
19:02
I mean I think when you're a dancer
19:03
you're obsessed with
19:05
your body in all kinds of ways.
19:09
The experience of your body but also
19:10
like what it looks like because
19:12
you're trying to like package it
19:13
into a really really
19:15
particular form.
19:16
Ballet dancers grow up hyper aware
19:18
of their bodies.
19:20
They wear tiny leotards in front of
19:22
giant mirrors.
19:23
Many dancers report being body
19:25
shamed or told they need to lose
19:26
weight way before they even hit
19:28
puberty.
19:29
So I think that's why I started
19:30
making figures, from that, like,
19:32
dancer-ly, just like, how do I
19:34
solve this problem of being
19:36
a body and it being wrong all the
19:38
time?
19:39
It's not just dancers who feel this
19:41
way.
19:42
We're all subtly being told we look
19:43
wrong all the time by Instagram
19:46
ads, by Westlake dermatology
19:48
billboards.
19:49
The message that we should do
19:50
something to change ourselves is
19:52
everywhere.
19:53
I think it's such a universal
19:55
struggle, like how to deal with
19:57
being, like it's an existential
19:58
problem, like, how to be a body.
20:01
You know what I mean? It's just weird.
20:03
Like you're like a person,
20:05
you're conscious, but you're also
20:06
just like stuck.
20:09
Get all this.
20:10
It's like when you're a kid and
20:12
you're not really thinking about
20:13
your body.
20:14
You don't need to have social
20:16
awareness if your hair is messy or
20:17
if you have chocolate on your face
20:19
because in a sense you're just
20:21
busy with bigger things.
20:23
Making friends, doing cartwheels,
20:26
growing up.
20:27
And then at some point someone
20:29
says something to you about your
20:30
weight or your skin and
20:32
suddenly your body is no longer just
20:34
a vessel to do fun things.
20:37
But when I as art.
20:38
I see creatures that skipped all
20:40
that social conditioning,
20:42
especially the doll in the green
20:44
belt.
20:44
It's not being held back by feelings
20:46
of self-consciousness.
20:48
It's confidently and perpetually
20:50
leaping from the trees with feral
20:52
whimsy.
20:54
And now when I look at the
20:55
sculpture, it gives me a glimpse of
20:56
that childhood innocence back.
21:00
Maybe I do understand
21:02
art.
21:04
So that's my take.
21:05
But Magda says if you look at her
21:07
art and still think it's weird or
21:08
creepy, that's okay too.
21:10
I hate when people feel like they
21:12
have to then revise
21:14
their version of what they
21:16
think something's about because of
21:17
what someone intended or
21:20
maybe didn't even intend but said
21:22
after the fact.
21:24
So to Ana's question, what are
21:26
hikers supposed to take away from
21:28
the sculpture?
21:29
I guess the answer is, you're not
21:31
supposed to take away anything.
21:33
It might mean something totally
21:34
different to you than it does to me.
21:36
And that's what makes art cool,
21:38
that it's contested.
21:40
There was one more thing that was
21:41
nagging me.
21:43
Magda used to hang her sculptures in
21:44
Austin Parks all the time.
21:46
And every single one of them, except
21:48
for this one in the Barton
21:50
Creek Greenbelt, got taken down.
21:52
What made this one so spe-
21:55
I think the main thing is just that
21:57
it's not easy to get down.
22:01
Sometimes it's just not that deep.
22:07
I'm Katie McAfee and Austin.
22:11
That story was part of our last
22:13
ATXplained live show.
22:15
Join us for our next one with
22:17
brand new stories.
22:18
It's happening May 21st
22:20
at Bass Concert Hall.
22:21
You can get your tickets at
22:23
texasperformingarts.org.
22:27
That is it for today's show.
22:28
You can find more about today's
22:30
stories in the podcast show notes
22:32
and at kut.org
22:35
slash signal.
22:37
Reyna Sevilla is our technical
22:39
director and Kristen Cabrera is our
22:41
managing producer.
22:42
Rene Chavez is our giant mutant
22:44
doll.
22:45
I'm your host Jerry Quijano.
22:46
We will talk to you tomorrow.
22:48
This is Austin Signal.