Category Archives: Featured Blog Post

Admissions on Trial: Seven Decades of Race and Higher Education 5/30

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Admissions on Trial: Seven Decades of Race and Higher Education, airing Thursday, May 30th at 9 pm and Sunday, June 2, at 1:30 pm, takes an in-depth look at the debate over how universities choose their students.

For many schools, race is a factor in that process – a “plus” that can help determine who is admitted, and who is rejected.  A Supreme Court case called Fisher v Texas could soon end the use of race in admissions nationwide.  Understanding that issue means understanding the admissions process, and the history behind it.  The story begins in 1946, when The University of Texas was closed to African-Americans.  It continues in the 1990s, when the use of race was banned, and into the past decade, when it returned.  The documentary also looks to the future, where lessons learned at The University of Texas could serve as a model for race-blind admissions nationwide.

Hear from activists, lawyers, university leaders, students, admissions officials and people who fought segregation.  They discuss what diversity means, whether it matters, and how we should – and shouldn’t – be able to seek it.

Ann Richards School Student Productions

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An alien named Uchi has the most unfortunate speech impediment. When he falls in love with a girl named Layla, he works to overcome his inability to tell her how he feels.

The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders was founded in 2007 and serves grades 6-12. It is a unique public all-girls school in Austin, Texas dedicated to educating young women to become leaders and to provide them with the skills needed to be successful in college and beyond. Ann Richards is a college preparatory school that focuses on challenging its students through rigorous pre-AP and AP courses.

When students at Ann Richards reach ninth grade, they choose one of three pathways to learn about in their four years of high school: Media Technology, Engineering, or Biomedical. Students in the Media Technology pathway create many short films and animations, among other things, over the course of their high school years. KLRU has partnered with juniors from the Media Technology pathway to share a selection of these shorts.

The animations were completed by the sophomores over the course of a semester. Before beginning these projects, students had to develop new skills and learn software programs such as Adobe After Effects and Papagayo. The sophomores had to create original story lines and characters that they would hand draw and paint in Photoshop before beginning to animate. They also dedicated time before and after school as well as on the weekends to complete their animations.

These short films and animations are available at http://video.klru.tv/program/ann-richards-school-student-productions/

Three baby chicks are playing in a field when an owl swoops down and takes one of them. The other two go to great lengths to save their fellow brother chick.

SXSW Flashback 2013

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The newest edition of KLRU’s Lone Star Emmy nominated show, SXSW Flashback, premieres this week! We go back to March for a half hour of SXSW highlights, featuring interviews with 50 Cent, Ian Somerhalder, the Captains from Deadliest Catch, Bruce Campbell, Fred Armisen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Aisha Tyler, and more! And, most importantly, (drum roll, please) Grumpy Cat.  Learn about their experiences here in Austin this year, and about their current projects.

This year we have also added a familiar voice to help guide you through the madness.  KUTX Program Director and Afternoon Host, Matt Reilly, lends his pipes as our show’s narrator.

SXSW Flashback 2013 will air on KLRU on Thursday, May 23rd, at 9:00pm.

Please “like” us on Facebook so we can keep you updated as we post additional video not seen in the broadcast.

You can also watch the broadcast version online on our website.

Online discussion on Austin after 10-1

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civic summit austin after 10-1

Watch on KLRU or join our online community discussion starting at 9 pm May 16th. Take part in the online screening now

KLRU’s ongoing dialogue on civic engagement, Why Bother? takes an in-depth look at how the change to Austin City Council’s governing structure will impact voters. Experts and community members from across the city meet to discuss issues that are most important to them, to try to figure out how 10 separate districts will reconcile their differences once the new council is elected.

 

 

KLRU Collective: Con Mascaras

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CFILLMXE2SMLThis week, KLRU Collective presents the Masked: Changing Identities exhibition. Mexic-Arte Museum brings together over 200 traditional masks from various eras & regions in Mexico. The collection illustrates a people’s history that blends real life & myth & emphasizes the continued importance of masks in Mexican culture. While some consider them works of arts & some see them as part of traditional dance costumes, others revere them as religious symbols. However interpreted, these masks serve as inspiration for contemporary art & are a unique feature of Mexican tradition.

Masked: Changing Identities is on exhibit at Mexic-Arte Museum from January 25 – May 25, 2013. To celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year, Collective will be available in both English and Spanish during the day and provide links to traditional dances.

Genealogy Roadshow to film in Austin 6/23

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Genealogy Roadshow

Local residents with interesting stories needed for national broadcast of new PBS series

PBS and KLRU-TV announce that the new series Genealogy Roadshow, which premieres nationally this fall, is seeking local participants to share their families’ stories. Final participants will be part of an episode taping in Austin on Sunday, June 23. Part detective story, part emotional journey, Genealogy Roadshow  will combine history and science to uncover fascinating stories of diverse Americans. The producers are looking for Austin-area residents who have (or believe they have) a historically significant story in their family. Chosen stories will be researched by a team of local experts, and will be linked to the larger community’s history, revealing the rich cultural tapestry of Central Texas and America. Individuals with interesting stories are encouraged to submit them online through the KLRU website at klru.org/grshow.

Genealogy Roadshow’s premiere season features participants from four American cities — Austin, Detroit, Nashville, and San Francisco — who want to explore unverified genealogical claims passed down through family histories that may (or may not) connect them to an event or an historical figure. These cities were chosen as American crossroads of culture, diversity, industry and history with deep pools of potential participants and stories. The Austin episode, which will be filmed before a live audience, will air this fall (specific air dates will be announced later).

“Austin is a natural fit for Genealogy Roadshow. As the capital of Texas, it is known as a very progressive and modern city with a fascinating multicultural history,” said executive producer Stuart Krasnow. “We’re looking for a diverse mix of stories from locals who want to know more about their history.”

“I am delighted that Austin was chosen to be a part of Genealogy Roadshow,” said Bill Stotesbery, KLRU CEO. “Our participation in this project helps us fulfill our mission to make a better community one story at a time. We encourage Central Texans to share their story by going to klru.org/grshow and be part of this exciting production.”

After participants are chosen, genealogy, history and DNA experts will use family heirlooms, letters, pictures, historical documents and other clues to hunt down more information. These experts will enlist the help of local historians to add color and context to the investigations, ensuring every artifact and every name becomes a clue in solving the mystery. Austin residents are invited and encouraged to submit their personal stories as Genealogy Roadshow  will unearth family and community secrets, reveal notable relatives and discover unexpected stories that connect the past to the present. Many answers will be revealed on camera before a local audience, in a historic building relevant to the cities’ – and the participants’ – histories.

Genealogy Roadshow  is produced by Krasnow Productions. President and owner Stuart Krasnow is a long-time television industry veteran, having worked for all of the country’s top broadcasters in news and entertainment, as well as at numerous cable networks as a creator and executive producer. It is represented in the U.S. by Pat Quinn of Quinn Media Management and packaged with PBS by APA.

Genealogy Roadshow  has been a huge hit in Ireland, where national public broadcaster RTE commissioned this original format from producer Big Mountain Productions.

 

In the Studio: Marc Morial tapes Overheard 5/3

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Overheard taping announcement

Please join KLRU’s Overheard with Evan Smith for an interview with Marc Morial
Date: May 3
Time: 1:45pm (Doors open at 1:15pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (map). 
RSVP: The event is free but an RSVP is required. RSVP now

MMM HeadshotMarc Morial is President of the National Urban League, the nation’s largest civil rights organization. He assumed that post in 2003, after Morial serving as Mayor of New Orleans from 1994-2002. Morial is credited with the city’s “renaissance” through police reforms, housing and neighborhood revitalization and investments in infrastructure. During his time in office, murders and violent crimes fell by 60% and the unemployment rate was cut in half. He left office with a 70 percent approval rating. Morial is in Austin to give the commencement address at Huston-Tillotson University.

We hope you’ll be there as Overheard with Evan Smith wraps up a third season of great conversation with fascinating people, always on the news and always with a sense of humor.  The show features in-depth interviews with a mix of guests from politics, the arts, literature, journalism, business, sports and more, and reaches PBS viewers from California to Florida.  We’d love to see you in the studio for the interview, and for a chance to join the audience Q&A after the interview. See past shows and interviews at klru.org/overheard

Arts In Context: Intergalactic Nemesis 4/25

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“The year is 1933. Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Molly Sloan and her intrepid research assistant Timmy Mendez team up with a mysterious librarian from Flagstaff, Arizona, named Ben Wilcott. Together, they travel from Rumania to Scotland to the Alps to Tunis to the Robot Planet and finally to Imperial Zygon to defeat a terrible threat to the very future of humanity: an invading force of sludge-monsters from outer space known as the Zygonians.”

This month’s episode of Arts In Context will take us inside the unique production of the Live-Action Graphic Novel that is the Intergalactic Nemesis. Projecting the artwork from the original comic-book story panel-by-panel, while three actors voiced the characters, one performer created sound-effects, and a keyboardist performed the score, The Intergalactic Nemesis, Book One: Target Earth was an instant sensation when it debuted in the Long Center in 2010. Since then it has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” “Conan,” and is now on a world tour.

Arts In Context has been closely following the Intergalactic Nemesis crew behind the scenes of their rising production of Book One: Target Earth for the past few months. Full of striking images and interviews, this episode captures the creative process of the Intergalactic crew. But on this episode Arts In Context is trying something new. The crew is collaborating with documentary filmmaker Anton Curley, using footage from his upcoming film, Nemesis Rising. Nemesis Rising is a feature length film on the Intergalactic Nemesis that follows the crew through their history, their first national tour, and into their future from Volume 2 and beyond. In combination with the documentary that Arts In Context has been working on, this episode will tell the story of the the Intergalactic Nemesis crew from their small beginnings to their debut in Broadway earlier in April. This collaboration will make for a unique episode of Arts in Context that cannot be missed.

Make sure to tune in on Thursday, April 25th at 7:30 pm to take an intimate behind the scenes look at the Live-Action Graphic Novel on Arts in Context: Intergalactic Nemesis.

To see if the Intergalactic Nemsis is coming to you check out on their tour schedule.

 

KLRU Collective: Is Graffiti Art?

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This week, KLRU Collective explores the art of graffiti.

Spray-can art started as an underground, street art movement. Today, graffiti is as relevant as any other art form, and Emerge ATX brings these artists into the gallery. With live graffiti painting and performances from DJs, MCs & B-boys, this annual art show uncovers the culture and process behind Austin’s street art.

Art Seen Alliance is a group of artists that come together to make art and produce events

In the Studio: Civic Summit Austin After 10-1

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Civic Summit Taping Announcement

Civic Summit: Why Bother? Austin After 10-1
Date: Tuesday, April 23
Time: taping begins promptly at 7:00pm (Doors at 6:30pm)
Location: KLRU’s Studio 6A (2504-B Whitis Austin, TX 78712 map)
RSVP: Attendance is free, but RSVP is required. RSVP Now

Why Bother? an ongoing dialogue on civic engagement, takes an in-depth look at how the change to Austin City Council’s governing structure will impact voters. Experts and community members from across the city meet to discuss issues that are most important to them, to try to figure out how 10 separate districts will reconcile their differences once the new council is elected.

Sponsored by the Strauss Institute for Civic Life, KLRU, and KUT, this event is part of Why Bother? Engaging Texans in Democracy Today, a news and public dialogue series intended to provoke a conversation among regular people about why Texas has one of the lowest rates of civic engagement in the world, and what we can do about it.

Why Bother?