Upstairs at Caroline
Zeke Barbaro / Getty Images
Volume 44, Number 18
ON THE COVER:
news
Headlines / Quote of the Week
UT Researchers Find Key Ingredient for Phones and Other Tech in Coal Ash
Rare earth elements revealed in byproducts
BY AMBER WILLIAMS
Six Months of HOME Permits Show Neighborhoods Aren’t Changing Much
Developers are planning smaller homes on smaller lots
BY AUSTIN SANDERS
City Council Has More Time to Decide on Funding for I-35 “Caps”
TxDOT moves deadline to decide on the $900 million cost
BY AUSTIN SANDERS
music
Waterloo Records Owner John Kunz Saves His 42-Year-Old Baby – By Selling It
With new partners in tow, the pioneering record store moves up Lamar
BY RAOUL HERNANDEZ
Introducing the 2024/2025 Austin Music Poll
Vote now to determine this year’s Austin Music Awards winners
BY CARYS ANDERSON
Solo Shoegazer Dottie Makes Free Week Debut
Saturday Mohawk set alongside Ringo Deathstarr and Fawn caps off the project’s successful 2024
BY GENEVIEVE WOOD
Album Review: Hayes & the Heathens
Hayes Carll and the Band of Heathens capture Southern-fried synergy
BY DOUG FREEMAN
Crucial Concerts for the Week Ahead
The Point, Wild Heaven, Chris Acker, and more
BY CARYS ANDERSON, DEREK UDENSI, KAHRON SPEARMAN, RAOUL HERNANDEZ, MICHAEL TOLAND, DOUG FREEMAN AND JAMES SCOTT
Live Music in Austin
BY DEREK UDENSI
Screens
Film Reviews
The Count of Monte-Cristo
From the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas
The Damned
Psychological horror set in 1800s Iceland
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Colonialism, the Cold War, and jazz collide in engrossing documentary
arts & culture
Visual Arts Review: Karim B. Hamid’s “Saturn Returns”
Lydia Street exhibit ponders subversion and deconstruction
BY CAT MCCARREY
Witness This Weekend's Recommended Arts and Culture Events
Sarah Silverman, 80s Night, sustainable sculpting, and more
BY JAMES SCOTT, KAT MCNEVINS, RICHARD WHITTAKER, JAMES RENOVITCH AND CAT MCCARREY
Dungeons & Dragons, Trivia, Comics, and More Recommended Events
It's a new year! Why not try some new things?
BY JAMES SCOTT, KAT MCNEVINS, RICHARD WHITTAKER, CAT MCCARREY AND JAMES RENOVITCH
columns
The Off Beat: haha Laughing Chuckles Through Nasty Feelings
Experimental rap duo talk musical catharsis, Free Week discovery
BY CARYS ANDERSON
The Off Beat: Marry Cherry Preps for a Bigger, More Experimental 2025
Vocalist Adam Schnitzer teases psych rockers’ electronic turn
BY CARYS ANDERSON
Qmmunity: Queer Pride’s Back on the Menu
South Austin coffee bar Once Over paints their winter menu all the colors of the rainbow
BY JAMES SCOTT
Opinion: A Call for Unity to Fix a Broken Health Care System
A health care professional with chronic illness urges bipartisan action to address high costs, insurance barriers, and mental health gaps
BY SUE RAM
Day Trips: Fort Phantom Hill, Abilene
History is whispering on the wind at the ruins of Fort Phantom Hill
BY GERALD E. MCLEOD
The Luv Doc: The Inevitable Discomfort of Self-Knowledge
Honestly, a class action suit is probably in order
BY THE LUV DOC
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
BY MR. SMARTY PANTS
Free Will Astrology
Your weekly horoscope, January 3-9
BY ROB BREZSNY
The Common Law
Stamped and ready? Expedited passport problems
BY LUKE ELLIS
Feedback
Letters to the editor, published daily
comics
