Cover Story
Ruthie Foster’s Fearless Longtime Affirmation Finds a New Inspiration: Herself
A single neon-yellow Post-it, stuck to the bottom of the computer monitor in Ruthie Foster’s home studio, gives the musician a daily affirmation. Just Say YES! In a room filled with instruments and equipment, bookshelves lined with dozens of honors – including a boat of Blues Music Awards and a Texas Heritage Songwriters Hall of…
News
What Could State Takeover Mean for Austin? Ask Fort Worth ISD.
On March 24, Roxanne Martinez, the elected president of the Fort Worth ISD Board of Trustees, received an email from the Texas Education Agency notifying Martinez and her colleagues that they were stripped of their authority as a school board, effective immediately. Months after Commissioner of Education Mike Morath’s October 2025 announcement that TEA would…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: July 30 – Aug. 5
Abbott Data Center Freeze: Data centers have become a focal point in the race to claim the state’s governor seat between House Rep. Gina Hinojosa and incumbent Greg Abbott. In June, Gov. Abbott released recommendations on data center developments for the 2027 legislative session, his first step backward on the issue after supporting the construction…
Community Demands Accountability After Austin Police Kill Unarmed Black Teen
Protesters gathered several days last week in Downtown Austin to remember Anthoneil Williams II, a Black teenager who was fatally shot by Austin Police Department officers in Northeast Austin on July 24. As questions surrounding the shooting linger, the 17-year-old’s father and friends joined protesters, demanding the Austin Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office…
Fatal Shooting Drives Narrative at Council Budget Meeting
The police killing of Anthoneil Williams II didn’t just hover over City Council’s July 30 meeting – it suffused it. Close to 100 residents spoke at the meeting, the vast majority using their two minutes of public comment to pour out heartbreak and anger over the Austin Police Department’s shooting of Williams. At least two…
Travis County Democratic Party Eager to Turn Page After Chair’s Resignation
It’s been five months since the March primary election, and the dust still hasn’t settled within the Travis County Democratic Party. The latest chapter in the party’s internal turmoil came July 27, when the newly elected TCDP Chair Jessica Cohen resigned under pressure from party insiders who questioned her ability to lead the organization and…
Music
Music Notes
Brisketfest Saturday 8, the Far Out Lounge Aughts pop-punk cover band Jimmy Eat Brisket’s Brisketfest event centers around a really simple premise: listen to several bands throughout the day while chowing on great barbecue crafted by various vendors. This year is the second edition of the event, and Michelin Bib Gourmand recipient KG BBQ will…
Olivia Rodrigo’s Self-Possessed Pop-Rock Fuels Lively Austin City Limits Appearance
On the internet, rock purists and Nineties nostalgists debate the merits – the work, the authenticity, the knowledge – of Olivia Rodrigo. Why is she wearing babydoll dresses? Does she really like the Breeders? How’d she get Robert Smith to sing on her album? In the real world, 64,000 people entered the lottery to attend…
Arts + Culture
Repeating a Cosmic Horror Cycle in Speak No More: Lovecraft
Time, so they say, is a flat circle. That’s certainly true in improvised cosmic horror drama Speak No More: Lovecraft, a constantly changing tale of cosmic horror where characters and audiences flow between spaces and interlocking stories that loop back upon themselves three times. “There’re 10 different stars of the show,” said director and performer…
The Joke Goes Down Easy
All that glitters isn’t gold; sometimes it’s discarded aluminum cans that Sam Keller bedazzles with Swarovski crystals. The L.A.-based artist returns to Austin for “Aftertaste,” his second solo show at Martha’s. The body of work presented initially goes down fast and easy, much like the consumables they riff on: sparkly soda cans, Juul vapes arranged…
Screens
Cookie Queens Review: Youthful Exuberance Meets Late-Stage Capitalism
If there’s a damning indictment of the state of American late-stage capitalism, it’s within the first two minutes of Girl Scout Cookies documentary Cookie Queens. Twelve-year-old Olive is briefing her bored and confused fellow troop members on the ways of cookie selling. The hero of this scene is an adorable curly-haired moppet who, when quizzed…
The Samurai and the Prisoner Review: Mystery and Revelation in Feudal Japan
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost. For want of re-enforcements from lord Mōri Terumoto, the rebellion of Murashige Araki (Masahiro Motoki) against the barbarous warlord Nobunaga Oda (Bando Shingo) was doomed. In 1578, inside the walls of the impregnable Arioka Castle, Murashige knows it is all over. He’ll never say it: not…
Ice Cream Man Review: Summer Bummer
There was a brief moment of hope for Eli Roth as a filmmaker. In 2018, the gorehound director made his first foray into kid-friendly territory with the charming The House With a Clock in its Walls, and three years later experimented with documentaries with shark advocacy piece Fin. But his urges won out and back…
One Night Only Review: This Is Fine?
Technology ruined the romantic comedy. No way would the benign plot complications of the original screwballs fly these days. Crossed wires, missed connections – none of that happens when everybody’s got a phone in their pocket, a Google alert on their name, and seven different kinds of social media accounts. So modern rom-com screenwriters must…
Columns
Day Trips: Webb’s Fair & Square, Fort Davis
Webb’s Fair & Square is a sunny spot half a block north of the county courthouse in Fort Davis. Two blocks off the main drag through this West Texas frontier town, the gallery is part folk art showplace, part dealer in collectible home furnishings and rare books, and completely a gathering place for locals and…
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
A sobriquet is a descriptive nickname. The nickname “Mr. Smarty Pants” was given to this writer by a former girlfriend. Stephen Stills auditioned to be in the Monkees. He didn’t get picked because of his looks. When Agatha Christie went missing in 1926, there was a massive effort to find her. Arthur Conan Doyle even…
The Luv Doc: One-Percenters
Dear Luv Doc, Over the last two years I have become really good friends with one of my co-workers. We work in the same building but are in completely different divisions and we mainly talk over lunch in the break room. Over the time I have gotten to know her she has shared a lot…
Feedback: August 7, 2026
Cannabis Correlations Dear Editor, In response to the recent Opinion published [“Opinion: Texas Needs a War on Fentanyl, Not Hemp-Derived THC,” Columns, July 31:] Mr. Davis argued that the fentanyl epidemic is more important than the war on banning consumable hemp-derived THC. Both of those issues must be addressed by Texas politicians, but your attention…
Qmmunity: Pride State of Mind
Welcome to August, which may feel like the final mega wave of the Pride summer tsunami to some but to me is just another month floating through the gay Austin waters. I don’t know. When one marinates in queer events all the dang time, Pride is truly a state of mind more than a month…
Leagues Cup Offers Relief From Austin FC’s Road Ineptitude
It’s impossible to overstate the value of a good home. It’s one of life’s core essentials, having a safe, comfortable place to hang your hat at the end of a hard day. Austin FC is fortunate to have a very good home in Q2 Stadium, where fans turn out by the thousands, regardless of the…
Runner’s High
Two things I am: a stoner and a runner. One thing I am not: a morning person. And to be clear, I don’t typically combine the first two activities. I’ve seen the trend on social media: fitness influencers taking a high-dose gummy before a long run. I gave it a try once, but I found…
Fun + Games
Free Will Astrology
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Within most galaxies are dense clouds of gas and dust that astronomers call “star factories.” Here and there, the magic of gravity gradually gathers together diffuse material into concentrated clusters until nuclear fusion ignites, creating brilliant new suns. I suspect you will be operating a metaphorical star factory in the coming…
