Fresh Is Forever, Jonathan “Chaka” Mahone’s latest venture, opened in the Canopy complex on September 25. The DAWA founder and one half of hip-hop duo Riders Against the Storm opened Fresh Is Forever as a community-centered space to sell art, prints, and Mahone’s new clothing line of Austin-emblazoned shirts and hats, in addition to thrifted tees and a selection of vinyl records. 50% of the profits from his original clothing brand, NefrFreshr, support DAWA, a nonprofit that provides direct financial support and creative programming for BIPOC community leaders. The store is open in the back trailers to the right of Building 4 at 916 Springdale on Mondays, 12-7pm, and during Canopy’s Open Studio event on the first Saturday of every month.
ChowChow, a culinary pop-up from James Beard-recognized chef Amanda Turner, is coming to the former Hoover’s Cooking space at 2002 Manor. The Top Chef alum, who has worked in many of Austin’s best-known fine dining restaurants, will bring an approachable, made-from-scratch take on classic Southern meat-and-three plates alongside her partner and former sous chef at Olamaie, Jonathan Sánchez. Drawing from their personal culinary experiences, the pair plan to offer weekly $18 plates featuring a main meat and three sides, as well as a smaller $10 lunch plate. “ChowChow is a concept I’ve been thinking about for years, so to finally bring it to life in a space as meaningful to Austin as Hoover’s is incredibly special,” Turner says in the press release. “Chef Hoover paved the way for Southern and soul food in Austin, and I feel incredibly grateful for the opportunity to build on that legacy while bringing my own perspective and cooking [to] this renowned Black-owned space.” A start and end date for the residency are yet to be announced, but Hoover’s merchandise will also remain available for purchase throughout the new dining experience to continually celebrate the restaurant’s nearly three-decade history as new chapters unfold.
First Light Books announced October 14 that they’ll be opening a second location in Clarksville in fall 2027. Following in the footsteps of their post office-turned-bookshop, the new outpost will adapt a shuttered chapel, previously St. Luke’s Methodist Church, at 1308 West Lynn. A day-to-night coffee shop and beer and wine bar will accompany the shelves of popular literature and eclectic homewares in the A-frame midcentury building, just as in the shop’s original Hyde Park locale. “The more time we spent getting to know the building, the neighborhood, and the people who care about both, the more we could imagine First Light finding a home there, too,” the store owners wrote in the Instagram announcement. “Clarksville is remarkable and has a character all its own. We’re excited to begin making something special with this neighborhood.”
James Talarico – the U.S. Senate candidate, not a name you’re used to seeing in culture notes – has been making music news lately, appearing at Texas music events and announcing a Yo La Tengo show benefiting his campaign on October 27. A donation of $100 earns you a ticket to the outdoor show at the Long Time, just the latest performance the Round Rock native will attend this month. On the Friday of Austin City Limits Weekend Two, the politician and former teacher caught the new Edie Brickell-fronted project World Famous Pets, shook hands with fans at the Turnstile barricade, and made a guest appearance onscreen during Bleachers’ set, encouraging the crowd to vote. The next day, he was spotted catching Kacey Musgraves’ concert in Dallas. The two took a photo together that, shared on X, led to a heated exchange between the singer-songwriter and controversy-dogged Republican politician Kristi Noem. Meanwhile, Willie Nelson endorsed Talarico, joining Don Henley and the Chicks in the list of music giants putting their weight behind the state representative.
Dr. Ashley D. Farmer’s activist biography, Queen Mother: Black Nationalism, Reparations, and the Untold Story of Audley Moore, won the 2026 Museum of African American History Stone Book Award earlier this month. The associate professor of history in UT’s African and African Diaspora Studies Department – recently consolidated into the newly established Department of Social and Cultural Analysis – beat out 158 submissions with her first-ever book on the New York-based civil rights leader. Moore, a Black nationalist who founded the Republic of New Afrika and was friends with other noted activists like Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, and Jesse Jackson, founded the modern reparations movement and mentored a younger generation of activists in her nine decades of life. Farmer’s thoroughly researched biography puts the determined icon in her rightful place among a detailed narrative of 20th century Black radicalism.
This article appears in October 23 • 2026.
