This season features stories from the May 2023 Travel Podcasting class at the University of Texas at Austin. In today’s episode, we’re talking about everyone's favorite topicL Food. Dacia Garcia and Kylie Miller try some of Austin’s best burger joints. Mackenzie Matwick and Molly-Jo Tilton explore Tex-Mex spots in Austin. Ry Olszewski and Miles Oshan highlight coffee shops, and Heather Stewart and Amaris Ovalle visit a unique bakery near the University of Texas campus.

This season will feature stories from the May 2023 Travel Podcasting class at UT Austin. In today’s episode, we’re sharing stories about places to shop while you’re visiting Austin. Amaris Ovalle and Dacia Garcia take us to some of Austin’s top record stores. Mackenzie Matwick, Sofia Vargas Karam and Madison Myers get outfitted in their Western best along South Congress avenue. Miles Oshan highlights Exploded Records, a unique record store in Austin. Carolyn Parmer and Kylie Miller highlight...

This season features stories from the May 2023 Travel Podcasting class at the University of Texas at Austin. In this special season highlighting tourist tips in Austin, we’re talking museums on today’s episode. Heather Stewart and Christy Crawford take us to the Thinkery, Austin’s children’s museum. Kevin Baskar and Molly-Jo Tilton give us an audio tour of the Texas Capitol and the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. Paula Levin-Coon and Ry Olszewski visit some of Austin’s iconic murals.

This season features stories from the May 2023 Travel Podcasting class at the University of Texas at Austin. This episode is all about the great outdoors. You’ll hear Kevin Baskar and Miles Oshan take us on a journey along Barton Creek Greenbelt. Mackenzie Matwick and Dacia Garcia spend a day along Barton Springs Road – yes, there are a lot of things named “Barton” in this city. Christy Crawford and Paula Levin-Coon  take a ride on a riverboat to see Austin’s iconic bat colony. And Ky Miller...

Cheerleaders are a staple of American culture. Any high school slice-of-life movie will tell you that the girls in the cheer squad are on top of the suburban ruling class. When you get pro, the stakes, glamor, fame and scandal get even higher. The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are world-class performers who have solidified themselves as the pinnacle of cheer excellence. Their iconic uniform is symbolic of American sex appeal, and they have integrated themselves into every part of pop...

In this episode, Celia Sampaio interviews Dress Warm, a young band taking the Austin music scene by storm. They discuss their plans to spread their indie pop sound and how that sound came together. Listen along to hear their charming laughs, quips, and jokes, and maybe even become the newest fan of Dress Warm.

Everybody loves bread. Texans are no different. Since humans first started cultivating wheat in the Fertile crescent 10,000 years ago, bread developed from an agricultural anomaly to a mainstay of the European diet to the sort of bread at your local grocery store. Today, bread is the unseen lifeblood of our communities, and our recipes transcend this evolution, preserving history in their every bite. Texas’s top breads — Pan Dulce, Pan De Campo, and the like — retain an intrinsic Texas...

In this episode, Avery Hough investigates the most notorious legend of Dallas: the lady of White Rock Lake. Join her as she dives deep into the lake's history and hauntings and goes ghost-hunting herself with paranormal investigators. 

In this special bonus episode, we’re sharing an episode of Data Dives! Data Dives is part of the Media Innovation Group under The Dallas Morning News Journalism Innovation Endowment. This episode is hosted by Carolyn Parmer and produced and edited by Aislyn Gaddis, two journalism students here at UT Austin. For this episode, they dove into the numbers behind a topic near and dear to my heart: Taylor Swift. Enjoy this bonus episode ahead of 1989 Taylor’s Version, which comes out tomorrow!

The city of Austin is known for its extensive urban tree canopy, and that canopy continues to grow thanks to the work of the nonprofit TreeFolks. In this episode, Keaton Peters talks to TreeFolks – and some of the folks they help out – about their work. Planting trees is also part of the City of Austin’s Climate Equity Plan, which relies on purchasing carbon credits, but carbon credits are a controversial method of dealing with climate change.

When influencer Jenna Palek moved to Austin, Texas, she was stuck in a boring routine. To get out of her funk, she decided to start Fun on Weekdays, a movement that grew from a podcast to a Facebook group to a full-scale event planning organization. She hosted an event in Austin, and one year later, Palek has hired a full time staff and expanded the events to other cities. Sophia Navarro talks to Palek about her plans to expand her brand – and to have more fun on weekdays.

Between July 2021 and June 2022, Texas banned 801 books in 22 school districts, according to a report from PEN America, a nonprofit fighting to protect free expression. This neverending battle against books has affected authors, librarians, teachers, and students. One of those books affected by the state’s bans is the 2015 novel “Out of Darkness” by Ashley Hope Pérez. Since 2021, Pérez has lost opportunities to connect with young readers at school book readings. For Tim Staley of the Austin...

In this episode, Marissa Greene explores the rich history and delicious flavors of kolache and klobasniky, staples in Texas cuisine, and she’ll help you sift through the history of how Czech immigrants came to settle in Texas and brought their sweet and savory culinary traditions with them. Throughout the episode, you’ll also hear stories from family-owned or historic bakeries in Czech hotspots such as West, Houston, and Fate, Texas. So if you’re a foodie, history buff, or just a lover of all...

Most people only head to Brownsville, Texas for a beach day or...to visit the SpaceX launch site. But, have you ever stopped to think about how SpaceX is really affecting the small town, or what else it has to offer? Rio Grande Valley native Dacia Garcia reminisces about her hometown cutlture and talks to locals about the new developments. 

At a church in South Austin, a vending machine stocks something much more vital than snacks: Narcan, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose. This is the story of the movement that brought the first Narcan machine to Austin and how the city is tackling the national opioid epidemic, told by its leading harm reduction strategists.

In 1991, Austin, Texas was named the “Live Music Capital of the World”. Since then, legends like Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan helped the city grow into a hotspot for Texas art and culture. But today, many of Austin's iconic music venues have gone out of business, and festivals like Austin City Limits threaten to commercialize a once authentic scene. In this episode by Madi Esmailbeigi, we hear from local artists about the glorious past and not-so-certain future of Austin's music...

 For centuries, Indigenous communities have turned to plant medicine for spiritual and physical healing. But what happens when the earth is out of sync? Flowers don’t bloom when they’re supposed to, plants go extinct and temperatures become deadly. In this episode from Elisabeth Jimenez, listen to Marika Alvarado, a Lipan Apache Medicine Woman, talk about the challenges posed by climate change, as well as the power — and necessity — of having hope.

Need to learn an easy sport to play on he weekends? Pickleball might just be the sport for you. Among young Austinites, this oddly-named ballgame has gained incredible popularity for it's simplistic rules and low-impact gameplay. Miranda Cazares explores the infatuation behind Pickleball and how its become the country's fastest-growing sport.

In 2024, UT's Texas Longhorn football team will make an historic entrance into the SEC conference. For this epsisode, Alexandra Whitlock goes down memory lane to learn where the team came from and where it’s going.

In the slew of music venues throughout Austin's history, Liberty Lunch stands out. After the closure of the iconic hippie music hall, Armadillo World Headquarters, Liberty Lunch became the new hub for free spirits and punk rockers alike throughout the 80s and 90s. Despite closing in 1999, its memory still lives on in the hearts and minds of its former patrons. In this episode, Isabella Van Trease retells their stories of love, loss and music.

When you think of Austin,Texas, you probably think of its lively music and film scene, but in recent years, its also become the capitol of standup comedy. Folks from around the country are flocking to the city's open mic nights with the hopes of kickstarting their comedy careers. In this episode by Bella Rose Mortel, you’ll hear stories from some of Austin's funniest people, and how the explosive growth is affecting their lives on and offstage.

For the skaters in the Texas Roller Derby league, rollerskating is more than a hobby -- it’s a way of life. Carly Rose talked with veteran skaters of the Austin-based league to learn how the sport offers them a space for self-expression and a way to defy gender expectations.

In this episode, Carter Yates tells the story of a beloved University of Texas student hangout.   Since opening in 1991, the Cain and Abel’s bar became synonymous with the West Campus student neighborhood nestled a block away from the University of Texas. Generations of UT upperclassmen flooded through the doors. Most drank their fair share of beers while unwinding with their closest friends, a handful found their significant others before graduating and a select few got the logo tattooed...

 If you ever need your day brightened exponentially, all you have to do is visit the crosswalk at Whitis Ave and 24th St. Here, a UT Austin crossing guard, Mike Shaw, shares his words of wisedom, joy, and fistbumps with students passing by each day. Maren Bennett sat down with Shaw to learn more about one of the most beloved university employees.

Request Pending is now The Drag: Stories.  In this podcast, you’ll hear episodes produced by students at the University of Texas at Austin. But it’s a little different than what you might be used to hearing from The Drag. Each episode will bring you a different story, from a different student. Most of these stories will come from students in a podcast production class at UT Austin, which means you’ll get a little bit of everything, from Texas’ tallest tales to Texas’ biggest personalities.