Austonia daily newsletter—direct to your inbox 6 a.m.
Join the 250,000+ others who rely on Austonia for local news, info and fun
×
Education
Featured
austonia newsletter
Get connected with our daily update
Most viewed
The double podcaster is hitting the silver screen with production starting this month. (Randal Ford)
University of Texas visiting professor and Austin podcaster Brené Brown is onto her next showbiz endeavor—an eight-episode unscripted series adapted from Brown's latest book, "Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience," on HBO Max.
The series, which will simply be called "Atlas of the Heart," will begin production later this month in Austin.
"The real gift of expanding our language, practicing this work, and cultivating meaningful connections is being able to go anywhere without the fear of getting lost," Brown said. "When fear, anxiety, and uncertainty leave us feeling adrift and untethered in our lives, our first instinct is to look out into the distance to find the nearest shore. The shore isn't something outside of us—the solid ground we're seeking is within us. It's not always easy to find, but it's there."
The show will be produced by Austin-based Weird Lucy Productions, delving into Brown's decades-long research of "the range of emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human." Among them are anguish, wonder, awe, anxiety, envy, jealousy, resentment, compassion, empathy, disappointment, regret and overwhelm.
"At HBO Max, we pride ourselves on telling stories representative of all walks of life, and those stories would mean nothing without the language of emotion and the shared experience," Head of Original Content for HBO Max Sarah Aubrey said. "By bringing Dr. Brown's extensive research to life through film, television, and pop culture, we are able to demonstrate deep connection and insight that will resonate with our viewers."
The show will be produced by Brown herself, in addition to Jesse Ignjatovic, Evan Prager, Barb Bialkowski and Jared Morell for Den of Thieves. Meaghan Rady will executive produce.
A wearer of many hats, Brown has two podcasts that are running in the meantime: "Dare to Lead" and "Unlocking Us," which are both on Spotify. Brown is also an author with several best-selling books like "Braving the Wilderness," "The Gifts of Imperfection" and "The Power of Vulnerability."
Keep Reading
Show less
Popular
(Stock photo)
The University of Texas at Austin welcomed more incoming freshmen than ever before, with 9,060 new Longhorns, thanks to the rise of on-time graduations allowing the university to admit more undergraduates.
The count was taken on the 12th day of class, Sept. 10, beating out the previous high of 8,960 from 2018. The new class is also setting records for its diversity, citing a rise of Black, Hispanic and Asian undergrads.
@UTAustin is serving more first-generation and historically underrepresented groups than ever, while raising grad rates for all, including our growing population of Pell-eligible students pic.twitter.com/qYQPEfUXG4
— Jay Hartzell (@JCHartzell) September 20, 2021
"People all across the UT community have been working hard to recruit, attract, retain and support even more talented and diverse students, staff members and faculty members who can change the world," UT President Jay Hartzell said. "I'm proud that our combined enrollment of historically underrepresented groups has reached record levels for the second year in a row."
A 3% enrollment rise can be attributed to UT's all-time high graduation rates: the four-year graduation rate rose from 72.2% to 72.7%, while the six-year student rate rose from 87.6% to 87.7%.
Of the 51,992 students on UT's campus, 13,366, or 29.6%, come from historically underrepresented groups—including Black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, or Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander—one of the highest totals out of the Association of American Universities and a record-breaking percentage.
With this new class, the university is also serving more first-generation students and Hispanic students than ever before, making up 22.9% and 27.1% of the undergrad student body, respectively. Last year, UT hit a quota of 25% Hispanic students to qualify as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and received the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to the success of Latin students.
Black students fell just a bit, from 5.3% to 5.2% university-wide, though the actual enrollment amount is up, from 2,193 to 2,219.
From Your Site Articles
- Scientists enlist UT-Austin's supercomputers in global war on COVID ... ›
- UT professor played role in Pfizer and Moderna's COVID vaccines ... ›
- 21 athletes with Austin ties are heading to the 2021 Tokyo Olympics ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less
6 Latina entrepreneurs to keep your eye on in Austin
15 September
TK Tunchez, Nancy Flores, Gabriela Bucio, Candace Perez, Reyna and Maritza Vazquez are just a few Hispanic women leaving their mark on the city. (Laura Figi/Austonia)
Just in time for the weather to cool down in perpetually hot Austin, National Hispanic Heritage Month is kicking off today through Oct. 15 and this city has some women to thank.
With more than 33% of the city identifying as Hispanic, the contributions of Austin's Hispanic community are innumerable and present in the everyday lives of residents. So, in celebration of Costa Rica, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and Chile, here are some of Austin's Hispanic women you should know of.
TK Tunchez, Las Ofrendas
Dealing stickers with snarky slogans, multicolored maximalist accessories and wearable art pieces, Etsy store Las Ofrendas is the product of TK Tunchez and the creative spirit that guides her hand.
"The openness, the gemstones, the flowers we get from the earth, everything that generates for us is an offering from our ancestors. And we, as humans, will one day return back into the Earth to be the offering for the next generation," Tunchez told Austonia. "That's what inspires all of the work in the arts that I do, it's about empowerment, it's about creating joy and it's about really creating pieces that help people live their boldest, badass lives."
A lifelong artist, Tunchez was born in Guatemala, not in Texas but to a Texan mother, so she got here as fast as she could. While she struggled at first to find her footing as an artist in Austin, she searched for and thoroughly integrated herself in Austin's community of color.
"You create the road as you walk it, right, so I think for me, as I walk it I'm also providing that road for entrepreneurs, especially people of color," Tunchez said. "They are capable of creating their own businesses, they are capable of creating their own lives, they are capable of creating where their destiny is in front of them, and they need to see examples of that."
Tunchez was never taught how to run a business on her own, so she shares the knowledge she has accumulated through her platforms: Frida Friday ATX and Fuego ATX, intersectional and queer marketplaces that center & support women of color.
"I think that it's really important for us to use these opportunities to give voice to the multiple people that create our communities, and to shine light on the ways that our communities and our ancestors have been resilient," Tunchez said. "I have a lot of pride in being a Latina woman and Latina queer and being able to talk about what makes my culture beautiful to me."
Gabriela Bucio, Gabriela's
The face behind Gabriela's Group—consisting of Mexican restaurant Gabriela's Downtown and Gabriela's South, Instagram-worthy taqueria Taquero Mucho, high-end seafood restaurant Seareinas, all-pink-everywhere cafe Revival Coffee, nightclubs Mala Vida and Mala Santa—Michoacán, Mexico natives Gabriela Bucio and brother Arturo, have taken Austin's entertainment industry by storm.
Having worked in the Austin food industry since 2010, Bucio opened Gabriela's Downtown in 2018 and never stopped working on something new since then. Bucio is extending her help where she can—when Revival Coffee's previous owners began to struggle with rent payments due to the pandemic, Bucio took over the business, remodeled and reopened with the same staff.
As a proud U.S. immigrant, Bucio has said her goal is to give Latin Austinites a place that was made for them while she expands her ventures into the Hispanic community.
Nancy Flores, Austin Vida
After covering Austin's Latin community as the Austin American-Statesman's Community Affairs reporter for more than a decade, Nancy Flores has a profound passion for representing the city's communities of color.
Growing up reading Austin Vida, a former Hispanic-focused publication in Austin, made Flores feel represented, a feeling she wanted to share with the diverse Latin community around her. Flores began to resurrect the publication last fall with monthly Cultura Guides and plans to relaunch the website in the coming months.
"The Latinx community is not a monolithic group, so in a community like Austin where Mexican-American culture is dominant, because that's the population, you don't see as much of the other lands and cultures that make up a big part of the diaspora," Flores told Austonia. "It's important to highlight those nuances and even within the community to learn from each other."
In a city where Hispanic people are prevalent but representation is lacking, Flores works to uplift the people around her by celebrating the contributions and everyday achievements in the Latin community all year, not just this month.
"(Hispanic Heritage Month) is an opportunity to educate yourself a little bit more about the culture and find out how to be supportive and how to be an ally," Flores said. "For us, celebrating that heritage is happening year-round."
Reyna and Maritza Vazquez, Veracruz All Natural
Natives of Veracruz, Mexico, Reyna and Maritza Vazquez learned how to cook from their mother while working at a taqueria. The family moved to Austin in 1999, when the sisters were in their teen years. Even by then, the sisters knew they wanted to leave their mark on Austin cuisine.
Already having learned the value of hard work from the restaurant, the Vazquez sisters were prepared for the workload that came with opening up and saved for years to get their first short-lived food truck in 2006, selling juices and snow cones.
The Vazquez's tried again with a breakfast taco truck in 2008. After gaining a quick reputation for their organic ingredients, fresh salsas and migas, the Vazquez sisters have expanded to six locations, several of them trucks, across the Austin metro area. Most recently, they announced their expansion to Los Angeles with a new food truck called "Hot Tacos," opening this month.
Having received international acclaim for their fresh food and being recognized in the New York Times and LA Times, the Vazquez sisters have earned a well-deserved spotlight. Rest assured, you'll see more from the Vazquez family.
Candace Perez, The Posh Picnic
Prior to COVID, event specialist and Candace Perez and her party-planning company Events by Perez had events planned for all of 2020. When the pandemic hit and postponements turned to cancellations, she became restless and missed her job.
Around April, Austin native Perez started working on an idea to bring parties back safely and stylishly with an elaborate, Instagram-worthy outdoor picnic service called The Posh Picnic.
"I figured COVID was going to be done by Memorial Day. I don't think anybody knew the magnitude and how this was really going to affect us and it really killed the event industry," Perez said. "By April, I was miserable… like, 'I have to do something else. What is something else I can do that's going to be safe and people are going to feel comfortable?"
Her idea was a runaway success and best of all, she was thrilled to be part of people's joyful moments again.
"Pivoting to the picnics, I've been able to incorporate a lot of the vendors that I worked with before, and spread the love," Perez said. "I like to be a part of people's special moments—it fills my heart with joy, like a burst of excitement when I see them walk up to their picnic excited and surprised and you know they're giggling and they love it. I think that picnics are here to stay."
While succeeding in her unique party-planning endeavors, Perez said philanthropy is central to her business. Perez partnered with a fellow business to provide more than 100 hot meals to people during Texas' February Storm and holds seasonal Breakfast with the Grinch events that benefit Partnerships for Children.
From Your Site Articles
- Governor announces six Texas Women's Hall of Fame honorees ... ›
- Omaze launches $2 million Austin dream home sweepstakes ... ›
- Kendra Scott and 5 others to be honored in Texas Women's Hall of ... ›
- 7 LGBTQ-owned businesses to shop in austin on Pride Month ... ›
- 5 Austin businesses earn $100k each as part of Google's Startups Black Founders Fund - austonia ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Keep Reading
Show less
(Shutterstock)
TikTok continues to drive entertainment, especially for teens. But one TikTok trend may have gone too far, according to Austin ISD.
The "TikTok bathroom challenge" has officially reached AISD, where students are destroying school bathrooms. Lively Middle School recently sent a letter to parents about the challenge informing them that if this vandalism continues, they will need to occasionally close restrooms for cleaning and repairs.
Though the letter said they have been able to catch a majority of the students, the school is still asking parents for their help in educating their children on the gravity of vandalism and monitoring their social media accounts.
Part of a nationwide trend, the challenge was born from students showcasing their "devious licks" as the new school year started.
On Sept. 1, a new trend started when TikTok user @jugg4elias shared a video of themselves pulling a box of disposable masks out of their backpack claiming the theft as a "devious lick," which gained over 239,000 views within a week.
Five days later, another user @dtx.2cent, whose account is now nonexistent, shared a video of themself opening their backpack revealing a stolen hand sanitizer dispenser from school also claiming it as a "devious lick." This post gained over 7.2 million views within two days.
As part of students across the country showcasing their "devious licks," the TikTok bathroom challenge came to life.
On the platform, students have tried one-upping each other on stolen items and other forms of vandalism. The trend has featured teens stealing fire extinguishers, fire alarms, brooms, clocks, security cameras, laptops, wet floor signs, bathroom mirrors, water fountains and even a smartboard. Some videos even capture students in action while taking apart their school's plumbing systems.
One YouTube channel named tiktoktrends created video compilations of all the TikToks from this trend.
From Your Site Articles
- Austin's Natalie Sideserf goes viral with realistic cake videos - austonia ›
- Austin baker sells out in minutes after his sweet roll TikTok goes viral ›
- Austin artist attracts millions of views on TikTok - austonia ›
- Bastrop Cattle Co. finds 'significant' success using TikTok - austonia ›
- TikTok is hiring 83 Austin positions—and looks poised for growth ... ›
- School districts threaten felony over TikTok challenge - austonia ›
Keep Reading
Show less
