University Of Texas Press

Where there is water, there is life. In this casual conversation, we cover the process of researching must-swim spots across Texas, the history of these significant sites, and the importance of being good stewards to our natural swimming holes. We also cover top 5 lists, key etiquette, and the best playlists for a good summer road trip.

What made Austin the city we know today? Eddie Wilson saw the Texas capital transform from a sleepy college town into a global purveyor of music culture, all while booking and housing seminal bands of the 1970s, serving Southern cuisine, and shilling a record-breaking amount of Lone Star beer. Hear stories about Jerry Garcia, Frank Zappa, Van Morrison, and so many more 'Keep Austin Weird' moments that helped define Austin's lifestyle, cutlure, and identity. We are joined in this conversation by Jason Mellard, the Assistant Director of the Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University–San Marcos and author of Progressive Country: How the 1970s Transformed the Texan in Popular Culture.

In this fascinating discussion, we explore the significance of a massive, conceptually complex piece of rock art that was painted by hunter gatherers within a week to two week period between 400 BC and 400 AD. We cover the graphic vocabulary that depicts the creation of time and the birth of the sun, how certain revelations came to the research team, and the importance of preserving these endangered murals. As the oldest known artistic expression in North America that portrays core concepts later reinterpreted by the Aztecs, the White Shaman mural is an important work, key to understanding ourselves and where we came from.

From a base camp darkroom in Vietnam to street photography in San Francisco to the political stage, this interview with Bob McNeely traces his life as a photographer and offers honest insight into Hillary’s personality and career, wrestling with both the promise of her capabilities and the problems of her political history. Hear how McNeely’s access ended abruptly in 1998 amidst scandal and how Hillary’s Senate race in 2000 foreshadowed her ability to be resilient and move on with her life.