

City Cast Austin
City Cast
Join Nikki DaVaughn and the award-winning City Cast Austin team every weekday morning to catch up on what’s on Austinites’ minds, from the latest out of City Hall and the Texas Capitol to the buzz about the new bar on East Sixth. With a companion daily newsletter, Hey Austin, we’ll keep you up to speed on everything you need to know. It’s as essential in town as the MoPac express lane at 5 p.m. on a Friday. Learn more and subscribe to our morning newsletter at austin.citycast.fm*"Friendliest Local News Dispatches" - The Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin 2025
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 25, 2024 • 37min
How To Register To Vote in Travis County
As the deadline to register to vote in Texas approaches, host Nikki DaVaughn is talking to Valerie DeBill, Vice President of the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area. There’s still time to register to participate in the November election, both as a voter and a voter registrar, and DeBill shares her best tips to help Travis County residents prepare. As she explains, if you don’t vote, the lawmakers won’t know you exist. And stay tuned for our special weekly segment, A Mile in Their Boots, featuring a bonus interview with Lucero Valle, a local photographer and the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s 2024 Businesswoman of the Year. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 24, 2024 • 26min
The Best Fall Dishes in Austin
Today, host Nikki DaVaughn chats with Amanda from Austin Food Adventures about some of the cozy fall dishes you can find in Austin this season. Even if it’s not cool yet, it will be sometime soon, we promise! So we’ve got the details on what to eat right now, including Amanda’s absolute favorite Austin chicken pot pie, matzah ball soup, ramen, noodles, and panadería. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 23, 2024 • 32min
Why Jeffery Bowen Wants To Be Austin’s Next Mayor
Who is Jeffery Bowen, one of five Austinites seeking your vote in just a few weeks to be the next mayor? Today, host Nikki DaVaughn kicks off City Cast Austin’s mayoral candidate series with an interview with Jeffery Bowen. A small business owner, Bowen signed up to run just hours before the deadline, and has served on the Austin Neighborhood Association and the Austin Board of Adjustment. We talk to Bowen about why he’s running, what his priorities are, and what he sued the city of Austin over — and won. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 20, 2024 • 36min
Travis County Sues the State, HAAM Day, and Barton Springs Pool Reopens
Why is Travis County suing the state of Texas? Who can we thank for the dramatic and sad video of Barton Springs Pool’s repairs? And Tuesday is HAAM Day — what exactly is it, and where and when can you see live music? (Answer: Everywhere, and literally all day). We get into all of it today on the Friday News Roundup, with host Nikki DaVaughn, Hey Austin newsletter editor Kelsey Bradshaw, and our guest, Rikki Hardy of HAAM. And stick around after the roundup for our Don’t Go Gently tip for this weekend. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 19, 2024 • 35min
What To Know About Austin’s Queer Dating Scene
We recently explored why dating in Austin sucks for straight singles. But as you may know, the Austin area has one of the country’s largest concentrations of LGBTQ-plus people, and dating is just as hard for us. For today’s episode, host Nikki DaVaughn is joined by Mase Kerwick, a multi-disciplinary storyteller and one of the hosts of Queertowne, a weekly podcast. We discuss it all — how to find love in our ever-changing city, including Mase’s advice on where to meet other queer Austinites, and the clubs we wish we could bring back. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 18, 2024 • 39min
How Austin Musicians Banded Together To Save Local Music
Austin has long touted itself as the “Live Music Capital of the World,” but for many years, there wasn’t much of a safety net to help local artists survive and thrive. That’s all changed now, in large part because of Austin Texas Musicians, which organized musicians behind a push to create The Live Music Fund, the first-ever sustainable public funding for music in the U.S. using hotel occupancy taxes. Host Nikki DaVaughn, a local musician herself, is joined by Patrick Buchta, the CEO of Austin Texas Musicians, about how local organizations like his are empowering musicians. And stay tuned for our special weekly segment, A Mile in Their Boots, featuring a bonus interview with Kathleen McElroy, a professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Texas at Austin. This is the last of five episodes we’re doing about the music community in Austin, brought to you by our exclusive launch sponsor, Tecovas. Tecovas knows more than handmade boots and fine Western wear — they’ve got an ear for great music, too. From legends of the past to rising stars on the scene, they love supporting musicians and music fans right here in Austin. So if you’re headed for a good time on the stage or in the crowd, go in good boots from Tecovas. You can find the rest of our Austin in Stereo series here: Episode 1: How Can We Save Austin’s Live Music Venues? Episode 2: Can Rising Musicians Still Make It in Austin? Episode 3: Why ‘Love Island’ Is Crucial to This Austin Songwriter Episode 4: Why Suzanna Choffel Says Austin’s Music Community Is Magical Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 17, 2024 • 20min
How Austinites Can Avoid COVID FLiRT Variants
Fall means flu season, and as Austinites make plans to roll up our sleeves and get the flu vaccine, don’t forget to get the latest COVID vaccine, too. The latest FDA-approved mixture fights a new Omicron strain of COVID that spread through Austin this summer and is recommended for anyone over the age of 6. Last month, host Nikki DaVaughn spoke to Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin Public Health’s medical director and health authority, about the latest strain, as well as other vaccines Austinites shouldn’t skip. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 16, 2024 • 35min
How To Spend $25 Billion on Transportation
City officials estimate there are some $25 billion worth of construction improvements currently underway in Austin, projects that will dramatically change the way people move around this growing town. Host Nikki DaVaughn is joined by Kelsey Thompson, a transportation reporter at KXAN, to discuss the big projects that will impact our area’s planes, trains, and automobiles. Plus, just how much patience will Austinites need to have in this next decade of transformation? We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 13, 2024 • 36min
The Best BBQ in Lockhart, Superstition Worker Sues Employer, and Celebrating Deis Y Seis
For this week’s Friday News Roundup, host Nikki DaVaughn is joined by Hey Austin newsletter editor Kelsey Bradshaw and executive producer Eva Ruth Moravec to break down a few stories that caught our eye this week. On our agenda: Barbs B Q in Lockhart wins a place on another prestigious list, a worker at Superstition sues over harassment and unpaid wages, and how to celebrate Diez y seis, the kick-off for National Hispanic Heritage Month. Stick around after the roundup for our Don’t Go Gently tip for this weekend. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE

Sep 12, 2024 • 30min
Why Dating in Austin Sucks
Austin skews young, with a median age of 34, and with great weather most of the year and an endless list of things to do, it may seem like the perfect place to find the right mate. But it’s not. And today, host Nikki DaVaughn peels back the layers of dating suckiness with Rose McMackin, a writer who recently penned a story for Austin Monthly Magazine, “Why Is Austin Dating So Cursed?” But don’t worry, we won’t leave you in a puddle of despair for too long — we’ll follow up soon with an interview that will help you succeed in dating, even here. We’d like to thank Tecovas, who makes our favorite Western wear in town, for being our exclusive launch sponsor. Want some more Austin news? Then make sure to sign up for our Hey Austin newsletter. Follow us @citycastaustinYou can also text us or leave a voicemail. Interested in advertising with City Cast? Find more info HERE