Katie is a senior English major from Conroe, Texas. She worked as a general Life&Arts reporter for two semesters, covering campus life and Austin’s creative community. As a senior Life&Arts reporter, she will cover SXSW 2026 and the creators defining today’s cultural landscape. Reporting has sharpened her love for storytelling and for the city she now calls home. When she’s not reporting, she’s likely telling her friends all about it.
After joining The Daily Texan as an English major fresh to the reporting world, I needed a few tries to build confidence writing in a completely new style. I learned quickly that you cannot achieve what...
What might have otherwise passed as an ordinary night on campus became the focus of one UT alumnus’s final project. For a capstone course, Shyam Madhav (radio-television-film ‘24) made “Goodnight...
A bedroom formed onstage, complete with a star-decorated chest of drawers and scattered personal objects. A girl lay asleep in bed until an imaginary visitor arrived unexpectedly.
Despite the rain this...
The Moody Center was packed from the floor to the nosebleeds for American rock band Journey on Tuesday night. Fans of all ages settled into their seats with anticipation — some drawn by decades of nostalgia,...
Grant Gibbs and Ashley Gill, better known online as “A Twink and A Redhead,” launched their first national tour last week. Performing in 17 cities, Gibbs and Gill’s live show blends their absurd...
The 40th South by Southwest festival took over Austin from March 12 to March 18, showcasing the latest innovations in music and film.
🎤: Kathryn Thompson
🎥/✂️: Michael...
Pedal Steel Noah’s rise in Austin’s music scene runs on family. At SXSW 2026, brothers Noah and Nate Faulkner performed at Flatstock and The 13th Floor alongside their father, Jay, while their mother,...
Red carpets, global movie premieres, bands from around the world and innovative creators took over Austin this past week for the 40th South by Southwest festival. Running from March 12 through March...
Dressed in a black, Edward-Scissorhands-esque gown and corset, American singer-songwriter and model Saint Avangeline took the stage, her flowing red curls catching the light and framing her silhouette....
Tuesday at Sixth Street bar Elysium, American solo singer-songwriter Saint Avangeline performed a 40-minute set alongside band Basement Days. Known for balancing ethereal vocals with raw, unfiltered screaming,...
Packing Auditorium Shores Friday night for the Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival, the crowd cheered as American alternative rock band Grouplove took the stage. Dressed in all black, the group...
Attendees dressed in red and black lined up for photo stations and pop-up experiences as music carried across Lady Bird Lake for two nights of performances from indie acts and major headliners.
Now...
“Chili Finger,” co-directed by Edd Benda and Stephen Helstad, premiered Saturday at the Zach Theater during South by Southwest. The film’s real-life inspiration came from a 2005 incident where...
Sunday at Wanderlust Wine Company, rising R&B, hip-hop and Caribbean artist Ifeanyi Elswith performed a set for SXSW, presented by CareFreeBlack Girl, a lifestyle brand that promotes Black women artists...
UT student and indie artist Dorian Williams II, known as Skateland, performed the first set at Coca-Cola Sips & Sounds Music Festival on Friday, warming up the crowd at Auditorium Shores on the...
Rolling papers with “Cornbread Mafia” printed on the front rested on each chair, their backs decorated with a mob of cartoon farmers. A few rows up, the real Cornbread Mafia — the men whose lives...
Two masters of discomfort took the stage as if they’d wandered there by mistake. Trading jabs, complaints and the occasional historical aside, comedy veterans Larry David and Jeff Schaffer spent the...
Before its premiere at South by Southwest, director Evan Mascagni and documentary subject Joe Keith Bickett set the record straight in “Cornbread Mafia,” exploring how a group of Kentucky farmers created...
South by Southwest continues to champion directorial debuts, and this year’s lineup spotlights a number of first-time filmmakers’ work, spanning from dark comedies to intimate dramas. The Daily Texan...
The projector whirred as attendees packed into a small West Campus bookstore, folding chairs filling the space while others sat on the floor between shelves. A beam of light cut through the dim room, casting...
Framed under string lights with the moon hanging overhead, Hyde Park Storytelling transforms a brewery’s backyard patio into an open stage. Guests spread blankets across the grass, settle into folding...
Selling out the Moody Center Sunday night, industrial rock pioneers Nine Inch Nails stormed the Austin stop of their “Peel It Back” tour. Bathed in red light, an opening set from German DJ Boys Noize...
Slasher films have always flirted with comedy, where tension and absurdity often share the same blade. The sharpest ones understand that a well-timed scream or brutal kill often lands hardest when it results...
Austin-based singer-songwriter, producer and composer Adi Rao blends country storytelling with South Indian classical influences, creating a cross-cultural sound shaped by identity and emotion. On Friday,...
For over 30 years, Converge stood at the forefront of metalcore, defining the genre’s blend of hardcore punk, urgency and precision. Formed in Salem, Mass., in 1990, the band built its reputation on...
A packed crowd filled Emo’s Austin late Saturday night for a performance by American electronic duo Snow Strippers. Opening sets from DJs and indie artists ss3bby, EERA and Slimesito warmed up the...
As Bad Bunny played over speakers, puppies in jerseys sprinted across a turf stage, predicting the Super Bowl winner. Between watching the races and sampling from food vendors, kids and adults played games...
Light-up shutter shades flashed across the dance floor as glow sticks cut through dim purple and pink lighting. A projected lineup of DJ names hovered behind the booth while students moved in and out of...
“Holding Spaces,” a photography exhibit, honors Black-owned businesses across Austin through portraits and interviews by Steven Hatchett, photographer and co-founder of local art nonprofit _OFCOLOR....
Most people do not expect to encounter a Chingonasaurus, Chicanosaurus T. Mex and Guacasaurus in Big Bend National Park. These imagined prehistoric figures, however, step into the role of storytellers,...
On most nights, cheers for women’s sports fill 1972 Pub on Guadalupe Street. That energy surged for books on Wednesday as attendees rushed to tables, calling out to friends over music and flipping through...
Disco balls glimmer onto a large mural of Dolly Parton hanging over the bar. A “Steel Magnolias” armadillo cake rests nearby and big blonde wigs bounce through the room as tassels sway through the...
As the crowd anticipates what will happen next, so do the performers. With nothing but a single audience suggestion, the Improvised Shakespeare Company builds an entire play in real time, creating the...
When people feel unheard, they get loud. In “Dead Man’s Wire,” director Gus Van Sant (“My Own Private Idaho”) dramatizes a real hostage crisis, born from financial betrayal, exploring how a lack...
Kathryn Thompson, General Life&Arts Reporter
• November 19, 2025
Once common on restaurant counters and bar tops, matchbooks, a blend of utility and history, began to regain popularity among collectors and designers who feel drawn to their vintage appeal. Serving as...
Nota del editor: Este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 28 de octubre de 2025 por Kathryn Thompson, y fue traducido al español por Elena Alvarez el 29 de octubre de 2025.
En medio de la rafaga...
Every October, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” turns a devoted group of UT students into a blur of fishnets, glitter and drag. After UT banned on-campus drag performances in March, this year’s screening...
Amid the flurry of pinballs and joystick clicks, three UT students turned Cidercade’s energy into art. Set in the arcade, Jet Sullivan, Lailah Licon and Natalie Tran’s short film took home the People’s...
K-pop band SEVENTEEN took the Moody Center stage for their New_ World Tour with an energizing show composed of well-known classics and solo performances. The Daily Texan asked fans questions before the...
Lighting up the Moody Center on Tuesday night with their Austin stop of NEW_ Tour, K-pop powerhouse SEVENTEEN celebrated their 10th anniversary. As the lights dimmed, pink strobes danced across the stage...
Throughout the year, South Congress glows with flashing neon lights and bright public art installations. This October, Texas School for the Deaf and Design Austin contributed to the scene.
On Oct. 4,...
Nota del editor: Este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 22 de septiembre de 2025 por Kathryn Thompson y fue traducido al español por Mia Sifuentes el 24 de septiembre.
Perros saltan y giran,...
Kathryn Thompson, Life&Arts General Reporter
• September 22, 2025
Dogs leap and twirl, actors sing and soar and bubbles float into the lights as children squeal from the front row. “Wizard of dOgZ” does not follow the yellow brick road — it flips over it, paws...
Rich with film history and legends, the Forty Acres and Austin remain creative hubs that foster cinematic excellence. The Daily Texan selected five iconic films highlighting alumni filmmakers, Austin’s...
Nota del editor: Este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 5 de agosto de 2025 por Kathryn Thompson y fue traducido al español por Anirudh Karunakaran.
Cada viernes a las 3 a.m., los estudiantes...
Every Friday at 3 a.m., students Sydney Stewart and Nicolas Montoya wake up to begin baking in their home kitchen. Seven hours later, their green shed stands outside at 619 W. 35th St., stocked with...
At Birdhouse Books, shelves and tables overflow with books of every genre, handmade gifts and quirky trinkets. Stepping inside, a tiny Yorkie named Mae Mae races forward while the owner, Abby Strite, offers...
Austin’s creative scene expands well beyond traditional art classes, offering a growing lineup of casual, community-driven socials that make art more accessible. With or without experience, these four...
With beach chairs and blankets sprawled across Victory Lap’s outdoor lawn, students transform the iconic West Campus sports bar into their own “Love Island” villa every week. Strings of twinkling...
Rain dripped from red, white and blue decorations at Mozart’s Coffee Roasters Friday afternoon, but that didn’t stop the roar of wild cheers from spilling across Lake Austin at the cafe’s third annual...
Nota del editor: Este artículo se publicó por primera vez el 26 de junio de 2025 por Kathryn Thompson y fue traducido al español por Anirudh Karunakaran.
Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, profesora en la...
Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, professor in the School of Journalism and Media and founder of the oral-history project Voces, sits among this year’s Texas 10 — an annual Texas Exes award honoring 10 professors...
