KUT’s airwaves fill the cars and homes of Austinites year-round, but this weekend live presentations bring their programming to Central Machine Works and East End Ballroom. Authors, artists, City Council members, judges, musicians, organizers, educators, and more, including Mayor Kirk Watson and NPR CEO Katherine Maher, weigh in on local and national issues in panels and discussions that span every corner of interest and import. Just as our trusty public station does every day of the week, the KUT Festival champions local thinkers, movers, and players, and contextualizes Central Texas – with family-friendly fun sprinkled along the way. Notably, mere days before the festival, University of Texas leadership forced organizers to move all of Saturday’s programming off-campus; according to a KUT report, KUT Public Media General Manager Debbie Hiott said the university cited a safety analysis for the last-minute swerve, but failed to provide that analysis to festival organizers. – Caroline Drew
