Podcasts about san antonians

This week on bigcitysmalltown, we examine the San Antonio Botanical Garden at a pivotal moment—its 45th anniversary year. Known as a living museum, the Garden has grown into a statewide leader in plant conservation and environmental education, serving hundreds of thousands of visitors annually while shaping the city's approach to urban nature and sustainability.Cory Ames speaks with Katherine Trumble, President and CEO of the San Antonio Botanical Garden, about the Garden's newly unveiled ten-year master plan and its implications for San Antonio and Texas. Their conversation explores what it means for the Botanical Garden to center “access” in its mission, how conservation efforts are responding to drought, floods, and ecological stress, and why restoring native landscapes matters for future generations.They discuss:• How the Garden aims to make nature and education accessible for all residents• New projects on the horizon, including a statewide seed bank and a major Orchid Pavilion • The Garden's leadership role in restoring Texas ecosystems after recent floods • How programming connects San Antonians—from schoolchildren to adults—to the value of native plants For more information on the San Antonio Botanical Garden, visit https://www.sabot.org/.RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:▶️ #135. Planting Change in San Antonio through Community Gardens – If you enjoyed learning about the Botanical Garden's impact on conservation and community, don't miss this episode where Cory Ames sits down with Gardopia Gardens founder Stephen Lucke to discuss how urban gardening is driving public health, food access, and neighborhood safety in San Antonio. Discover inspiring stories and practical solutions connecting nature, education, and local empowerment.-- -- CONNECT

With the passage of Prop B, San Antonio Mayor Jones pledged to ensure a new Spurs arena and the assurance that, more broadly, Project Marvel will deliver real benefits for San Antonians. Meanwhile Jones is working to address the immediate hunger needs as SNAP continues to be disrupted.

This week on bigcitysmalltown, we examine San Antonio's housing crisis and the challenges facing public housing as both federal support and affordability decline. Bob Rivard is joined by Michael Reyes, CEO and President of Opportunity Home—San Antonio's housing authority—to discuss what's at stake for the city's most vulnerable residents and the future of local affordable housing.With an annual operating budget of $250 million and 600 employees, Opportunity Home provides housing assistance to nearly 50,000 San Antonians, while managing a waiting list of over 60,000 people. Yet, as costs rise and federal investment dwindles, Michael Reyes candidly addresses deferred maintenance, government gridlock, and why public ownership remains critical.Key topics include:• The impact of federal funding cuts and the shift toward vouchers• Strategies to renovate 6,000 public housing units over the next decade• NIMBYism, economic segregation, and distribution of affordable housing across city council districts• Collaboration with the City of San Antonio and future prospects for housing bonds• The legacy and controversy surrounding renovations at Alazan Apache Courts• How the current waiting list reflects growing need—and evolving city prioritiesWith deep ties to San Antonio and global expertise in housing policy, Michael Reyes offers a forward-looking but pragmatic take on what's needed to address systemic poverty, support families, and ensure all San Antonians have a place to call home.RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:▶️ #110. San Antonio's Model for Homelessness: Why Other Cities Look to Haven for Hope – This episode is a compelling companion to Michael Reyes's insights on affordable housing, as host Bob Rivard speaks with Kim Jeffries, CEO of Haven for Hope, about how San Antonio's collaborative approach to homelessness is becoming a national model. Hear how the city's innovative strategies, partnerships, and responses to recent crises are shaping support for its most vulnerable residents.-- --CONNECT

Richie comes back to us for an episode and we reminisce and then talk about the Cowboys for a bit. And after an epic World Series we have to talk about that and Jeff gets confused. Today (probably will be over by the time you listen), San Antonians go to the polls to show their support or not support for a new arena for San Antonio and the Spurs. Go Vote.

San Antonians remember Flaco Jiménez, who died July 31, at the age of 86.

This week on bigcitysmalltown, we meet Ariana Chaudhary, a San Antonio high school student and founder of Access to Specialist Knowledge (ASK), a nonprofit connecting frontline doctors in underserved regions around the world with volunteer U.S. medical specialists. Ariana launched ASK at 14 after witnessing first-hand the challenges faced by healthcare providers in Uganda. Now 17 and a student at Health Careers High School, she leads an organization that has facilitated more than 35,000 medical consultations across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and South America.Cory Ames, producer of bigcitysmalltown, sits down with Ariana to discuss how her global perspective has influenced local action, the realities of building a nonprofit as a teenager, and the ongoing impact of San Antonio's health and research community on her work.They discuss:• Ariana's journey from a single clinic in Uganda to a global network of healthcare providers• The role of San Antonio's medical community in supporting ASK's rapid growth• How local gaps in healthcare access echo global disparities—and Ariana's efforts to address both• What's next for ASK as Ariana prepares for college and the future of the organizationFind out how a young San Antonian is using local resources and global connections to improve healthcare delivery where it's needed most.RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:▶️ #122. The Scientist Who Transformed Texas Biomed—and San Antonio's Scientific Standing – Discover how visionary leadership and science can change a city's trajectory. Host Bob Rivard talks with Dr. Larry Schlesinger about elevating Texas Biomed, navigating research funding challenges, and battling public health misinformation—all while strengthening San Antonio's national standing as a hub for biomedical innovation.-- -- CONNECT

Area 210 Podcast Ep.376IntroductionWelcome to another lively edition of the Alamo City Sportscast! In Episode 376 of the Area 210 Podcast, hosts Mike Jimenez and Joe Garcia, along with special guest Spurnandez (joining from San Diego), bring their signature blend of insight, humor, and local flavor to a Friday free-for-all. Broadcasting from three different Texas and California cities, they celebrate Father's Day, discuss major sports headlines, and tackle the pulse of San Antonio's sports community. Whether you're a die-hard Spurs fan or a supporter of UTSA athletics, this episode will keep you entertained and engaged.Main DiscussionThe crew jumps into the unique challenges and celebrations of Father's Day, reflecting on why dads often get the short end of the stick. They then pivot to hot sports topics, including the high-stakes NBA playoffs and the rumors swirling around the Spurs' draft strategy. A major focus is the recent UTSA baseball contract controversy, where a clerical typo opened the door for head coach Pat Hallmark to become an unexpected free agent after the program's best-ever season. The trio debates whether UTSA's athletic facilities and community support are up to par—and what the baseball program's emergence means for San Antonio's sports identity. Interactive listener chats and super chat shoutouts round out a show filled with laughs, sharp analysis, and local pride.Episode HighlightsFather's Day Reflections: The hosts share personal stories and observations on the cultural differences between Father's Day and Mother's Day, giving shoutouts to local Spurs dads and discussing gender roles in family celebrations.UTSA Baseball Contract Drama: An in-depth look at the contract typo that unexpectedly freed UTSA baseball coach Pat Hallmark, analyzing its impact on the team's future and the program's standing after a historic season.Facilities and Funding Debate: A candid discussion on the state of UTSA's athletic facilities, and whether San Antonio is doing enough to support its up-and-coming college programs.Generational Sports Allegiances: Exploring why many San Antonians still back UT or Texas A&M instead of UTSA, and how long-term tradition shapes sports fandom in the area.Spurs Rumor Mill & NBA Playoffs: Breaking down the latest rumors around the Spurs' potential draft moves, and previewing the outcome of the current NBA Finals matchup.Community Engagement: Shoutouts to the most active chat participants, giveaways, and super chat highlights, fostering a strong sense of community among listeners.San Antonio's Sports Identity: Considering whether UTSA's recent baseball run marks a turning point for the university—and for the city itself—as a legitimate sports hub beyond the Spurs.Key Talking PointsThis episode is a must-listen for anyone passionate about San Antonio sports culture, the evolving landscape of college athletics, and the personalities driving local fandom. Stay tuned for more lively debates, entertaining stories, and insider perspectives from the Area 210 crew.Subscribe and Follow:Don't miss out on future episodes! Subscribe to the Alamo City Sportscast on your favorite podcast platform and follow us on social media for behind-the-scenes updates, interactive chats, and exclusive giveaways.You can now help support the Area 210 Podcast by tipping us at our Buy Me A Coffee link: http://www.buymeacoffee.com/AlamoCitySportscast //Make Sure To Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel & Hit That Like Button!

The San Antonio AIDS Foundation has scaled back free testing services due to White House-imposed cuts in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding. Free HIV testing provides early detection and reducing transmission rates. How can San Antonians continue to get tested safely and confidentially for AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases?

This week on bigcitysmalltown, host Bob Rivard sits down with Sarah Dingivan, outgoing CEO of the San Antonio Legal Services Association (SALSA), and Gregory Zlotnick, board member for SALSA and faculty at St. Mary's University School of Law. Together, they discuss the organization's mission to bridge the gap in civil legal services for San Antonians with limited means—at a time when demand has never been higher.The conversation explores SALSA's evolution from a small volunteer initiative to an independent nonprofit, its response to the unique legal needs brought on by the pandemic, and the ongoing challenges faced by vulnerable residents—including renters navigating eviction, families struggling with probate, and veterans seeking access to benefits. Dingivan and Zlotnick outline the barriers many encounter when trying to resolve legal problems, and the heavy reliance on a small pool of pro bono attorneys.They also discuss:The extent of unmet civil legal needs in San Antonio and Bexar CountyKey housing challenges, from rising rents to lack of legal protection for tenantsHow SALSA and local partners adapted services during COVID-19The importance of preventative legal work for preserving generational wealthResource constraints, funding gaps, and the sustainability of local legal aidOpportunities for San Antonio's legal community and civic leaders to strengthen the safety netFor listeners invested in the future of housing, local justice, and social infrastructure in San Antonio, this episode provides insight into both the immediate realities and long-term policy challenges facing the city's legal aid ecosystem.-- -- RECOMMENDED NEXT LISTEN:▶️ #110. San Antonio's Model for Homelessness: Why Other Cities Look to Haven for Hope – Building on the conversation around civil legal services for vulnerable San Antonians, this episode highlights how Haven for Hope's innovative approach to homelessness is serving as a national model. Host Bob Rivard talks with outgoing CEO Kim Jeffries about the power of cross-sector collaboration, pandemic-era challenges, and what's next for both San Antonio and other cities facing similar crises. 

Talking with UFC Flyweight Fighter CJ Vergara From San Antonio born and raised in Laredo. Talking UFC His Journey, His upcoming UFC Fight Night Mexico City March 29th and El Amor is Magic? Special valentines Segment. You can Watch UFC Fight night Exclusively on ESPN+ or ESPN2 https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-fight-night-march-29-2025#11928Start the New Year By Drinking Más Energy

Blade Haddock, owner of Full Belly Cafe & Bar has a rich background that spans from his grandmother's kitchen to the Los Angeles restaurant scene. Full Belly Cafe is renowned for its scratch-made brunch, breakfast, and lunch offerings, with a strong emphasis on fresh breads and pastries. Now with two locations, Full Belly is satisfying the hunger of more San Antonians than ever! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's guests are San Antonio artist Kathy Sosa and Antonio Arelle Barquet, the director of the Museum of Art in Queretaro, a city of more than 1 million people in Central Mexico and a UNESCO World Heritage site celebrated for its Historic Monument Zone. Kathy Sosa, together with her husband and fellow artist Lionel Sosa, have embarked on an exciting project that will bring new attention in Mexico to many of San Antonio's artists who trace their heritage to Mexico, and introduce new generations of San Antonians to the historic links between the two cities. Tune in to hear more about their project, El Otro Lado Del Espejo.    

Jesse Hernandez, born and raised on the Southside of San Antonio, Texas, is a prominent figure in the construction industry and a dedicated advocate for careers in the trades. His diverse career, ranging from grading ditches to counseling executives, has given him a profound understanding that people share more similarities than differences. Jesse uses these insights to guide professionals in self-discovery and help them expand their influence within their communities and careers. As a lifelong San Antonian, SAISD alumnus, and second-generation plumber, he is committed to enhancing the image of trades careers with a message centered on contribution, ownership, and vulnerability, evident through his podcast "Learnings and Missteps," his online platform "No BS with Jen & Jess," and the "Lean Calabosessions." Jesse's extensive experience includes working with construction teams across the country, participating in both small and mega projects, and collaborating with trade and general contractors. These experiences have brought him into contact with hundreds of construction leaders, where he observed that leaders who adopt a people-centered approach achieve business results that most construction professionals can only dream of. This realization has driven Jesse's commitment to increasing the number of leaders who demonstrate genuine appreciation for everyone they interact with, thereby surpassing their peers in career growth and earning potential. In addition to his leadership development efforts, Jesse supports organizations in building systems and processes that nurture such leaders. These organizations, in turn, excel by earning preferred pricing and performance from their trade contractors, retaining talent, and providing reliable delivery to their clients. His mission is to equip construction leaders with the mindset and methods to improve business outcomes while fostering deep and meaningful relationships. Through his work, Jesse continues to influence and inspire current and future leaders in the construction industry. His dedication to enhancing the image of trades careers and promoting a people-centered leadership approach makes him a vital contributor to the industry. For More Info: https://DepthBuilder.com

How did the South Texas Medical Center become San Antonio's leading smart jobs engine over the last 25 years? This week's guest is Jim Reed, the recently retired longtime chief executive of the San Antonio Medical Foundation, which led that extraordinary growth in the medical, health care and biscoences sectors. During his tenure managing the development of hundreds of acres to the growing medical center, it became home to the region's greatest concentration of hospitals, clinics, medical office complexes, and retail businesses and residential units serving and housing many of the nearly 90,000 medical center workers. Economists today say that nearly one in five gainfully employed San Antonians now work in these sectors.   

This week, two perspectives on innovation in San Antonio. We revisit our conversations with Jenna Saucedo-Herrera of Greater: SATX as she discusses how San Antonio is winning on workforce development, and Emily Royall of Smart Cities San Antonio on how her team is using data to improve the quality of life for San Antonians.    Listen in full to both conversations:  Jenna Saucedo-Herrera's episode originally aired on October 30, 2023 as Episode 30.  Emily Royall's episode originally aired on July 11, 2023 as Episode 15.        

Why is affordable housing in San Antonio everyone's problem? This week's guest is Mark Carmona, the city of San Antonio's first Chief Housing Officer, a position created by City Council in 2018 when council members first approved Mayor Ron Nirenberg's housing initiative. Carmona overees the city's Strategic Housing Implementation Plan (SHIP), and previously served as CEO of Haven for Hope and Deputy CEO for the Center for Health Care Services. Listen as Carmona tackles some of the most challenging issues we face: poverty, homelessness, lack of affordable housing, and how San Antonio's projected growth makes these issues relevant to all current and future San Antonians.    

Can you afford to die? This week's guest is Maura Bobbitt, a death rights advocate focused on envisioning a future where our death and grief practices can be individually- and community-focused, radically accepting, environmentally-friendly, and divested from capitalist forces.  

Pioneer María Martin helped train participants at San Antonio's Esperanza Peace & Justice Center before her death. Some of those students reflect on what they learned and how Martin's legacy in journalism will live on.

“It's not necessarily the action that you're taking. It's the attitude in which you are taking the action that is the play part.” - Sharon Calderon In this episode of Creatively Free we dive into the reasons why play is THE antidote to the modern culture of seriousness, consumption and stagnation. Dive in deep because it just might spark your inner child's JOY factor! Sharon Calderon is no stranger to living a life she loves on purpose!  She's a certified life coach, play educator, passionate activist, and proud momma of two pretty cool kiddos. As a native San Antonian, she carries the warm spirit of her community into her mission, embodying the mantra that “Play brings us together”. Through her own life experiences with adversity, she has discovered how the power of reclaiming play and recognizing the importance of emotional nourishment are keys to helping overcome life's most challenging situations. What sets Sharon apart is her innovative, compassionate, and evidence-based approach, skillfully merging the realms of play and trauma to help others live vibrant, resilient lives. She truly believes that by embracing play in every area of our lives, we will individually and collectively, positively revolutionize the way we learn, love, and live. Instagram handle: @shar.ingcreations  Website link: http://www.linktr.ee/shar.ingcreations  “Instead of trying to escape, we are trying to expand. What fills me up? What drives me forward?” - Sharon Calderon Highlights include:

One of the things San Antonians enjoy most about our airport is convenience. But the Alamo City's growth and a desire for a transcontinental option are forcing leaders to expand and improve options without disrupting easy access. In this download, SABJ Editor-in-Chief Ed Arnold gets an update from Director of Airports Jesus Saenz.

In this bonus edition of Entrepreneurial Appetite's Black book discussions, we bring you a conversation between Natalie Braszile, author of We Are Each Other's Harvest and  Queen Sugar, which inspired the critically acclaimed show,  and Stephen Lucke, founder and CEO of Gardopia Gardens.About Natalie: Natalie is the author of the novel Queen Sugar, which is being adapted for a seventh television season by writer/director Ava DuVernay, and co-produced by Oprah Winfrey. Queen Sugar was named one of the San Francisco Chronicle's Best Books of 2014, was long-listed for the Crooks Corner Southern Book Prize, and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. In addition, her new non-fiction book, We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land & Legacy, was named an Amazon Editors Pick and a Wall Street Journal "Favorite Book of the Year." In We Are Each Other's Harvest, Natalie brings together essays, poems, conversations, portraits, and first-person narratives to tell the story of Black people's connection to the land from Emancipation to the present. Her other non-fiction work has appeared in National Geographic, The Bitter Southerner, O, The Oprah Magazine, and several anthologies. Natalie lives in San Francisco.About Stephen: Stephen Lucke holds a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry from the University of the Incarnate Word and a Masters of Arts in Nutrition from the University of the Incarnate Word. During his undergraduate years, he became enamored with health and wellness, first starting a student & employee wellness program and then a community garden on campus. It wasn't long before Stephen started Gardopia to address obesity and climate change a few years later.Stephen is a native San Antonian who also enjoys spending time in civic engagement and physical fitness. He has manifested these other passions by becoming a certified strength and conditioning specialist in 2015 and running for Mayor of San Antonio in 2017. In addition, Stephen earned his Organic Farmer Certification in the Spring of 2019 and is currently a NASA Community College Aerospace Scholar. Stephen looks forward to continued growth with Gardopia in our 7th year of operations.Support the show

Earl Abel's is one of the most iconic restaurants in San Antonio. It first opened in 1933 on N. Main before moving to the corner of Broadway and Hildebrand. Generations of San Antonian's went to Earl Abel's for prom night, celebrations, or just to get some fried chicken and pie. Danny Badiola purchased the restaurant several years ago and still uses the original recipes though now the restaurant is just outside the Pearl. Hear Danny's story of coming to San Antonio and working to keep a San Antonio treasure going. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode I interview friend and fellow San Antonian, Celso Hurtado. We talk about The Ghost Tracks, his award-winning novel about a teenager whose paranormal experience at San Antonio's famed "ghost tracks" sends his life down an unexpected path. The sequel to Ghost Tracks, The Devil's Promise, will release in September of 2023.

It's FIESTA Season! And in the spirit of this uniquely San Antonio celebration, today's episode uncovers the origins, history and changes surrounding Fiesta San Antonio®. Joining the conversation is author, anthropologist and former Witte Curator, Michael Thurgood Haynes. Dr. Haynes is a noted Fiesta historian whose book, Dressing Up Debutantes, is the preeminent source detailing the Coronation and exquisite Fiesta gowns that San Antonians know and love.   To learn more information about the sources and references for today's episode, visit: Haynes, Michaele Thurgood. Dressing Up Debutantes: Pageantry and Glitz in Texas (Dress, Body, Culture). Berg Publishers, 1998. https://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Up-Debutantes-Pageantry-Culture/dp/1859739393 Witte Museum, Fiesta: A World of Inspiration special exhibition: https://www.wittemuseum.org/exhibitions/fiesta-world-of-inspiration/ Hosted by the Witte Museum's Abigail Jacks, Environmental Science Education Manager, and Daemon Piña, Health and Wellness Education Manager. Produced by Alyssa Sailor-Tynes, Digital Marketing Manager. Fiesta: A World of Inspiration is generously supported by the Fiesta® San Antonio Commission, Inc. For more information and to experience the annual Fiesta exhibition at the Witte Museum, visit https://bit.ly/3V1oOZP.

210 Culture is BACK! After a year hiatus, Donna, G and a new third co-host joins the crew! San Antonio news from right from San Antonians.A lot to catch up on! Jump into the chat and comment along with one of San Antonio's Favorite Podcasts! #210Culture #SanAntonio #SanAntonioNews #210 #Podcast

210 Culture is BACK! After a year hiatus, Donna, G and a new third co-host joins the crew! San Antonio news from right from San Antonians. Watch Along as the trio chat about two local restaurants have been purchased along with George Lopez's career arch and the rise of fake nurses! A lot to catch up on! Jump into the chat and comment along with one of San Antonio's Favorite Podcasts! #210Culture #SanAntonio #SanAntonioNews #210 #Podcast

At a critical time, when San Antonio business leaders are looking for a driving force to unite and grow the city's profile, Rebecca Viagran is ready for the challenge. In this episode, SABJ Editor Ed Arnold invites the native San Antonian to share her passion and vision in her role as President & CEO of the South Texas Business Partnership.

In this season of alchemy and the celebration of potions, harvest, and even bubbling cauldrons, we turn to a true culinary alchemist whose ideas for good food meet transformation on the daily. Elizabeth Johnson's rich background reflects her complementary philosophies at her restaurant, Pharm Table, in San Antonio, TX. The James Beard Foundation referred to Johnson as a “Food is medicine guru,” and Johnson's extensive studies and travels have culminated in a dream to bring healthy global food practices to the guests at her table. She was a Latin Cuisines Specialist/Chef Instructor of The Culinary Institute of America San Antonio from 2008-2014 and has been featured in many media spots including the the Wall Street Journal, Simply Ming and Conde Nast Traveler. As a native San Antonian, Elizabeth has come to appreciate and honor the region's heritage foods and learned to combine her own unique knowledge with the tastes of her home.

In this episode of the Worth Repeating podcast, four San Antonians tell stories about ghosts, hauntings, and other kinds of remnants live at Texas Public Radio in October. The theme for the next Worth Repeating event is Weeds, stories about pulling up the weeds in your life, smoking weed, or maybe feeling like a weed yourself. Consider submitting a story to tell or join us for the show on November 15. Tickets will be available at tpr.org/wr. Support for Worth Repeating comes from Real Ale brewing company, the 80/20 Foundation, do210.com, and Texas A&M San Antonio.

Whether it is Easter camping or just an afternoon picnic, San Antonians have a long history with Brackenridge Park. The centrally located green space offers miles of nature trails, the Sunken Garden Theater, the Japanese Tea Garden, the Witte Museum, and the San Antonio Zoo. But one area, in particular, is the center of a debate between San Antonio's Parks and Recreation Department and a group of local advocates. While centuries of history surround the entire 349-acre park, the highlighted portions (phases one and two) in the rendering above are the focus of this story. The question at hand is: Can the city preserve the park's rich history while protecting its fragile nature? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After yet another mass shooting in America, many scrutinize guns laws and mental health services. Do the answers lie within those issues? We ask San Antonians who know best. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After our unexpected break, TCSA is back! This week's story is one that many San Antonians are familiar with, maybe not the victim himself, but the gang, street and gun violence I'm sure. The tragedy of a drive-by shooting that ended the life of 4 year old Raymundo Manuel Diaz and the aftermath. Show Notes - Newspaper articles from 1993 to 1997 (San Antonio Express-News) https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/fourth-court-of-appeals/1998/6717.html. https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/fourth-court-of-appeals/1999/6785.html. Music by Sarah Cleary @sarahcleary, Just José @allonplayz, Robin Mars @roroefski, Gadfly @gadfly and intro music by Real and Ruthless @realnruthless - Contact us - IG @truecrimesanantonio, TrueCrimeSanAntonio@gmail.com, send a voice message and you might be featured on the show https://anchor.fm/true-crime-san-antonio/message --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/true-crime-san-antonio/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/true-crime-san-antonio/support

Michael Girdley has become a well-known advisor, commentator, investor, and authority on all things San Antonio business related. He has a huge Twitter following and has a lot to say about our city and what we need to keep progressing. Transcript: Justin Hill: Hello and bienvenidos, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique in the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. Michael Girdley: How long do we go? Justin: One hour. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Michael Girdley. He's kind of all things. I'm going to hit some of the points from his website. His bio, he's currently Chairman and Co-founder of Dura Software. He's a partner at Geekdom Fund. He's been involved in co-founding and leading multiple different ventures in San Antonio and around Texas. He was Man of the Year with San Antonio Business Journal and Geek of the Year with Geekdom, right, in 2016. He's passionate about San Antonio's future. If you follow him on Twitter, you know how much San Antonio and the future of our city matters to him. He's a perfect kind of guest to have on here, so thanks for being here. Michael: Yes, excited. Thanks for having me. Justin: You've listened to a few of my really compelling episodes, so I appreciate it. Michael: Yes, four actually. [unintelligible 00:01:10] Justin: That's more than most people. I start a lot with just some general questions about San Antonio I wanted to ask you about. Michael: Yes. Justin: All right. Do you have any pets? Michael: We have two cats. Justin: Okay. What kind of cats? Michael: Four-legged ones, simple. Justin: Like alley cats? Michael: Ones we got at The Humane Society. Justin: Okay. Some people are into like Persians or these bald cats. Michael: Yes, we're not. Justin: None of that? Michael: We're not fancy. Justin: All right. Favorite hidden gems in San Antonio? Michael: Oh man. I definitely like just the normal taquerias that are like all over the place. Justin: Do you have a favorite? Michael: Man, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. They're all my favorites. Justin: I had a judge on here who wouldn't give me a single restaurant she liked because she didn't want to endorse them. Michael: I love that we have Tex-Mex. To be totally frank with you, I don't enjoy eating it that much. When my wife and I have options to go out or we go out for dinners like we're ended up at Bliss or Cured or those types of places. We lived in California for a while and we still brought that taste back with us. We want to eat that kind of food and have that kind of dining experience. Justin: Bliss and Cured do it for you. Michael: They're definitely fancy. We love going to the Pearl Food Hall as well. I will be unabashedly snobby about where I like to go. Justin: I like the Food Hall now that you can just sit at your table and order on the QR code and it comes out. I appreciate that, especially during the pandemic. Do you have any odd hobbies other than your Twitter? Michael: Twitter is definitely one. I've really gotten to pasture into plane tracking. Yes, it's a really interesting hobby. Justin: What's the goal of this? Michael: What do you mean what's the goal? Justin: I mean other than just see where planes are going. Michael: How could it not be obvious that plane-- we live in the flight path underneath San Antonio International. The runways are aligned in a way to orient towards the natural flow of air, which is either coming off the Gulf or going towards the Gulf. We get lots of planes taking off and landing all the time. Every...

Samantha Najera joins the show to give some perspective on dating a single mom.   We start the episode with Luis &  Mike talking about growing up as products of single-mom households.  We also talk kids, injuries and weak stomachs and fun weekends cleaning up messes. Samantha Najera is single-mom to Ava (8 years old), entrepreneur, life-long San Antonian and over all Chingona!  She has over 15 years experience in radio, tv and film. While earning her degree in communications at UIW, interned at Turner Studios in Atlanta where she served as a production assistant on various TV sets. After graduating she worked as a production assistant at ABS's local affiliate - KSAT12 which lead to an on-camera reporter role for the college station ABC affiliate: ABC 40 News.  In 2012 she launched her passion project, Heartfire Media. Working with several clients like Leal Insurance Services, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, San Antonio Scorpions, University Health System, Pizza Patron and many others! She also an active member of the community having served on board of advisors for the Westside YMCA, St Jude's Ranch for Children and is a graduate of Leadership San Antonio. Most recently, Sam is the co-founder of the widely popular and always funny - Bean and Chisme webshow.     Sam can be found on all the socials:   FB: @thesamnajera Insta: @thesamnajera Twitter: @thesamnajera

Changes in COVID protocol are happening across the globe-- some states are dropping mask mandates and loosening restrictions while protests erupt on the northern border. Locally, a human smuggling bust in West Bexar County has more than 20 people in custody. And business owners on one West Side highway are celebrating a name change that's been years in the making. Plus hear from a former San Antonian who is headed to the Super Bowl. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Patrick Svitek is new to San Antonio but a long time political reporter covering the state of Texas. He works for The Texas Tribune and covers Texas politics and policy from a local level to how they affect national discussions and trends. We have a lively discussion about what is happening in Texas and how he is enjoying San Antonio. Transcript: Justin: Hello. Bienvenidos, San Antonio, welcome to the Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian and keeper of chickens and bees. On the Alamo hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique in the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. Welcome to the Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Patrick Svitek. He is the primary political correspondent for the Texas Tribune. If you don't know, Texas Tribune is become a really a nationwide leader in nonprofit journalism and reworking the way the business model works. He's their primary political correspondent. He's previously worked at the Houston Chronicle. He's covered the 2016 campaign trail. He's in my estimation one or two of the biggest Twitter accounts to follow if you're interested in, especially state of Texas politics. For me, it's really cool able to have you here because I've been following you for a long time. You recently moved to San Antonio so I took the opportunity to ask you to come on my show. Thank you. Patrick: Thanks for having me. I'm excited about this. Justin: You're recent to San Antonio as of Labor Day, I think you said. Patrick: Around Labor Day weekend, me and my girlfriend moved down to San Antonio. She got a new job here. We decided to pack up and come down here and we bought a home in Beacon Hill, and we're loving it so far. Justin: You're living like real San Antonian and so many people are like, "I live in San Antonio, I live in our north or here," but they are in San Antonio. It's just a different experience. All my shows I always get some information on people, the city of San Antonio feel for you. You're new here, so it'll be interesting to get some of your takes. This is your first time to live in San Antonio, right? Patrick: That is correct. Previously only had traveled to San Antonio for work basically. I think I've made a number of trips, but only even spent the night just once is usually an afternoon day trip [unintelligible 00:02:00]. Justin: Sure. You've spent so much time in other Texas cities. What stand out to you after being here for the last few months as what sets San Antonio apart in your estimation? Patrick: I think it's more laid back in a good way than other major Texas cities, especially compared to Austin. I think the two cities are hard to compare in some ways, but one comparison I will certainly make is that it's more laid back than Austin, and in a good way. A big city with a small city culture, I think in some ways. Again, I mean that in a positive way. Absolutely. I've loved the people so far. I've loved living in Beacon Hill. My girlfriend and I wanted to live somewhere really central in this city as we were talking about that also had its own identity, it wasn't just blended into downtown or Midtown or the urban core. We're getting that with Beacon Hill, and we like it a lot. Justin: I think it's one of the oldest neighborhoods in San Antonio. I'll speak out to turn, but I remember when I was doing some research, I wanted to move by building over there and move office over there. I was doing some research, and I was surprised at how historic that neighborhood is for the City of San, which is already a historic city. Have you found any hidden gems in San Antonio that you've just been shocked by or surprised by? The first time I went to the Japanese Tea Garden, have you been there? Patrick: I don't know. Justin: You'll go and there's a waterfall coming...

Frank is fresh off a nail-biter loss in a special election for House District 118. He is running again and joins us to talk about the lessons learned and plans if he wins. He is born and bred in 118 and has a wealth of knowledge about our great city. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and bienvenidos, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Frank Ramirez. Frank was recently running for election in HD 118, a special election to replace the retired or resigned Leo Pacheco. In the special, it was a super close election. He did not win. There's a chance. I think he probably already has an answer to it that he will be running in the future, but we're here really to talk to him about his time in San Antonio. His love for the city has worked in politics here. Get to know him a little bit better. Frank, thanks for being here. Frank Ramirez: Hey, thank you, Justin. Coming off of the trail has been a very sobering time. It's been about a month now since the election and I've taken time to myself to recollect myself rest and really get a better understanding of the race that we ran and how effective it was because for all intents and purposes, it was. Even though we fell short, we did a lot of really great work that brought a lot of people out that normally would not have come out. We're excited about you having me here today. Thank you so much. Justin: Rest and relaxation [laughs] is that you like the Japanese tea garden doing yoga, looking at the koi pond, or is that beers and tacos on the strip? Frank: Hey, that's me getting a mile in the morning now, but also being able to balance that with those beer and tacos. Justin: [laughs] All right. That's fair. I told Frank before we started that maybe the least amount of research today for a guest, but I'd done plenty of research when you're running for office and got to know you a little bit. We're just going to talk a little bit about San Antonio, talk a little bit about your time in politics, your hopes for the city, what you think the future San Antonio looks like because I think that's a real important discussion that's being had right now. We are on the edge of this Austin explosion and that's going to spill over so we're going to talk about that, but I always start with a top 10. It's probably might be 10, might be 20, might be 4. What are your favorite hidden gems in the city? You're a San Antonion and so you might have some places that I've never been to or never heard of so dig deep favorite hidden gems. Frank: I am a lifelong south sider. The majority of my experience in this city has been in the south side. I'm a product of the Harlandale Independent School District. That's Gillette, Kingsborough, McCollum high school go Cowboys, and go Cowboys in Dallas as well. We were a very tight-knit community, but at the same time we support businesses in the south side and we like to tout them. We like to tell people, "Hey, when you come to the south side, you got to go to these spots because they're the best." Justin: Sure. Frank: I'll give you my top five restaurants in places in the south side. If you're looking for some great Mexican food, you got-- Don't bet those Mexican restaurant. I have been in the neighborhood for over 50 years. Then you got the other one, which is one of my personal favorite south of 90 is Blue Moon Cafe off of Flores Street. That's on Mitchell and Flores, and they have the best chilaquiles tacos in the entire city, hands down. The other one taco-wise is going to be got to be Carnitas Lonja which has been featured on Forbes

Rick Hill moved to San Antonio for college and has been here since. He has worked for a variety of local sports teams and events. He currently work as the VP of communications and marketing at the Valero Alamo Bowl. Additionally, he has a few cool hobbies and likes that we discuss. Rick is a big fan and advocate of our great city. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenido, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. Rick Hill: Who is the worst guest you've ever had? Justin: [chuckles] We'll talk about that in a second. I like how Rick just spoke over the intro, so in the intro, we'll have Rick in the background. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Rick Hill, no relation to me, unfortunately. He is the VP of Marketing and Communication with the Valero Alamo Bowl, and I realize you have to say Valera with the Alamo Bowl now. Rick has also spent time with the Spurs, the Missions and something called the SA Riders, which I am told is a football game. I thought it was maybe something that happens on the strip late at night, but no, a football team here in San Antonio. He has no championship rings, he likes to tell people on his internet profile. Since the Alamo Bowl is right around the corner and I'd bugged Rick for like a year, I figured it'd be a good time to bug him, and here he is. Rick, thanks for being here. Rick: My pleasure, Justin. Thank you. Justin: While we were starting, Rick said who's the worst guest I've had on here. Well, the worst guests are the ones that just no matter what you ask, they're going to answer whatever they want. Rick: Good. I have nothing prepared, so I will be the opposite. I just like to set a low benchmark so people are happy. Justin: Some people have and I feel like if I was calling out guests as the worst, I'd have a hard time finding other guests, so I better not do that. Let me just say, the least listened to episodes are some of my better friends, so I just better not tell them. You will have 10s of listeners at a minimum, I guarantee that. You could have many more than that. Rick: I'm used to people not listening to me. This is perfect. Justin: Well, it's funny. I had one guy on here who became an all-star of the fintech Twitter, the Fintwit I think they call them and his episode just went bonkers because of that. All that world wanted to hear whatever he had to say because he had the highest performing stock over the last 17 years, and even The Wall Street Journal was like, "It wasn't Tesla. It was this group out of San Antonio had the biggest stock in the last 20 years." It was interesting. All right, so let's start with a top 10. I'm going to ask you, it'll be 10-ish. Favorite Fiesta event? Rick: Coronation. Justin: We were just talking about that before and you seemed super excited about it, so I'm glad you brought that up. Something I'm probably going to talk more about, but you have some sort of weird BCycle thing. What's the number of miles you've put on a BCycle in a year, the most? Rick: The most? Probably 3,000 in a year. They have the E-bike now, but it's more pedal-assisted. I think the E-bike takes too much credit. I love jumping on Saturday, jumping out the Witte, driving through downtown, Southtown, and then heading south to Mission Reach. Justin: When you did it, it was not pedal-assist? Rick: Some of it is, and I think they're switching to all pedal-assist in the next couple of months, which should be great. I've been to Madison's [unintelligible 00:03:26] the best setup. It's all pedal-assist. I got a huge...

Mario Bravo unseated an entrenched incumbent City Councilperson to become the new District 1 representative. He has a history that includes working fishing boats out of Dutch Harbor, Alaska. Now, he is dedicated to improving San Antonio for all. Transcript: Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenidos, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right, welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Councilman Mario Bravo. Mario is District 1 Council Person for the city of San Antonio, recently elected. District 1 is basically everything you see on a map in the middle of San Antonio, from Southtown all the way up to about 410, a little bit on other sides, but between 281 and I-10. He ran on the issues of public safety, healthy community, and economic redevelopment. He unseated an entrenched incumbent, who, if he had won, would maybe have been the longest-serving council person in San Antonio history, is that right? Mario Bravo: I'm not sure, but yes. Justin: Something along those lines. It would have been a very long run. Mario: I think that's probably right because we had just recently gone from four years to eight years for term limits. Justin: Oh, okay. Yes, yes. Mario: He would have been at about eight and a half years. Justin: There are two four-year terms now for y'all, right? Mario: Four two-year terms now. Justin: Oh, yes, because four two-year terms would make a whole lot more sense. I remember thinking how strange it was the way we did it. Mario has been involved in activism in San Antonio for a long time. We'll talk to him about that. We asked him to come on to talk to us about his most recent election, challenges for the city, and now is a very challenging time, so this is very [unintelligible 00:01:42], I think, and a little bit about who he is. I got to know Mario, when he decided to run for this District 1 seat, I reached out to him and said, "I think it's time for a change. I'd like to get to know you." Mario is very passionate about our city and his district. Before this, we were talking that when you're passionate about something, it doesn't feel like work and he's really enjoying it. Mario, I sort of start all these with a little bit of getting to know some strange questions. What are your favorite places to eat and drink right now in town? Let's do District 1, District 1 where's your favorite place to have a bite and have a drink right now? Mario: Oh, there's quite a few, but Liberty Bar's one for sure. I'm a big fan of Curry Boys on North St. Mary's Strip. I like to get the much [unintelligible 00:02:31] tacos from Garcia's. Justin: I just heard Curry Boys BBQ, right? Mario: Right. It's barbecue, but it's like barbecue chicken and brisket, but with Curry, and it's amazing. Justin: No, it was fantastic. It was all very spicy though. Just heed the warning. I haven't been to Liberty Bar in a little while, but I used to be known to go there on occasion. Favorite hidden gems in District 1 of San Antonio, maybe places people didn't know or haven't been within your District. Mario: Hidden gems. Justin: You have a lot of stuff in your district, so this should be an easy one. Mario: Well, I'm just trying to think of what's hidden? I guess not everybody knows about Sanchos and how great their michelada and their Bloody Marys are. Justin: I was going to go with the Japanese Tea Garden, but we'll stick to the drinking thing. I'm okay with that. Sanchos is good and it's very fairly priced, which I also appreciate, and District 1 has some places that are not fairly priced. What was the

The San Antonio Zoo has undergone an incredible transformation since Tim Morrow took over as the CEO in 2014. From their goals to the way they interact with our community, the Zoo is changing stereotypes. The mission of the San Antonio Zoo now includes much more emphasis on conservation, education and interaction. Tim could speak for days on these issues but I am glad we got one hour of his time. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello, and bienvenido San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great, and unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. [applause] All right. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Tim Morrow. Tim is the CEO of the San Antonio Zoo. He has previously worked with, and correct me if I get it wrong, but I think Fiesta, Texas, the San Antonio Spurs, and SeaWorld, basically all big hospitality groups in the city. Since 2014, he's been the CEO of the zoo. In that time, you've seen a lot of the projects that have changed at the zoo. I mean, the Kiddie Park moved over, which a lot of people know about, the Will Smith Zoo School was launched. If you've been there lately, the rhinos Africa exhibit has become a whole new expanded habitat for animals to share space. There's a Jaguar habitat going in, the list is on and on, but some of the more interesting things that I learned about recently is the work they've done to bring animals back from the brink of extinction or endangered status. There's a lot he's done here. I was recently lucky to be appointed to the San Antonio Zoological Society or the zoo board. I've gotten to meet Tim, I asked him to come on. Thanks for being here. Tim Morrow: Thanks for having me. Justin: Tim, I do this with everybody. I start with just some general questions. The idea behind my podcast was to get to talk to people of San Antonio, share their stories, so some background questions. You're running the zoo, do you have pets? Tim: I do have pets. I have two dogs and a cat. Then I live at Leon Springs area, so we have random wild animals at all times, around the house, or sometimes in the house. Justin: Nothing exotic? Tim: Nothing exotic. No. I leave that to the zoo, to the professionals. Justin: In your life have you ever had exotic animals? Tim: I have had snakes and fish, and those kinds of things, but nothing crazy that you would expect maybe some of the workers at a zoo to have at their house. Justin: Yes. I think that's fair. When I'm at the zoo, I feel like a kid, do you have a favorite animal? Tim: It really changes. It's really whatever habitat we're working on becomes my favorite animal, because you really dive so deep into learning about that animal because what we really try to do now with habitats is create natural spaces for them that are enriching, and so you need to learn as much about them as possible. Right now, we're working on jaguar, a big overhead catwalk system so jaguar has become just an animal that I'm fascinated with. I mean they're a big predator, they're strong, they're stealth, and just what they do is incredible. If you watch them hunt and grab crocodiles out of the water and pull them up in trees, it's just an amazing cat. The fact they used to be right here in south Texas, and that they're still jaguars three hours south of the border into Mexico, it's not unrealistic that someday Jaguars could make their way back in Texas. Justin: I didn't realize that, they came all the way up to South Texas? Tim: Yes, they were here. They were in Arizona, really across the whole Southwest, and actually, they're starting to spot one in Arizona that's been going back and forth across the border-...

On this episode of SA Talk, the podcast continues on to part two of the two-part series highlighting and speaking with San Antonio podcasters on different ends of the experience spectrum. This week, you get to hear from Jennifer Navarrete. Jennifer, native Texan and long-time San Antonian, has been podcasting for 15+ years and was at the forefront of the podcasting boom here in town. She has founded, co-founded and helped organize numerous groups, conferences and camps for people in the audio blogging space as well as the social media world. Jennifer has experience creating and hosting a ton of podcasts of her own - including two different ones this year. On top of all of her podcasting experience and accomplishments, she is also a social media, podcast, virtual event & livestream consultant for entrepreneurs, businesses and enterprises. This is done through her company - Brewing Media: https://brewing.media/ - Where To Find/Follow Jennifer Navarrete: Website: http://jennifernavarrete.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/epodcaster Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/epodcaster/ - Local Rec. of the Week (Brought to you by @salunchador): Chicago Hot Dogs IG: https://www.instagram.com/chicagohotdogsusa/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/Chicagohotdogsusa Question of the Week: Have you hosted or joined a Twitter Space, Clubhouse Room, or Greenroom?

Marcus began brewing with a cheap home brewing kit. It spawned a passion for brewing that found him in San Antonio opening Weathered Souls Brewing Co. As if that wasn't enough, he started the Black is Beautiful initiative that was joined by over 1200 breweries around the world. It raised money and awareness for social justice causes. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenidos San Antonio, welcome to the Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places and passions that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, proud San Antonian and keeper of chickens and bees. On the Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique, and the best kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. Welcome to the Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Marcus Baskerville. Marcus is the brewer and co-founder of Weathered Souls Brewing right here in San Antonio. As if the story about all the inventive beers is not impressive enough, you spearheaded and created what turned into a international movement called the Black Is Beautiful Movement, which ended up including 1200 breweries across 22 countries and for us Texans, 122 participating breweries just here in Texas. I'm really excited to meet you and chat with you and thank you for doing this Marcus. Marcus Baskerville: Yes, no problem. Thank you for having me. Justin: You are in your yeast lab is what I think I heard you say a second ago. Marcus: No, office used to be my use lab. Now I'm in my crate office. Justin: [laughs] When you grow a business, you grow where you can grow. Marcus: Exactly. [crosstalk]. Justin: We do all these similar. I want to ask you a few questions, get to know you a little bit, talk to you about San Antonio. I know some of the answers because I did some research beforehand, but when and what brought you to San Antonio? Marcus: I moved to San Antonio almost eight years ago, I think June will be eight years. What brought me to San Antonio was actually a promotion. I used to be in fraud prevention dealing with banking. I came out here to train some new employees as they moved to corporate office from Sacramento to San Antonio. In the process of that, ended up getting a little promotion and decided to stay. Justin: Born and raised in Sacramento, right? Marcus: Yes. Justin: You moved here eight years ago. How have you liked it so far? Marcus: I've enjoyed it. I'm still here, right? Justin: I mean, the weather is very different than Sacramento. Marcus: Weather is this huge difference. That's what keeps my family from coming too often. They're like, "Oh, your guys' weather is so sporadic." Outside of that and the occasional bad drivers, I've really enjoyed San Antonio. Justin: You haven't been here all that long. Eight years is a while, but what are some of your favorite hidden places in San Antonio, hidden gems, places that when you moved here, nobody really told you about and then when you found them, you thought, "Wow, how did I not know about this?" For me the Botanical and the Japanese Tea Gardens are two of those things that when I finally went there, I thought, "Why didn't anyone tell me about this?" Do you have any places like that here? Marcus: That would definitely be one of them. I actually just went to that recently with my children a couple of months ago. That was the first time I had been. I was like, "Wow, this is a beautiful place. I wish I'd known about this years ago.| Justin: You wouldn't even know when you're hear. Marcus: Yes, exactly. Then outside of that, one of the things originally when I first moved here was the Pearl. I really enjoyed Pearl area just to be outside and that type of thing. Nobody really put me onto the Pearl back in the day and outside of that really, some of the like different trails and hiking, different things like that. I like to try to get outdoors, I'm always...

Judge Diaz is still in her first term as an elected district court judge, but she is already making her mark on creating new systems to address domestic violence. If you enjoyed the episode with Gary Slutkin, you will enjoy hearing about this innovative approach to domestic violence. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenidos, San Antonio. Welcome to the Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On the Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. [applause] All right. Welcome to the Alamo Hour, today's guest is Judge Monique Diaz, the 150th Judicial District elected judge here in Bexar County, thanks judge for being here. Monique Diaz: Hi Justin. Thank you for having me, that was quite the introduction. Justin: Well, we put a lot of work into it. Judge Diaz and I go way back long before either of us were really more than just trying to find our way in the legal, and showing up at political fundraisers for one reason or another, and the lowest of the low people on the totem pole at that point. We met a long time ago and we've stayed in touch and now you're a judge, and I kind of know how to find the courthouse now so we've grown up a little bit. Monique: We sure have. It's been quite a while and there's no need to really find the courthouse anymore because everything is on Zoom so- Justin: This is true. Monique: -you can find it at the comfort of your home, Justin. Justin: Unfortunately, some of the smaller counties though don't really like the Zoom and there are some places that are requiring people to show up. Monique: I have heard that that's the case and it's my understanding that under the Supreme Court has issued a series of orders that have helped guide our decisions, in whether we can have in-person hearings or not. It's my understanding that some counties can do that, if they have a plan that's been pre-approved and if their local county officials decide to proceed with that. Here in Bexar County, we're not quite ready for that yet. Justin: Well, there was a federal court case in Sherman, Texas that got going and last I heard, they had traced it out to 40 people that had gotten sick from just that trial. They canceled it midway and then just, it went gangbusters. Monique: I saw that Justin, and that's one of the reasons why we're being really careful here in Bexar County. We do have a plan that was approved by the Supreme Court already however, our local administrative judge and our local officials are not ready to proceed yet. They're really relying primarily on the Metro Health recommendations on when it's safe for us to all proceed. Now, we have plexiglass up in our courtrooms and we're ready to go otherwise, but I think they're looking at things like-- They have some a matrix where they look at the positivity rate, the death rate, and the amount of hospital beds, so that's part of what we're looking to. I don't see us being ready by the tentative April-1st deadline that you may have heard about. Justin: It's good that we have elected officials paying attention to science in their decision-making. We're going to get to the courthouse here in a second, I want to ask you some questions about that, but just some of the-- We go through general getting to know you, this is San Antonio podcast, San Antonio stuff. Judge, what are you doing to decompress during all this, because honestly it, at first I think we were all like, “Oh, let's make a sourdough bread,” and now we're watching an insurrection? It's taken on a life of its own, I wish I had a better way to decompress, but instead I've just put on a few pounds but I'll lose them. What have you been doing to stay sane? Monique: Well, I also put on...

Dr. Lesch was one of our earliest and most popular guests. We could not cover it all in one hour so he rejoined us for some additional discussions of what he has been working on lately. This includes local elections, hostage negotiations and upcoming publications. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello, and bienvenido, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that makes San Antonio great, and unique, and the best kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. [music] Justin: All right, welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is our first repeat guest. You may remember he had a giggle fit last time, and said that he met Bashar al-Assad on a dating website. Dr. David Lesch from Trinity University. Thank you for being here. Dr. David Lesch: I can't talk about that. [laughs] Justin: Before this, I said I was going to ask him things, because lately in our friendship, he has become very self-important in telling us things he can and cannot discuss in public settings. David: I can't talk about that either. Justin: Yes, I know. David: I'm going to be a great guest, I can't talk about anything. Why the hell you got me on here? [crosstalk] Justin: Most of this could just me being like, "Hey, tell me about," insert a thing or a person, and then having you turn red as you laugh and say you can't talk about it. David: Exactly. Justin: Like our previous conversation about your telephone, I could ask you about that, and you also would have to say, "I can't talk about that." [crosstalk] David: Well, they're listening on the telephone right now. [crosstalk] Justin: I think they are. David: Probably are. Whoever they are. [crosstalk] Justin: Probably going to advertise-- [crosstalk] I don't know. David: Here, I am talking about it, so you already got me to-- Justin: On most of my episodes, I normally go through like a top 10 list and what are you into and what do you like. I generally know that about you, but what have you been up to during the shutdown? David: Writing my next book. Justin: Yes, what's the title? [laughs] It's not ambitious at all. What was it? David: It's the history of the Middle East from the Prophet Muhammad to the present. Justin: 78,000 pages long. David: I'm through five pages, man. At this rate, in the 23rd century, I will be done. Justin: I asked you how you broke down what to include and what not to include, and you use the word triage. [crosstalk] David: It's a historical triage. Absolutely, I've done that before. You just can't go over every little thing, or else it would be 78,000 pages. This will be about 350-400 pages. Oxford University Press will be putting it out. Justin: It'll be $250. David: Only for you. Only the hard back copy. [crosstalk] Justin: You had one book that was approachable and at normal price. [crosstalk] David: That's only if I don't autograph it. If I autograph it, it's down to $2 or $3. Justin: I paid $7.80 for your Syria book on Amazon. Does that make you feel bad? David: [crosstalk] Oh, used? The thing is, you got it used. [crosstalk] It was only out for like a month. It's like, "Okay, who read it and sent it back?" or, "Who didn't read it and just sent it back?" Justin: What a jerk friend, "I'll buy your book." [crosstalk] David: Yes, exactly. I was like, "Geez, maybe I can make some money off of this," [laughs] because it's like $15. Justin: Is that the only book you're working on now? David: I think one at a time is enough, thank you very much. Justin: No, I think you said you were working on more than one. David: Sometimes I am, but this time no. This is focusing on that. I've got a lot of writing done since I'm at home more often than not, not traveling as much, obviously. I'm halfway through. It should be published in 2022. I'll...

Gerry Goldstein has spent his career fighting for what is right. From fighting for conscientious objectors in the Vietnam war era to fighting the Patriot Act's attack on civil liberties. Gerry is a hero to me personally and a great entertaining guest. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello, and bienvenido, San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Gerry Goldstein. Gerry is a criminal defense lawyer with Goldstein & Orr. I could go on and on about all of your lawyer accolades and awards, but we'd be here all day. Recently inducted into the criminal defense hall of fame. Gerry, you're a personal hero to me. I read about you in law school. I learned about you in law school, and then you randomly show up in a restaurant after I'd had way too many drinks about six years ago, and I thought it'd be a good idea to go up and introduce myself. You were so gracious and so classy, and so was your wife, and I asked you to get a beer with me at some point, and I'm a nobody fifth-year lawyer, and you agreed, and met me for a beer. I thought that was just the coolest thing. Gerry Goldstein: I learn a lot from my fellow lawyers and brothers and sisters in San Antonio. What a wonderful place to have grown up and continued my practice. Thank you so much, Justin. Justin: I agree. The San Antonio Express, I read, one of the writers was so gracious to call you a rich libertarian and druggie mouthpiece. That was something you were very proud of, and I found that to be pretty funny when I was doing some research for this. Gerry: That was Paul Thompson who had a front-page column, and he malign me weekly, and probably was the best-- I'm not a big fan of advertising, but I will tell you it was the best advertising any lawyer could ever get. Justin: [laughs] That's when the newspaper wrote a little different than it does now, it seems like. Gerry: It was, but so did the judges and lawyers. Justin: Fair enough. Okay. I do this with everybody, and it's really exciting to do it with you. A sort of top 10, who knows how many it will be. You have grown up in San Antonio. You now have a house just blocks away from where you actually grew up in the King William area. You throw a Fiesta party that is famous, that I knew about immediately when I moved here. I saw a guy pushing a shopping cart full of booze down Alamo one day. I said, "Where are you going?" He said he was going to restock your party there in Fiesta. It precedes you. Gerry: Thank you. I take that as the highest form of flattery, Justin. Justin: No, it's legendary. What are some of your favorite spots in San Antonio? Gerry: Well, years ago, in the late '60s and early '70s, we actually opened and owned the original Friendly Spot, which was at the corner of Beauregard and Alamo, which the alcoholic beverage commission shut down after the number two then dinners, played in the crowd, spilled out into the middle of the street. We own the Beauregard. My wife obviously has nixed any more bars or restaurants, but I still hang out at La Tuna. I think it's a wonderful spot, although it's been encroached upon by all these new condos and apartment buildings. I grew my long teeth, hanging out at the Escobar back in the old days. Wine 101 out in Helotes, I think is a wonderful spot. I did my time crawling back home from the local wineries and various alcohol spots in the King William area where I'd grown up. Justin: Well, so Jody Newman was the first guest on The Alamo Hour, who's now the Friendly Spot owner, and you and I went to LA Tuna. That...

One of the most consistent questions we get is about beekeeping. I am a beekeeper and always learning about it. We asked Molly Keck to come on our show and discuss beekeeping. She taught my class and is full of good information. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenido San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonion, and keeper of chickens and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right, welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Molly Keck. Molly is an integrated pest management program specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension. Did I get that right? Molly Keck: Did. Yes, you did. Justin: She has a master's in entomology. You and I were at A&M at the same time. I'm '04, but then I went to law school and you stuck around and got your master's in entomology. Molly: I did. Justin: She's a professor, adjunct professor. She teaches adult education courses, writes, presents on a wide variety of topics. I saw you do a YouTube video on murder hornets. You taught the beekeeping class that I took at the San Antonio botanical gardens. I wanted to get you on and talk about something that has consistently been one of the most common questions I get since people found out that I keep bees is a bunch of questions about that. I wanted to have you on to talk about it. Molly: I'm happy to be here. Justin: Thank you. We had somebody on last week talking about real in-depth media issues about San Antonio's return to work $150 million initiative. This is going to be a much more fun discussion I think. Molly: Good. Justin: I always start it with just some general background information. When and why did you end up in San Antonio? Molly: I never left San Antonio. I was born here. I'm a San Antonio native. I went to Buena Elementary, Rudder Middle School, and Clark High School. My husband is from San Antonio also. His parents are from San Antonio. My kids are a third-generation San Antonian, probably, actually, more than that because actually, my husband's grandparents were from San Antonio as well and I'm pretty sure his great grandparents. We always joke that we don't know where we came from. We're just Texan. I went off to A&M. That was the only time I left San Antonio. Then because my family and life is here, this is the best place to live. We moved back home. Justin: I've had a lot of people on the show and most people are like, "Me. I moved here 12 years ago, 13 years ago." A lot of people moving in. Molly: There are a lot of people moving in, but also if I look at the majority of the people that I went to high school with, maybe 15% left San Antonio and the rest of us came back home. When you're born here and you're from here, you don't really want to leave here. Justin: It's great, it's great cost of living, people are nice, and it's a great secret place in Texas I think. Molly: It is. It's also a really, really good family town I think. Also, you get the small-town feel in a big city. It's like everybody knows everybody or it's the Kevin Bacon thing. Eventually, you'll figure out a way that if you meet a stranger, you have some ties somehow. Justin: When we did our beekeeping class, we did fill [unintelligible 00:03:03] I think that was at your house. Molly: It was, yes. Justin: You're in the Northside of San Antonio. You also have chickens. Do you keep any other animals? Molly: Just pets. The only livestock we have really are chicken and bees. Then other than that, dogs, cats, and a parrot. Yes, dogs, cats, and a parrot. Justin: How many dogs? Molly: We have three dogs, we have two cats, and we have one parrot. My...

Ron Nirenberg is committed to retraining and training San Antonio workers for higher paying jobs. To that end, in November, voters can vote on an initiative creating a fund of $150,000,000 to do just that. The campaign manager for this initiative joins us to discuss this campaign and what it can do for the city. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenido San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people, places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, a keeper of chickens, and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. [applause] All right. Welcome to The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Jorge Urby of The Glider Group in San Antonio. Jorge and I have been friends for a while. We actually took a break on The Alamo Hour, so we're getting back on. We've got Jorge on to talk about a few things. He's been tapped by our mayor, Ron Nirenberg, to run a campaign that the Express-News call Build SA, but it's actually been now changed and named to SA: Ready to Work. He is one of the most sought after political consultants and political communications guys in towns of San Antonio. Express called you a heavy hitter. Did you know that Jorge? Jorge Urby: I heard that. Somebody told me that. Justin: [laughs] You've worked on Beto O'Rourke's campaign, Julian Castro's presidential campaigns. You're very involved in our city. Thank you for being here. Jorge: Thank you, Justin. Thank you for doing what you're doing. I think it's a great thing for the community and I just appreciate you having me on your show. Justin: Yes, it's a new medium and San Antonio is just far behind on things, sometimes technologically. I wanted to be in the front end of this, and I get to interview interesting people. I had the mayor on as well. Jorge: Nice. Nice. Justin: I would start and just get a little bit of color commentary on who you are. Just a few questions, background, your thoughts on San Antonio. When and why did you move to San Antonio? Jorge: Absolutely, man. I'm from Del Rio, Texas originally. My family goes back there many, many generations and loved it, man. I loved growing up in the small town and the small community feel, but as most people when you turn 18, you start to look into wanting to go to college and what that experience is going to be like. I went to school at Texas State and I was there for some years. I always had a kinship with San Antonio, man because I loved the Spurs. I grew up not too far away. We would come up for family vacations or gatherings or something like that. I always knew that I would end up here, but I did bounce around definitely, especially in my 20s and early 30s. I got involved through the Castro brothers and other people in the community, and I just fell in love with it and the people, so I just thought, "I want to make my life here." I really moved here, I guess it would be late '04, maybe early '05, something like that, and then I did a stint in the Dallas area, Fort Worth area. I lived in DC for a while, Austin and then I came back here. Justin: What was the DFW run for? Jorge: When I moved up there the first time, I was working for the mayor of Forth Worth actually. I worked at city hall there and really came to love that city as well, but then I got an opportunity to move to Washington to pursue my master's degree. I got a master's in public administration from American, then I worked at USDA and I worked at HHS. Justin: Okay. I didn't know that. Your big city was San Antonio. My growing up, big city was Fort Worth. I grew up two hours from Fort Worth. That's where we'd go if we wanted to go to the big malls or one of those things. Jorge: There's a lot of similarities actually between the...

Nico LaHood was the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney for one term. During his time, the District Attorney's office was changed in many ways with the inclusion of new programs. Outside of his time in elected office, he is a well-known criminal defense trial attorney and now hosts a podcast called R-Rated Christianity. We had a great talk on a broad range of topics. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello and Bienvenido San Antonio. Welcome to the Alamo Hour discussing the people, places and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian and a keeper of chickens and bees. On the Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great and unique and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. All right, welcome to the Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Nico LaHood. Nico's the former criminal district attorney of Bexar County, criminal defense lawyer. He's got his own podcast, R-Rated Christianity. He's a public persona. he's very vocal about his faith, being a father and a husband. Nico LaHood: Thanks for having me [unintelligible 00:00:53]. How are you doing? Justin: Nico, thanks for joining us. I'm doing great man. I'm doing great. Are you hanging in there? Nico: [crosstalk] no complaints. I was shocked to hear that you're a keeper of chickens and bees. Justin: I do. I have two beehives. Well, I've got to keep my hands busy, I think. It's idle time, right? Nico: I'd like to-- we're talking about a garden, God Willing in this next season, especially with all this craziness, you can't find toilet paper or food during these last months. I'm not going to do anything about the toilet paper but the chickens has been an idea and people have suggested the bees because we have some land that it might be beneficial. Justin: The chickens are really easy, and they're funny and they're social animals and the bees are set it and forget it. Nico: We have foxes and coyotes in my area though. We have to be really thoughtful. Justin: You've to have a good coop that you close at night. That's the key. Nico, I start all these with usually about 10 questions. If there's any way you can speak up a little louder or get closer to your mic, I want to make sure that I don't sound completely overpowering. I'm going to do fewer questions with you because I want to get into some stuff. First, I always ask people, what are your favorite hidden gems of the city? You're born and raised here, so what are some of the kept secrets you think of the city? Nico: Being around my family. [chuckles] I love my kids, [unintelligible 00:02:11] my wife is too good for my stupid ass. Oh, I'm sorry, [unintelligible 00:02:15] podcast. [crosstalk]. Justin: Go for it. Nico: I married up. I'm really kind of a, it's either church, workout and I work out in my garage now. I've been doing that for years since I've been in public office. I started working out at the house to save time. I just enjoy my family now. Now that I'm not out speaking six, seven days a week in this meeting or that meeting, I have rediscovered weekends. We just have occasional dinners, invite a lot of friends and fellowship. We're just really simple. Justin: What about visitors who come in? I always tell them go check out the Japanese Tea Garden. I think that's a great [crosstalk] thing in the town. Nico: I send people to the missions. I love history, now. I think I got a D when I was in history, younger. Justin: There you go. Nico: I can't get enough of history now. I've gone back and started setting the Constitution and the Articles of Confederation, the federalist papers and Bill of Rights and all that declaration and constant. I just love it now, I can't get enough of it. I like to send them to historical places. Of course, they already know about the Riverwalk. That's it....

When Sheryl Sculley was hired in San Antonio to be the new city manager, she was confronted with a variety of issues that had long been neglected. From internet usage to wages, she had huge hurdles to overcome immediately. By the time she left, she had become the face of the police and fire union's fight with the city over their contract. She joins the show to discuss her new tell-all book about her experience. Transcript: [music] Justin Hill: Hello, and Bienvenido San Antonio. Welcome to The Alamo Hour, discussing the people places, and passion that make our city. My name is Justin Hill, a local attorney, a proud San Antonian, keeper of chickens, and bees. On The Alamo Hour, you'll get to hear from the people that make San Antonio great, unique, and the best-kept secret in Texas. We're glad that you're here. [applause] Justin: All right, welcome to this episode of The Alamo Hour. Today's guest is Sheryl Sculley. Sheryl was the city manager of San Antonio from 2005 until 2019. Under her tenure, there are so many accomplishments that we're going to discuss a lot about today, but for most of us, who just look around The Henry B Convention Center being redone into what it is today, our Mission Trail, the Mission is becoming a world heritage site. Some of the behind the scenes things include how our government works, and our new contracts for our police, and fire unions. She discusses in her book a lot of these accomplishments, we're here to talk to her about some of those accomplishments discussed in her book, and her new book, Greedy Bastards: One Cities City's Texas-Sized Struggle to Avoid a Financial Crisis. Sheryl, thank you for joining me. Sheryl Sculley: Thank you, Justin. I'm happy to be with you. Justin: Before we got going, I made sure that we could see some of the books behind you on the shelf that people can know that this is a book tour, and I'm part of your book tour today. Sheryl: Thank you for doing that. This morning I learned that I just made the Amazon bestseller list. I'm excited. Justin: That's awesome. Now, you're going to be scrolling through, and paying attention for reviews as they come in? Sheryl: Yes. I'm sure we'll get a few of those. Justin: Okay. I start all these with a little bit of background information. Everybody knows who you were, and are, but I don't know how many people know much about you, I learned a lot about you in the book. Unfortunately, for a lot of us-- I moved here in ‘07, a lot of what we heard about you, and learned about you had to do with the public union fight. There was a lot of information put out about you, which was I think a little bit unfair obviously. Let's give a little bit of background to who you are, you came from Phoenix, Arizona. What was your experience with San Antonio prior to coming out here to work as a city manager? Sheryl: I was the assistant city manager in the number two position in the city of Phoenix, I worked there for 16 years, watched, and was a part of that city growing, doubling in size, and expanding. We worked on major initiatives for that fast-growing city. Before that, I was city manager of Kalamazoo, Michigan. I actually grew up in the Chicago area, went to school in Indiana, and my first job out of college was with the city of Kalamazoo, Michigan. My husband Mike is from Kalamazoo, and our children were born there. I worked for that city for a total of 15 years, I wasn't born a city manager although I am the oldest of seven children. My siblings accused me of trying to city manage the family. I started in a research position, joined the city manager's office as an assistant city manager, and worked there the last five years as city manager. Then I was recruited to Phoenix. We've never been there, but our kids were pre-school age, it was good timing to move across the country, take on that new challenge, so we did. I never thought I'd leave Phoenix, I was in...