austin

<p>For 70 years, the Observer has worked to “hew hard to the truth as we find it and the right as we see it.” </p><p>Now, more than ever, it&#x27;s crucial we keep holding power to account. Will you be a part of our 70th birthday celebration?</p><p>RSVP here: texasobserver.fundjournalism.org/70thdonate/</p><p><a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a> <a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/nonprofit/" rel="tag">#nonprofit</a> <a href="/tags/journalism/" rel="tag">#journalism</a> <a href="/tags/media/" rel="tag">#media</a> <a href="/tags/fundraiser/" rel="tag">#fundraiser</a> <a href="/tags/politics/" rel="tag">#politics</a> <a href="/tags/uspol/" rel="tag">#USpol</a> <a href="/tags/culture/" rel="tag">#culture</a></p>

<p>In 2010, <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a> had crappy <a href="/tags/broadband/" rel="tag">#broadband</a>. Google announced plans to build out residential fiber in some city, to deploy first widely available gigabit Internet.</p><p>I helped organize the Big Gig Austin campaign, to get them to select Austin.</p><p>They selected KC.</p><p>But when they were ready for a second city, they came back to Austin.</p><p>Today I scheduled cancellation of my GFiber service, as I&#x27;ll be moving away soon. I&#x27;ve been saying a lot of goodbye&#x27;s recently. This one has been a little emotional.</p>

<p>Join the Texas Observer in conversation with author Jessica Pishko on February 5th for this FREE event at Alienated Majesty Books.</p><p>We&#x27;ll discuss Pishko&#x27;s provocative and important book about the dangers posed by extremist sheriffs in the United States. </p><p>RSVP: <a href="https://buff.ly/4gzkA5r" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>buff.ly/4gzkA5r</a> </p><p><a href="/tags/events/" rel="tag">#events</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> @bookstodon <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a> <a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/police/" rel="tag">#police</a> <a href="/tags/extremism/" rel="tag">#extremism</a> <a href="/tags/criminaljustice/" rel="tag">#CriminalJustice</a> <a href="/tags/law/" rel="tag">#law</a></p>

<p>Will you be in or near Austin, TX, on March 9 and 10? We&#x27;re gathering people passionate about decentralized social media for two days of panels, networking, learning, and fun during the first-ever Fediverse House. </p><p>We’ll be sharing official details soon, but for now we wanted to do a special roll call 📯 for creators, publishers, podcasters, community builders, and developers. </p><p>Let us know if you’ll be there as we are currently finessing our programming lineup and looking for expert voices to showcase and partner with. Thank you! 🤙</p><p><a href="/tags/fediverse/" rel="tag">#fediverse</a> <a href="/tags/decentralized/" rel="tag">#decentralized</a> <a href="/tags/socialmedia/" rel="tag">#socialmedia</a> <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#austin</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw/" rel="tag">#sxsw</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw2025/" rel="tag">#sxsw2025</a></p>

<p>Will you be in or near Austin, Texas, on March 9 and 10? We are gathering people who are passionate about decentralized social media for two days of panels, networking, learning, and fun during the first-ever Fediverse House. We’ll be sharing official details soon, but for now we wanted to do a special roll call for creators, publishers, podcasters, community builders, and developers. Let us know if you’ll be there as we are currently finessing our programming lineup and looking for expert voices to showcase. Thank you!</p><p><a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw/" rel="tag">#SXSW</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw2025/" rel="tag">#SXSW2025</a> <a href="/tags/fediverse/" rel="tag">#Fediverse</a> <a href="/tags/decentralized/" rel="tag">#Decentralized</a> <a href="/tags/decentralizedsocialmedia/" rel="tag">#DecentralizedSocialMedia</a> <a href="/tags/opensocial/" rel="tag">#OpenSocial</a> <a href="/tags/flipboard/" rel="tag">#Flipboard</a></p>

<p>Coming Up: Join Texas Observer&#x27;s Lise Olsen in conversation with Michelle Pitcher, to celebrate the release of Lise&#x27;s new book The Scientist and the Serial Killer.</p><p>FREE event! April 9, 7pm BookPeople, <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a>, Texas<br>RSVP: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/bookpeople-presents-lise-olsen-the-scientist-and-the-serial-killer-tickets-1207891188059" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.eventbrite.com/e/bookpeople-presents-lise-olsen-the-scientist-and-the-serial-killer-tickets-1207891188059"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.eventbrite.com/e/bookpeopl</span><span class="invisible">e-presents-lise-olsen-the-scientist-and-the-serial-killer-tickets-1207891188059</span></a> <br> <br><a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/books/" rel="tag">#books</a> <a href="/tags/bookstodon/" rel="tag">#bookstodon</a> @bookstodon <a href="/tags/criminaljustice/" rel="tag">#CriminalJustice</a> <a href="/tags/journalism/" rel="tag">#journalism</a> <a href="/tags/events/" rel="tag">#events</a></p>

<p>We’ve got a great conversation lined up for Monday morning at the <a href="/tags/fediversehouse/" rel="tag">#FediverseHouse</a>. Mastodon’s <span class="h-card"><a href="https://macaw.social/@andypiper" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>andypiper</span></a></span>, Bluesky’s Rose Wang, and The Onion’s Leila Brillson discuss building, growing and sustaining meaningful communities in 2025. (Hint: it involves real human interaction on the social web.) RSVP: <a href="https://lu.ma/dvfp9lri" rel="nofollow"><span class="invisible">https://</span>lu.ma/dvfp9lri</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw/" rel="tag">#SXSW</a> <a href="/tags/sxsw2025/" rel="tag">#sxsw2025</a> <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#austin</a> <a href="/tags/community/" rel="tag">#community</a></p>

<p>Announcement: The MOLLY Prize Gala will be held on Wednesday, May 28, 2025 at Fair Market in <a href="/tags/austin/" rel="tag">#Austin</a>. Congressman Greg Casar will join us in conversation with our editor-in-chief, Gus Bova! </p><p>Don&#x27;t miss your chance to attend, get your tickets today: <a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/molly-awards/" rel="nofollow" class="ellipsis" title="www.texasobserver.org/molly-awards/"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">www.texasobserver.org/molly-aw</span><span class="invisible">ards/</span></a> </p><p><a href="/tags/journalism/" rel="tag">#journalism</a> <a href="/tags/events/" rel="tag">#events</a> <a href="/tags/texas/" rel="tag">#Texas</a> <a href="/tags/media/" rel="tag">#media</a></p>