On January 25th, Austinites living in District 4 (north/east Austin)will have the chance to elect a new City Council member. (Greg Casar, the current District 4 Council member, is leaving his seat early to run for Congress.)Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury sat down with 5 of the candidates running to replace Greg - Isa Boonto, Monica Guzmán, Jade Lovera, Melinda Schiera, and José "Chito" Vela.

Give it a listen and get all your election questions answered!

Earlier this month, global leaders met in Scotland for the COP26 summit to discuss the biggest problem facing our planet - climate change. The two-week long event just wrapped up, but before it ended, Austin Common Radio Hour host Amy Stansbury sat down with two Austinites who made the trip to participate in this historic event.

Topics of discussion include the role of cities in fighting climate change, overcoming climate dread, and polices at the local level that are helping to reduce emissions.

Guests include Roshan "Rosie" Khan from the Rainforest Partnership and Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea.

On November 2nd, Austinites will have to vote on two very important ballot initiatives - Prop A & B. Prop A is about the size of Austin's police force & Prop B is about a potential park swap. Both of them could have a profound impact on the future of our city (and are also kind of confusing). Host Amy Stansbury breaks it all down in our latest episode. Guests include Cleo Petricek, Chas Moore, Bill Spelman, and Mark Littlefield.

PS - There's a lot that can be said about Props A & B. To learn even more, check out our complete election guides here -https://theaustincommon.com/election-guides-november-2021/

Austin is in a bit of a housing affordability crisis. But, it's a crisis that's impacting parts of the city in very different ways. In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury continues with our multi-part series on housing affordability by taking a look back in time at Austin's long history of housing discrimination. Guests include Dr. Kevin Foster (acting chair of the Black Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin) and Eliot Tretter (author of “Austin Restricted: Progressivism, Zoning, Private Racial Covenants And The Making of a Segregated City").

In the first six months of 2021, the median home sale price in Austin rose by $100,000. So what's behind the crazy increase? And what is being done to try and make housing in Austin more affordable? In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury kicks off a multi-part series on housing affordability in Austin by focusing on the numbers. What does affordable housing even mean? How much affordable housing stock does Austin have? We answer it all with this episode. Guests include Linwood “Woody” Rogers of HousingWorks Austin and Jennifer Carey of Open House Austin.

Austin has 10 City Council members who are elected to represent you. But who are these people? What do they do all day? In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury gets to know one of them, City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes from District 2. Topics of discussion include health inequities in southeast Austin, the city's budget, and a behind-the-scenes looks at how City Council meetings work.

Did you know? Up until last year, Austin was the largest jurisdiction in the country without a Public Defender's Office. In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury gets to know Travis County's first-ever Chief Public Defender, Adeola Ogunkeyede. Topics of discussion include criminal justice reform & what it's like to provide high-quality legal defense services in the middle of a pandemic.

In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury dives deep into Austin's homelessness policies. Topics of discussion include life after the passage of Prop B, designated campsites, & the city's new Summit Plan. Guests include Bill Brice of the Downtown Austin Alliance and João Paulo Connolly of the Austin Justice Coalition.

In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury dives deep into the upcoming City of Austin elections, sharing everything you need to know about Propositions F, G, and H. Topics include the possibility of switching to a strong mayor system of government, adding an additional Council district, and starting a Democracy Dollars program. Guests include Jesús Garza of Austin For All People, Joah Spearman of Austinites For Progressive Reform, and Jessica Palvino of Democracy Dollars ATX.

In this episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour, host Amy Stansbury

dives deep into the upcoming City of Austin elections, sharing everything you need to know about Propositions C, D, and E. Topics include police oversight, Austin's mayoral elections, and ranked choice voting. Guests include Nathan Ryan & Liz Coufal of Good Politics, Council Member Greg Casar, and Amanda López Askin of Doña Ana County.