In 2016, KUT projects editor Matt Largey started a crowdsourced reporting project called ATXplained with the goal of answering people’s questions about the city.
“It was modeled off a project that WBEZ Chicago was doing,” Largey says. “A friend of mine, Jennifer Brandel, started a project where they would ask the audience questions about not necessarily the news, but also about history and culture.”
ATXplained became an immediate success, with curious people from all over the city wanting to know more about the stories behind their community. Over the years, the station has examined a variety of topics, from “Why does the Texas Legislature meet for only 140 days every two years?” to “Who is the motorcycle rider who does wheelies around Austin in pool floaties?” — and much more.
While ATXplained was taking off, Largey did some work in 2017 for Pop-Up Magazine, a live performance magazine that traveled the country. This inspired the idea of bringing ATXplained to the stage.
“I realized how well ATXplained stories would translate into that live medium,” Largey says. “On a zero budget, we put together a small show at the Texas Union theater in 2018.”
He remembers the next year and a half being full of trial and error leading up to January 2020, when he produced the first ATXplained Live that resembles the shows of today.
But then the COVID-19 pandemic halted live events, leaving the future uncertain.
“(There was) a general feeling for a long time that live audiences might be a thing of the past. In retrospect, it is kind of ridiculous,” Largey says. “It was about waiting until people were comfortable enough to come back.”
ATXplained Live came back to the spotlight in the fall of 2022 and has continued to grow. The most recent show in October took place at Bass Concert Hall, with a seating capacity of almost 3,000. It included storytelling about the history of Sixth Street, the desegregation of Barton Springs and a video on the haunted history of The Driskill Hotel. Debuting at the October show, ATXpo transformed the ATXplained experience into an interactive showcase, where over 20 local Austin businesses offered samples, swag and information before the performance.
“I don’t think I ever thought that (ATXplained Live) would grow to something that is self-supporting,” Largey says.
The next ATXplained Live performance is set for April 29. Now that the event is established, Largey and his team are looking for ways to innovate in the world of live journalism while also keeping in mind that they don’t want to ruin a good thing.
“What we try and do is outdo ourselves creatively and think of ways to present stories that are new, different and surprising,” Largey says. “I’d like to see us try something that we haven’t done before to make it feel new and different, not just for the audience, but also for ourselves.”
