In addition to the all-star music lineup, The Happy Funtime Fest also will feature The Art&Seek Village and popular local food trucks. The Art&Seek Village, presented by artandseek.org, will feature a variety of handmade goods from local artisans, including EcoArmoire, Dowdy Studio, Hari Mari, Ornamental Things, Roving Style and Sugar Derby. Food trucks will also be on site with a variety of options during the performances. The gourmet eats will include Easy Slider, Dough Boys Pizza Truck and Ssahm BBQ. More local artisans, vendors and food trucks are being confirmed daily, so please visit kxt.org/summercut for frequent updates. While you’re there, check out a map of the festival as well as answers to FAQs about the event.

Summer Cut tickets can be purchased at www.livenation.com. The concert is produced by Live Nation.

For full talent lineup and more information visit www.kxt.org/summercut.

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ABOUT KXT 91.7 FM:

KXT 91.7 FM is one of the public broadcasting stations operated by North Texas Public Broadcasting, a not-for-profit media network that also includes KERA 90.1 FM, KERA TV, KERA WORLD and Art&Seek. KXT began broadcasting in November 2009 and has a Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music format with a mix of acoustic, alt-country, indie rock, alternative and world music. Listen live to KXT and download the free mobile app at kxt.org.

ABOUT LIVE NATION ENTERTAINMENT:

Live Nation Entertainment is the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, comprised of four market leaders: Ticketmaster.com, Live Nation Concerts, Front Line Management Group and Live Nation Network. Ticketmaster.com is the global event ticketing leader and one of the world’s top five eCommerce sites, with over 26 million monthly unique visitors.  Live Nation Concerts produces over 20,000 shows annually for more than 2,000 artists globally.  Front Line is the world’s top artist management company, representing over 250 artists.  These businesses power Live Nation Network, the leading provider of entertainment marketing solutions, enabling over 800 advertisers to tap into the 200 million consumers Live Nation delivers annually through its live event and digital platforms. For additional information, visit www.livenation.com/investors.

Monday, 5/06

Hour 1:  What’s being done to safeguard Texas children from abuse and to promote healthy, safe, and productive families? We’ll talk this hour with Madeline McClure, executive director of The Texas Association for the Protection of Children.

Hour 2:  Have humans always been divided over issues like religion, gender, nationalism, and race? We’ll talk this hour with Sir David Cannadine, the Dodge Professor of History at Princeton University and author of the new book, “The Undivided Past: Humanity Beyond Our Differences” (Knopf, 2013).

Tuesday, 5/07

Hour 1:  What are the best ways to support friends or loved ones suffering from illness? We’ll talk this hour with journalist Letty Cottin Pogrebin, author of “How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick” (PublicAffairs, 2013).

Hour 2:  How has the American way of war-fighting evolved over the last dozen years of nearly constant conflict? We’ll find out this hour with Mark Mazzetti, Pulitzer Prize winner, national security correspondent for The New York Times, and author of the new book “The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth” (The Penguin Press, 2013).

Wednesday, 5/08

Hour 1:  Are our images and presentations of ourselves changing in the age of social media and do these changes reflect trends in the art world? We’ll talk this hour with Gabriel Ritter, curator at the Dallas Museum of Art which is currently exhibiting the career retrospective Cindy Sherman. We’ll also be joined by Erin K. Freeman, who studies narcissism and peer assessment at the University of Dallas and Jordan Frith, who focuses on social media and location and image-based apps like Instagram at the University of North Texas.

Hour 2:  How did a love of literature and a passion for weightlifting help one young man overcome Tourette Syndrome? We’ll find out this hour with Josh Hanagarne, author of “The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family” (Gotham, 2013).

Thursday, 5/10

Hour 1:  What are the latest developments in our understanding of autism? We’ll talk this hour with TempleGrandin, professor of animal science at ColoradoState University and author of the new book “The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013).

Hour 2:  What roles did women play in the top-secret Manhattan Project? We’ll talk this hour with journalist Denise Kiernan, author of the new book “The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II” (Touchstone, 2013).

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Monday, 4/22

Hour 1:  What was the first Earth Day like? In observance of today’s 44^th Earth Day, we’ll look back at the history of the celebration and its influence on the environmental movement with Adam Rome, who teaches environmental history at the University of Delaware. His new book is “The Genius of Earth Day: How a 1970 Teach-In Unexpectedly Made the First Green Generation” (Hill and Wang, 2013).

Hour 2:  When big news breaks where do you turn and who do you trust for accurate information? This hour we’ll discuss the ever-shorter news cycle and the current state of journalism with Jill Abramson, executive editor of The New York Times. She’ll speak on “Protecting Quality Journalism” as part of the SMU Dedman School of Law’s Louise B. Raggio Endowed Lecture Series this evening.

Tuesday, 4/23

Hour 1:  Will you ever be able to retire and is retirement even an option for most Americans anymore? We’ll explore the realities of the retirement industry this hour this hour with Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria. Their new film “The Retirement Gamble” airs on the PBS series FRONTLINE this evening.

Hour 2:  How does a composer approach the creation of a newly commissioned work? We’ll spend this hour with Jake Heggie who’s in town for the premiere of his new “Ahab Symphony.” The UNT Symphony Orchestra, the Grand Chorus, and tenor soloist Richard Croft will perform the work tomorrow evening at the UNT Murchison Performing Arts Center.

Wednesday, 4/24

Hour 1:  Just how bleak would the world be without laughter? We’ll laugh this hour with comedienne and Saturday Night Live veteran Julia Sweeney. She writes about the funny and not-so-funny aspects of life in the new essay collection “If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Your Mother” (Simon & Schuster, 2013).

Hour 2:  What was the real hunt for Osama bin Laden like? We’ll talk this hour with Greg Barker, director of the HBO Documentary Film, “MANHUNT,” which tells the true story of the two-decade pursuit of the world’s most notorious terrorist. HBO, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Ft Worth, and the USA Film Festival will premiere the film at tonight’s opening celebration of the 2013 USA Film Festival at Angelika Film Center in Dallas.

Thursday, 4/25

Hour 1:  Instead of helping humanity improve its collective lot, could the ubiquity of digital access actually be hurting our chances for true freedom and democracy? We’ll talk this hour with Evgeny Morozov, author of ”To Save Everything, Click Here: The Folly of Technological Solutionism” (PublicAffairs, 2013).

Hour 2:  What was it like to witness Hitler’s ascent to power in Nazi Germany? We’ll talk this hour with Andrew Nagorski, a longtime writer for Newsweek who is now director of public policy at the EastWest Institute. He collects the personal stories from military officers, journalists, Olympic athletes and others in “Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power” (Simon & Schuster, 2013) which is now out in paperback.

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Monday, 4/15

Hour 1:  Are you wondering where your hard-earned tax dollars are actually going this year? We’ll find out this hour with Mattea Kramer, senior research analyst for the National Priorities Project which explains the federal budget process with the goal of making budgetary information accessible to everyone.

Hour 2:  What do comic book heroines tell us about how society handles real-life superwomen? We’ll talk this hour with Erin Prather Stafford, executive producer of the new documentary “Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines,” which airs on KERA television and PBS this evening.

Tuesday, 4/16

Hour 1:  Why are dinosaurs still so fascinating to both kids and adults and what have we learned from the latest research into the lives of these incredible prehistoric animals? We’ll talk this hour with science writer Brian Switek whose new book is “My Beloved Brontosaurus: On the Road with Old Bones, New Science, and Our Favorite Dinosaurs” (Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2013).

Hour 2:  What can we learn from how a loved one faces a life-threatening diagnosis and death? Well spend this hour with Rod Dreher who tells his sister’s story in the new book “The Little Way of Ruthie Leming: A Southern Girl, a Small Town, and the Secret of a Good Life” (Grand Central Publishing, 2013).

Wednesday, 4/17

Hour 1:  How are drug and treatment protocols evaluated by medical professionals and researchers and what roles do politics and business interests play in the process? We’ll spend this hour with Dr. Beatrice Golomb, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. She’ll deliver the Center for Values in Medicine, Science and Technology Lecture this evening at UT Dallas.

Hour 2:  What still needs to happen for our country to finally move beyond the legacy and reality of racial prejudice? We’ll discuss the problems and potential solutions this hour with Michael Higginbotham, the Wilson H. Elkins Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law and author of the new book “Ghosts of Jim Crow: Ending Racism in Post-Racial America” (NYU Press, 2013).

Thursday, 4/18

Hour 1:  What makes a community strong and capable of facing the challenges that exist in any urban environment? We’ll spend this hour with Thomas Homer-Dixon, author of “The Upside of Down: Catastrophe, Creativity, and the Renewal of Civilization” (Island Press, 2008). He’ll speak at tomorrow’s Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture conference “What Makes a Resilient City?”

Hour 2:  How will our networked world influence design and development in the future? We’ll talk this hour with Robert Bruegmann, author of “Sprawl: A Compact History” (University Of Chicago Press, 2005) and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He’ll deliver the keynote address this evening at the Second Annual David Dillon Symposium, “Making Connections: The Networked City.”

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The Popular Summer Concert Series Returns for a Fourth Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 9, 2013

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – KXT 91.7 FM announces the 2013 lineup for Barefoot at the Belmont presented by Fossil. Now in its fourth year, this unique concert series continues to feature the best in music from Texas and beyond set against the dramatic backdrop of the historic Belmont Hotel and the downtown Dallas skyline.

KXT 91.7 and the Belmont Hotel are joined by new presenting sponsor, Fossil, for another run of Thursday night concerts beginning April 25, 2013. The 2013 Barefoot at the Belmont lineup includes:

APRIL 25:  Amy Cook with Somebody’s Darling (acoustic) – ON SALE NOW

MAY 9:  JD McPherson with Ronnie Fauss - ON SALE APRIL 24 at 10am

MAY 23:  Kate Earl with Katsuk - ON SALE MAY 8 at 10am

JUNE 6:  Kopecky Family Band with Peter Black - ON SALE MAY 22 at 10am

JUNE 27:  Matt Pond with Doug Burr - ON SALE JUNE 12 at 10am

JULY 11:  Hacienda with The Unlikely Candidates - ON SALE JUNE 26 at 10am

JULY 25:  Air Review and Chambers - ON SALE JULY 10 at 10am

AUGUST 8:  Cody ChestnuTT and Larry Gee - ON SALE JULY 24 at 10am

The Barefoot at the Belmont concerts take place on select Thursday nights April 25 through August 8, 2013, at The Belmont Hotel, 901 Fort Worth Avenue, Dallas 75208. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. with opening acts beginning at 7:00 p.m. and headliners hitting the stage at 8:15 p.m. Due to overwhelming demand, season tickets are already sold out. However, individual tickets, priced at $25 each, can still be purchased at www.kxt.org/barefoot. Seating is limited. If not already sold out, tickets available the night of the show will be sold at the door for the same price. Fossil is the headlining sponsor of Barefoot at the Belmont.  The series ticket partner is Prekindle.com. Other partners and sponsors include Spune Productions, Free My Music, Smoke Restaurant and The Belmont Hotel.

For more information go to www.kxt.org/barefoot.

ABOUT THE BELMONT

Built in 1946, The Belmont Hotel was designed by Charles Stevens Dilbeck and is an example of the Art Moderne architectural style. The hotel was one of the first in the area to offer year-around air conditioning. Renovated in 2005, the boutique hotel remains true to Dilbeck’s vision yet presents modern room accommodations. The Belmont is a gathering place for locals and visitors and boasts one of the best views of the downtown Dallas skyline.

ABOUT KXT 91.7

KXT 91.7 FM is one of the public broadcasting stations operated by North Texas Public Broadcasting, a not-for-profit media network that also includes KERA 90.1 FM, KERA TV, KERA WORLD and Art&Seek. KXT began broadcasting in November 2009 and has a Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music format. Listen live to KXT online at kxt.org.

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CONTACT:

Christopher Wagley

Director, Marketing & Communications

KERA, KXT and Art&Seek

cwagley@kera.org

214-740-9377

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – On the April episode of KERA’s CEO, host Lee Cullum talks with John Mackey, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, about early challenges the company faced bringing the natural foods supermarket concept to a skeptical public. Mackey says, “We were one of the first inventors of the natural foods supermarket. That was a revolutionary idea back in 1980. It took a long time before it began to penetrate into more mainstream customers.” The natural foods supermarket now boasts over $11 billion in annual sales and close to 350 stores spanning North America and the U.K. Learn how a devastating flood nearly washed away the original Austin, Texas, location along with the company’s future. Mackey also talks about his call for a new age of corporate leadership based on a higher purpose: “Business is not just about creating money, it is about creating value for people. It’s people cooperating together, to create value for other people.”

KERA’s CEO features insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. The April episode featuring John Mackey airs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, 2013, on KERA TV with rebroadcasts at noon Sunday, April 7, and at 10:30 p.m. Monday, April 8, 2013. CEO also can be heard at 5:00 p.m. Sunday, April 7, 2013, on KERA 90.1 FM. Following the initial on-air broadcast, the half-hour program will be available on www.kera.org/ceo. Previous CEO episodes are available on demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

CEO is sponsored by Executive Education at the Naveen School of Management, The University of Texas at Dallas, Hodges Capital Management and Sewell Automotive Companies. More information about Whole Foods Market can be found at www.wholefoods.com.

ABOUT JOHN MACKEY

John Mackey, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, has led the natural and organic grocer as it has grown from a single store in Austin, Texas, founded in 1978, to an $11 billion Fortune 300 company, and a top U.S. supermarket with more than 340 stores and 70,000 Team Members worldwide. While devoting his career to helping shoppers satisfy their lifestyle needs with high quality natural and organic foods, Mackey has also focused on building a more conscious way of doing business. For 15 consecutive years, FORTUNE magazine has included Whole Foods Market on its “100 Best Companies to Work For” list. Mackey has been the visionary for many successful programs at the core of Whole Foods Market. He has been recognized for his work over the years by being named Ernst&Young’s “United States Entrepreneur of the Year,” Institutional Investor’s “Best CEO in America,” Barron’s “World’s Best CEO,” MarketWatch’s “CEO of the Year,” FORTUNE’s “Businessperson of the Year,” and Esquire’s “Most Inspiring CEO,” among many others.

ABOUT CEO

Host Lee Cullum conducts insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. CEO episodes are available on-demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. The music station KXT 91.7 FM is also streamed online at www.kxt.org.

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(Dallas/Fort Worth, TX) – KERA announced today that it has joined the Digital Convergence Alliance, a consortium of public television stations that have come together to centralize master control broadcast operations. The Digital Convergence Alliance includes public television stations from several regions of the country. The efficiencies resulting from this cooperative effort will reduce KERA’s annual master control operating costs and the continual upgrade of expensive capital equipment.

Centralized master control operations are an established and growing trend. Several commercial television stations have already formed network operations centers, and two multi-station consortiums have formed in public television. The development of robust national fiber optic networks in recent years has made the distribution of television signals from significant distances feasible and affordable. In addition, sharing equipment and operational oversight with other public media organizations is economically more efficient.

Joining the Digital Convergence Alliance consortium allows KERA to redirect resources toward growth in key content areas. Four positions in master control will be eliminated after the transition is complete at the end of this year. Operational savings realized from joining the consortium will be used to further advance KERA’s mission and its strategic initiatives such as the continued expansion of the station’s regional news coverage, especially in the areas of education, health/science, and the arts.

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ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman.

Contact:

Christopher Wagley

cwagley@kera.org

214-740-9377

Deborah Johnson

djohnson@kera.org

214-740-5432

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – KERA 90.1 FM, the public broadcasting station of North Texas, is pleased to announce that the KERA News staff recently received six 2012 Texas Associated Press Broadcasters (TAPB) awards. Each year, the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters recognizes excellence and achievement in journalism with awards in various categories. KERA FM received two first-place TAPB honors: Art&Seek’s Jerome Weeks won in the “Use of Actuality-Production” category for his piece “Sounding Out The New City Performance Hall,” and Shelley Kofler won in the “Feature (Light)” category for her piece “Fossil Hunter and his 95-Million-Year-Old Bird, Land at New Perot Museum.”

KERA FM was also awarded two second-place TAPB awards. The KERA News staff was recognized in the “Spot News by a Station” category for its coverage of the April 2012 North Texas tornadoes, and Kofler took second in the “Special Series” category for “Texas Judges: Out of Order.” TAPB Honorable Mentions were bestowed on KERA’s Bill Zeeble in the “Specialty or Beat Reporting” category for his education coverage, and Courtney Collins in the “Feature (Serious)” category for her piece “For Cancer ‘Previvors,’ Knowledge Is Power.”

The awards will be presented at the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters ceremony on Saturday, April 13, 2013, at the Headliners Club in Austin, Texas.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org and www.keranews.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. KXT 91.7 FM, KERA’s new music station, KXT 91.7, is streamed online at www.kxt.org.

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CONTACT:

Christopher Wagley

Director, Marketing & Communications

KERA, KXT and Art&Seek

cwagley@kera.org

214-740-9377

March 5, 2013 (DALLAS/FORT WORTH): KXT 91.7 FM is one of five public radio stations banding together to present a live public radio and web simulcast from the South by Southwest (SXSW) music convention. Public Radio Rocks SXSW Day Stage will broadcast live on KXT 91.7 and online at kxt.org on Friday, March 15, beginning at 12:00 noon CT. The six-hour concert will feature performances by Charles Bradley, Dawes, Divine Fits, Emmylou Harris with Rodney Crowell, Iron & Wine, Pickwick and Vampire Weekend.

The Public Radio Rocks the SXSW Day Stage will be held at the AustinConvention Center. The day stage is in the convention center and is open to attendee with a music badge for SXSW.

Public Radio Rocks SXSW Day Stage represents the first combined effort by public radio stations to transmit to radio audiences a piece of the live musical excitement of the SXSW festival. Across the country, the concert will also be simulcast on public radio stations KUTX-FM/Austin, WXPN-FM/Philadelphia, WFUV-FM/New York and The Current/Minneapolis. Each participating station will broadcast the concert live on air and online.

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ABOUT KXT 91.7 FM:

KXT 91.7 FM is one of the public broadcasting stations operated by North Texas Public Broadcasting, a not-for-profit media network that also includes KERA 90.1 FM, KERA TV, KERA WORLD and Art&Seek. KXT began broadcasting in November 2009 and has a Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music format with a mix of acoustic, alt-country, indie rock, alternative and world music. Listen live to KXT and download the free mobile app at kxt.org.

KXT-FM CONTACT:

Christopher Wagley

cwagley@kera.org

214.740.9377

Bruce Sammis, CEO
Lockton Dunning Benefits

DALLAS/FORT WORTH – On the March episode of KERA’s CEO, host Lee Cullum talks with Bruce Sammis, CEO of Lockton Dunning Benefits, about sweeping changes facing employers brought on by health care reform. “The math would suggest that the companies who get out of health care would put a very large burden on their employees and I haven’t met a customer yet, or an employer, who wants to abandon their employees,” says Sammis. Although Sammis says that this doesn’t mean the way health care is delivered to employees won’t change dramatically. The Lockton Dunning Benefits executive also discusses the factors he sees as key to containing rising medical costs: “The holy grail of controlling cost and improving efficiencies of plans is behavior change…you can tie back a very large percentage of health care costs to behavior.” Learn how a trend toward paying providers for healthy patient outcomes may revolutionize the industry.

KERA’s CEO features insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. The March episode featuring Bruce Sammis airs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 1, 2013, on KERA TV with rebroadcasts at noon Sunday, March 3, and at 10:30 p.m. Monday, March 4, 2013. CEO also can be heard at 5:00 p.m. Sunday, March 3, 2013, on KERA 90.1 FM. Following the initial on-air broadcast, the half-hour program will be available on www.kera.org/ceo. Previous CEO episodes are available on demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

CEO is sponsored by Executive Education at the Naveen School of Management, The University of Texas at Dallas, Hodges Capital Management and Sewell Automotive Companies. More information about Lockton can be found at www.lockton.com.

ABOUT BRUCE SAMMIS

Prior to joining Lockton Dunning Benefits as partner/vice president in 1995, Bruce served as vice president of employee benefits for CIGNA HealthCare. He is a recognized thought leader in employee benefits and possesses extensive experience aligning various types of health and welfare plans to corporate business objectives. Since moving into the chief executive officer role of Dallas-based Lockton Dunning Benefits in January of 2007, Sammis continues to serve as a high-level strategic consultant providing leadership to client service teams while concurrently growing the Dallas book of business. As a result of Bruce’s leadership and expertise, Lockton Dunning Benefits continues to maintain its status as one of the foremost leaders in employee benefit solutions and corporate wellness consulting in the country.

ABOUT CEO

Host Lee Cullum conducts insightful discussions with successful North Texas business leaders from the corporate and not-for-profit sectors about what it takes to make a company successful in today’s global marketplace and changing economy. CEO episodes are available on-demand at www.kera.org/ceo.

ABOUT KERA

KERA is a not-for-profit public media organization that serves the people of North Texas. The station broadcasts to the fourth-largest population area in the United States. KERA produces original multimedia content, carries the best in national and international public television and radio programs, and provides online resources at www.kera.org. The station’s extensive coverage of the arts can be found at www.artandseek.org. KERA-TV broadcasts on Channel 13.1. KERA WORLD broadcasts on 13.2. KERA-FM broadcasts on 90.1 in Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton, 88.3 in Wichita Falls, 100.1 in Tyler and 99.3 in Sherman. The music station KXT 91.7 FM is also streamed online at www.kxt.org.

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