Inside Austin’s Booming Podcast Scene
Everyone knows Joe Rogan moved to Austin. What’s more interesting is what came with him.
In the years since Rogan relocated from Los Angeles in 2020, the Texas capital has quietly become one of the most fertile podcasting ecosystems in the country — a city where a live comedy podcast can fill a club every week, where a local musician interviewer just hit his 1,500th episode, and where a pair of bar-hopping locals decided the city deserved its own voice in the podcast space. Austin has always had a thing for outsiders who show up and go native. Turns out that applies to microphones too.
The Comedy Mothership Effect
The most culturally electric show coming out of Austin right now isn’t Rogan’s — it’s Kill Tony.
Hosted by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe and recorded live every week at Rogan’s Comedy Mothership on E. 6th Street, the show pulls in around 3 million downloads per episode and ranked 19th on Spotify’s most popular podcast list in late 2024. The format is deceptively simple: amateur stand-ups get one minute at the mic, and the panel dismantles them. It’s raw, chaotic, and absolutely Austin — a city that rewards confidence and has no patience for pretense.
Just down the road (figuratively), Tom Segura and Christina Pazsitzky are running a full podcast empire out of their YMH Studios. Your Mom’s House has over 2.1 million YouTube subscribers and more than 1.3 billion total video views, and the studio produces a constellation of other shows including 2 Bears 1 Cave and The Danny Brown Show. The couple moved to Austin in 2021 and plugged directly into the scene. If Rogan is the mayor of Austin podcasting, Tom and Christina are running city council.
The Local Voices That Were Here First
Long before the Californians showed up, Austin had its own podcast lifers.
Johnny Goudie has been recording How Did I Get Here? since 2011 — a twice-weekly interview show with Austin musicians that the Austin Chronicle calls the Marc Maron of the local scene. In May 2025, he celebrated his 1,500th episode with a live taping at the Continental Club Gallery. No hype machine, no celebrity guests, no Hollywood money. Just fourteen years of showing up, pressing record, and asking musicians how they got here. The Chronicle named it the #1 Austin-produced podcast in 2024, and it’s hard to argue.
The Night Owl has won Best of Austin three times — a horror and true crime show with a distinctly local flavor that’s built genuine community loyalty in a genre crowded with pretenders.
The Beerists, hosted by John Rubio, does the same thing for craft beer, covering Austin’s brew scene with the kind of nerdy enthusiasm that plays perfectly in a city with strong opinions about hops.
News, Accountability, and a Little Weirdness
City Cast Austin, hosted by Nikki DaVaughn, is the gold standard for local news podcasting in the city. It holds a 4.7 rating on Apple Podcasts and won “Friendliest Local News Dispatches” in the Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin 2025 — a daily morning show covering everything from City Hall to the newest bar on East Sixth. For deeper political coverage, the Texas Tribune’s TribCast returns each legislative session to cut through the noise in a state where the noise is considerable.
The Rising Locals
The Austin Pod, hosted by Anthony Jones and Rachel Lately — a pair of Austin food and drink influencers — has carved out a fun niche as the city’s self-described official podcast, recording on-site at actual bars and venues across town.
It’s got the energy of a bar crawl crossed with a city tour, and it’s growing.
NIGHTLIGHT, created by Tonia Ransom, is the kind of show that reminds you how much range this city has — an anthology horror podcast featuring short fiction by Black writers that has won fans well beyond Austin’s city limits.
Austin has always been a city that takes itself seriously without taking itself too seriously. Its podcast scene is exactly the same — part global megaphone, part neighborhood bulletin board, and all of it fueled by people who genuinely have something to say.
The Pod People are everywhere. You just have to know where to listen.
A brush fire in Kyle on Tuesday prompted road closures and a multi‑agency response after flames spread quickly in dry, windy conditions near the I‑35/Center Street area. Fire crews from Kyle and Hays County worked to contain the blaze, which produced heavy smoke and slowed traffic along the interstate.
Officials urged drivers to avoid the area and use caution as firefighters brought the fire under control.
Williamson County commissioners issued a countywide burn ban for up to 90 days, while Travis County extended its burn ban through March 24.
Lake Travis Fire Rescue responded to two small grass fires Tuesday; one off Hudson Bend Road and another while assisting Austin Fire Department and Cedar Park Fire Department.
Crews have been working to contain the Nebo Mountain Fire in northern Gillespie County.
UPDATE:
The Nebo Mountain Fire is now up to nearly 1200 acres with containment at 70%.
Other notable wildfires in the region:
Meanwhile, Austin’s mayor is reacting to a KXAN-TV investigation, which found an increase in homeless camp fires during cold weather months over the past five years.
An apartment blaze on South Lamar over the weekend is believed to be an act of arson.
The local firefighters’ union praised the efforts of AFD crew members.
14,624 early votes were cast in Travis County yesterday, 13,777 at the polls and 847 limited and mail-in ballots.
Of the county’s 920,000 registered voters, 10.17% have cast an early ballot ahead of next Tuesday’s primary.
Among Travis County early voters through eight days of voting, more than 71,000 have been Democrats and around 18,600 Republican.
The 2026 Texas primary elections mark a pivotal moment in a state where many races are effectively decided long before Election Day. There are more than 18 statewide elected officials up for election, along with Texas’ members of Congress, state legislators, district-based judges and local elected officials.
Leading up to March 3rd’s primary election, join TribCast hosts Matthew Watkins and Eleanor Klibanoff, along with a panel of experts, for a discussion of where the state’s most consequential races stand and what their outcomes could mean for Texas.
(Episode from February 24, 2026)
SPECIAL COVERAGE – TEXAS PRIMARY NIGHT – MARCH 3
Hays County authorities announced they seized a large amount of cocaine during a traffic stop on I-35.
Also out of Hays County, a man has been given a 75-year prison sentence following his conviction for continuous sexual abuse of a child.
Austin police are still searching for the person who shot and killed a man at 1400 E. Rundberg Lane over the weekend.
A man was arrested in California last month and charged in connection with a murder near a convenience store here in Austin back in October.
A Caldwell County teen charged with murder in a shooting at a graduation party in Uhland is out on bond.
Time for some @AustinJustice.
A New Braunfels man was charged with criminally negligent homicide after he struck and killed a pedestrian Monday evening.
Austin police were investigating a deadly hit-and-run early Tuesday morning in South Austin and are searching for the vehicle’s driver. APD said the crash happened in the 7200 block of South Congress Avenue near the Dittmar Road intersection. (CBS Austin via MSN)
The Austin Police Department is investigating a deadly auto-pedestrian crash that happened in downtown Austin early Tuesday morning near the 7200 block of Congress Avenue. Police say a man was crossing the street when a vehicle hit him. The driver reportedly left the scene. (FOX 7 Austin)
“Just a few of the places Austin’s light rail will go.”
Austin City Council could vote tomorrow on tougher rules to crack down on excessively noisy vehicles.
WEATHER
TUESDAY’S HIGH / LOW TEMPERATURES
AUSTIN-BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
CAMP MABRY
RECORD BREAKING TEMPERATURES TODAY?
5-DAY FORECAST / AUSTIN, TEXAS
A new climate resilience program is coming to the Austin-San Antonio region.
Texas Rep. Tony Gonzales is facing intense pressure to resign from fellow House Republicans following allegations of an extramarital affair with a staffer, Regina Santos-Aviles, who died by suicide in September 2025. The controversy escalated this week after the release of sexually explicit text messages purportedly sent by Gonzales to the aide, in which he allegedly pressured her for photos despite her stated objections.
While prominent Republicans like Lauren Boebert, Nancy Mace, and Thomas Massie have demanded his immediate departure, Gonzales has remained defiant, dismissing the claims as a “smear campaign” timed to disrupt his March 3 primary election against challenger Brandon Herrera.
I’m joining Nancy Mace, Lauren Boebert, and Anna Paulina Luna in calling for Representative Tony Gonzales to resign immediately. Where are the other men in the GOP? Trump is infamous for making terrible endorsements — this is one and it should be revoked.https://t.co/4o5XQDGQcI
— Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) February 24, 2026
House Speaker Mike Johnson has described the accusations as “very serious” but has called for investigations to play out before taking further action, as a resignation would further slim the already narrow Republican majority.
Texas Rep. Trey Nehls wouldn’t commit to calling for Gonzales to step down.
.@RepTroyNehls on @RepTonyGonzales: "We can't afford him to resign. Should he pull out of the race? Well, that's up to Tony, but the voters are halfway through this. Let's just see if he wins his primary, but it's just not a good look." pic.twitter.com/L9KLnTa0dY
— Annemarie Bonner (@ABonnerNews) February 24, 2026
Texas Governor Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to assist in the evacuation of Texans stranded in Mexico due to heightened cartel violence following the death of a major cartel leader. Texans are urged to follow federal travel warnings, shelter in place, and avoid high-risk areas.
I’ve deployed DPS Troopers, Texas Rangers, and Special Agents to secure the border from cartel violence before it reaches our communities.
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) February 24, 2026
The Texas Fusion Center & DPS Homeland Security Division are working with federal law enforcement and agencies to monitor suspicious…
ICE has detained more than 70 minors in Austin since President Trump took office again.
Body cameras recorded the moment in April when Louis Malfaro walked up to a group of federal agents and Texas state troopers parked on the sidewalk of Dobie Middle School. The agents, according to the U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement officials, were in the process of pulling over an undocumented couple for a traffic violation.
The families of nine killed at Camp Mystic during the July 4th floods have filed suit against the Texas Department of State Health Services, saying that the department should not have licensed the camp without a written evacuation plan per state law.
Trump: “It was July 4th of last year, when flood waters tore through a girl’s summer camp in Central Texas. One of the worse things I’ve ever seen. I was there.”
— PatriotTakes 🇺🇸 (@patriottakes) February 25, 2026
Fact check: Trump was not there. He was throwing a party on the White House South Lawn while children were missing. pic.twitter.com/YfVxHkguds
In his first State of the Union address of his second term, President Trump offered a rosy portrait of a United States that has lost confidence in his leadership.
He also relentlessly baited Democrats, who want to win back control of Congress in the midterms this fall.
“The revolution that began in 1776 has not ended. It still continues because the flame of liberty and independence still burns in the heart of every American patriot – and our future will be bigger, better, brighter, bolder, and more glorious than ever before." – President Trump pic.twitter.com/ngI8hrwI2z
— Texas GOP (@TexasGOP) February 25, 2026
Since Donald Trump reentered office, Texas’ unemployment rate has increased by 0.2%.
— Texas Democrats (@texasdemocrats) February 25, 2026
Texas has lost 3,900manufacturing jobs since Trump took office. #SOTU2026
SPORTS
COLLEGE BASEBALL: For the third time in its first eight games, No. 3 Texas posted a run-rule victory, defeating UTRGV, 14-0, in seven innings at UFCU Disch Falk Field on Tuesday night. (Texas Longhorns)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27 – BRUCE BOLT COLLEGE CLASSIC
Game 28: TEXAS (17-10, 8-6 SEC) vs. #7/7 Florida (21-6, 12-2 SEC)
COLLEGE BASKETBALL: The Texas Longhorns are 5-4 all-time against AP Top 10 foes (1-0 this year) and 12-6 against AP Top 25 opponents (2-0 this season) in Moody Center. Texas has won its last three games overall this year against AP ranked opponents (at No. 13 Alabama, vs. No. 10 Vanderbilt, vs. No. 21 Georgia).
ALSO ON THE SCHEDULE
LAST NIGHT
Christian Anderson had 31 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, leading No. 16 Texas Tech past Cincinnati 80-68 on Tuesday night for a second consecutive victory since star forward JT Toppin’s season-ending knee injury. (FOX Sports)
NBA: Marvin Bagley III scored 22 points, Naji Marshall had 21 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Brooklyn Nets 123-114 on Tuesday night after both teams arrived in New York earlier in the day. (Associated Press)
ON THE SCHEDULE
STANDINGS
NHL: Hockey is back now that the Winter Olympics are over.
What’s happening in Rural Texas will shock you! Eddie Wayne sits on the porch of the house he built, while wondering when it will be gone.
