weekly planner

Weekday Warrior: Some indoor activities to keep you cool this week

Film Foundations Series: Shadow of a Doubt at Alamo Ritz
Tennis at The Parish
This American Life Live at Various Locations
Ballet Austin Presents: Romeo and Juliet at The Long Center for the PerformingArts

With temperatures in the 90s all week, it’s probably not a great time to hang out in the sweltering heat. So this week, we’ve got a handful of movies, a dose of comedy, and even a live iteration of a popular radio show. How to choose which air conditioned venue with which to fill your time? Here’s our weekly guide to keep you busy during the days that don’t start with S.

Monday, May 7

Film Foundations Series: Shadow of a Doubt @ Alamo Ritz

Martin Scorcese’s The Film Foundation presents this Hitchcock classic, the film that the director often cited as his favorite of his own films. Hitchcock and his cast & crew pull off some of the finest work of Hollywood’s Golden Era here, and it’s best witnessed on the big screen.

27^th Annual Funniest Person in Austin Semi-Finals @ Cap City

Comedians have been competing for weeks, and the payoff is about to arrive. 36 comedians have survived the preliminary rounds, and now they’ll battle it out in front of TV executives and their hilarious comrades for a spot in the finals.

Tuesday, May 8

Yellow Submarine @ Alamo Slaughter Lane

In this animated classic, John, Paul and the rest of The Beatles wander around in a brightly colored world full of peace, love, and hope. Featuring the hits “Eleanor Rigby,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” “All You Need Is Love” and “It’s All Too Much.”

Tennis @ The Parish

This darling Denver three-piece (including married couple Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley) put out some of the catchiest retro pop music around, so catch them as they headline a show at The Parish.

Wednesday, May 9

Mediabistro Party in Austin @ House Wine

Mediabistro is one of the leading services in staffing for freelance creative professionals. Join them (and fellow like-minded writers, editors and graphic designers) for an opportunity to mingle, share resources, and discuss job opportunities over a glass of vino.

Ladies are Funny Festival 2012

Texas’ largest and only all-female comedy festival returns to the Salvage Vanguard Theater for another hilarious year. Performers from Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Toronto will join the ladies of Austin's comedy scene for three nights of laughter and community.

Thursday, May 10

This American Life Live @ Various Locations

The popular anecdotal radio program will broadcast a very special live show, to be beamed into more than 500 theaters nationwide. The event will feature stories from Ira Glass, writers David Sedaris and David Rakoff and comic Tig Notaro, plus live music by OK Go. It'll also include a new short film by Mike Birbiglia, dance by Monica Bill Barnes & Company, original animation, projected illustration and more.

The Austin Chronicle’s 10^th Annual Adult Spelling Bee

The Austin Chronicle’s 10^th annual 21+ spelling bee pits champion spellers against champion spellers. All proceeds benefit the Austin Public Library, and its best to head there from 4-6 to register before things get super intense.

Friday, May 11

The Alamo Drafthouse Presents: Summer of 1982 – Conan The Barbarian @ Alamo Ritz

The Drafthouse is celebrating the greatest summer in cinema, and this is their inaugural screening. Catch The Governator before he hit politics, and bask in the glory of this rampaging epic of swords and squat thrusts was unleashed on audiences in this same weekend 20 years ago.

Ballet Austin Presents: Romeo and Juliet @ The Long Center for the Performing Arts

Ballet Austin’s take on the William Shakespeare tragedy is a beautiful spectacle, filled with costumes layered with Prokofiev's majestic score and a set illuminated by an Italianate tapestry of stained glass colors.

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There you have it, folks. You can mock Ahhhnold, laugh with Birbiglia, and even weep at a ballet staging of a Shakespearean classic. Just remember to stay hydrated.

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Study This

Austin is the No. 7 most educated city in the country, says Forbes

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

UT Austin gets a lot of praise, but this study includes degrees from everywhere — as long as the recipient lives in Texas.

Austin and San Antonio don't get all the same opportunities as the even larger cities in Texas, but in a recent study they prove they're prepared. Both made the top 10 in Forbes Advisor's "Most Educated Cities In The U.S." list: San Antonio was No. 4, and Austin was No. 7.

Other Texas cities made the list of 100, but some fell surprisingly far behind. Dallas made No. 20, followed by Houston at No. 79 and Fort Worth at No. 93. In some even more surprising twists, the smaller city of Garland was the fourth in Texas at No. 26, and El Paso, Corpus Christi, and Laredo all beat Houston.

This study compared the 100 largest cities in the country as of the 2021 census, using metrics like high school dropout rate, percentage of adults age 25 and older with some college, but no degree, undergraduate college completion rate, and percentage of adults age 25 and older with an advanced degree. There were also some lower-weighted metrics about equity, studying racial and gender college completion gaps.

Although many education studies fall into praising the University of Texas, this one considers education as a whole — while still mentioning the university once.

In San Antonio, the bachelor’s completion rate for people 25 and up was 67.30 percent, and 29.56 percent of people in that age group have advanced degrees. The study doesn't have much to say about educational opportunities in the city, focusing instead of its tourist potential. But it did note that the city had one of the smallest racial gaps for higher ed, which was only -5.49 percent. Its gender gap was 0.97 percent, and its high school dropout rate was 4.53 percent.

San Antonio's Trinity University did great in a Niche study that came out in early September. It was the No. 18 best small college in America, and topped the list entirely in Texas. Among bigger fish, it was also the No. 20 best liberal arts college in the country (and again the best in Texas), and made No. 4 in general for best colleges in Texas.

In Austin, 59.89 of people 25 or older completed Bachelor's degrees, and 22.76 percent completed advanced degrees. The racial gap was much worse at -10.87 percent. Its gender gap was a bit less than San Antonio's, at 0.69 percent, and its high school dropout rate was more at 7.56 percent.

Of course, this is where the study mentions UT, which is based in Austin. It made WalletHub's 2024 ranking of the best colleges and universities in Texas and earned the No. 2 spot; clinched the No. 6 spot in Niche's ranking of the best public universities in the country; and earned No. 2 in a list of best undergraduate programs for entrepreneurs by the Princeton Review, among other accolades.

Just breaking into the top 20, Dallas' Bachelor's degree completion rate was 57.05 percent, with 21.37 percent attaining advanced degrees. The racial and gender gaps were −14.99 percent and 1.64 percent, respectively. Much further down the list, Houston's Bachelor's degree completion rate was only 32.99 percent, and only 10.97% achieved advanced degrees. High school dropouts were at 8.90 percent, and the racial and gender gaps were −4.99 and 2.10 percent respectively.

Here are all the Texas cities on the list of 100, in order from most to least educated:

4. San Antonio
7. Austin
20. Dallas
26. Garland
49. El Paso
59. Corpus Christi
76. Laredo
79. Houston
81. Arlington
83. Irving

More information on the study by Forbes advisor, including full city rankings and expanded methodology, is available at forbes.com.

education universities