Lots of Talk

SXSW announces 2nd round of speakers including Jennette McCurdy and Dylan Mulvaney

At SXSW 2024, Jennette McCurdy will record a special episode of her weekly podcast, Hard Feelings.

Things are really cooking now at South by Southwest (SXSW), as the festival continues rolling out programming announcements for 2024.

The festival will take place from March 8-16, and will include — as always — a plethora of performances, presentations, and parties in numerous subjects. The Conference, which presents more idea-heavy programming as opposed to the more entertainment-based Music, Film, or Comedy Festivals, subsists on celebrity appearances and thought-leader talks in 24 categories.

Some of those, called tracks, include 2050, Artificial Intelligence, Climate Change, Creator Economy, Film & TV Industry, Psychedelics, Transportation, and more.

SXSW announces its programming in rounds, which can actually be a relief for many potential attendees; the schedule will ultimately contain hundreds of names, offerings, and topics. Before now, we knew that actress Rosario Dawson, head of ChatGPT Peter Deng, and more speakers would take part in featured sessions; plus, Austin contributes 10 artists including Dylan Gossett and Mama Duke to the lineup of more than 150 announced so far.

The latest announcement contains 23 more featured sessions, two featured speakers whose session topics have not been revealed, and one keynote speaker. There will be one keynote speaker daily, who will deliver a one-hour talk providing a sort of framework or through line around the many talks going on in different venues that day. The first announced keynote speaker is Chair and CEO of semiconductor company AMD Lisa Su.

“Every year at SXSW, we’re privileged to host leaders and trailblazers who have risen to the top of their fields through hard work, thought leadership, and passion for their craft,” said SXSW co-president and chief programming officer Hugh Forrest. “Our first announced Keynote Speaker, Chair and CEO of AMD Lisa Su, is an innovator who continues to pioneer advancements in the chip industry and new ideas that will accommodate the needs of quickly developing AI-related technologies.”

The following featured speaker sessions were announced in the latest release (edited for brevity):

15 Counterintuitive Tactics Smart Marketers Can Exploit: Author and co-founder and Chief Creative Officer at HBT Marketing Nancy Harhut discusses digital marketing in the face of illogical customer thinking.
All About Games. Data, Trends, and What's Next for 2024: Author, professor, and co-founder and CEO of Aldora.io Joost van Dreunen shares a data-driven overview of the current state of interactive entertainment — from shifting business models to emerging tech and consumer behavior.
Author Your Life: Clarity in an Age of Uncertainty: Author and partner and head of brand strategy at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Bonnie Wan will show you how to cut through the noise of AI and automation, and reestablish clarity in your life through curiosity, creativity, and courage to thrive amid change.
Being Non-Obvious: How Futurists See What Others Miss (And You Can Too): This session will be the exclusive premiere of the new book, Being Non-Obvious. #1 Wall Street Journal best-selling author and founder and chief trend curator at The Non-Obvious Company Rohit Bhargava will reveal what it takes to identify trends for yourself and isolate patterns the way futurists do.
Billion Dollar Teams: The Future of an AI Powered Workforce: CEO and Chief Futurist of Signal and Cipher Ian Beacraft will explore the ability and practices of AI-enabled individuals and teams to provide exponential value and show examples of how new team structures, workflows, and cultures are built.
The Critical Path Forward for Affordable, Accessible Health: In this fireside chat, neurosurgeon, professor, multiple Emmy Award-winning chief medical correspondent for CNN and host of the CNN podcast Chasing LifeDr. Sanjay Gupta and Air Force pulmonologist, medical analyst for MSNBC and NBC News, and chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy Dr. Vin Gupta discuss the need for healthcare to adapt for a changing nation.
Curran Chats: In this session, actress, writer, director, producer, and co-founder of CURRAN Tommy Dorfman will host a curated group of queer innovators on stage in a fireside chat to talk about business, artistry, and liberation.
Def Jam Renewed: The Hip-Hop Legend’s Next 40 years: Chairman and CEO of Def Jam Recordings Tunji Balogun; president of Songtradr and general manager of Bandcamp Bryan Biniak; rapper, social activist, author, multimedia producer, digital music pioneer, visual artist, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Chuck D; and rapper Lady London will explore the roots of this iconic hip-hop label.
Design as a Medium Within Visual Art: Artist and professor Michael Ray Charles; art and cultural historian, professor, and founder of Vision & Justice Sarah Elizabeth Lewis; American contemporary artist Deborah Roberts; and performance and visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, human rights lawyer, and activist Laolu Senbanjo discuss design and how it functions as a non verbal medium in art making.
The DNA of a Unicorn Leader: Author, consultant, Silicon Valley veteran with 15 years reporting directly to CEOs Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Eric Schmidt (Google/Alphabet), and founder of Hipergiant Ann Hiatt shares her methods for recognizing a unicorn, or "soonicorn", founder in their most humble of beginnings.
Hard Feelings Live with Jennette McCurdy: In this session, New York Times best-selling author Jennette McCurdy will record a special episode of her weekly podcast Hard Feelings, from Lemonada Media.
The HistoryMakers, Documentation, Storytelling and Black AI: Founder and President of The HistoryMakers Julieanna Richardson will discuss how the archive is committed to making AI inclusive and informed, and how AI is helping to fast track the preservation and accessibility of this one of a kind, unprecedented digital repository.
How Teams Can Skip the Drama and Embrace Healthy Conflict: Author and host of the podcast Women at WorkAmy Gallo will share insights and advice from her latest work on how to create the right conditions for healthy conflict at work, ensure conversations remain collaborative, and repair team relationships.
How We Build Resilience and Compassion: Author and executive director of the Religion & Society Program at the Aspen Institute Dr. Simran Jeet Singh, discusses the biases embedded in our perceptions of resilience and how we overcome them, plus ways to grow our empathy.
John Oates Talks Fame, Fortune, and Managing A Hit Music Career: Founder and CEO of music finance firm Sound Royalties Alex Heiche will be chatting with one half of the top-selling duo in pop and rock history, Hall & Oates, and Rock and Roll Hall of Famer John Oates.
Make Curiosity Contagious: Founder and CEO of Now What Paul Barnett and head of creative questions at Now What Hannah Singleman will get together to discuss diversity of curiosities in four different styles.
Mind-Machine Merge: Seven Future Trends in a Post-AI World of Work: COO and head of business development at Unstoppable Domains and founder of Women of AI and Blockchain Sandy Carter gaze into the future of work through seven transformative trends arising from the bleeding edge of technology.
Radical Respect: How To Work Together Better: Co-hosts of the podcast Just WorkWesley Faulkner and Kim Scott share practical tips and insights from Kim's latest book, Just Work.
Storyworlds, Hour Blue & Amplifying Humanity Ethically with AI: Founder and CEO of Sun and Thunder and founder of Magic Leap Rony Abovitz;designer, author, theorist, and founder of Vrai Pictures Jessica Brillhart; futurist and founding partner and chief creative technologist at argodesign Jared Ficklin; and founder, CEO, and creative director of Wētā Workshop and 5x Academy Award-winner Sir Richard Taylor discuss what the Kyoto test is, the Hour Blue Storyworld, and an AI system.
Supercommunicators: Unlocking the Language of Connection: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and 2x New York Times best-selling author Charles Duhigg will present his reporting and insights into Supercommunicators and their understanding that there is a science to how human beings connect.
Top Entertainment Trends for 2024: What the Data Says: Last year on the SXSW stage, CEO of Luminate Rob Jonas revealed that music streaming platforms saw a record high of new tracks uploaded per day in the first few months of 2023. Jonas will be back to do it all over again, using more than 20 trillion data points across music, film, TV, streaming, gaming, and more.
When Beer Goes Viral: The Role of Brands & Media in Fighting Hate: Transgender influencer and actress Dylan Mulvaney;president of the Human Rights Campaign Kelley Robinson; co-founder and CEO of Walton Issacson Aaron Walton; and reporter for NBC OutJo Yurcaba will dive into the responsibility of brands and the media to not fuel the fire of misinformation and discrimination.
XR In The Age Of Vision Pro: Founder and CEO of Sun and Thunder and founder of Magic Leap Rony Abovitz; entrepreneur, inventor, chip designer, and founder and CEO of Tilt Five Jeri Ellsworth; author, professor, and columnist at ForbesCharlie Fink; and futurist at Paramount Global Ted Schilowitz will discuss how entrepreneurs, artists, storytellers, and developers need time to create must-have applications before the masses arrive.
Author and founder of Backstage Capital and HireRunner.co Arlan Hamilton
CEO of Uber Dara Khosrowshahi

SXSW will be held across many venues in Austin from March 8-16. Registration for badges (Music, Film & TV, Interactive, and Platinum) is open now at sxsw.com.

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Red Light

San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

animals downtown civic issues