The Jewel of West Texas

We explore the life of "Border Healing Woman" Jewel Babb. Babb lived for nearly 90 years in the West Texas desert as a mystical healer, mother, and goat herder. Source: "Border Healing Woman" by Pat Littledog

Fellow Texan Sam Cummins of Nymphet Alumni fame joins us for our Valentines's Day special. Together we explore the life of a notorious Texas jeweler of legend. James Avery is known for his tinkling silver charm bracelets, sleazy love life, and vigorous Episcopalianism. We discuss the TX archetype of The James Avery Girl, sleep away camps, talismanic charms throughout the ages, charm bracelets as autobiography/protection/handcuffs, Milagros, Queen Victoria The Influencer, Texas-Euro-kitsch, what it takes to be a true romantic, and more... Thanks for listening to Texas Overture :) Extra reading: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gods-jeweler/ https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1040106/

2023... what a year! We catch each other up on our personal lives ( Faith journeyed to West Texas, Camille ritualistically burned effigies) then list the films, books and songs we had on heavy rotation in the past calendar year. Plus, as a special end of year treat, we answer select calls from TO listeners.

In honor of the Christmas season and the recent feast day, we pay respects to the Virgin Mary and her place in South Central Texas culture. We discuss Mary as a unifying maternal figures, Juan Diego and the Virgin de Guadalupe, Ingo Swann’s “The Great Apparitions of Mary,” and the implications of Marian apparitions around the world. Plus, we’re joined by our friend Abby to talk briefly about her experience as an apparition witness on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje...

Wrangling tumbleweeds, we explore the deception and promise of the West Texas desert, Baudrillard, the mythology of Marfa, Donald Judd's unique criticism and minimalism, the viability of artist enclaves, the precarity of small towns, 10,000 year old clocks, the rise of 'instagrammable spots', survival, surveillance, etc.

We're back -- and we're developing a Spiritual Map of Texas. Born from a dream Faith had, we each select a special TX location and unravel its many layers on historical, emotional, geological and geomagnetic levels...

We are joined by friends from Campo de Estrellas, a conservation burial cemetery in Bastrop County. We discuss contemporary burial practices in Texas, climate concerns, the allure of lingering in cemeteries, being a good ancestor, memory in land, death in industrialization, and more. Companion reading: Campo de Estrellas website https://campodeestrellas.co At Rest in the Fields by Sarah Wambold https://www.texasobserver.org/celebrating-childhoods-end-at-eloise-woods/

We discuss legendary Texas artist Jerry Hunt, a pioneering presence in the development of electronic composition and experimental new music. Influenced by everyone from John Cage to John Dee, Hunt was a virtuosic pianist by trade who made his name through his experimental, interactive, and technical way of making music. He is noted for incorporating celestial alphabets and occult themes in the composition and programming of his oblique and complicated work. Through challenging conventions Hunt gained world renown in New Music circles. He was also funny and strange and lived a beautiful life in East Texas for most of his life with his partner, Stephen Housewright. Books: Partners by Stephen Housewright Transmissions from the Pleroma by Blank Forms Our playlist: T/EXperimental Mix Links: Jerry Hunt website with interviews, reviews, links to books, etc. Irida Records on Bandcamp Blank Forms Episode Sounds: John Cage and Jerry Hunt

We discuss the legacy of Don Pedro, the famous South Texan curandero, healer, and folk saint. We are joined by Ixa, a Texas woman whose great-grandmother actually studied under the man in question, for a broader discussion contextualizing modern spirituality, her family's experiences with 'the healer of Los Olmos Creek,' herbalism, prayer, and more.

We explore the glamorous and enterprising heyday of hot healing water resorts in Texas — from Mineral Wells to Marlin. Many of these places were built (late 1800s-early1900s) around natural, mineral imbued springs that were said to have a wide variety of benefits. The attracted everyone from Hollywood elites, grifters, miracle workers, and magnetic healers. Many of them have fallen to ruin. Plus, we sit down with our friend Professor Jonathan Paul De Vierville, who may be the world's leading living expert on Hot Wells in San Antonio. We also learn he knew Steve Pollock in the 70s... everything is connected. Other topics include: Mesmer, balneology, hysterical women finding solutions, Jung, the state of "healing" today, modern elixirs, the spiritual and physical health benefits of a good soak, and more. This is our season finale, thanks for listening to TO. Reading: "Crazy Water, The Story of Mineral Wells and Other Texas Health Resorts" by Gene Fowler