You may not hear her voice on the air, but if you鈥檝e visited our website, you鈥檝e likely seen some of Digital Producer Marisa Charpentier鈥檚 work.
Marisa, who joined KUT in January, writes breaking news posts for KUT.org, as well as longer feature stories, such as this story about COVID-19 testing. She also produces online resources, like maps and timelines, to help readers understand the issues KUT is reporting on. Additionally, she helps edit web stories from other reporters and post stories on our channels.
She works Sunday through Thursday evenings to ensure we have news staff available to cover breaking news.
Marisa graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in journalism and Plan II Honors in 2018. Before joining KUT, she worked as a reporter for Community Impact Newspaper, covering the Central Texas communities of Cedar Park and Leander. She grew up in Flower Mound, Texas.
Connect with Marisa on Twitter
What are you listening to these days?
Lately, I鈥檝e been listening to this 鈥淣ew York Times鈥� podcast called 鈥�.鈥� The author Cheryl Strayed calls famous writers over the age of 60 to discuss life during the pandemic. It鈥檚 been interesting to hear some of the authors I grew up with, like , share wisdom and talk about how they鈥檙e getting along in these uncertain times.
Music-wise, I鈥檝e been turning to folk and country a lot recently 鈥� Willie Nelson, Dolly Parton, John Prine, Joni Mitchell. But in terms of more recent artists, I鈥檝e been listening to the , new album and Car Seat Headrest. There鈥檚 this one Car Seat Headrest song 鈥溾�� that鈥檚 been sort of my pandemic anthem. It came out several years ago but feels like it was written for this moment, like this verse: 鈥淒on't you realize our bodies could fall apart any second?鈥�
Read anything interesting lately?
I recently read Nikole Hannah-Jones鈥� New York Times Magazine essay ,鈥� which makes a case for reparations. Amid protests over police killings and racial injustice, she takes a comprehensive look at violence and government policies throughout history that have prevented Black Americans from building wealth. It鈥檚 very informative, and I鈥檇 definitely recommend to anyone who hasn鈥檛 read it yet.
I鈥檓 also reading the book 鈥溾�� by Hanif Abdurraqib. It鈥檚 sort of part memoir, part love letter. I first encountered Abdurraqib when he wrote about one of my favorite songs. He writes about memory and music in a really lovely and compelling way.
What are you loving about the ATX lately?
I don鈥檛 stray much from home these days, except to go on walks and for trips to the store. But I do love walking around my neighborhood. I recently moved to Hyde Park, so there are a lot of old houses (and random farm animals), historic buildings and big trees. My favorite place in Austin is Quack鈥檚 43rd Street Bakery, so I walk there for a to-go coffee or snack every so often, a little reminder of normalcy.
