On May 11, 1953, an F5 tornado destroyed much of downtown Waco, killing 114 people. This episode looks back at the disaster through oral histories in a 1980s documentary recorded by survivors decades later—stories about collapsing buildings, cars buried under rubble—as they still try to make sense of it all.

It’s a reminder that good history isn’t just names and dates but ordinary people describing a day when the worst happened to them through no fault of their own.

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Waco artist Ellen Mote has spent years moving between creative disciplines without settling permanently into any one identity. In this episode, she talks about jewelry design, cyanotypes, painting, and basket weaving. Along the way, the conversation turns into something larger about attention and creative reinvention.

This episode also explores a side of Waco’s creative culture that rarely fits into tourism slogans or polished branding campaigns. From the Austin Avenue Art Walk to ad hoc galleries in coffee shops and vintage stores, it’s a look at the kinds of environments where unfinished ideas still have room to evolve. Sometimes the most important thing a city can offer artists is enough breathing room to keep exploring.

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At 72 years old, Sherman Ayres stepped onto the Texas Music Cafe stage last July to record a live album built from songs he’d been carrying around for decades. From sitting behind a drum kit in Ohio when he was five to recording sessions in Memphis in the ‘80s and a corporate career at M&M Mars, he discovered an unexpected second act in Waco.

But this episode isn’t really a late-life comeback story. It’s about what happens when creative work survives long enough to finally find the right room, the right people, and the right moment to be heard.

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Hit subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode of Your Waco Weekend—and visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠wacoinsider.stubstack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to sign up for our weekly newsletter.