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We're exploring the ways we find and bring joy into our lives. It’s about the things we do not because it’s a job or a necessity, but simply because we love to do them. Support for This Is My Thing comes from locally-owned Eckert Insurance. "Worry less. Live more."

This Is My Thing: Aggressive Roller Skating!

Rachel Loos poses for a portrait at House Park Plaza skating park on July 12, 2024. Patricia Lim/KUT News
Rachel Loos poses for a portrait at House Park Plaza skating park on July 12, 2024. Patricia Lim/KUT News

It’s episode number seven of This Is My Thing and we are continuing our mission to talk with people about the things they do just for themselves – not because it’s their job and not because it’s a responsibility, just because they love to do it. The stuff you do because it’s your thing.

On this episode of This Is My Thing, we talk with Rae Loos about aggressive roller skating!

This episode comes to us from my friend Zahra Crim, who until recently was KUT’s Community Producer. Zahra’s moved on to go to grad school and new adventures, but before leaving, they worked on this piece for the show. It’s kind of a full-circle moment. The day I met Zahra (a little more than a year ago), they were interviewing for the job at KUT and we talked a bit about hobbies and outside interests. Zahra mentioned that one of their main hobbies was something called aggressive roller skating, a term I had never heard before. That piqued my interest, of course, because I was already developing this show… and now this piece about that very hobby is Zahra’s last official task as a KUT employee.

Zahra talks with their friend Rae Loos about their shared love of the sport, how it’s different from skating at the roller rink, and what it means to Rae.

On this page, you can listen to the on-air version of Rae’s story, but if you check out the KUT News Now podcast feed, you’ll find a longer version of this piece. In both versions, you’ll hear the sound of Rae in action at the skate park.

We’ve talked to a lot of other people about their things and those stories will be coming in future weeks. We recently took a train ride with a student conductor, met a guy who plays Bike Polo, and attended Brick Rodeo with a pretty good LEGO builder. Stay tuned!

And want to hear from you about the thing you do just because you love it! You’ll find an online form a little lower on this page where you can tell us about the thing that brings you joy, calms your mind, or feeds your soul in some way.

 

 

Mike is the production director at KUT, where he’s been working since his days as an English major at the University of Texas. He produces and hosts This Is My Thing and Arts Eclectic, and also produces Get Involved and the Sonic ID project. When pressed to do so, he’ll write short paragraphs about himself in the third person, but usually prefers not to.
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