Texas Standard
David Brown, Angela Kocherga & Laura Rice
May 4, 2026
Hemp rulings reshape what’s legal in Texas
A cloud of confusion over rulings involving THC and smokable hemp in Texas: What’s legal, what’s not, and why now?In this midterm election year, a test of efforts to expand legal protections and access to voting for Texans with visual impairments. We’ll hear why researchers say barriers are still common.Thousands nationwide are exonerated as laws […]
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May 1, 2026
Texas camps race to meet new safety rules
Camp Mystic withdrew its application to operate this summer, but dozens of other Texas camps are still trying to get state approval to open.Corpus Christi’s water crisis could soon mean people have to make big cuts in water usage — but there’s concern leadership isn’t prepared for the mounting emergency.A Texan in the Trump administration […]
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April 30, 2026
How the Supreme Court’s Voting Rights Act ruling could impact Texas
The Voting Rights Act is losing more teeth. We’ll look at what a Supreme Court ruling means for redistricting.Also, another Supreme Court case is examining when and how police can use cell phone data. We’ll check in with our tech expert about what’s at stake.China is making brand-new cars for cheap. It’s hard to get […]
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April 29, 2026
South Texas water crisis spreads beyond Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi has been careening towards a water emergency, but it’s not the only city along the Gulf with water woes.Another court battle over hemp, this time what stores can sell during a longer legal tie-up is at stake.The United Arab Emirates is leaving the world’s most powerful oil cartel. We’ll look at what that […]
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April 28, 2026
Texas scientists discover new jellyfish species
The Trump administration prepares to target elected officials in Mexico with suspected ties to cartels. That, plus the effort to build more border walls in Texas includes bonuses for some landowners in the Rio Grande Valley to speed up the process.Teachers who work as tutors could earn extra money under the new voucher plan. Sound […]
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April 27, 2026
Camp Mystic faces reopening doubts as flood hearings begin
Texas lawmakers hold the first public hearings on last July’s deadly flooding at Camp Mystic.Sticker shock at the supermarket: How some Texans are bypassing the meat counter and going straight to the ranch. The Texas Standard’s Michael Marks with more.How Greg Abbott has reshaped the state’s top executive office.Texas is hosting 16 World Cup Matches […]
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April 25, 2026
Texas Extra: Filmmaker David Lowery on Dallas, Anne Hathaway and the best Texas film
Writer/director/editor/producer David Lowery talks more about the creative relationship that inspired “Mother Mary” and his need to be so hands on with his work in this extended interview.
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April 24, 2026
How a federal dispute briefly shut down El Paso airspace
Tens of thousands of DACA recipients are living in legal limbo in Texas under the threat of sudden deportation. We’ll look at the ripple effects in Texas and beyond.At a Baptist university well known for its conservative values, twin events at Baylor between Turning Point USA and a progressive event called All Our Neighbors is […]
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About
Texas Standard is grounded in the best traditions of American journalism: fact-based, independent, and politically neutral reporting. The program is a one-hour daily news magazine that airs weekdays on more than 30 public radio stations across the Lone Star State. Visit texasstandard.org/listen to find it on a radio station near you. Or listen anytime to this podcast. Texas Standard is produced in the state capital in collaboration with KUT Austin, KERA North Texas, Houston Public Media, and Texas Public Radio San Antonio, as well as news organizations across Texas, Mexico, and the United States.
David Brown
David Brown is host of the daily statewide public radio news hour, Texas Standard. He is former anchor of the Peabody award-winning public radio business program Marketplace, and a veteran public radio journalist for more than three decades. Brown has covered national and international affairs for NPR and PRI’s Monitor Radio from bases in Atlanta, Boston, London, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. He has received numerous Murrow awards, National Headliner Awards, AP Broadcast honors and two Grand Prizes from the International Radio Festivals. Brown earned his Ph.D. in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin, his Juris Doctor from Washington and Lee University School of Law, and is an active member of the California and U.S. Supreme Court Bars.
Angela Kocherga
Angela Kocherga is KTEP news director and also reports in the field on border issues including migration, the border security buildup, binational health, the trade. Her recent work earned a national and several regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. She is a 2019 recipient of the Maria Moors Cabot prize awarded by Columbia University for courageous reporting in Latin America in recognition of her body of work on the border and across Mexico. Emmy winning multimedia journalist Angela Kocherga is news director with KTEP and Borderzine.
Laura Rice
Though Laura’s official title with Texas Standard is Managing Producer, she actually wears many hats. Listeners will sometimes hear Laura on-air as an occasional host or reporter. More often, her work is behind-the-scenes. She helps make editorial decisions about what’s on the program and gives a second set of ears to the audio that makes it over the airwaves. Laura is passionate about working with the next generation of journalists through Texas Standard’s internship program. She also loves leading special projects for the team — including the National Edward R. Murrow Award-winning documentary “Out Of The Blue: 50 Years After The UT Tower Shooting.” Before joining the Texas Standard team, Laura worked just a few cubicles over in the local KUT Newsroom where she served as the station’s Morning Edition producer and fill-in host. Laura found radio after a start in television news. She worked as an anchor, reporter, and producer at stations in Austin, Amarillo, and Toledo, Ohio. She graduated from journalism school at the University of Missouri-Columbia and earned an MA from the University of Texas at Austin’s department of Radio-Television-Film.
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