KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

search

    

        

            

                hide podcast list
                show podcast list

May 21, 2025

How one West Texas town built its own broadband lifeline

Texas Standard

By: Laura Rice

Texas lawmakers are considering a plan that could help prevent fentanyl overdoses in the state. Why it may not become law.

A decade after the deadly biker shootout in Waco that led to nine deaths and more than 100 arrests, some civil cases against the city are still moving forward.

Some Texas law enforcement agencies are getting rid of a gun they consider too risky for their officers – by selling them to civilians.

State and federal money has been set aside to connect rural Texans to the Internet. When the remote West Texas town of Monahans couldn’t get that help, they did it themselves.

And: Texas cities once again top a list of the fastest-growing in the U.S., led by Princeton, a suburb east of Frisco.

May 20, 2025

A special broadcast from El Paso

Texas Standard

By: David Brown

Today we’re broadcasting live from El Paso for a special edition of the Texas Standard.


We hear from some prominent El Pasoans – former Congressman Beto O’Rourke and former El Paso Mayor Dee Margo – on the city’s dynamic politics.


El Paso has become a leader in innovative water management. How the city is securing its future in the desert.


KTEP’s Aaron Montes visits a local academy training the future stars of lucha libre.
And: How bighorn sheep have returned to El Paso’s mountains after a century away.

May 19, 2025

10 years later, still no convictions in Twin Peaks biker shootout

Texas Standard

By: Laura Rice

A bipartisan bill on abortion has passed the Texas Senate and is making its way through the House. Why lawmakers agree it’s necessary.


It’s been a decade now since a deadly shootout involving rival biker gangs at a Twin Peaks in Waco. What an investigation reveals about how the case was handled.


Thousands of Brazilians live in Central Texas. How they’re feeling about those from their country being targeted for deportation.


Plus: We’ll take you to the Kentucky Club in Juárez, a beloved border bar and one of the last of its kind.

May 16, 2025

State parks are expanding efforts to improve accessibility

Texas Standard

By: David Brown

As the school year winds down, Texas lawmakers cramming for their final days at their desks are focused on education – and what some had hoped would be an increase in state spending per student may be shifted to teacher pay raises.
Consumer Reports investigates a tip that sale prices at Kroger aren’t showing up at the checkout, with consumers taking the hit.
Texas Parks and Wildlife has rolled out motorized track wheelchairs to improve access at state parks.
Plus: A 15-minute film from Waco, “The Heart of Texas,” has already made a mark at festivals and is now headed to Cannes.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org

May 15, 2025

Central Texas art studio centers artists with disabilities

Texas Standard

By: David Brown

A bill would make it possible for criminal offenders as young as 15 to be sent to state prisons for adults.
Why hopes for a big increase in per-student funding for Texas public schools may have slipped away for this legislative session.
Also at the Capitol: The loud bang of a wooden mallet is supposed to keep lawmakers in check. But it’s a symbol of power, too. What’s the story behind the use of the gavel?
For decades, a quiet but growing movement has supported artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Standard’s Sean Saldana visits a progressive East Austin studio helping redefine what inclusion in the art world can look like.
Plus: Texas musician Carrie Rodriguez joins us to talk about her new collaboration with Calexico.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org

May 14, 2025

An Austin book club has been reading the same novel for more than a decade

Texas Standard

By: David Brown

Texas gets a lot of flack for its culture wars – but some note a change at the Capitol this legislative session.
More than a year after the state took over Shelby Park in Eagle Pass during the peak of illegal border crossings, it has now reopened to the public – and residents have bittersweet feelings.
After a big push from the Trump administration, Mexico promises to make good on water treaty deliveries to Texas. But farmers fear it’ll only be a drop in the bucket.
And: “Finnegans Wake” by James Joyce is so dense and experimental, one reading group in Austin has been working on it for more than a decade – and they’re still not even close to done.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas. You can help make this podcast happen by donating at supportthispodcast.org.

May 13, 2025

Potentially historic heatwave settling in over much of Texas

Texas Standard

By: Angela Kocherga

A record-breaking heat wave will blanket big sections of the state. Is this a preview of summer?
The U.S. has suspended imports of cattle from Mexico as a devastating pest, the New World Screwworm, makes its way north, threatening livestock.
The Houston City Council kicks off budget hearings this week, weighing steep cuts.
The new book “Freedom Season” by Texas author Peniel Joseph explores how the year 1963 transformed civil rights in America.
And: Planning a pit stop at Buc-ee’s? Some of you can now enjoy bathroom art galleries.

May 12, 2025

Houston is the fastest-sinking city in the US, study finds

Texas Standard

By: David Brown

Abortion pills, denial of bail, and a ban on land purchases for some people: What’s happening in the final weeks of the Texas Legislature?
After jackpot controversies, multiple resignations and a ban on online lotto ticket sales, the state’s lottery system is now under investigation.
Cities on the rise across Texas are quite literally sinking, with Houston faring the worst out of any major U.S. metropolis.
The latest projections on a fast-approaching hurricane season.
And: Checking in with Catholics across the state on the first Sunday with a new pope.

×