Texas Standard
David Brown, Angela Kocherga & Laura Rice
February 20, 2026
What happens now after Supreme Court strikes down Trump’s tariffs
A major repudiation of one of the Trump administration’s signature initiatives: The Supreme Court’s tariff decision and the Texas impact today on the Standard.A new investigative report reveals six deaths in six weeks at immigration detention centers in Texas. Other stories we’re tracking: As the first week of early voting in the Texas primaries comes […]
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February 19, 2026
Talarico interview on Colbert controversy shakes up race
James Talarico’s campaign raises millions after an interview with Stephen Colbert is pulled. But was it really a backfire against President Trump? The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey with the lowdown.A look at a hugely important hearing today for four men accused of the notorious 1991 yogurt shop murders in Austin.Also, why are so many barbecue […]
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February 18, 2026
Exploring Texas’ deepest underwater cave system
Wildfire risk is so high in the Texas Panhandle that an energy company preemptively cut off power to avoid lines blowing down and starting to spark. We’ll take a closer look at the situation.Early voting is underway across Texas. We sent reporters to polls across the state to hear from voters who made it out […]
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February 17, 2026
W.F. Strong on Robert Duvall’s Texas legacy and ‘Lonesome Dove’
Early voting is underway in Texas for the primaries. We’ll go over what you need to know before casting a ballot on today’s show.With Paxton out, a look at the candidates who want to be the next attorney general in Texas.How Houston’s Johnson Space Center will play a critical role in the Artemis II mission […]
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February 16, 2026
The Texans in the Epstein files
Can Sylvia Garcia, Houston’s only Latina U.S. representative, hang on to her seat? We may know sooner than some realize.If you were waiting for this fall for the start of election season, wait no more. Early voting in the state’s primaries is set to begin tomorrow. A closer look at a race with huge implications […]
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February 13, 2026
New exhibit peels back mystique surrounding Daniel Johnston
Major changes at one of the state’s flagship universities, with UT Austin consolidating seven departments focused on ethnic and gender studies into two new ones.Five years since Winter Storm Uri and a massive blackout that led to investigations and a rethink of how the state manages the power grid. What’s changed? A look back.The Standard’s […]
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February 12, 2026
How an AI data center is driving a housing crisis in Abilene
What really happened that led to a sudden and largely unprecedented shutdown of the airspace and the airport in El Paso? We’ll dive in on today’s Texas Standard.With just days to go before early voting begins in the Texas primaries, Blaise Gainey of The Texas Newsroom gets us up to speed on the Democratic race […]
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February 11, 2026
Probe raises concerns over pregnant migrant girls held in Texas
The FAA reopened airspace around El Paso as abruptly as it shut it down. We’ll dig into what we know about the strange and unprecedented actions.A months-long investigation from The Texas Newsroom and The California Newsroom finds pregnant migrant girls are being held at a South Texas shelter that’s been flagged as medically inadequate. Why […]
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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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