Texas Standard
David Brown, Angela Kocherga & Laura Rice
June 24, 2026
New podcast revisits the July 4 Hill Country flood aftermath
An important rethink of the state’s K-12 curriculum is on the drawing board in Austin. We’ll get up to speed on a week of contentious hearings now underway as the state board of education takes up a new statewide reading list featuring Bible passages and a reshape of the social studies curriculum.One year after the […]
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June 23, 2026
Can desalination solve Texas’ water future?
As Texas copes with concerns about water, a small river agency near Corpus Christi makes plans to build the largest desalination plant in the country.Pesticides used in the Rio Grande Valley may be the link to the large number of Parkinson’s patients in the region.“The Last 12 Weeks,” a new podcast from The Marshall Project, […]
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June 22, 2026
Court ruling leaves Boca Chica beach fight unresolved
Texas’ Supreme Court hands down a major ruling that looks like a win for SpaceX on the surface but leaves open serious questions about a clause in the Texas Constitution.Texas Tech and Texas A&M try to narrow a health care gap in rural Texas.In North Texas, another World Cup match for Argentina today, this time […]
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June 19, 2026
Exploring Juneteenth and the history and culture of Black Texans
It’s been a celebration for more than 160 years — but only a federal holiday for a few. We’re recognizing Juneteenth on today’s Texas Standard.North Texan Opal Lee is known as the grandmother of Juneteenth for her efforts to get the holiday recognized on a national level. We’ll delve more into the history, as well […]
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June 18, 2026
What the World Cup has revealed so far
With a U.S. Senate contest stealing the political spotlight, where do we stand in the races for the two top spots in Texas politics? A check-in on the governor’s and lieutenant governor’s races.An unannounced feature in smart glasses could reveal the identities of people without their knowledge. Is this the future of personal networking, surveillance, […]
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June 17, 2026
Rural Texas pushes back on data centers
Weather off the Texas Gulf Coast has the potential to bring a lot of rain. We’ll dig into what it might mean for water-hungry cities around the state.We’ve talked a lot about the number of data centers coming to Texas, especially outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Now, a closer look at the legal bind […]
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June 16, 2026
Texas Extra: When the World Comes to Texas Episode 5
When the World Comes Comes to Texas is a podcast from our partners at KERA in North Texas exploring what it means to bring the World cup to the Lone Star State. We’re sharing these episodes with very Tuesday night through June 16th. Episode 5: How to Enjoy Every Kick This World Cup
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June 16, 2026
Corpus Christi’s water fight meets cryptomining
The Strait of Hormuz is set to reopen after months of conflict between the U.S. and Iran. We’ll look at what it could mean for Texas drivers and gas prices.As Corpus Christi faces potential water cuts, questions are mounting over a nearby crypto mine’s water consumption. Why are city officials withholding updated records?With the FIFA […]
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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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