Stories from Texas

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August 24, 2022

Flying to school on my Western Flyer

By: W.F. Strong

With school back in session across most parts of the lone star state, Texas Standard commentator WF Strong is among those starting off the morning with drop offs at school. But while he was dripping off his daughter the other day — waiting in a line of cars stretching for blocks — he noticed no kids were walking to school or riding bikes. It got him thinking about his own first day of 2nd grade.


Episodes

August 13, 2025

The sky welcomes you home

The start of the school year means it’s the end of summer travel season for many families. As Texans well know, depending on where you live in the state, it can take longer to travel out of it than to cross several state lines beyond our borders. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong reflects on coming […]

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July 16, 2025

The hat that made the cowboy

There are a few symbols so deeply woven into the fabric of Texas that they seem as native as mesquite or bluebonnets. One of them is the Stetson hat. Not just any Stetson hat – the Boss of the Plains. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says that oddly enough, it didn’t come from Texas at […]

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July 2, 2025

Creative smuggling when Texas was a republic

If there’s one thing the Texans of the early republic never lacked, it was imagination – especially when it came to dodging tariffs and taxes. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explains.

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May 21, 2025

The Comanche Moon

Back in frontier times, it was the most deeply feared moon in Texas and northern Mexico.

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April 23, 2025

New York aids Texas Revolution

This bit of history really does seem too strange to be true. It involves the family of John Wilkes Booth, the son of Abraham Lincoln, and Sam Houston.

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April 2, 2025

Whistling while you work

Growing up in Texas, WF Strong found that whistling played a important role in his life. But there are many ways to whistle. He explores a few of them.

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March 12, 2025

The 100th meridian

If you examine any good map of Texas, you’ll notice a natural division of East and West Texas that runs from the eastern side of the Panhandle down to Abilene and San Angelo and on past Uvalde to Carrizo Springs and Laredo. To the west side of that line is arid and to the east […]

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January 29, 2025

John Steinbeck (and Charley) on Texas

Steinbeck’s comments about Texas and Texans go well beyond his “Texas is a state of mind” quote. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explores.

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