Stories from Texas

Stories from Texas > All Episodes

January 18, 2023

We Might Oughtta Praise Texas Grammar

By: W.F. Strong

Those who didn’t grow up in Texas can have a lot of trouble with the way many Texans pronounce many place names. Think Gruene or Refugio. But commentator WF Strong noticed sumpin’ else — some Texans use words you pert near won’t hear in other parts of the country.


Episodes

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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December 31, 2024

Do you have a favorite W.F. Strong story? Here are our top 10

Texas Standard is celebrating its 10th birthday by looking back on 10 years of covering Texas. One way we’re going to do that is with top 10 lists. We started by counting down our top 10 Stories from Texas from commentator W.F. Strong.

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December 19, 2024

Fronters and backers

Some of the most frustrating hours of our lives might be spent in a vehicle. After some hard times on the road, nothing can feel better than the perfect parking spot at the place you need to be. But how will you pull in? Texas Standard commentator WF Strong has some thoughts.

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December 4, 2024

A tale of a stolen town

On the western side of the Panhandle, right on the Texas/New Mexico border are two towns that were established just a few years apart in the late 1800s. They were separated by a line as thin as a goal line. They both still exist today — with populations of less than 1,500 each. But Texas […]

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November 20, 2024

How some donated land became a bounty for a small town’s students

Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says the Gruver Farm Scholarship Foundation has already made a multi-generational impact.

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