KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts
KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond
Texas has had perhaps more than its share of unusual names of cities and towns. Cut and Shoot – Dime Box – Bug Tussle. But perhaps the strangest was Toadsuck, Texas. You won’t find it on a map today because it eventually became Collinsville in western Grayson County. But for a relatively brief and shining historical period, Toadsuck was a real Texas town. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong has the story of how it got that strange name.
April 2, 2025
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.
Listen
March 12, 2025
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 […]
Listen
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.
Listen
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.
Listen
December 19, 2024
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.
Listen
December 4, 2024
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 […]
Listen
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.
Listen
November 7, 2024
Could Napoleon have ruled over Texas?
A strongman politician is something we’ve heard a lot about recently. This Stories From Texas is about a strongman from history and a plan to set him up anew in Texas. Texas Standard Commentator W.F. Strong dug up this story — one that you probably didn’t hear about in Texas history, for one, because it […]
Listen
