KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond

grief

How the government shutdown impacts Texas

The federal government is officially shut down. What does it mean for Texas, and what happens next in Washington?
Also, the Supreme Court opens a new term and major rulings are ahead. What can we expect from the nation’s highest court over the next few months?
And wildfire risk is climbing as the state swelters through record heat and one of the driest Septembers on record. We’ll get the seasonal forecast from Matt Lanza of Space City Weather.
Plus, is Buc-ee’s just a convenience store, or a full-blown cult? A look at Texas brand loyalty and the roadside beaver that built an empire.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org

Ben Kweller on grief, music and ‘Cover the Mirrors’

As Texas lawmakers move to consider regulations on THC products, what’s legal, and what’s not? KUT News reporter Nathan Bernier joins us to break it down.

As many see the future of energy as cleaner renewables, why many in the city of Port Arthur are pinning their hopes for a comeback – on oil.

At the Austin YMCA, adults are conquering their fear of water and gaining life-saving skills through swim lessons designed just for them. Texas Standard producer Sarah Asch has the story.

Plus: Two years after the death of his teenage son, a father’s musical journey to find healing: Our conversation with Dripping Springs-based musician Ben Kweller.

KUT Morning Newscast for July 14, 2025: Leander vigil honors flood victims as community grapples with grief

Central Texas top stories for July 14, 2025. A flood watch is still in effect for Central Texas until 9 tonight. A candlelight vigil in Leander this weekend helped people grapple with the grief caused by deadly floods in Central Texas over the Fourth of July weekend. Congregants from churches across Kerrville, in Central Texas, are preparing for a lengthy recovery. Austin firefighters say they have no confidence in Chief Joel Baker over flood response. The Austin Independent School District is hosting four workshops this week on its plan to consolidate campuses to save money; the first one is tonight.

Processing the range of emotions surrounding Hill Country flood tragedy

The Texas Newsroom finds that responders to the Hill Country floods called for a public alert early Friday, a warning some say came hours too late.
The upcoming special session of the Legislature, which originally looked like it would focus on regulating THC, now includes several emergency preparedness topics.
And: Gillian Rodriguez with the Texas Counseling Association in the Hill Country has been pulling together resources to help fellow Texans process the range of emotions surrounding the devastating flooding.

Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas.

You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org

Hospice

We’ll all have unavoidable goodbyes on Earth. The details may be different but those left living will undoubtedly face big and complex and changing feelings. This Typewriter Rodeo poem offers one experience as an example.

Children’s Grief


Children often have it the hardest in terms of personal loss, and kid gloves can only go so far. In this penultimate episode, Ike interviews Laura Olague and Kathy Revtyak of the Children’s Grief Center of El Paso to discuss ambiguous grief, secondary loss, bereavement, coping processes and more.

Has Texas cracked down on protest after 2020’s racial justice demonstrations?

Do Texans support raising the minimum age to purchase firearms? We’ll hear the results of a new study by the Texas Politics Project.

The struggle to find staffing for the state’s psychiatric hospital system as needs for mental health support post pandemic have grown.

In response to the murder of George Floyd and police brutality broadly, people across Texas headed out to protest. A few years after those demonstrations, there’s been a backlash, writes the Houston Chronicle’s Jeremy Wallace.

Fusion … or something more? Taco journalist Mando Rayo on the similarities between food from Mexico and the Philippines.

And the Standard’s Shelly Brisbin on what may be emerging as the front-runner to replace Twitter.

Virtual Grieving

When we lose someone close to us we go through a very significant and public grieving process. When we hear of horrific tragedies our bodies and brains want to grieve for those losses as well, but we don’t have the same social community to grieve with. In today’s episode of Two Guys on Your Head, with Dr. Art Markman and Dr. Bob Duke, we learn about the process of virtual grieving and why it’s so important to maintain mental health.

Uvalde (by way of Encanto)

There may not be sufficient words to describe the feelings of horror, grief, and anger over the shooting at an Uvalde elementary school that killed 19 students and two teachers. This Typewriter Rodeo poem honors those lost.

Texas Standard: January 24, 2022

Austin has ’em, so does San Antonio–now, almost five years after Hurricane Harvey, Harris County officials are looking into massive underground tunnels to help with flooding. Also, why Texas is one of only four states where employment numbers have bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. And, Austin-based author on her new book exploring the Mexican American experience in Texas. Those stories and more, today on the Texas Standard:

Being Kind To Yourself In COVID Times

Risk, isolation, and grief are experiences that have been amplified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Spending some time to recognize the small things, even if painful or negative, was the inspiration for this Typewriter Rodeo poem.

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