#NASA

NASA mission sounds like a reality show, but it’s gathering data for a Mars journey

One of the state’s biggest counties is looking for a new top election official amid friction over the difficulty of running non-partisan elections. With early voting underway in races statewide, why the resignation of the top elections official in Tarrant County has special resonance.

A closer look at claims of Republican voter suppression in Harris County: how does the narrative square with the data?

In parts of rural Texas, growing opposition to solar and wind farms, where Texas has taken a lead.

And a virtual mission to Mars, in a hangar south of Houston? Four people, one year, and little contact with the outside world.

NASA’s new head scientist on the future of space exploration

Two lawsuits in Texas, one in Galveston and one in Amarillo, have potential impacts on a post-Roe v. Wade world. SMU legal scholar Seema Mohapatra on the implications for people seeking abortions in Texas and beyond.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says he plans to block a Biden administration proposal that would allow thousands of migrants to live in the U.S. while their asylum cases are being considered.

We talk to Dr. Nicola Fox, who has been named NASA’s new head of science – a dream gig that comes with a $7.8 billion budget and responsibility for more than 100 missions.

And a new book, “The People’s Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine,” claims a hospital in Houston could serve as a model for improving health care access nationwide.

A look back at the stories that shaped Texas in 2022

New laws that took effect, decisions from the courts that made history, the fight for social justice and more; it’s 2022 in review. With the Texas Legislature set to reconvene in just days, it’s worth looking back at how much Texas changed over the past 12 months, and what those changes may tell us about what’s to come in the new year. We’ll turn a spotlight on politics and a campaign season that didn’t turn out as expected, the economy, technology and much more as we reconsider the year that was across miles and miles of the Texas, today on the Texas Standard:

What we watched in 2022

In 2022, Texas played more than just bit parts on screens big and small. We look back at the year that was for Texas on film and TV. We’ll have our conversation with one of the most celebrated directors of the Lone Star State, Richard Linklater, on his movie about growing up in Texas at a time when the US was aiming for the moon. Also an actor and comedian from Houston by way of Kuwait, Mo Amer, on his hit Netflix series and what his title character tells us about the Texas of today. And South Texas born comedian, actor and author, Cristela Alonzo on her streaming success, and gettin middle classy. These stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

KUT Morning Newscast for November 22, 2022

Central Texas top stories for November 22, 2022. UT NASA grant. Williamson County Animal Shelter dangerously full. Austin Public Health flu warning. Uvalde police officer resigns. Texas Board of Education no vouchers.

Texas Standard: July 12, 2022

Demands for transparency in the investigation of the mass shooting in Uvalde. The focus: hallway surveillance footage. We’ll have the latest. Also why a big fight may be brewing between Austin and Washington over new air pollution regulations in West Texas. And military annual fitness checks getting swapped out for Fitbits? Plus an immigration lawyer on the front lines to keep families together at the border, reflects on his own migrant past and others directly affected by immigration policy. And new images of events millions of years in the past, the excitement over the space telescope and what the pictures tell us. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:

The Slap!

Confucius and Fresh give their takes on Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the Oscars and talk about Doja Cat’s announcement that she’s retiring.

This week on Hip-Hop Facts you’ll hear interesting things about the real singer on Will Smith’s “Men in Black,” how Fat Joe is connected to Grandmaster Flash, why Prodigy’s verse never ended up on M.O.P.’s “Ante Up” Remix,  Why Pusha T may resent McDonald’s and more!

Fresh states the Unpopular Opinion that hip-hop journalism is in as good a space as it’s been in a while.

Confucius talks about the return of NASA’s Mark Vande Hei after 355 days in space, the latest COVID booster news, the slap, and Joe Biden’s comments about Putin.

 

Texas Standard: April 1, 2022

The release of oil from the nation’s strategic reserves; an effort to lower gas prices but also turn up the heat on Texas oil and gas producers? Also, what’s believed to be a first of its kind conference for Texas’ nine historically Black colleges and universities set for Austin. And, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune. All this and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 21, 2022

Historic confirmation hearings begin for the first Black woman nominated to sit on the highest court in the nation. What to expect in the confirmation hearings for Ketanji Brown Jackson. A Houston-based legal scholar weighs in. Also, the U.S. repose to the invasion of Ukraine. With President Biden set to go to Europe this week, Texas democratic congressman Mark Veasey of Fort Worth joins us to talk about what comes next. And a Johnson Space Center Historian on Making Space for Women in the story of NASA. And big trouble for small airports across the Lone Star State. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

LBJ’s Humor

When most people think of Lyndon Johnson they don’t envision a man with a great sense of humor. He was in power in turbulent times.

When I see his face in my mind I see a man who was troubled, an unsmiling man with furrows in his brow accentuating unrelenting worries. Yet even in those dark moments his humor would surface unexpectedly and lighten his mood. He once said “When the burdens of the presidency seem unusually heavy, I always remind myself it could be worse. I could be a mayor.”

He also said, facetiously,  “There are no favorites in my office. I treat everyone with the same general inconsideration.”

Though he didn’t have the public eloquence of Kennedy or King, he was interpersonally charismatic. He was a wonderful storyteller. Last week, I had the pleasure, and the honor I might add, of speaking with Doris Kearns Goodwin for about 30 minutes. As you may know, she worked closely with LBJ for 7 years, and because of her professional relationship with him, out of all the biographies about him, I would argue that hers is the most humanizing. No writer knew him better.

Dr. Goodwin told me that LBJ was a fantastic storyteller and she never tired of listening to him, though eventually she came to realize that his stories were not all completely true. He might have used my tag line.  Some of his stories were apocryphal. Goodwin told me that, like Lincoln, LBJ used stories to animate his points, to skewer his adversaries, or simply to amuse and entertain folks.

He learned his storytelling, she said, from his father and grandfather. He listened at night as they talked politics on the porch with local power brokers. That became LBJ’s unique power, too: interpersonal persuasion. He could read people and package an argument, often in story form, so that it was uniquely positioned for them.

Let me share a couple of LBJ stories that my father, a great admirer of LBJ, shared with me long ago.

LBJ liked to refer to Barry Goldwater and Nelson Rockefeller as Barry and Rocky. He said: “I understand that Barry and Rocky, in running for the GOP nomination, are both cutting way back on their visits to California. Reminds me of a case in Texas where a man wanted to run for Sheriff against an unpopular incumbent named Uncle Johnny.  Man asked his friend Dave if he thought he had a chance. Dave said, ‘Well, I guess it depends on who meets the most people.’ ‘Yeah, that’s what I was thinking,’ said the man. Dave explained further, ‘If he meets the most people you’ll win and if you meet the most people he’ll win.’ That’s the situation Barry and Rocky find themselves in.”

One last one is about a “boy in Texas who was very poor and tired of seeing his mama struggling so much to feed her family. So he sent a letter to God asking for 100 dollars for his mama. The letter got forwarded eventually to the postmaster general in Washington D.C. He took pity on the boy and put 20 dollars in an envelope and mailed it to him. Two weeks later, the postmaster got a letter back from the boy that said, “Dear God, thank you for sending the money, but next time don’t send it through Washington cuz they took 80% of it.”

Doris Kearns Goodwin said that it was LBJ’s time teaching in Cotulla that inspired and shaped his vision for the Great Society. She’s happy to see that LBJ is getting long deserved credit now for the progressive laws and policies he passed in his time, like Medicaid and Medicare, and the Voting Rights Act, as well as the institutions he helped to found, like NASA and Public Broadcasting. She just wishes he was still around to see it. He would certainly smile.

Texas Standard: December 17, 2021

An historic change coming to the US military in the wake of the 2020 killing of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen. That story and more today on the Texas Standard.

Coming up, Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia on the changes coming with the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act, now on the President’s desk. We’ll have the latest.

Also, a battle in the Texas Hill country over efforts to go solar- the pushback coming from a local power provider.

And a new space telescope that can see deep into the universe and into the past. We’ll talk with the Texas professor co-leading an important project. Plus, the week in Texas politics and much more.

Texas Standard: October 15, 2021

A likely appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court as the 5th Circuit reaffirms a decision to let Texas’ near total abortion ban remain in effect. Other stories we are tracking: in the final days of a third special session, the Texas House green lights a bill that would force transgender Texas youth to play on public school sports teams that align with their sex assigned at birth. Also, why supply chains have become a big worry for everyday Texans. And a horror film with a message steeped in the Mexican American experience. We’ll meet the star who hails from the Rio Grande Valley. Plus the week in politics and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 17, 2020

As coronavirus numbers continue to surge in Texas – health care providers are desperate for resources and energy for the battle ahead. Today on the Texas Standard. We’ll check in with communities across the state about the specific challenges in their neck of Texas. Plus, how one Texas university has cracked down on compliance with COVID-19 prevention measures. It’s not without controversy. And, the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America facing an uncertain future after tens of thousands lobby sexual abuse allegations. Plus, some smart brains here in Texas have figured out we can investigate the very first stars. How? I’ll go ahead and say it — it’s pretty out of this world. Today on the Texas Standard.

Texas Standard: November 11, 2020

It is perhaps fittingly called the case of California versus Texas. At issue: whether the Affordable Care Act will survive. We’ll take a closer look at likely outcomes. At stake in a closely watched case heard yesterday by the U.S. Supreme Court: something much bigger than politics, namely health insurance for more than 20 million Americans, protections from denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions and more. How convincing was Texas’ legal case against it? And a woman in Houston set to make space history with the next moonshot. Plus are you ready for some football? Texas voters seem to be having second thoughts. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: November 10, 2020

He is a major political figure who has yet to publicly recognize Joe Biden’s victory in the general election. But he’s not a republican hold out, either. Texas democrats upset that the president of Mexico, a country often seen as maligned by President Trump, is reluctant to accept the outcome of the U.S. general elections. We’ll explore why not. Also, this is the season for the Texas legislature: packages calling for voting reform and more land at the capitol in the run up to the next session. And NASA says to a company in Midland with big plans for space. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: June 1, 2020

Texans across the state join nationwide protests in the wake of the death of George Floyd, as officials try to control nighttime looting and violence. In cities large and small, peaceful protests over police brutality devolve into violent clashes, vandalism and mayhem over the weekend. And the governor calls in state troopers and national guard troops. We’ll survey the state of the state, now officially declared a state of disaster. Also a look at why some social justice activists see police contracts as central to a solution. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: March 25, 2020

They are the toughest measures yet to deal with Coronavirus in Texas. What’s the real world significance of new stay in place orders in cities across the Lone Star State? We’ll take a closer look. Also, the tenth biggest economy in the world asks Washington for help. What Texas wants to do with that disaster money. And how even NASA’s trying to shelter in place, while preparing for liftoff. Plus maintaining faith amid quarantine, how communities are staying together while keeping their distance. All those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: December 25, 2019

From what was once the furthest frontier of the west, a mission to the furthest frontier of humankind. From Texas to the moon on this special edition of the Texas Standard. On July 20th 1969, the world held its breath as astronauts from the United States did something nearly unimaginable. But the pathway to the first moon landing ran through Texas and the marks of that journey left deep and lasting impressions the lunar surface and on the Lone Star State. On this Christmas day, we invite you to join us as we explore that Highway to the Moon: How Texas Paved the Way for Apollo:

Vanessa Wyche (Ep. 40, 2019)

This week on In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Vanessa Wyche, Deputy Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.  She is the first African American deputy director at NASA.

Texas Standard: July 19, 2019

From what was once the furthest frontier of the west, a mission to the furthest frontier of humankind. On July 20th 1969, the world held its breath as astronauts from the United States did something nearly unimaginable. But the pathway to the first moon landing ran through Texas, and the marks of that journey have left deep and lasting impressions on the lunar surface, and on the Lone Star State. And they might serve as waymarks for our future, too. The Texas Standard special, Highway to the Moon: How Texas Paved the Way for Apollo: