The president-elect says he might use the military to support mass deportations of migrants in the country without legal authorization. But there are considerable obstacles to such an effort, both legal and logistic.
A new trade policy with an accent on tariffs. How Texas might find itself in the crosshairs.
Gov. Greg Abbott is pushing to boost nuclear power in the Lone Star State.
With the WNBA set to add teams in San Francisco, Portland and Toronto, there’s speculation about a 16th team. Could Austin be next?
And: how to kickstart a Kickstarter campaign.
Nuclear
Everything you always wanted to know about the Texas energy grid
Texas senators met yesterday to talk about two divisive issues: property taxes and the impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton. So where do things stand?
Can Texas’ power grid withstand the heat? We’ll get detailed on supply and demand.
A new book from journalist Dan Solomon, ‘The Fight for Midnight,’ reimagines Wendy Davis’ 2013 abortion filibuster as YA fiction.
And a new law protecting trap-neuter-release programs for cats will soon go into effect – but some say there’s a problem no one considered.
The fight to save a historic hotel along the Texas Gulf Coast
With the impending end of Title 42 restrictions there’s a growing humanitarian crisis at the border. The director of Homeland Security joins us as record a record number of migrants arrive on the border. We’ll hear from the director of a network of regional shelters. Other stories we’re tracking: how the military is trying to deal with a rise in suicide deaths among service members. Also: an effort to save an historic gulf coast landmark hotel from the wrecking ball. Plus a just-announced breakthrough in nuclear fusion and what it could mean for Texas. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 5, 2020
A one page letter signed by seven of the attorney general’s top aides ask for an investigation of the Texas attorney general. We’ll hear more about the complain, and how Paxton and other top Texas officials are responding. Also, the president and other top republicans urging supporters to be poll watchers. Just who can become a poll watcher, what does that involve, and what are the limits to their activities? And the hispanic republican from Nixon to Trump plus a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 12, 2020
Who’s entitled to cast a mail in ballot? A new lawsuit says the Attorney General’s advice might have broken election laws. We’ll try to sort out the confusion. Plus, is 2020 the year Texas turns blue? A perennial question reemerges with a little more oomph this election season. And oil plummeting rising unemployment, what else? A new report on a hit to the Texas economy few in our major cities are talking about. And the decisions faced by some families on whether to get loved ones out of nursing facilities. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 29, 2019
And then there were 10: Houston sets the stage for the third round of Democratic presidential debates. We’ll look at how this time things will be different. Other stories we’re tracking: the path of hurricane Dorian as it bears down on the U.S. mainland, a storm that promised to put the new governor of Puerto Rico to the test. Also a new effort by Texas to test for THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. And the future of the space industry in Texas after another launch this week. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: August 14, 2019
A time for reflection and healing as El Paso holds a city-wide memorial service for the 22 victims of the August 3rd mass shooting. We’ll have the latest. Other stories were watching: two incidents half a world away. How protests in Hong Kong and an explosion in the arctic circle could have ripple effects for the Lone Star State. Also, a tale of two governments fighting HPV. How a nation with a population and economy the size of Texas is beating the Lone Star State, and what we might learn. All of that and then some today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: July 9, 2019
A new court ruling on the so-called “broken” Texas foster care system and efforts to fix it. We’ll take a look at where things stand now. Plus, the U.S. withdrew from the Iran Nuclear Deal, and Iran is now violating it. Where that leaves allies and what’s next. And poking holes in the “Texas Miracle”: a new picture of how the state’s recession resistance didn’t benefit the whole state. Plus, drag racing returns to a Texas border town reviving a cultural past time and just something fun to do. We’ll take you to the track. And we’ll check in on the latest drama over the citizenship question on the U.S. census. All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: June 13, 2018
A Texas-based company wins approval for a deal that could remake media as we know it. What does it mean for Texas? More on the AT&T-Time Warner merger.
A plan to provide armed marshals at Texas public schools. Will it help prevent more school schootings like the one at Santa Fe High School?
Also, from College Station to Los Alamos: what Texas A&M brings to the table as it wins a contract to help at the nation’s oldest and biggest nuclear research facility.
And the President’s claim that the Coast Guard rescued looky-loos in the gulf during Hurricane Harvey. A politifact check and a whole lot more.
Texas Standard: May 9, 2018
The go it alone strategy: as North Korea returns three American hostages, a new test for Trumpian diplomacy, we’ll explore. Also, it’s being touted as an historic deal between inmates and the Texas prison system over air conditioning. What could be a lifesaver nationwide. And more cracked windows and more plane diversions: should there be age limits on commercial aircraft? We’ll explore. Also, Senator Ted Cruz’s Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke says there’s never been a connection between the border and terrorism. A Politifact check on that claim. And losing the plot: officials try to identify who owns a mystery cemetery. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 7, 2018
Decision day on the horizon for the controversial arms deal with Iran. Could there be collateral damage? We’ll explore. Also, the party’s over for the NRA in Dallas. What was said, and left unsaid in the wake of the national convention. Plus: e-scooters scattered about the streets of a growing number of cities. There are benefits to be sure, but cities wrestle with whether they outweigh the costs. And hundreds arrested, no one yet convicted We’ll have an update on the Waco biker trials. Also big changes for hundreds of thousands of insured Texans who may be on the hook for 100 percent of ER charges. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 3, 2018
Who will be the next speaker of the Texas house of representatives? The answer could have a big impact on you. We’ll look at how the race is shaping up. Who’s the next Joe Straus? That is: who’s likely to take over as the third leg in the triumvirate of Texas politics, and what will that mean for the rest of us? We’ll explore. Also, guess who’s coming to Dallas: the National Rifle association in the spotlight. And the Texas school that gave out too many scholarships- UT tyler struggles with a perfect storm. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: April 24, 2018
Flattery will get you how far, exactly? How the French Prime Minister’s trying to cultivate a special relationship with the US President, and what it really means. Also, after the Cold War what happened to all those nuclear-tipped missiles? A lot of them wound up in Amarillo, and now, the stockpiles are adding up to a potential crisis. Rick Perry’s Plutonium problem. Plus in the US, the word Socialist used to be a political slur. But now, it’s becoming a campaign platform even in traditionally conservative states, including you know where. And a New York Times reporter tells us about the tea party movement on the left, and its rise in Texas. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: February 5, 2018
Botched executions: that’s the claim from the attorneys of the latest man put to death in Texas. We’ll examine the details. Also it’s incredibly delicate work: manufacturing and maintaining the country’s nuclear weapons. Why a new contract could be putting that work at an Amarillo plant at risk. And Mexico’s state owned petroleum company is mired in challenges. We’ll look at why and how it’s affecting the country’s relationship with the US. Plus, in Houston an effort to preserve a bit of Latino history, and a new book preserves the history of Big Spring. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 11, 2017
Published reports say the US set to decertify the nuclear agreement with Iran. Deal or no deal? And what’s the big deal for Texans? We’ll explore. Also, the question a lot of folks in lubbock and way beyond are asking right now: how could a student get a gun into a Texas Tech police facility? A specialist in law enforcement says that may be the wrong question. Plus despite Republican efforts, it lives: But sign up less than a month away, what should Texans expect? And will the Houston Rockets ever be the sort of team that’ll be talked about like the Lakers or the Celtics? The new owner says that’s the plan. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 16, 2017
A tweak to a plan to ban sanctuary cities statewide: one that could make a big difference at the side of the road, we’ll explore. Also jammed 911 lines blamed for two deaths in Dallas: is a cellphone glitch gumming up the whole emergency system? And a regulation aimed at preventing another west, suddenly headed south. What this means for efforts to safeguard chemical plants and the people who live near them. Also a crime problem so bad the city’s police chief says you can’t arrest your way out of this one. We’ll hear the backstory. And the latest effort to curb fake news: is that a robot editing your Facebook feed? All of that and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: March 1, 2017
In politics, style doesn’t normally trump substance. Does a change in tone portend a change in policy and if so how? We’ll explore. Also two Texas congressmen, one a democrat, the other a republican, tell us what they heard and what they didn’t in the president’s maiden address to Congress. Plus, the re-making of a president the old fashioned way: we’ll chat with the man who made a reconsideration of LBJ his personal mission. Also: look: up in the sky. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: June 28, 2016
The decision’s come down, but now what? As Texas abortion rights advocates celebrate opponents recalibrate. We’ll explore. Also though crime remains down in general, in Texas cities and across the us, what some are calling a nearly unprecedented wave of homicides. We’ll explore why. Plus an invitation to the rest of the nation: West Texas wants your nuclear waste? We’ll hear what’s up…and why it might not be a solution for the ages. And not just preaching to the choir, how messages from the pulpit may be changing foster care. And just how long should a baseball stadium last? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
V&B – Jazz & The Atomic Age
In this episode of Views & Brews, KUT’s Rebecca McInroy joins Rabbi/Jazz Historian Neil Blumofe and a live jazz ensemble (Sam Penke – bass, Ephraim Owens – trumpet, Andre Hayward – trombone, Scott Laningham – drums, Mike Malone – saxophone) in a discussion about jazz, post-war paranoia, and the Atomic Age, with a focus on the music of mid-century America, highlighting the work of Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, Charles Mingus, Louis Armstrong, and Duke Ellington. Beyond the old duck and cover drills of the Cold War, how do we cope with the constant threat of existential disaster? How does our music reflect our hopes and our anxieties? How do we distinguish between the treacle of intoxicating propaganda and the ineffable wonder that transforms our soul? What truly, conquers our fears?
Texas Standard: September 4, 2015
The Iran nuclear agreement looks like a done deal, but for a Texan who endured months in captivity, can Tehran be trusted? Plus, you turn on the tap, and the water explodes…as in a ball of fire. We’ll hear about the case that could force a rethink over fracking. And horned frogs and raiders and bears, oh my…first and ten time again—but this year, with controversies swirling more college football fans are holding their noses.
Also, the week in Texas politics, Wagner with a Texas accent, your labor day weekend to do list and lots more on todays Texas Standard: