A resource center in San Antonio now in the spotlight. It’s the focus of a national controversy over transporting migrants out of state. At least three migrants from Venezuela file suit against Florida’s governor and other top officials alleging false promises designed to lure them to travel from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard. We’ll have details. Also after a hurricane strike’s Puerto Rico, a privatized power grid leaves more than a million without electricity. Echoes of Texas’ own power grid issues? We’ll explore. And as the U.S. moves to over the counter hearing aids, privacy advocates are raising concerns. We’ll hear why plus a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Puerto Rico
Texas Standard: August 11, 2021
ICU bed capacity is slim to none in most parts of the state. What that means on a practical level and why adding more beds isn’t really the solution. And as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the state, the messages about the protection of getting vaccinated and wearing masks continue. But do we need to change what we’re saying or how we’re saying it? And how safe is it to go to a concert right now? Musicians and venues weigh the risks. Plus we’ll take a closer look the infrastructure bill in Washington and how much money could come to Texas. And we’ll examine national identity and sports as we talk with a Texan who competed at the Olympics under the Puerto Rican flag. Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 18, 2021
Is there a doctor in the House? At least one COVID-19 case reported among Texas lawmakers and what that may mean for getting back to business at the Texas capitol, we’ll have the latest. Also, President elect Joe Biden says one of the first things he’ll do after inauguration is rejoin the Paris Climate accords but new research from Texas A&M suggests one of the targets for temperature limits is already on track to being exceeded. Game over? Not quite. We’ll hear why and what comes next. And federal officials approve new standards of health care in a crisis for people with disabilities. So what changes in Texas? Also, amid a new reckoning on race, remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. All of those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 22, 2020
Just ahead of Super Tuesday, voter registration hits an all time high in Texas. We’ll look at what the new record setting numbers add up to. Other stories we’re tracking: governor Abbott’s decision to stop accepting refugees, widely panned by big city mayors and major newspaper editorial boards. We’ll hear why its playing out in somewhat unexpected ways in Amarillo. And Politifact Texas marks 10 years separating fact from fiction. All of those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: January 17, 2020
As the senate takes up impeachment, it takes up something else in the spirit of bipartisanship with major implications for Texas, we’ll hear all about it. Also, Texas among the states becoming magnets for people from Puerto Rico. As the territory hits population lows, who’s left? And remembering a moment that made Barbara Jordan a household name 24 years after her passing. Plus the week in Texas politics and much 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: July 31, 2019
On the national stage in Detroit, a declaration that Texas is in play for the Democrats in 2020. We’ll have a Texas take on the democratic debate last night. Also, the president’s border wall gets real for Starr county. NPR’s John burnett tells us what he’s learned about nearly 100 miles of new fencing. Plus a Politifact check that crime at the border’s gone way down. And an historic agreement on bail reform in Texas’ biggest county. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: July 26, 2019
After an unofficial moratorium, a revival of the federal death penalty. The protocol they plan to use mirrors the Texas model, we’ll have more. And: Texans with ties to Puerto Rico ask what’s next after the resignation of the territorial governor. Many are wondering where the movement that led to his ouster goes from here. Also: UT San Antonio gets tapped to boost research on battlefield trauma care in hopes of helping veterans. Plus: The week in Texas politics and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: July 23, 2019
It’s not just protesters in Puerto Rico. From Killeen to El Paso and beyond, Texans with ties to the territory join a push to get its governor to resign. We’ll have the latest. Also: El Chapo, the drug lord convicted in a U.S. court last week, ordered to forfeit a multibillion dollar fortune. But not so fast, says Mexico’s president. We’ll hear more. And a vital vein running from Midland across the great plains is running dry. What does it mean for farms and towns across west Texas and beyond? All of that and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 20, 2018
They called it the Battle of the Sexes, although to many it resembled a circus. We’ll take a look at an event staged in Houston in the 70’s that reverberates even today. Also, the decision stands: the Supreme Court refuses to intervene in a lower court ruling that may force political nonprofits to reveal major donors. What it might mean for the midterms. And beyond all the talk of trade wars, tariffs now hitting texans down on the farm. We’ll take a look. And you didn’t rent the movie: you bought it online. But you might not be able to keep it? How the digital age is redefining what’s yours and what might not be. All of that and a whole lot more on today’s Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: May 24, 2018
Can schools identify violent students before they commit mass murder? After Santa Fe, the mental health of students in the spotlight. Governor Abbott’s roundtables on gun violence after the Santa Fe High School massacre getting national attention. Now the governor is calling on mental health screening programs to identify would-be mass murderers, we’ll have more. And a clean water shortage in hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico: how Texas is coming to the rescue. And the end of an era at the University of Texas El Paso: our conversation with the outgoing president, once named one of the 50 world’s greatest leaders. And epic low turnout at the polls: what does this tell us about Texas politics? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: November 15, 2017
A death at a college campus: now Texas State joins the ranks of universities nationwide putting greek life on hold, perhaps for good? We’ll have the latest. Also, 26 people were killed by the shooter at Sutherland Springs, but there’s something in those numbers that goes beyond the horror of mass shootings and it appears firmly grounded in the debate over abortion, we’ll hear how and why. And after outrages over the improper use of police force, many Texas cities embraced body cameras. But not all as readily as others, a report card. And do you know who’s listening to your cell phone call? Could it be the Texas military? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 13, 2017
After repeated demands by democrats, a Texas lawmaker unveils articles of impeachment against President Trump. Now what? We’ll have the latest. Also, an army task force returns to Texas from Puerto Rico. We’ll hear what they encountered, and why the need for help isn’t likely to end any time soon. Plus, once it was hailed as a super principal for helping save a troubled school now she’s on suspension. A controversy that’s stunned the Houston community. And after a long fight to win UNESCO recognition for the Alamo, the president announces plans to pull out of the UN’s cultural wing, we’ll have the implications. Plus the week in politics with the Texas tribune and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 10, 2017
Federal law enforcement created a new term that’s stirring up controversy: “Black Identity Extremists”. We’ll explore what’s really behind the FBI’s latest report. Plus, one crop in the Texas hit hard by rain: pumpkins. Some patches lost up to half the harvest, but this farmer still hopes you get your pick. And south of the panhandle pumpkin patch, lithium ion batteries in Lubbock. Elon Musk says he can rebuild Puerto Rico’s power grid using a technique tested in Texas. We’ll find out how. And, could tech speed up the commute across the South Texas border? Those stories and more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: October 5, 2017
It oversees tens of thousands of state employees, many with side jobs to make ends meet. But at the top: a different story. Health and Human Services has 11 administrations now making over 200 thousand dollars a year. 10 years ago, there were none. The agency says that’s not a fair comparison, we’ll talk with the Dallas News reporter who’s been doing the numbers. Also, several Houston schools on the do or die list this year: improve performance or get shut down, then along came Hurricane Harvey. The challenge faced by both schools and kids aiming for better grades. And you’ve heard about underground workers.. Why so little about the consumers? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 29, 2017
New York, Chicago, parts of Florida known for large Puerto Rican communities. My, after Maria, it’s looking like destination Texas. We’ll have the story. Also, a conversation with the head of Texas Task Force One, one of the first rescue groups to arrive in Puerto Rico. Plus, that phone in your hand? Chances are, it’s also a radio. An emergency communication device even if a cell tower’s down. So why don’t all phone companies turn on the chip? Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:
Texas Standard: September 26, 2017
Travis County’s Sheriff does a 180 after a ruling on Senate Bill 4. All ICE Detainers will be honored, but it’s not so simple. The status quo ante, the way things were before SB4. Is that what the court wants Texas to return to? We’ll try to sort out an opinion that’s left considerable confusion over the short term implementation of Texas’ so-called sanctuary cities bill. Also, remember the Texas Miracle? A piece in the New York times asks the question, Texas, you still feelin miraculous? And harvey sparks global interest in the concept of sponge cities. Like the suburbs, only extra absorbent. All that and a whole lot more on the national news show of Texas, the Texas Standard:
Sidney Mintz (Extended Interview)
“Most of all I would like more coming to terms with what happened…I think what needs to be done is for all of my fellow citizens in this country to understand what happened and to be able to say, this is what was done and now we must think about how to make the playing field level for all of us in this country, and by some ways for all of us eventually in the world. Because we can’t live by ignoring that past.” –Sidney Mintz
In this bonus edition of The Secret Ingredient, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy revisit the conversation with anthropologist Sidney Mintz about his seminal work “Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar In Modern History.”
The interview took place in September of 2015 and later that year on December 27th Dr. Mintz passed away.
In this extended interview, Mintz not only takes us through our prehistoric relationship to sweetness–from the bloody history of slavery and sugar production to our current state of the mass production and consumption of sweetness worldwide, but he also talks about his development as an anthropologist and thinker. He discusses his time as a student of anthropology and how he was able to study in Puerto Rico, along with who was influencing his thinking at the time. He also talks about how factories developed on the sugar plantations and the way slavery developed in the New World, as well as the role this brutal past plays in current volatile racial relations in the U.S.
As hurricanes continue to wreak havoc on the Caribbean and our hearts go out to all those who are suffering, we look to Mintz for wisdom and guidance in the days ahead.
Texas Standard: May 22, 2017
Public money for private education; thought the plan was dead? School savings accounts become an 11th hour battleground, we’ll have the latest. Plus: plunger proof? The so-called Bathroom Bill back on a fast track to become Texas law, we’ll explore. And storms are on track for parts of Texas this week, but when it comes to tornados we’re safer than we might. We’ll hear from a researcher who developed the system. And she was literally the poster girl of the 70’s. Who knew she was a remarkable artist in her own right? Reconsidering Farrah Fawcett. All that and much more today on the Texas Standard: