KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts

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

railroad

What Texans can expect this winter, weather-wise

Winter weather can be challenging for some Texans. Here’s how to prepare.
A lot of people say the best place to talk to kids about violence at home is at school. But there’s a law getting in the way of that here in Texas.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has a lot of power to issue permits across the state. So what do we make of two recent judicial decisions overruling some of those?

Waco is positioning itself to be the next big hub for competitive rowing.

And Texas Monthly has come out with its annual Bum Steer awards – who’s on the list and why.

How the railroad saved Fort Worth

When we’re speaking of the North Texas metroplex — Dallas always gets first billing. It’s DFW… not FWD.

But Texas Standard Commentator WF Strong says, at one point, the slightly smaller large city was at risk of disappearing altogether.

Marfa art exhibit honors the railroad’s Chinese laborers

Nearly 400,000 homes and businesses are still without power in Texas, but the worst of the freezing rain may be behind us. Mose Buchele of the Disconnect podcast and KUT Austin joins us with more on the power situation.

A new poll suggests a disconnect between the headlines and what Texans really think of the state’s public schools.

Our focus on the push to cut property taxes in the Texas Legislature turns to how schools are funded in Texas.

And an effort to turn attention to a largely forgotten story of how Chinese labor helped to build West Texas.

Almost 1 in 10 Texas hospitals at risk of closing

A new sort of crisis for Texas hospitals as experts warn one in ten statewide could close; one in four in rural Texas. We’ll have more on that story. Also, why the city of Uvalde is suing Uvalde county as investigations into the shooting at Robb Elementary continue. And the usual trajectory: high school then a bachelors degree, but what about both at the same time? A project to take early college in Texas to the next level. And after more than a hundred years in the dark, the return of a landmark beacon to the Texas Gulf Coast. Plus, the week in politics with the Texas Tribune. All this and more today on the Texas Standard:

How Austin is bringing healthcare to people experiencing homelessness

That light at the end of the tunnel, is it a sign that a rail strike can be averted or a freight train headed for the U.S. economy? With an economy already reeling from a multitude of challenges, president Biden gets the wheels rolling in congress to head off a potential nationwide rail strike. We’ll look at the potential impact for Texas and the prospects that a strike can be avoided. Also one of the last fully independent public institutions of higher learning set to join the UT system. What does Stephen F. Austin State University stand to gain or lose in the process? Also a closer look at the Texas economic forecast and much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: September 15, 2022

A major logistics catastrophe avoided. We’ll talk about the railroad worker strike that wasn’t. Railroad worker unions were prepared to go on strike without a contract that had better protections for sick time. We’ll have the latest on the deal that’s kept the trains on the tracks. Plus you’ve heard of blue books, the green book, but what about the beige book? It’s choc full of the economy’s secrets, and our own Sean Saldana’s been looking through a copy. And a major bridge project in Corpus Christi has produced major headaches. We’ll tell you why. That and the biggest headlines of the day, today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: September 14, 2022

Texas’ border security mission has cost more than four billion dollars and counting. Where’s all that money coming from? Operation Lone Star put 10,000 Texas National Guard troops along the state’s border with Mexico. Today we’ll help you make sense of how the state’s paying for it. Also a looming railroad strike could mean pain for people in the checkout line and Democrats at the polls. What’s the Biden administration doing to keep the trains running on time? And do people with low incomes get audited more than others? We’ll see how that claim holds up under scrutiny from Politifact. All that and more today on the Texas Standard:

How The Railroad Help Built Texas

Early Texas towns took hold alongside protected bays – think Galveston and Corpus Christi. Others developed along the banks of fine rivers, such as San Antonio, Goliad and El Paso. But later it was the steel tributaries called railroads that were planting the seeds that raised towns alongside them. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says railroads, more than any other technology, ushered Texas into the industrial age and commercial wealth. 

Texas Standard: August 22, 2019

Students just now returning to school, and report cards already? A-F grades go out statewide rating public schools, but are they fair? We’ll explore. As schools reopen, so do sign ups for sports, and something new in Texas: an effort to track related concussions across the Lone Star State. Also, is Texas an ATM for Democratic politicians? An AP reporter following the money spots another sign of a profound shift in Texas politics in the run up to 2020. Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: May 30, 2018

After the Santa Fe massacre, and a week of roundtables, the Governor comes up with a blueprint to improve safety in Texas public schools, we’ll have the latest. Also, how high is that oft-cited wall between church and state? A new report from the associated press claims we’re witnessing an important moment for religiously conservative attorneys landing positions of power and policy behind the scenes, we’ll hear more. And U.S. politics may get dirty at times, but never as deadly as in Mexico right now. Record number of assassinations of candidates as the nation prepares to pick a president July 1st. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

Texas Standard: August 22, 2017

Change in plans: the president does a 180 on Afghanistan. When will the US leave? We’ll explore why the commander in chief says that’s the wrong question. Also, the navy takes a knee after another ship in the pacific fleet collides with a commercial vessel. 10 navy crew members missing. Who’s on lookout and what’s going wrong? Plus popping the cork on a controversy between grape growers and their cotton pickin’ neighbors: are pesticides killing Texas wineries? And as kids go back to school, will there be enough teachers? That depends: you live in the city or the country? Those stories and a whole lot more today on the Texas Standard:

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