KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts
KUT and KUTX news and music podcasts for Austin, Texas and beyond
Gov. Greg Abbott received a $6 million campaign contribution from an out-of-state mega donor and school voucher advocate. Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy of the Texas Newsroom shares more.
The Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán has the latest on what appear to be endorsement wars among top Texas Republicans.
There’s a new funding formula for community colleges. What could the change add up to?
And commentator W.F. Strong reflects on influencers – both intentional and accidental.
A plan to boost payments to retired teachers will be up to Texas voters next month. We’ll have the backstory and details on Proposition 9.
Five thousand union workers walked off the job at the Arlington General Motors plant, which builds some of GM’s most profitable vehicles.
College football pay to play? Not OK, says the NCAA. Yet an investigation of recruitment shows how officials look the other way – and it’s happening a lot in Texas.
And just in time for Halloween, something wicked is coming to Garland: A celebration of Texas’ role in the horror film genre.
Texas foster kids are sleeping in motels and offices, and Child Protective Service workers are leaving their jobs in droves. Sneha Dey of the Texas Tribune joins us with more.
A ban on drag performances in the presence of minors has been ruled unconstitutional. We’ll hear why and what comes next.
Why Mexico has replaced China as the United States’ top trading partner.
And KUT’s Mose Buschele takes us into the Hill Country’s Bracken Cave Preserve alongside millions of bats.
An investigation of Operation Lone Star finds a prohibited intelligence unit using WhatsApp to spy on migrants and smugglers. Davis Winkie of the Military Times shares more.
A new Texas law, the Crown Act, takes effect this week, banning discrimination based on hair texture or hairstyles associated with race.
Close your eyes and think of Texas. What comes to mind for most Americans? Commentator W.F. Strong on how Hollywood has shaped Texas in the popular imagination.
Plus, the record-breaking return of Simone Biles.
Students get grades, but so do Texas schools – and with a change in evaluations, administrators are concerned.
Critics say a state lawsuit against Planned Parenthood is an attempt to completely wipe out what was once a prime provider of abortion services in Texas.
How people experiencing homelessness are trying to cope with life-threatening temperatures.
The end of pandemic restrictions against migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. prompted a lot of speculation about how the situation at border would be affected. We’ll take a look at what’s actually changed on the ground.
Also, what put a once-sleepy town in the shadow of Dallas on the fast track to becoming one of Texas’ biggest cities.
Ken Paxton, the impeached attorney general, is headed for a Houston courtroom today on his 2015 securities fraud charges.
An update on wildfires across the state as firefighters brace for another tough day of heat and wind. We’ll hear where the fire threat is greatest and what to do to prepare.
Since 2020, Texas has emerged as the epicenter of “family annihilation” cases, in which someone kills at least two kinds of family members.
A new documentary traces the careers of two of Texas’ most famous musical siblings: Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
And commentator WF Strong on what “Lonesome Dove “got right and wrong.
You’ve heard of abandoned, so-called orphan oil wells? Now there’s a growing concern about zombie wells.
After the pandemic, Texas Medicaid rolls are shrinking – but many are losing coverage for procedural reasons, and they may not even realize it.
A new state law means that next year, construction workers in some Texas cities may not have the protections they do now requiring water breaks
With climate change, can demand for A/C keep up? We talk to an author who says it might be making things worse.
And at TV stations large and small, something strange: the case of the disappearing meteorologists.
A regular session and now two specials – what will it take to get lawmakers to agree on a property tax cut plan? A closer look at why the two approaches are at the center of a political battle.
Sentencing begins in a federal courtroom this week for the gunman who killed 23 people at an El Paso Walmart in 2019.
How some Houstonians without adequate air conditioning are trying to beat the heat as the thermometer rises.
Plus, what science is revealing about a common bird of prey and frequent defender of many a Texas garden.
“It’s a fantasy,” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said of Gov. Greg Abbott’s objectives to lower property taxes. Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune joins with more on a growing divide between the state’s two top Republican leaders.
One top political observer says there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to school funding for rural districts.
Hurricane season is back. We’ll have the seasonal forecast from Space City Weather, plus how to prepare.
Plus, Cine Las Americas kicks off its 25th International Film Festival in Austin.
On the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting in Uvalde that left 19 fourth-graders and two teachers dead, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez says he’s still pushing for gun reform. Meanwhile, trust in police remains frail in Uvalde.
A report from Matamoros on migrants in limbo after the end of Title 42.
As Austin firefighters rack up millions in overtime, the department is working to address mental health needs.
And state officials team up with a Texas producer for a walk on the wild side: a musical celebration of Texas parks.
With just 19 days to go before the end of the 88th Texas legislative session, where do we stand?
A bill to raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle made it out of a House committee – but as the Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports, it may not get much further.
Hundreds of migrants line up in El Paso for processing in advance of a major change to immigration policy tomorrow.
What some believe is a banking crisis: Should Texans be worried, and should there be a different approach to regulation?
Also, the story of a teacher fired in 1975, and why it resonates with the politics of Texas today.
Early voting is underway statewide for the May 6 elections. What’s at stake? A roundtable of reporters survey the landscape.
New emissions rules from the EPA could mean some big changes coming to Texas coal plants.
Changes to a bill restricting purchases of property by citizens of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran aren’t good enough, says Texas State Rep. Gene Wu. He says it’s discrimination.
And an axe murder in a North Texas suburb in the 1980s is now the focus of a new HBO Max series. We’ll talk to the director of “Love & Death”.
Momentum is growing among Republicans to use the U.S. military to take on drug cartels in Mexico in the fight against fentanyl. How serious is such talk?
More ripple effects following a ruling by a federal judge in Amarillo that would effectively ban the abortion drug mifepristone.
The Dallas Federal Reserve finds young adults feel increasingly disconnected from work and school – but there may be more to the story.
And with more electric vehicles hitting the road in Texas, how will the need for pluggable power affect the state’s electric grid?
Calls for justice in Ciudad Juárez after dozen of migrants die in a fire at a detention facility. New details emerge about what happened just across the border from El Paso on Monday night.
Texas school districts banned hundreds of books last year. Now, the Legislature is looking to create standards that could pull even more books off the shelves.
Research increasingly shows that “forever chemicals” are making their way into our environment – especially in Texas, where they’re used in oil and gas extraction.
Plus an update from commentator W.F. Strong and a climate referendum in El Paso.
Fallen trees and branches, downed power lines and more as Texas weathers the first statewide winter storm of 2023. The worst of the weather stretches along a line west of I-35, but most Texans are feeling the impact one way or another, with driving extremely hazardous and scattered outages leaving hundreds of thousands without power.
There’s been lots of talk about property taxes in this legislative session. How’d they get so high in the first place?
Fort Worth ISD scraps its plans for a sex education course after spending millions in the ramp-up. So why the reversal?
Also a PolitiFact check of gun violence claims.
Inauguration ceremonies at the capitol lift the curtain and set the stage as the 88th legislature gets underway in earnest. We’ll have more on the inauguration of the Governor and the Lt. Governor. Also a prison hunger strike and allegations of retaliation. And the constitutional sheriffs movement and why advocates of police reform are concerned a vow to uphold the law is being twisted into something that subverts the law. Also 50 years of BBQ. The barbecue editor of Texas monthly on what’s changed in those decades, and it might be a lot more than you think. Plus, commentator W.F. Strong in celebration of Texas grammar, a Politifact check and more today on the Texas Standard:
Is there a Speaker in the House? Texas’ role in the drama over who will lead the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives. No state sends more republicans to Congress than Texas, but those republicans are at loggerheads over who to pick as House speaker, and it’s brought Congress to a standstill before the next session’s even underway. Sean Theriault of UT Austin explains what’s happening and why. Also new travel restrictions as a Covid outbreak spreads in China. How concerned should Texans be, and will the restrictions really help? And W.F. Strong looks back on an historic sunken treasure discovery and more today on the Texas Standard:
A date that will live in infamy, and a new designation for Corpus Christi as a World War II heritage city. We’ll have details. Other stories we’re covering: as the thoughts of many Texans turn to winter preparedness, concerns grow over the power grid and staffing problems for the agency that oversees it. Also a Politifact check of a claim about gun homicides. And remembering a Lubbock-born Texas iconoclast who transformed the creative landscape. Michael Hall of Texas Monthly looks back on the words and music of Jo Carol Pierce who passed away last week. Those stories and much more today on the Texas Standard:
A state commission votes to extend the life of a Texas department under federal investigation for civil rights and abuse violations. More on what comes next for the embattled Texas Juvenile Justice Department. Plus this week Texas voters elected the first South Asian and Muslim state legislators. We’ll talk with Salman Bhojani, Representative-elect from District 92 in North Texas. Plus Fort Hood set to be renamed for a four star General from South Texas, the first Hispanic to reach that rank. Also On this Veterans day, the story of Harold Brown, one of the first Black military aviators. Plus the week in Texas politics with the Texas Tribune and much more today on the Texas Standard:
Governor Abbott extends a COVID-19 disaster declaration for Texas as a majority of states move the other direction. We’ll have the latest. Other stories we’re tracking: a stay of execution for a Texas death row inmate turns the spotlight on a tactic used by police to extract confessions…not all of them true. Also as election day approaches the nuts and bolts of voting machines: often at the center of disinformation claims. And how bout them…ticket prices? If you want to see the Astros in the world series it’s gonna costa ya, big time. We’ll hear how much. And the barbecue capitol of Texas heats up for an event that’s truly smokin. All that and much more today on the Texas Standard: