Texas Standard

Texas Standard > All Episodes

June 21, 2023

Everything you always wanted to know about the Texas energy grid

By: Laura Rice

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.


Episodes

November 15, 2023

Tracing the foodways of Black Seminoles

The Supreme Court finally has its own ethics code for justices following a series of scandals – including a Texas billionaire showering gifts on Justice Clarence Thomas. Will this new code of conduct make a difference? Bison once ruled the Great Plains of North America before being hunted almost to extinction. We’ll hear about how […]

Listen

November 14, 2023

Clemency comes for Black soldiers, a century after their court-martial and execution

Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill last week that will do away with COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Medically vulnerable folks are speaking up about its effects. More than 100 years ago, a regiment of Black soldiers was found guilty of crimes like mutiny and murder after a riot in Houston. Now, the Army has cleared their […]

Listen

November 13, 2023

The Texas discovery of a new, dog-sized dinosaur

After months of stalemate, are the Texas House and Senate finally making progress on school spending? For millions of years, the bones of a tiny dinosaur lay undisturbed in what are now the shores of Lake Grapevine. We’ll learn about a new species. El Paso residents are concerned about the growing number of high-speed chases […]

Listen

November 10, 2023

How Texas lowering requirements to become a teacher in the 2000s impacted the profession

As the first week of a fourth special session draws to a close, the Senate passes a voucher-like plan for education. A teacher shortage and what a new study tells us about the implications of past plans to bring in and retain teachers in Texas classrooms. The independent market monitor for the Texas power grid […]

Listen

November 9, 2023

Why Texans can’t vote on abortion or marijuana anytime soon

The fourth largest earthquake on record in Texas struck Wednesday out west, renewing concerns about fracking and seismic activity. Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune with more on yesterday’s temblor and what researchers and regulators are saying about it. The latest on a runoff for mayor in Texas’ biggest city.In San Antonio, plans to close […]

Listen

November 8, 2023

How Texas voted on 14 statewide propositions

The votes are in, and Texans have given the green light to 13 of 14 amendments to the Texas constitution. The Texas Tribune’s Karen Brooks Harper shares a rundown of how the state propositions fared.Public media reporters statewide join us with updates on key local races across the Lone Star State. Nuclear power plants, once […]

Listen

November 7, 2023

What’s next after Cruise suspends self-driving cars in Texas?

Several of the biggest cases before the Supreme Court this term originated in Texas, including United States v. Rahimi, which centers around the constitutionality of prohibiting people under domestic violence restraining orders from possessing guns. There are growing concerns about near misses at airports – and the Austin airport in particular is drawing a lot […]

Listen

November 6, 2023

A look at the 14 constitutional amendments Texas voters will consider on Election Day

With the Legislature’s third special session set to conclude Tuesday, a major measure is now apparently on hold: The Texas Newsroom’s Julián Aguilar gets us up to speed on a controversial immigration bill.Fourteen constitutional amendments are on the ballot in Tuesday’s statewide election. Here’s a crash course on the propositions before Election Day. Thirteen guards have […]

Listen