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March 24, 2025

How a Houston man spent 18 years in jail without a trial

By: David Brown

How hot is it in Texas prisons? After many questions about deadly heat, a new discovery: the facts as presented may have been fake. Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy of The Texas Newsroom with the discovery of falsified records in an ongoing scandal about heat-related deaths behind bars.


A Houston inmate jailed for 18 years who never got his day in court: How did that happen, and could there be more?


What do you get when you cross a mouse with a woolly mammoth? It’s no joke: A Texas company says it’s just the beginning.


Also, who owns Texas? The results of an investigation of land ownership.
And this week in Texas music history.


Episodes

April 2, 2025

‘Mistaco’ teaches kids how tacos can make everything better

Houston’s affordable housing project has winners and losers – and the winners are not the renters. Digging into a new investigation from the Houston Chronicle.Changes in funding for refugee resettlement programs have nonprofits scrambling to figure out how to continue to help.Matthew McConaughey and industry reps push for Texas lawmakers to beef up the state’s […]

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April 1, 2025

Deadly floods swamp South Texas, shatter records

Torrential rain in South Texas leads to dangerous flooding, trapping people in their homes. How the Rio Grande Valley is recovering.A new DEI directive led the Pentagon to purge certain historical figures from web pages. Why that decision has now been reversed.Some churches are looking to re-purpose buildings and land to help residents who need […]

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March 31, 2025

30 years after her death, Selena’s legacy only grows in Corpus Christi

A Texas House committee is set to debate school choice legislation this week, reviving a contentious issue that’s repeatedly stalled in the lower chamber.Since San Antonio’s annual César E. Chávez March for Justice began in 1997, musicians Los Inocentes have composed ballads telling his story.An investigation into child abuse deaths in Texas reveals a system […]

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March 28, 2025

Remembering Carole Keeton Strayhorn, a trailblazing Texas leader

Major cuts in federal funding for infectious diseases as West Texas struggles with a growing measles outbreak. We’re checking in with Brad Burt at KTTZ in Lubbock.Remembering Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the trailblazing Texas politician who famously called herself “one tough grandma.”Muslim women are speaking out about the stigma surrounding menstruation during Ramadan, when they are […]

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March 27, 2025

Long-awaited historical marker will recognize Sherman Riot of 1930

The Justice Department announces the arrest of a Salvadoran gang member as questions grow about deportations and presidential power. NPR’s Sergio Martinez-Beltran gets us up to speed on the Trump administration’s deportation push, and the pushback.Five years after COVID, why some health officials in Texas are worried about whether we’re ready for future pandemics.Why the […]

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March 26, 2025

A forgotten history of DeWitt County comes back to life

The man who’s admitted killing 23 in a racist mass shooting in El Paso in 2019 will be given a plea deal that does not include the death penalty. What’s behind that decision.A federal judge temporarily prevents Texas A&M from enforcing a ban on campus drag performances, setting the stage for this week’s Draggieland.A long-lost […]

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March 25, 2025

New idea touts nuke power to clean dirty frack water

As the legislative session reaches the halfway mark, the pace to pass bills is picking up. A look at which ones could move to a vote.We’re also tracking the politics of vaccines: As a measles outbreak in West Texas grows, some lawmakers want to make it easier to opt out of getting a shot.Why police […]

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March 24, 2025

How a Houston man spent 18 years in jail without a trial

How hot is it in Texas prisons? After many questions about deadly heat, a new discovery: the facts as presented may have been fake. Investigative reporter Lauren McGaughy of The Texas Newsroom with the discovery of falsified records in an ongoing scandal about heat-related deaths behind bars. A Houston inmate jailed for 18 years who […]

Listen