The devastation was enormous: billions in damage, tens of thousands displaced. But will the anger over Hurricane Harvey impact the mid-terms? We’ll explore. Also, Texas families with children with special needs are finding it harder to access healthcare. It has to do with how and whether providers are getting paid. We’ll explain. And a state park in the Rio Grande Valley beloved by birdwatchers could close if a border wall goes up. What Texas Parks and Wildlife is doing about it. Plus those who tout ideas of racial purity often point back to a time when Europe was white, but a Texas researcher says that just wasn’t the case. And fossils aren’t just old bones. We’ll tell you all about ’em and where you can find ’em in the Lone Star State, today on the Texas Standard:
Episodes
October 1, 2023
Texas Extra: An immigrant to ‘The Country of the Blind’
Author Andrew Leland is losing his vision. Turning that experience into a memoir gave him the opportunity to process his experiences, including the ways his blindness is perceived by others. But “The Country of the Blind” also contextualizes blindness within a larger world. Leland spoke to the Standard’s Shelly Brisbin on her podcast, Parallel. This is an extended cut […]
September 29, 2023
Why homeschooling is on the rise across the ideological spectrum
Sean Theriault of UT-Austin with a look at why government shutdowns have become so common, and what needs to happen to avoid another come Sunday. The summer of 2023 was the second hottest on record in Texas. But for renters, air conditioning isn’t legally required — at least not everywhere in the state. Over the […]
September 28, 2023
How a UT professor is helping the CDC plan for the next pandemic
The Texas Education Agency is moving forward with plans to monitor problems with Austin ISD’s special education services. What did we learn from COVID-19? We’ll talk to UT’s Lauren Ancel Meyers, who has been tapped to help the U.S. develop a plan to better tackle the next pandemic. Texas tops the nation in oil industry […]