The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout

The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout > All Episodes

October 31, 2022

The Campaign

By: Mose Buchele

Nearly two years after the big blackout in Texas, how big of an issue is the power grid in the 2022 race for governor?

We talk with Julian Aguilar, a reporter for the Texas Newsroom.

The Disconnect Season 2 is a project of The Texas Newsroom, the collaboration among NPR and the public radio stations in the state. It received support from FRONTLINE’s Local Journalism Initiative, which is funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.


Episodes

May 14, 2025

Introducing Fumed

Fumed is a new podcast from Public Health Watch that takes place in Channelview, an unincorporated community outside Houston in the heart of America’s petrochemical industry. It follows two stubborn Texans who, almost by accident, end up challenging the powerful companies that are taking over their once-peaceful neighborhood.

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April 30, 2025

Introducing the Energy Capital Podcast

The Energy Capital Podcast focuses on Texas energy and power grid issues, featuring interviews with energy professionals, academics, policymakers, and advocates.

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April 16, 2025

Introducing Sea Change

Sea Change, from WWNO and WRKF, is a podcast that dives deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond.

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April 2, 2025

The Choice

Texas leaders would have you believe there are two options: a reliable grid or a sustainable grid. In our season finale, we explore how those two things aren’t mutually exclusive. And how — if left alone — the Texas electricity market might make the decision on its own. Written, reported, produced and co-hosted by Mose […]

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March 12, 2025

The Greater Force: A Spaghetti Bowl Story

When the 2021 blackout struck, the finger-pointing began. Electric utilities versus pipeline companies. But finding out exactly what happened is one of the most frustrating parts oil and gas regulation in Texas: getting a clear picture of who did what isn’t really possible. But there’s one man who says he can see exactly what happened. […]

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February 26, 2025

The Bull of the Brazos

As the Texas Railroad Commission falls from global oil dominance, the energy crisis of the 1970s strikes and one gas company cuts power to millions. What comes next brings plenty of political intrigue, and sets up a divided system of energy regulation in Texas unlike anywhere else in the country.

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February 19, 2025

The Bar Fight That Changed the World

We tell the story of how the National Guard descended on the East Texas oilfield, the chaos that followed, and how a bar fight in Austin helped establish a new system of energy regulation.

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February 12, 2025

The Long Con

Hear the story of a con man and a group of hardscrabble East Texas farmers who uncovered the biggest oilfield in U.S. history — and how that discovery forced an obscure state agency to confront the destructive forces of unrestrained oil drilling.

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