The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout

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

April 2, 2025

The Choice

By: Matt Largey

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 Buchele
Co-hosted and produced by Audrey McGlinchy
Produced and edited by Matt Largey
Production help from Rene Chavez and Jake Perlman

The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas. You can support our work by becoming a sustaining member at supportthispodcast.org.


Episodes

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.

Listen

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 […]

Listen

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. […]

Listen

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.

Listen

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.

Listen

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.

Listen

January 30, 2025

The Disconnect Season 3: Coming Feb 12

In this season of The Disconnect: Power, Politics and the Texas Blackout, we explore the history of Texas oil and gas regulation, how the industry — with the help of state officials— became largely self-regulating and what that means for energy reliability in Texas.

Listen

March 10, 2023

The Texas Grid Under Pressure

In this bonus episode, you’ll hear a panel of experts we brought together to mark two years since the 2021 blackout, where we discuss the future of the Texas grid in the face of climate change and the increasingly extreme weather linked to it.

Listen