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704 episodes

San Antonio Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick could be a game-changer

A bill would provide $10 billion in low-interest loans that would benefit the oil and gas industry, in the name of beefing up the power grid; there are a lot of questions over the push for those loans, aimed at preventing statewide blackouts. Almost one year after the worst school shooting in Texas history, state […]

50m
May 19, 2023
Singer-songwriter Robert Ellis returns with new sound and perspective

Texas is on the brink of becoming the latest state to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott asks the governors of other states to provide police and military forces to help secure Texas’ border with Mexico, as the numbers of reported unauthorized entries plummet. Tech expert Omar Gallaga tells us […]

50m
May 18, 2023
Kate the Chemist aims to answer ‘the big questions’ about science with new podcast

Erin Douglas of the Texas Tribune joins with details on water infrastructure efforts that have bipartisan support, but a chasm separating House and Senate proposals – and just 11 more days to come to agreement. More money for Texas public school teachers? Some educators say the proposals on the table aren’t enough to keep them […]

51m
May 17, 2023
How the ‘We Buy Ugly Houses’ company preyed on desperate and elderly sellers

Migrant crossings at the border with Mexico are reported to be dramatically down after the end of Title 42. Adolescent medicine doctors at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin are out amid calls from politicians for an investigation of gender-affirming care at the hospital. A bill to preempt new local regulations on a variety of […]

50m
May 16, 2023
How UT scientists are using AI to read thoughts

What happens to a Republican-led plan to provide taxpayer money for private education if the Texas Senate and House can’t reach agreement in less than two weeks? The governor’s promising he’ll keep the Legislature in session. The latest on bills aimed at banning access to gender-affirming care for young people. Mind-reading technology? We’ll talk with […]

51m
May 15, 2023
Podcast explores whether a Texas Ranger extracted a false confession

Two major changes in federal policies within the past 24 hours having outsized implications for Texas. Change number one: the end of Title 42 rapid deportations. But for tens of thousands now trying to cross the Mexico border into Texas, the deportations continue. The end of an era for the pandemic as the national emergency […]

51m
May 12, 2023
Title 42 expires as border braces for migrants’ mass arrival

The end of an era, and the start of what could be a dramatic new chapter in the history of border and immigration policy. Title 42 ends at the stroke of midnight, and predictions of a period of chaos at the border are coming from President Biden on down. We’ll talk to someone on the […]

51m
May 11, 2023
What to watch for as the Texas Legislature sprints to Sine Die

With just 19 days to go before the end of the 88th Texas legislative session, where do we stand? A bill to raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle made it out of a House committee – but as the Texas Newsroom’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán reports, it may not get much further. Hundreds of migrants […]

51m
May 10, 2023
A man died working on the Tesla Gigafactory. The company didn’t tell officials.

A car crash in Brownsville: 8 dead, 10 injured. An accident or was it intentional? One day before a vote to expel a Texas house representative, a resignation. Sergio Martínez-Beltrán of the Texas Newsroom on the state lawmaker accused of an inappropriate relationship with an intern. Questions about the heat death of a worker helping […]

50m
May 09, 2023
What we know about the mass shooting at an Allen outlet mall

Another Texas community is reeling after a mass shooting that killed eight people, this time at an outlet mall in Allen, outside of Dallas. Following local elections across the state, we’ll have reports on some closely watched propositions in San Antonio, El Paso and Austin. Fort Hood in Central Texas is formally set to be […]

51m
May 08, 2023
Cloud seeding has never been proven, but drought-stricken Mexico is ready to try

At first, media coverage of the Cleveland, Texas, shooting focused on the manhunt for the gunman. But what about the victims lost? As the clock ticks away for the 88th legislative session, there are some bills with bipartisan support that advocates say could have a positive effect on the state’s LGBTQ residents. Housing affordability in […]

50m
May 05, 2023
Has Texas cracked down on protest after 2020’s racial justice demonstrations?

Do Texans support raising the minimum age to purchase firearms? We’ll hear the results of a new study by the Texas Politics Project. The struggle to find staffing for the state’s psychiatric hospital system as needs for mental health support post pandemic have grown. In response to the murder of George Floyd and police brutality […]

50m
May 04, 2023
Groups suing over SpaceX’s explosions, environmental impact

Published reports say the Biden administration is set to send 1,500 troops to the border with Mexico ahead of Title 42’s repeal. As the Texas Legislature enters the home stretch of the 88th session, we’ll hear about the latest on efforts to pre-empt local government regulations. The South Texas liftoff and explosion of the SpaceX […]

51m
May 03, 2023
What it’s like in a self-defense class for LGBTQ Texans

The latest on a massive manhunt following the shooting deaths of five people in San Jacinto County. As the Texas Legislature enters the final month of its biennial session, there’s a push to get more money for public schools. There’s more turbulence ahead for Texas-based American Airlines as pilots say they’re ready to strike. The […]

50m
May 02, 2023
Teaching ancient Greek and Roman texts in the Jim Crow era

As Title 42 comes to an end, El Paso declares a state of emergency due to the influx of migrants. The week ahead at the Texas Legislature, and two bills affecting transgender youth in Texas; one relating to medical treatment, the other, sports competition. An investigation of a chemical fire in Deer Park outside of […]

50m
May 01, 2023
Performers pay tribute to Willie Nelson for his 90th birthday

A push in the state Legislature to end countywide voting on Election Day. Nearly 100 counties in Texas allow voters to cast their Election Day ballots anywhere in the county. But now a move to require voters to cast their ballots in specific district locations. Why the push, and why it matters. The Veterans Administration […]

51m
Apr 28, 2023
Evidence suggests Texas Rangers may have created mass gravesite

Is a plan to advance credit for early parole to prisoners with good conduct records or educational advancements a good idea for Texas? A deadly shooting in West Texas. The victims: migrants. The suspects: brothers in law enforcement. Seven months later, questions mounting about what’s happened to the investigation. Angela Kocherga of KTEP El Paso […]

51m
Apr 27, 2023
The questions on local ballots across Texas this May election

Early voting is underway statewide for the May 6 elections. What’s at stake? A roundtable of reporters survey the landscape. New emissions rules from the EPA could mean some big changes coming to Texas coal plants. Changes to a bill restricting purchases of property by citizens of China, North Korea, Russia and Iran aren’t good […]

51m
Apr 26, 2023
NASA mission sounds like a reality show, but it’s gathering data for a Mars journey

One of the state’s biggest counties is looking for a new top election official amid friction over the difficulty of running non-partisan elections. With early voting underway in races statewide, why the resignation of the top elections official in Tarrant County has special resonance. A closer look at claims of Republican voter suppression in Harris […]

51m
Apr 25, 2023
What’s next in the legal fight over abortion drug mifepristone?

A decision from the Supreme Court on the availability of an abortion pill, and why it’s likely not the last word on the matter. What is the significance of the Supreme Court’s move regarding mifepristone? Constitutional law scholar Steven Vladek of UT Law joins us. Also, a Texas bill to restrict real estate purchases by […]

51m
Apr 24, 2023
An Earth Day appreciation for the Texas Hill Country

What’s behind a bill that would remove Texans from voter rolls if they miss two federal elections? We’ll hear from a UT Law voting rights expert on what’s behind the push for a law that proponents say is designed to clean up messy voting registration lists, and what opponents see as voter suppression. After five […]

51m
Apr 21, 2023
Astronaut Christina Koch on NASA’s upcoming Artemis 2 mission

Tensions are growing in Austin over the use of DPS officers to augment local police. Facing resistance to a plan similar to school vouchers, an alteration getting attention at the state Capitol is focused on students with disabilities. Talia Richman of the Dallas Morning News Education Lab has more. NASA’s plans to return to the […]

51m
Apr 20, 2023
How two Uvalde survivors are rebuilding their lives

Almost a year after the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, two injured fourth graders are still trying to recover. Edgar Sandoval of the New York Times talks with us about his profile of two children injured in the shooting – and the months since. Yesterday’s half-hour grounding of Southwest Airlines departures was […]

51m
Apr 19, 2023
Expanded telehealth is coming to an end

A Texas couple chose midwife care over a hospital, and now their baby is in foster care. Why this story is sounding alarm bells for many across the state. Changes are coming to telehealth with the end of a federal pandemic order – and some patients will have to return to in-person medical care. A […]

51m
Apr 18, 2023
TxDOT wants to bury a highway. The Dallas City Council wants to get rid of it.

Tenure is on the agenda in the Texas Senate this week, as lawmakers weigh a bill that would end the practice for the new faculty at public colleges and universities. The Texas Department of Transportation wants to bury Interstate 345, a 1.4-mile stretch of highway that connects Dallas to its Deep Ellum neighborhood. But the […]

51m
Apr 17, 2023
What’s in San Antonio’s ‘justice charter’?

Yes and no signs proliferate in San Antonio over Prop A. What’s behind the city’s so-called justice charter? In Kyle, a corrections officer indicted in the shooting death of a person awaiting trial, and a family’s struggle to find answers. Taking the STAAR tests online. Should there still be a paper option? A push for […]

51m
Apr 14, 2023
Texas county may shutter its library before it returns banned books to the stacks

Attorneys for a man convicted of fatally shooting a Black Lives Matter protester in Austin in 2020 are asking for a retrial – a request that comes after Gov. Greg Abbott asked the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to review the conviction. The debate over school vouchers, or a variation called education savings accounts, […]

51m
Apr 13, 2023
What more electric vehicles mean for the Texas electric grid

Momentum is growing among Republicans to use the U.S. military to take on drug cartels in Mexico in the fight against fentanyl. How serious is such talk? More ripple effects following a ruling by a federal judge in Amarillo that would effectively ban the abortion drug mifepristone. The Dallas Federal Reserve finds young adults feel […]

51m
Apr 12, 2023
What the worry over ChatGPT looks like on college campuses

The Texas House approved a ban on school vouchers but the Senate has plans to overcome that. One pill kills: a new statewide campaign to warn Texans about the dangers of fentanyl. An attempt by the EPA to cut substantial cancer risk in some Gulf Coast communities by as much as 96%. From college classrooms […]

51m
Apr 11, 2023
What’s next after Texas judge rules abortion medication illegal

A ruling in Amarillo that could be the most consequential abortion decision since last year’s case overturning Roe v Wade. The ruling late Friday effectively bans Mifepristone, an abortion drug. But minutes after that ruling, another in Washington state orders the FDA to do nothing to restrict the pill’s availability. What happens next? Two Democratic […]

51m
Apr 10, 2023