With the Hill Country devastated by deadly floods, many are asking: What’s a 100-year or 1,000-year flood, and are these terms outdated? A closer look at how first responders from Mexico are helping in Kerr County. A new report from the University of Texas at El Paso warns of growing job losses in Juárez’s maquiladora industry. The health of America’s youth has “significantly worsened,” according to a new study. What’s driving the decline? And: Fire up the grill – Valley pitmaster and YouTube st...
Jul 15, 2025•51 min
More rain pummels the waterlogged Hill Country, putting a pause on search efforts and bringing a new wave of weather warnings to the region. We’ll talk with James Hartley of KERA, who’s been in Kerrville this weekend. Stuffed animals are strewn across flood-ravaged Texas. People are trying to get them to their owners. The Trump administration is enforcing an English-language requirement for commercial drivers, and some Mexican truckers are losing their licenses. Plus: Why is it so tough to get d...
Jul 14, 2025•51 min
A week after the Hill Country floods, the president and first lady will visit Kerr County as the search for the missing continues and storms are in the forecast for the weekend. Talking to kids about tragedy: A Dallas-based pediatric psychologist on how to deal with their questions and their anxieties. Gov. Greg Abbott has added flood response to the call for the upcoming special session of the Legislature, along with another new item – mid-decade redistricting. Plus: The week in Texas politics ...
Jul 11, 2025•51 min
The Texas Newsroom finds that responders to the Hill Country floods called for a public alert early Friday, a warning some say came hours too late. The upcoming special session of the Legislature, which originally looked like it would focus on regulating THC, now includes several emergency preparedness topics. And: Gillian Rodriguez with the Texas Counseling Association in the Hill Country has been pulling together resources to help fellow Texans process the range of emotions surrounding the dev...
Jul 10, 2025•51 min
A bill in the Texas Legislature this past session would have created a grant program for emergency communication. It didn’t pass. In the days since the deadly flooding, engineers have already modeled what happened on the Guadalupe River. What they say about how we should rebuild. A harrowing story of survival: Our conversation with a woman at the center of the devastation and the person she says saved her family. Hope House, a home for the profoundly disabled, was damaged by the storm in Liberty...
Jul 09, 2025•50 min
In Kerr County, local officials say they have all the resources, equipment, food and personnel they need, but with constantly changing numbers of people still missing, search and rescue teams continue to slog thru the debris of what is almost certain to go down as one of the deadliest natural disasters in state history. The Texas Newsroom’s Paul Flahive reports on the deep cultural imprint of Camp Mystic, a 99-year-old Christian girls camp that sits along the banks of the Guadalupe River – direc...
Jul 08, 2025•50 min
Rescue and recovery efforts continue following devastating Guadalupe River flooding that has killed at least 75 people. More than two dozen campers and counselors died at Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp, and 10 campers remain missing. Flash flood warnings are in effect for many parts of Texas, and officials fear that the waterlogged soil may lead to more intense flash flooding ahead. To the east, closer to Austin, rescue teams are trying to locate untold numbers of missing reside...
Jul 07, 2025•51 min
Mason LaDue raises cattle on family land in Central Texas. But before he was a rancher, he was mostly on the road, managing tours for artists like Curren$y and Wiz Khalifa. His journey from the Dallas hip-hop circuit to the homestead is the focus of today’s special program, Rap to the Ranch: The Ballad of Mason ‘Bric’ LaDue. Texas Standard is a listener-supported production of KUT & KUTX Studios in Austin, Texas. You can support this podcast at supportthispodcast.org The post Rap to the Ranc...
Jul 04, 2025•50 min
Federal education funding is put on hold, leaving administrators scrambling to evaluate what programs may be affected and what comes next – not just for young students, but Texans in adult education programs as well. What could rural schools teach the rest of us about how to better get along? New research by the George W. Bush Institute offers insights. And just in time for July 4th: the Brazilian BBQ smoker many Texas pitmasters are calling the bomb. Texas Standard is a listener-supported produ...
Jul 03, 2025•51 min
Elon Musk may be on the outs in D.C., but closer to home, his political influence appears to be on the rise: The state’s richest billionaire scored some quiet but rather significant victories in the last legislative session. Legislative support for wind and solar may be on the wane, but Texas lawmakers appear to be warming up to geothermal energy. Don’t like tariffs? Commentator W.F. Strong tells us how some earlier generations of Texans didn’t, either – and what they did to fight them. And: Rem...
Jul 02, 2025•51 min
As we continue our yearlong 10th birthday celebration, today we’re broadcasting before a live studio audience at a place that’s been called the “Athens of Texas” – Waco, itself celebrating 25 years of public radio from our partners at KWBU. We’ll be sampling some of the sights, sounds and tastes of this historic Central Texas city. After all, when you’re the birthplace of Dr Pepper, home to a national monument marking an epic concentration of mammoths, and with a growing population and national ...
Jul 01, 2025•51 min
The U.S. Supreme Court recently upheld the Texas law that requires age verification for porn sites. We’ll take a close look at the law. As the U.S. and China negotiate a new trade agreement, farmers cope with the uncertainty. Plus, how some of the best and brightest in Texas collaborated to build the Giant Magellan Telescope. Also, fresh off his listening tour of Texas, we’ll hear from one of the state’s best-known Democrats: Beto O’Rourke. And a record number of travelers are expected to hit th...
Jun 30, 2025•51 min
In a 6-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court rules against nationwide injunctions, likely to be read as a major victory for the Trump administration. UT constitutional law professor Tara Grove helps us parse out today’s big news from the high court. Texas underwater? After boom times in real estate, many Texas homeowners are upside down on their mortgages. What cities have been hardest hit by the rapid drop in home values? Singer-songwriter Joshua Ray Walker, after a cancer diagnosis, makes a studio ...
Jun 27, 2025•51 min
A new Texas law requires posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. We’ll look at the looming legal battle. Where do Texans stand on how well state legislators are doing their jobs? What about how well the president is doing his job? A new poll by the Texas Politics Project offers a look. The Mexican flag, long flown at restaurants and at cultural events, is more recently making a prominent appearance in protests. We’ll talk about perspectives on symbolism and cultural expression....
Jun 26, 2025•51 min
Gov. Greg Abbott’s last-minute veto of a proposed ban on THC-derived products has opened a rift with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful leader of the Texas Senate who championed the ban. More autonomous vehicles are now on Austin streets – and these Tesla robotaxis are a little harder to spot than their Waymo counterparts. Some Texans are finding relief from high grocery prices on the other side of the border. License plate readers have become popular with police departments around the state, bu...
Jun 25, 2025•51 min
State lawmakers passed several bills affecting how Texans vote. What that means at the ballot box. Among the allegations detailed in a lawsuit about conditions inside immigrant detention centers in Texas holding families: fighting for drinking water and children denied medical care. Why an effort by a Las Vegas company to legalize gambling in the Lone Star State failed. How cuts to federal funding will affect adult learning programs. The Standard’s Sarah Asch reports from Waco. And: some good ne...
Jun 24, 2025•37 min
A closely watched bill to ban THC products gets vetoed by Gov. Greg Abbott – but that’s far from the end of the story, with the governor calling for a special legislative session aimed at regulating THC. After U.S. airstrikes targeted against Iranian nuclear facilities, what comes next? One of Texas’ top foreign policy experts suggests this war could be ending more quickly than many fear. And Texas energy prices may be a leading indicator. Also: a conversation with Laredo-born Adrian Quesada on ...
Jun 23, 2025•52 min
The Texas Lottery Commission faces a reckoning after a string of scandals. We look at what’s next for one of the largest lotteries in the country. The U.S. Supreme Court has cleared the way for a controversial private facility in Andrews, Texas, to temporarily store high-level nuclear waste. The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to open a facility in South Texas to help defend against the new world screwworm, a destructive pest that is working its way north through Mexico toward the southern ...
Jun 20, 2025•50 min
President Trump considers a move that has brought together resistance from the left and the right. The stakes for U.S. involvement in a new Mideast war. Juneteenth is a holiday marking freedom for people enslaved in Texas, a proclamation announced in Texas on this date 160 years ago, now celebrated across the U.S.. The Texas Standard’s Sean Saldana takes us to the city where that event took place. A new audit reveals widespread failures in how complaints about local jails are overseen by the sta...
Jun 19, 2025•50 min
Gov. Greg Abbott touted plans to have Texas build a border wall, even soliciting donations from the public. Why the project’s now being scrapped. The U.S. Supreme Court is issuing decisions today, including one affecting gender-affirming care for transgender minors. Lawyers use previous cases to argue in court – but the Houston Housing Authority is caught citing dozens of case quotes that don’t exist. Journalist Liz Bruenig is exploring her opinions on the death penalty – her own family still he...
Jun 18, 2025•50 min
Why a stretch of border just over the West Texas state line has become the deadliest place for migrants. How cuts included in the president’s “big, beautiful bill” could affect Texans who depend on Medicaid and Obamacare. Why Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law the largest state-funded psychedelic research initiative in history. Solar panel scams targeting Texans – especially elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners. And regional Mexican music fans: some of your favorite bands won’t be visiting ...
Jun 17, 2025•50 min
Texas-based historian and author Jeremi Suri joins with the latest about the military back-and-forth between Iran and Israel, threatening to become an even larger all-out war, and what that could mean on the home front – including Texas’ role as the world’s energy capital. Protests against president Trump’s second administration reach a new high water mark with thousands turning out at events across Texas and the rest of the country over the weekend. And: LBJ Foundation CEO and presidential hist...
Jun 16, 2025•51 min
Texans under the age of 18 make up almost a quarter of the state’s population, so we’ve put together a show with them in mind. We’re joining you today from Abilene and the Children’s Art and Literacy Festival. We begin with a conversation about politics: We’ll hear from some Texas teens who make their voices heard, even though they can’t yet vote. Checking in with our go-to tech expert about kids and technology – some tips for engaging them while avoiding some of the pitfalls. Other familiar voi...
Jun 13, 2025•50 min
A very busy Thursday for first responders and meteorologists with flood conditions and heavy dust for many Texans – and it’s expected to get worse before it gets better. We’ll have an update. Houston, we have a problem, and it may be related to a spat between the president and the world’s wealthiest Texan. The Dallas Fed offers an assessment of the Texas economy and the Standard’s Sean Saldana has the details. Also, Ray Benson of Asleep at the Wheel talks about a new album focused on his favorit...
Jun 12, 2025•50 min
Gov. Greg Abbott is calling National Guard troops into Texas to respond to immigration raid protests in the state. Texas had a new speaker of the House this legislative session. So how did Rep. Dustin Burrows handle the job? Flights out of the busy, and getting busier, Austin airport have been increasingly delayed because of staffing shortages. How it’s affecting passengers. President Trump reportedly wants Texas to re-draw district lines to favor Republicans – but some in his party aren’t so su...
Jun 11, 2025•50 min
Texas has spent years challenging the federal government. So why not fight a recent order to end in-state tuition for undocumented students? Using DNA testing to solve cold cases involving abandoned babies. Why Texas doesn’t require most employers to use E-Verify, the federal system that checks a worker’s legal status. The new book “Detained” shares the story of a 14-year-old’s life inside a U.S. detention camp in Texas for migrant children. Also: Why customers are using buy now, pay later servi...
Jun 10, 2025•50 min
Gina Ortiz Jones made history over the weekend, becoming San Antonio’s first openly lesbian mayor and only the third woman to hold the office. An assault case is exposing deeper failures in Texas group homes. With the rise of data centers across Texas, a push for private power plants run by natural gas. The new documentary “Sally” explores the private life of public space hero Sally Ride. We’ll talk to writer and director Cristina Costantini. And: Diving into the history of Adolph Hofner, the Te...
Jun 09, 2025•51 min
For the first time since Texas’ measles outbreak at the start of the year, there are no new reported cases. We’ll get an update on efforts to contain the disease. A new report in The Guardian reveals pressure from Immigration and Customs Enforcement leadership to ramp up arrests, even of people not originally targeted. Flag football is helping to tackle a gender gap in youth sports, getting a boost in Texas from none other than the NFL. A simmering trade dispute could make tomatoes more expensiv...
Jun 06, 2025•50 min
A old law suddenly no more: a judge strikes down in-state tuition for undocumented students in Texas. What changes can Texans expect for energy and the environment after this week’s conclusion of the 89th Texas Legislature? After the Smokehouse Creek Fire scorched over 1 million acres, lawmakers also passed a slate of wildfire preparedness bills. The devastating New World screwworm, eliminated from North America decades ago, are on their way back. The Standard’s Michael Marks talked to ranchers ...
Jun 05, 2025•50 min
The race to be San Antonio’s next mayor was narrowed from a field of 27 to two. What to know before the runoff election on Saturday. Arrests outside of immigration court have happened in El Paso, Dallas and San Antonio. Why activists say this tactic encourages migrants to break the law. Texas is set to become the next in a handful of states to ban lab-grown meat for human consumption. It’s Texas vs. Texas Tech in the Women’s College World Series championship, with Game 1 tonight. And: We’ll expl...
Jun 04, 2025•50 min
