Brazos Matters

Brazos Matters

Join host Jay Socol for Brazos Matters, a KAMU original production featuring a variety of guests from the Bryan-College Station and Aggieland community. Discussions focus on healthcare, education, economic development, traffic management, quality of life and other topics important to residents and businesses.

Episodes

December 21, 2025 28 mins
Megan Culpepper, Texas A&M University Health Services Licensed Professional Counselor discusses what A&M counseling & mental health services is about, academic stress leading into the holidays, patterns in students seeking help, changes in coping with stress in this social media era, distractions from discomfort, recommended strategies for overcoming stressors, and resources available to students.
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Dr. Holly Hudson, Associate Vice President for Global Engagement at Texas A&M University discusses the scope & responsibilities of the Global Engagement office, the benefits of studying abroad for participants, diplomatic benefits, study abroad in this current global political climate, increasing costs associated with study abroad, financial aid & programs at different budget levels, simplifying the application proce...
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November 23, 2025 28 mins
Savannah Gaines, Development Director at Aggieland Humane Society discusses her history with AHS, the difference between the 2 shelters in town and the areas covered by each, the current pet population, their new animal transfer van, the difference in pet population between northern and southern states, the pet food pantry, how AHS is handling increasing costs, reasons someone might surrender a pet, managing fundraising, current fa...
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Bast Schellhorn, Program Specialist, Texas A&M Cybersecurity Center discusses FBI crime statistics, his educational & professional background, common day-to-day cybersecurity risks, apartment internet, VPNs, password complexity, social media safety, concerns about AI & deepfakes, phishing emails & text messages, Defcon, and software & security updates.
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October 26, 2025 28 mins
College Station Police Chief Billy Couch discusses his history with the CSPD, the evolution of the Northgate district over that time, the introductions of high-rises in the district, the changing customer base, common crimes, CSPD's approach to policing Northgate, conditional use permits for new bars in the city, issues in other areas of the city, and police department staffing & recruiting.
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Dr. Carly McCord, Founding and Executive Director at the Texas A&M Telehealth Institute & Dr. Mikaela Spooner, a Psychologist at the Texas A&M Telehealth Institute and the lead provider at FarmHope discuss their Professional backgrounds, Texas A&M Telehealth institute, the Farm Hope program, stressors felt by ag & rural communities, implications of long commutes on healthcare access & use, telehealth a...
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Sydney Fox, Public Engagement Specialist & Blake Knox, Transportation Engineer with the TXDOT Bryan District Office discuss the scope of the SH 6 widening project, how long work is expected to last, the influence of public feedback, how they're planning to mitigate impact on businesses and commuters, new shared use paths, upgrades to the Briarcrest & William J Bryan overpasses, a new diverging diamond intersection at Univ...
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September 11, 2025 28 mins
Claire St. Amant, True crime journalist, podcast host, author discusses her professional background, why she is visiting Texas A&M's Campus, What she plans to teach A&M Journalism students, her thoughts on the future of the journalism profession, and the evolution from traditional media to podcasts.
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Cameron House, Licensed Professional Counselor-Supervisor discusses dating app trends among different age ranges, how the apps have changed how people meet potential partners, the conflict of interest of companies working to make the apps addictive, how young people view & approach dating in a post-app world, encouraging caution, the effects on mental health, advice for using & getting off of apps, and meeting people with...
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August 20, 2025 57 mins
Brazos Valley radio veterans Roger WWW Garrett, Harold Presley, Scott Delucia, Tucker "Frito" Young, and Katy Dempsey discuss what local radio done well means to them, examples of specific community outreach they've participated in over the years, their current listening habits, how morning show teams historically have been created, how have audiences and their expectations changed or stayed the same over time, the use of AI in rad...
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Mariano Castillo, Professor of Practice of Journalism at Texas A&M and Avery Foster, Texas A&M Journalism student discuss the origins of the South Texas journalism project, covering a story about industrial air pollution in Laredo, student involvement in this project, how their 48 hours in Laredo went, reception by locals and public officials, future plans and goals including potentially serving news deserts in South Texa...
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July 31, 2025 27 mins
With his 80th birthday approaching, Dave South discusses his childhood in Wichita Falls, Texas, his beginnings in radio, baseball and play-by-play broadcasting, notable games worked while at Texas A&M, what his life looks like after retirement in 2020, and his KAMU-FM show.
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Monica Martinez, Executive Director of Emergency Management & Dion Delao, Emergency Management Specialist & Meteorologist at Texas A&M University's Office of Emergency Management discuss their background and professional history, the benefits of having a meteorologist on staff, Code Maroon, coordinating closures with cities, school districts and the county, weather thresholds for alerts, best practices for receiving ...
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Krista Oldham, Director of University Archives & Sean Buckner, Director of Preservation at Texas A&M University Libraries address Jay's anxieties relating to what he should do with his physical and digital items. They discuss different types of items, media migration practices, fragility of digital content, how to organize photos, and what to do with physical photos and videos after digitizing.
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Shel Winkley, Weather & Climate Engagement Specialist with Climate Central discusses what his workdays look like since leaving KBTX, local climate trends in Bryan/College Station, economic impacts, an AARP study featuring B/CS, urban heat islands, effects of green spaces in cities, how cities are working to reduce heat island effect, and examples of the impact of the built environment on temperatures locally.
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Adam Drake & Jerrod Lane with the Brazos Valley Live Music Association discuss the origin of their organization, identifying a need for it, why each of them got involved in the first place, the evolution of the Bryan/College Station music scene, how they support both artists & venues, musicians with ties to B/CS, genres they represent, their concert calendar, and live music on Northgate.
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Pam Thomure - Executive Director of Empowering Women out of Prison and Cindy Billington - volunteer for Empowering Women out of Prison and the Prison Entrepreneurship Program discuss the history of these programs, difference between the men's and women's programs, current locations & success rate, stories of impact, the importance of volunteers, incentives for participants, second chance employers, the timeline of each year's ...
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Texas Monthly writer Mike Hall discusses the new Texas Monthly Presents segment about the Dabney Hill freedom colony in Burleson county, the current state of the historic structures on the property, plans for restoration and preservation, challenges facing this project, the Texas freedom colonies project, the relationship between the print article and visual story, Texas Monthly's entry in to more visual storytelling, and potential...
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April 27, 2025 12 mins
Gracie Dolan speaks with fellow graduating KAMU seniors Alisha Patterson and Tabina Hassan about their experiences working at KAMU, at Texas A&M University in general, and post-grad plans.
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Brazos County landowners Kyle & Beverly Greenwood, representing noeastloop.com, discuss the potential TxDOT inner loop east project and how they believe Brazos County officials have handled the planning, so far.
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