Texas Matters

Texas Matters

Texas is a big state with a growing, diverse population and as the population grows, the issues and challenges facing its residents multiply. Texas Matters is a statewide news program that spends half an hour each week looking at the issues and culture of Texas.

Episodes

Texas Matters: Colin Allred is back and running for Senate

October 3, 2025 • 28 mins
Former Texas congressman Colin Allred gave up his seat in the House to run for Senate against Ted Cruz. He came up short— but he outperformed the Democratic ticket. He says he wants another shot and he’s running again for the Democratic nomination for Senate where he could face either incumbent John Cornyn or Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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Texas Matters: Candidate Bobby Pulido and 'The Perfect Tuba' by Sam Quinones

September 26, 2025 • 28 mins
Tejano Singer Bobby Pulido is using his voice in a new way. He’s running for Congress in the 15 District of Texas. And how the Tuba is Saving kids in the Rio Grande Valley.
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Texas Matters: How community organizers beat Corpus Christi's desalination project

September 19, 2025 • 29 mins
This week on Texas Matters: How community organizers beat the city of Corpus Christi and Big industry to stop ocean desalination. And the CDC advisory panel on vaccines recommends restricting access to the MMRV vaccine. What would that have meant for the Texas measles outbreak?
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Texas Matters: Robert Roberson, death row and shaken baby syndrome

September 12, 2025 • 28 mins
Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson is set to die on October 16. There is mounting evidence that Roberson's daughter, Nikki Curtis, didn't die from shaken baby syndrome but from illness. And Texas could be on the verge of executing an innocent man.
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Texas Matters: Why Conan The Barbarian is a Texan

September 5, 2025 • 28 mins
He dreamed up Conan the Barbarian from his lonely town of Cross Plains, Texas. But where did Robert E. Howard find his inspiration for the sword-and- sorcery, weird tales that still resonate today? Howard dipped his pen in the inkwell of Texas history, tall tales and the boom and bust of the oil fields. How Conan is really a Texan.
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Texas Matters: Texas to ban same-day voter registration

August 31, 2025 • 28 mins
Why Gov. Abbott ordered the Texas Legislature to “prohibit same day voter registration in Texas.” And the court challenge to the controversial congressional redistricting says it's an illegal racial gerrymander.
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Texas Matters: The Ten Commandments on hold

August 22, 2025 • 28 mins
A federal judge has granted a temporary halt to a new Texas law that requires the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. He found that it was a violation of the freedom of religion—but Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is promising to appeal. We hear from Rabbi Mara Nathan about why she joined the suit and how she feels about the future of religious freedom in Texas.
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Texas Matters: Gene Autry — The New Deal cowboy crooner

August 15, 2025 • 28 mins
The first singing cowboy of the movies—Gene Autry —was one of America’s most popular stars. As the Texas native sang "Back in the Saddle Again" he was also promoting ideas that supported the New Deal and friendly relations with Mexico. His messages rang true with his fans during the Great Depression. On this episode, we unpack the ways this western folk hero, Gene Autry, used his talents to support a positive pro-America agenda.
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Texas Matters: The future of AI and water in Texas

August 8, 2025 • 28 mins
This week on Texas Matters: The demands of massive AI data centers are growing every day.ERCOT projects the state’s grid will need to double in the next five years to meet the demands of AI.AI also uses a lot of water. It’s projected AI will consume nearly 7% of the state’s water supply by the year 2030, a significant drain on a state already dealing with water scarcity.
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Texas Matters: The Kerr County flash flood hearing and redistricting

August 3, 2025 • 29 mins
After the July 4 flash flood that turned the Upper Guadalupe River into a disaster area and killed over 130 people, Texas lawmakers came to Kerrville to get answers about what went wrong. But this hearing also fits into the effort to suddenly redistrict Texas to give the Republican Party five more congressional seats after the midterms.
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Texas Matters: Robert Roberson's new date with the executioner

July 25, 2025
His attorneys have filed an emergency motion to stay the October 16 execution, arguing that the Court of Criminal Appeals must first resolve his innocence claims.
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Texas Matters: The battlelines in GOP redistricting

July 18, 2025 • 28 mins
Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered lawmakers back to Austin for a special session. They will take on issues like funding for flooding, THC regulation and cutting property taxes but also for a controversial snap redistricting plan.
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Texas Matters: After the flood —The search for answers

July 11, 2025 • 28 mins
Over one hundred dead and many more missing— the July 4th flash flood is the deadliest weather disaster in modern Texas history. But did this catastrophe have to happen? It’s called "flash flood alley," but could any steps have been taken to protect the lives of locals and visitors?
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Texas Matters: Psychedelics and The Texas Trip

July 4, 2025 • 28 mins
In a special Texas Public Radio podcast series medical reporter Bonnie Petrie and reporter Robin Berghaus explore how Texas is, somewhat ironically, leading the way in the therapeutic application of psychedelics.
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Texas Matters: Terry Virts jumps into race for U.S. Senate

June 27, 2025 • 28 mins
The upcoming race for the Texas U.S. Senate seat is shaping up to be one of the nation's more interesting contests. Incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn is being eclipsed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the GOP nomination. Former NASA Astronaut Terry Virts is running for the Democratic nomination while other Dems ready their own campaign launches.
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Texas Matters: How a GOP congressional redistricting could backfire

June 20, 2025 • 28 mins
Today on Texas Matters—How Texas could see a reshuffle of congressional maps to keep Republican Control of Congress. When is a Hood not a Hood? When President Trump puts names of Confederate figures back on military bases. And why you could see tomato prices jump at the grocery store.
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Texas Matters: 50 years of Ray Benson wide awake at the wheel

June 13, 2025 • 28 mins
This week on Texas Matters—50 years of Asleep at the Wheel. How did Ray Benson become the carrier of the flame for Western Swing? For half a century, Asleep at the Wheel made it on the rocky road that is the music biz.
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Texas Matters: Why Conan The Barbarian is a Texan

June 6, 2025 • 28 mins
He dreamed up Conan the Barbarian from his lonely town of Cross Plains, Texas. But where did Robert E. Howard find his inspiration for the sword-and- sorcery, weird tales that still resonate today? Howard dipped his pen in the inkwell of Texas history, tall tales and the boom and bust of the oil fields. How Conan is really a Texan.
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Texas Matters: Banning THC; Commanding the Ten Commandments; Billions for water

May 30, 2025 • 28 mins
Kiss your gummies goodbye. Texas is on the verge of a total ban on hemp-derived THC. Lawsuits are coming after the GOP commanded putting the ten commandments in all classrooms. And lawmakers promised they would do something about water scarcity in Texas. Did they deliver?
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Texas Matters: Belle Starr — Queen of Western Outlaws

May 23, 2025 • 29 mins
She was queen of the Wild West outlaws. She rode with Jesse James and other desperados. Belle Starr was a one-of-a-kind, dangerous woman who stole horses, robbed stagecoaches and lived a life of crime on the open plains. Her mysterious violent death still baffles investigators. Should Starr be considered a different kind of feminist icon?
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