The Ragged Edge

We're taking a break. Details in the clip.

My guest this week is Jason Stanford. His book, which he wrote with authors Chris Tomlinson and Bryan Burrough, is called “Forget the Alamo: the Rise and Fall of an American Myth.” It was published earlier this month by Penguin Press and is an Amazon Bestseller.Jason also publishes a very good weekly newsletter called the Jason Stanford Experiment and I recommend it. Subscribe at jasonstanford.substack.comJason and I talked about how what we know of as the story of the battle of the Alamo came to be, why its been only fairly recently that those 13 days in Texas history have been subject to academic rigor and the impact Phil Collins  has had on the current debate — yes, that Phil Collins.

Our show this week is another on the road edition, this one recorded during a town hall for State Rep. John Bucy on the patio at Whitestone brewery in Cedar Park and hosted by the Hill Country News. I got to moderate the conversation. Every time we do one of these live programs, we learn something new … this time we learned that matter how hard I try, I just don't have the resources to get a clean recording of an outdoor event amid all the traffic and wind and other extraneous noises … so, our apologies for all that. Like our previous on the road edition, this is an extended episode and includes a whole lot of Texas state government policy wonkiness. 

We took our second-ever road trip to the Texas Beer Co. for an in depth conversation with Texas HD52 State Rep. James Talarico. We talked about the good, the bad and the ugly from the 87th meeting of the Texas Legislature, why redistricting is a bi-partisan issue and the importance of civics education in our public schools.

A few weeks ago, I had my cousin on the show to talk about Oran Roberts, the most important Texas you never heard of. As is often the case, especially where conversations with Jon are concerned, we talked about a lot of stuff that didn't make it into the interview. Well, I saved that part of the interview for a special edition I'm calling “Remnants.” We talked about the civil war, politics today and … well, little known facts about the Louisiana Purchase. Also, Program Notes:Live event 7 p.m. June 10 at @texasbeerco with @jamestalaricoLater in June, Jason Stanford sits in to talk about his new book, Forget the Alamo.

Our conversation this week is with Denise Rogers, a Central Texas LGBTQ+ activist, about the horrible legislation working through the Texas Legislature. We also discussed what you can do to support this community — even if all you know is that you dislike the way the way some people are treated — and the importance of representation in popular culture. 

For anyone who knows me, it's no secret that I'm a huge fan of science fiction … as such, I listened to Gemini mission broadcasts on my transistor radio and glued to my television when Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon. Our family toured the Johnson Space Center in Houston whenever we got the chance. We held an early morning watch party for the first space shuttle launch — and watched as many other launches as I could.It seems that, over the last year or so, the tempo of our activities in low earth orbit, the talk about another mission to the moon — like in the next four years — and eventually to Mars, has rekindled my interest. Man, it's the stuff of science fiction!So, I invited Eric Berger onto the show to talk about it. Eric is the senior space editor at Ars Technica, covering everything from astronomy to private space ventures, to wonky NASA policy, and is the author of the book Liftoff, about the rise of SpaceX, Elon Musk's effort to send humans to Mars. Eric was at the Houston Chronicle for 17 years, where the paper was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2009 for his coverage of Hurricane Ike.

We're coming up on the anniversary of the of the beginning of the Black Lives Matter protests and rallies which swept our nation last summer after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. So, I called a friend of mine who works at a newspaper in Asheville NC. David Thompson helped to cover seven very intense days of rallies, protests and demonstrations. Asheville is not a big city, about the size of Temple, so the intensity of the rallies — and police pushback — was surprising and landed Asheville on the front pages of the nation's news papers at the beginning of last summer. 

We thought it was time to try something a little different — record the podcast in front of a live audience.  Our friends at the Texas Beer Company here in Taylor were game and so was our guest, Jesse Ancira. What you're about to hear is the entire conversation Jesse and I had about politics, social media and governance. While we talked specifically about Taylor, many of the issues we discussed could apply anywhere. 

My cousin, Jon Stone, returns to the program this week for another look at Texas history. Most every body knows the role that Sam Houston played in Texas history. But, few of us know much about the man who ended Houston's political career. In the interview, we'll meet the most important Texan you probably never knew, Oran Milo Roberts. Stay with us guys … this week's program is a deep dive into Texas history. 

I stumbled across this conversation with Richard Oppel a couple days ago and was struck by how well it holds up. Since the original podcast was one of our very first, it didn't reach a very big audience but Rich and I covered some important issues … so I went back to the original files and re-edited it … Richard was the editor of the Austin American Statesman and, before that, led the Charlotte Observer to three Pulitzers. We talked about how the future of print journalism is in a transition to digital, the role social media plays in that transformation and why you can trust what you read in most of the country's newspapers.

My guest this week is Joe Jaworski. He's an attorney out of Galveston, that city's former mayor, who tossed his hat in the ring last fall to run as a Democrat for Texas Attorney General. Joe and I talked about his Grandfather, Leon Jaworski, about the lessons he learned from his brief stint as the Mayor of Galveston and why he thinks the time is right for Texas to soften the laws around recreational marijuana use.

My conversation with my guest this week was so interesting i had a hard time finding places to cut. So, this time, I let the conversation run. Wayne Mueller and I talked about how Central Texas BBQ became world famous, how difficult is can be to teach his work ethic, what keeps him up at night these days and  why you should wait until you're a grumpy old man before you read the Yelp reviews. Buckle up for an in depth look at the world of legendary BBQ!

My guest this week is a very dear friend of mine. Lisa Drummond is a nurse practitioner at Lone Star Circle of Care. We talked about the transformations the Covid-19 pandemic has wrought on the way health care is delivered, the new community-based clinic that's coming to Taylor real soon and … once that happens, how she'll be able to prescribe carrots? 

My guest this week is State Representative John Bucy. He's a second-term member of the Texas House from West Williamson County and serves on the House Elections Committee. It's not surprising that our conversation focused on proposed legislation that attacks ballot access, but we also talked about his other important issues like medicaid expansion, public education and …. will we learn our lesson from the winter storm?

My guest this week is Wayne Carpenter. Wayne's a friend of mine from my home town of Belton. Right now, he's the mayor of that community and has served on the city council for about 20 years. He is also a retired educator, school administrator and government teacher. We talked about why our government seems to be broken, possible fixes and why Gus from Lonesome Dove gives some of the best advice.

March second is Texas Independence day. So, to mark the 185th anniversary, I invited Jon Stone to sit in and talk me through the forces at play that influenced the founding of the state. We talked about the power of myth and busted a few, then tied it all up with a discussion of the role chewing gum played. Jon's my cousin and one of the biggest Texas history buffs I know. We talked about Texas for a long time. Here's the interview, edited for brevity and clarity.

I wanted this episode to to help give our listeners some context into why a winter storm could knock cold our essential utilities — heat and water — So, after he wrote and posted a terrific Tweet this week, I invited Representative James Talarico to sit in for a bit. We talked about how inexpensive it is to prevent the sort of energy failures Texas saw as compared to how expensive it will be to recover from this natural disaster and who has the ultimate responsibility — spoiler alert, it's not really ERCOT, tho that group isn't without culpability and will be thrown under the bus in the coming weeks.You can see the Tweet here: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1362165264020688902.htmlIt's a bit technical but you can see the autopsy of the 2011 storm here:https://www.ferc.gov/sites/default/files/2020-04/08-16-11-report.pdf

MY GUEST THIS WEEK IS TIA STONE. SHE'S THE PRESIDENT AND CEO OF THE GREATER TAYLOR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE … SHE'S ALSO MY WIFE SO THIS INTERVIEW GOT INTERESTING AT TIMES. WE TALKED ABOUT WHY IT'S IMPORTANT FOR BUSINESSES TO BELONG TO THEIR CHAMBER, THE EVOLUTION OF TAYLOR'S CHAMBER INTO A MORE PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION FOCUSED ON COMMUNITY IMPACT AND …. WHAT'S FOR DINNER. 

Scott Braddock is a veteran journalist with more than two decades experience reporting on Texas politics. He sat in this week to talk about how much bandwidth the state legislature might have in this pandemic-influenced environment, the internal dynamics of the Texas Republican Party and how elected officials work hard to choose their voters, rather than the other way around. It's a thorough lesson on the Texas Legislature.

It's another nerdy show this week! Join me and my guest, Sonia van Meter (@bourbonface on the Twitter) as we jump into the world of Star Trek — particularly season 3 of @discovery but also the rest of the story lines — and weave a bit of current events into our narrative. We talked about how the Star Trek universe is informed by and reflects the world around us, some of our favorite things about it (and some of the more annoying aspects) and Sonia reveals the most gushy, fangirl thing she's ever done. Minor spoilers for Discovery S3 (well, some big ones, too) ahead!

If you watched, and enjoyed, The Mandalorian, you'll love our deep-dive in to Star Wars lore. Warning: spoilers ahead ... the next Ragged Edge podcast, featuring our resident geek, Robert Center. WE TOOK A DEEP, DEEP DIVE INTO STAR WARS LORE TO EXAMINE SEASON TWO OF THE MANDALORIAN, HOW THE ANIMATED SERIES INFORMED THIS NEW ENTRY INTO THE STAR WARS LEXICON AND … WILL BENIDICT CUMBERBATCH OR TOM HIDDLESTON PLAY ADMIRAL THRAWN IN THE NEXT SEASON?We swear ... no frog eggs were harmed in the production of today's podcast.

I ASKED MY FRIEND HAROLD COOK BACK ON THE PODCAST TO HELP US WRAP OUR HEADS AROUND THIS … UH, TUMULTUOUS WEEK. HAROLD IS A POLITICAL CONSULTANT AND OFT-QUOTED COMMENTATOR AND I THOUGHT SHARING HIS PERSPECTIVE MIGHT BE HELPFULWE TALKED ABOUT THE INSURRECTION, UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS PEOPLE MAY HAVE ABOUT JOE BIDEN'S ADMINISTRATION, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PRES. TRUMP'S RHETORIC AND … ARE WE LIVING IN A PARTICULARLY BAD, UNENDING TOM CLANCY NOVEL? 

While I take a couple of weeks to explore some new story-telling formats, here's a re-broadcast of our interview from October with Dr. John Elwood. 

While I take a couple of weeks to explore some new story-telling formats, here's a re-broadcast of our interview from September with Jim Rigby. 

While I take a couple of weeks to explore some new story-telling formats, here's a re-broadcast of our interview from September with Doug Moss. 

Harold Cook is a long-time media strategist, public policy pro and political analyst. he's been a regular contributor to Capitol Tonight, was published in Texas Monthly and reporters from all over the country — including me — turn to Harold for insight into this state's often crazy political circus.We talked about what voters should expect on election night, how long we should expect to wait on the results and handicap the various elections in Texas. Ee also settled once and for all whether or not beans belong in chili.

With new seasons premiering this month, Robert Center (my nephew) and I discuss the hits and misses displayed by the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises ... and others. Geekiness ensued. This show is probably fit for SciFi fans but others should beware.

Jim Rigby is an implacable champion of social justice. He's also the pastor at Saint Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas and seems to get into a lot of good trouble. Plus, a taste of a rather whimsical and geeky conversation I had that contrasted Star Wars and Star Trek.

We talked to award-winning architect Doug Moss about how communities can be better and more livable when people can get a sense of place and scale through urban planning, how public art can enhance the world around us and the single biggest thing that holds back many communities.

We talked Longhorn football with Joseph Branson, a walking, talking trove of Longhorn sports knowledge. Hook 'em!

Brian LaBorde is our city manager here in Taylor. the city is working on a new comprehensive plan. We talked about that, why some plans gather dust on a shelf at city hall and WHAT ABOUT MY STREETS?!

Russel Viers is an Adobe trainer and speaker who was apt to throw a full-sized bag of M&Ms — hard— at people who drifted off during conferences. He also loves to drive old cars through small towns taking pictures with old film cameras, then write about his experiences. We talk about that, and about high end soy sauce (who knew, right?).

We talked to Chris Davis, election administrator for Williamson County, Texas.

How Texas public schools are handling the pandemic? It depends on who you ask. We talked to Keith Brown, a former Texas Association of School Administrators Superintendent of the Year, about the pandemic, playing football and what keeps him awake at night.

My daughter and her husband are working in Edinburgh, Scotland. I talked to them about how the Scots are taking this whole pandemic thing, what they think of us and ... well, we never got around to talking about Scotch but we will.

We talked to Jesse Ancira , former mayor of Taylor and chief of staff to the Speaker of the Texas House, about what Taylor needs to do next, will he ever run for office ever again (spoiler alert — maybe!) and how it feels to go from the halls of power to pitch man for hand crafted hot sauce.

Randall Pick is a local attorney and judge. He's also a student of history. We talk about Brown vs Board of Education and the legacy of the John Roberts court.

Ken Cooke and I are former cross-county rivals and have been friends for decades. We share a bunch of inside baseball stuff about the community newspaper business.

We interviewed Rich Oppel, the former editor of the Austin American-Statesman who lead the Charlotte Observer to three Pulitzer Prizes, about social media, the future of local newspapers and what it's like to launch a digital news startup in the midst of a pandemic.

This was our very first pod cast. I interviewed Derrick Neal of the Williamson County and Cities Health District about the seriousness of the pandemic.