Podcasts about The Texas Observer

A Rio Grande Valley murder case was botched and evidence lost by local police and by Texas Rangers. The Texas Observer investigates the case and raises questions about the state's elite law enforcement agency.

With thanks to “forever” plastics, the earth has reverted to sand and dust. Dylan has been raised by her scientist mother, in a pod under the sea, and longs to escape the loneliness of being confined. The only friend she ever had was a pen pal from Mars, who disappeared. With great effort, she's escorted onto land, to the place of her mother's employment where she becomes the groundskeeper. Unofficially, she begins studying sand. After a few years, the company sends her on a vacation and she meets Melanie, possibly a robot. Love flourishes on the floundering planet, but death is never far, and Dylan's pen pal returns too late in Earth 7 (Graywolf Press 2026), a dystopian novel about the frailty of the planet, the ongoing need for scientific research, and the human struggle for survival. Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including the novels Barn 8 and Vacation, the memoir Revolution, finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award, two story collections, and the graphic novel I, Parrot. Her fiction and essays have appeared in over fifty magazines and journals, including Harper's, the New York Times, The Paris Review, Granta, and McSweeney's. She has received a Guggenheim fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, a Creative Capital Fellowship for Innovative Literature, fellowships from the MacDowell, Yaddo, and Ucross residencies.  She's a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches for the Michener Center, the New Writers' Project, and she also directs the Pen City Writers, the prison creative-writing program at a south Texas penitentiary. Unferth founded and directs the Pen City Writers, a creative writing program for incarcerated men at a maximum-security prison in south Texas. The program has been running for ten years, and the students regularly win writing awards from Pen America and the Insider Prize. Their work has appeared in many places, including Vice, StoryQuarterly, the Texas Observer, the Stranger's Guide, and the Marshall Project. Deb and her friend, Lucy Corin, have gone on several research and writing trips together, including to the Sahara Desert for the sand; in 2024, they spent a month in the Arctic to see ice, trying to get as close to the North Pole as possible, and reaching the 82nd parallel. Last year, they rented two pods in a scrub desert Dark Sky area of the US to see darkness. Originally from Chicago, Unferth lives in Austin with philosophy professor Matt Evans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

With thanks to “forever” plastics, the earth has reverted to sand and dust. Dylan has been raised by her scientist mother, in a pod under the sea, and longs to escape the loneliness of being confined. The only friend she ever had was a pen pal from Mars, who disappeared. With great effort, she's escorted onto land, to the place of her mother's employment where she becomes the groundskeeper. Unofficially, she begins studying sand. After a few years, the company sends her on a vacation and she meets Melanie, possibly a robot. Love flourishes on the floundering planet, but death is never far, and Dylan's pen pal returns too late in Earth 7 (Graywolf Press 2026), a dystopian novel about the frailty of the planet, the ongoing need for scientific research, and the human struggle for survival. Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including the novels Barn 8 and Vacation, the memoir Revolution, finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award, two story collections, and the graphic novel I, Parrot. Her fiction and essays have appeared in over fifty magazines and journals, including Harper's, the New York Times, The Paris Review, Granta, and McSweeney's. She has received a Guggenheim fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, a Creative Capital Fellowship for Innovative Literature, fellowships from the MacDowell, Yaddo, and Ucross residencies.  She's a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches for the Michener Center, the New Writers' Project, and she also directs the Pen City Writers, the prison creative-writing program at a south Texas penitentiary. Unferth founded and directs the Pen City Writers, a creative writing program for incarcerated men at a maximum-security prison in south Texas. The program has been running for ten years, and the students regularly win writing awards from Pen America and the Insider Prize. Their work has appeared in many places, including Vice, StoryQuarterly, the Texas Observer, the Stranger's Guide, and the Marshall Project. Deb and her friend, Lucy Corin, have gone on several research and writing trips together, including to the Sahara Desert for the sand; in 2024, they spent a month in the Arctic to see ice, trying to get as close to the North Pole as possible, and reaching the 82nd parallel. Last year, they rented two pods in a scrub desert Dark Sky area of the US to see darkness. Originally from Chicago, Unferth lives in Austin with philosophy professor Matt Evans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction

With thanks to “forever” plastics, the earth has reverted to sand and dust. Dylan has been raised by her scientist mother, in a pod under the sea, and longs to escape the loneliness of being confined. The only friend she ever had was a pen pal from Mars, who disappeared. With great effort, she's escorted onto land, to the place of her mother's employment where she becomes the groundskeeper. Unofficially, she begins studying sand. After a few years, the company sends her on a vacation and she meets Melanie, possibly a robot. Love flourishes on the floundering planet, but death is never far, and Dylan's pen pal returns too late in Earth 7 (Graywolf Press 2026), a dystopian novel about the frailty of the planet, the ongoing need for scientific research, and the human struggle for survival. Deb Olin Unferth is the author of seven books, including the novels Barn 8 and Vacation, the memoir Revolution, finalist for the National Book Critics' Circle Award, two story collections, and the graphic novel I, Parrot. Her fiction and essays have appeared in over fifty magazines and journals, including Harper's, the New York Times, The Paris Review, Granta, and McSweeney's. She has received a Guggenheim fellowship, three Pushcart Prizes, a Creative Capital Fellowship for Innovative Literature, fellowships from the MacDowell, Yaddo, and Ucross residencies.  She's a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where she teaches for the Michener Center, the New Writers' Project, and she also directs the Pen City Writers, the prison creative-writing program at a south Texas penitentiary. Unferth founded and directs the Pen City Writers, a creative writing program for incarcerated men at a maximum-security prison in south Texas. The program has been running for ten years, and the students regularly win writing awards from Pen America and the Insider Prize. Their work has appeared in many places, including Vice, StoryQuarterly, the Texas Observer, the Stranger's Guide, and the Marshall Project. Deb and her friend, Lucy Corin, have gone on several research and writing trips together, including to the Sahara Desert for the sand; in 2024, they spent a month in the Arctic to see ice, trying to get as close to the North Pole as possible, and reaching the 82nd parallel. Last year, they rented two pods in a scrub desert Dark Sky area of the US to see darkness. Originally from Chicago, Unferth lives in Austin with philosophy professor Matt Evans. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

On today's show we take a deep look into universities, and education more broadly with Tristan Ahtone, Andrew Herscher, and Robert Warrior. We focus on a  critique of land grant universities, which were built on land granted by the federal government. What we learn is that lands were stolen from Indigenous peoples through violence-based treaties and seizures. These 57 universities have used wealth derived from those initial acts of theft to buy more property, expand holdings, and enrich themselves. In contrast, we see the continued harm these universities do to Native peoples. This harm comes what Herscher calls “non-memory,” which creates knowledge that distorts and omits historical truths and impedes upon Indigenous futures. We talk about the deep damage non-memory does to education for all, and the ways people have fought back to retrieve, restore, and grow knowledge through scholar-journalist activism like the Land Grab University project.Tristan Ahtone (Kiowa) is Editor at Large at Grist and one of the foremost journalists covering Indigenous affairs in America. He previously served as Editor in Chief of the Texas Observer and Indigenous Affairs editor at High Country News. His investigations have been honored with a George Polk Award, an IRE Award, a Sigma Award, a National Magazine Award nomination, and investigative awards from the Gannett Foundation. A multiple Richard LaCourse Award winner, Ahtone was also named Journalist of the Year by Covering Climate Now in 2024. A past president of the Indigenous Journalists Association and a 2017 Nieman Fellow, he is a co-founder of the Indigenous News Alliance.Andrew Herscher's work endeavors to bring the study of architecture and cities to bear on struggles for justice, democracy, and self-determination across a range of global sites. He is the co-founder of a series of militant research collectives, including Detroit Resists, Settler Colonial City Project, and the We the People of Detroit Community Research Collective. His scholarly work include Violence Taking Place: The Architecture of the Kosovo Conflict (Stanford University Press, 2010); The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit (University of Michigan Press, 2012); Displacements: Architecture and Refugee (Sternberg Press, 2017); The Global Shelter Imaginary: IKEA Humanitarianism and Rightless Relief (co-authored with Daniel Bertrand Monk, University of Minnesota Press, 2022); and Under the Campus, the Land: Anishinaabe Futuring, Colonial Non-Memory, and the Origin of the University of Michigan (University of Michigan Press, 2025). He is teaches at the University of Michigan in architecture, Native American and Indigenous studies, and the history of art. Robert Warrior is Hall Distinguished Professor of American Literature and Culture at the University of Kansas and a member/citizen of the Osage Nation. He is the author of Tribal Secrets: Recovering American Indian Intellectual Traditions (University of Minnesota Press, 1995) and The People and the Word: Reading Native Nonfiction (University of Minnesota Press, 2006), and coauthor of Like a Hurricane: The Indian Movement from Alcatraz to Wounded Knee (New Press, 1996), American Indian Literary Nationalism (University of New Mexico Press, 2008), and Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective (University of Oklahoma Press, 2009). He is past president of the American Studies Association and was the founding president of the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (2009-10). He was the founding co-editor of Native American and Indigenous Studies (NAISA's journal) and edits the Indigenous Americas series at the University of Minnesota Press). Before moving to the University of Kansas, he taught at Stanford, the University of Oklahoma, and the University of Illinois. In 2018, he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

My talk with Skye begins at 26 mins Subscribe and Watch Interviews LIVE : On YOUTUBE.com/StandUpWithPete ON SubstackStandUpWithPete Stand Up is a daily podcast. I book,host,edit, post and promote new episodes with brilliant guests every day. This show is Ad free and fully supported by listeners like you! Please subscribe now for as little as 5$ and gain access to a community of over 750 awesome, curious, kind, funny, brilliant, generous souls Skye L. Perryman is the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, communications, policy education, and research. Named as one of the 2025 100 Most Influential People In The World by TIME Magazine, Ms. Perryman took the helm at Democracy Forward a few months after January 6, 2021, in the midst of rising extremism in communities and courts across the country. She has built a visionary team of legal, policy, and communications experts to confront anti-democratic extremism head-on while also using the law to advance progress and a bold vision for the future. Under Ms. Perryman's leadership, Democracy Forward has expanded the scope and reach of its work, emerging as a nationally recognized institution that is taking on the most significant issues affecting people, families, and communities– from defending civil rights and fair wages to seeking to expand access to reproductive health care post-Dobbs to confronting attacks on education to addressing the climate crisis and much more. Since January 2025, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in inspiring courage and in protecting the American people from harmful and unlawful federal executive action. The organization has filed hundreds of legal actions, launched hundreds of investigations, and, through its Democracy 2025 initiative, has organized the largest, most successful affirmative litigation effort against executive branch excesses in United States history. Learn more about our work here. Known for her strategic insight and impact-oriented leadership, Ms. Perryman has a track record of winning tough legal and policy battles, uniting diverse coalitions, inspiring the American public, and elevating voices that represent the fabric of our country to deliver results that improve the lives of millions. Over the course of her nearly two decade legal career, Ms. Perryman has served in executive positions and has provided legal and strategic counsel for a broad range of clients and institutions. She previously served as Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. There, she oversaw legal and policy strategies that resulted in historic advancements in access to health care for women, including developing strategies to support the extension of postpartum Medicaid coverage for more than 500,000 people, overseeing litigation that enabled the distribution of mifepristone by mail for the first time in US history, launching an industry-wide effort to address racism and promote racial equity in medicine, and leading comprehensive legal and policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Perryman was previously a member of Democracy Forward's founding legal team and began her legal career in litigation roles at WilmerHale and Covington & Burling, where she gained the trust of clients in the health care, financial services, education, and consumer products industries while simultaneously maintaining an active pro bono practice, receiving numerous commendations and awards for her work. Ms. Perryman's work has been recognized widely for its positive impact on people and communities. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her commitment to public service and her professional work, including receiving a Lifetime Award Award for the Pursuit of Justice from the Georgetown University Law Center's O'Neill Institute, being named one of the 500 Most Influential People Shaping Policy by Washingtonian Magazine for consecutive years, one of The NonProfit Times's Power & Influence Top 50 and their 2025 Influencer of the Year, the 2025 Resister in Law by the Feminist Majority Foundation, a Woman to Watch by the New Republic, a Chuck F C Ruff Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year recipient, a Sissy Farenthold Social Justice Award recipient, a Harry S. Truman Scholar (2002), a Baylor Line Foundation Outstanding Young Alumni (2018), and a four-time Rising Star in Litigation in Washington, DC, among other awards. Ms. Perryman is a frequent guest lecturer and keynote speaker on matters at the intersection of law and policy. She has testified before the U.S. Congress and other expert bodies and her legal work has been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court as well as state supreme courts. Ms. Perryman appears on both network and cable television and her work and commentary is routinely covered in outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, NBC News, The Washington Post, Texas Monthly, The Houston Chronicle, Teen Vogue, MSNBC and CNN. Ms. Perryman grew up in Waco, Texas and is a proud product of K-12 public education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Philosophy magna cum laude from Baylor University where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and a Juris Doctor with honors from the Georgetown University Law Center where she served as an Editor for the American Criminal Law Review and was an Editor in Chief for the ACLR's Annual Survey on White Collar Crime. Ms. Perryman serves on the boards of the Interfaith Alliance, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, the Texas Observer, the Baylor Line Foundation, and the Rise Up: Federal Workers Legal Defense Network. Alongside both progressive and conservative legal scholars, she co-chairs We Hold These Truths, Democracy Forward's initiative to provide accessible civic education to the American public. Listen rate and review on Apple Podcasts Listen rate and review on Spotify Pete On Instagram Pete on Blue Sky Pete on Threads Pete on Tik Tok Pete on Twitter Pete Personal FB page Stand Up with Pete FB page Gift a Subscription https://www.patreon.com/PeteDominick/gift Send Pete $ Directly on Venmo All things Jon Carroll  Buy Ava's Art  Subscribe to Piano Tuner Paul Paul Wesley on Substack Listen to Barry and Abigail Hummel Podcast Listen to Matty C Podcast and Substack Follow and Support Pete Coe Hire DJ Monzyk to build your website or help you with Marketing

Randy Koch reads his poem "Unfaithful," and Mary Lanham reads her poem "Survivor's guilt," from our Spring 2026 issue.Randy Koch is the author of four collections of poems: Composing Ourselves (Fithian Press, 2002), This Splintered Horse (Finishing Line Press, 2011), and forthcoming in 2026, both Against the Risen Flesh (Alternating Current Press) and Amends (Finishing Line Press). His poems have appeared in The Caribbean Writer, Chiricú Journal, The Texas Observer, Revista Interamericana, Sundial Magazine, and many others. A longtime columnist for LareDOS: A Journal of the Borderlands, he earned an MFA at the University of Wyoming and twice has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.Mary Lanham is a queer writer, editor, and collage artist based in Minnesota. She is originally from the South; her accent is still around if you know where to look. Mary's poetry has appeared most recently in Sheila-Na-Gig and Amethyst Review, and her online home is inspiritedword.com.

Kate and Josh talk war and midterms from the Lone Star State (with a special bonus segment featuring the Texas Observer's Justin Miller). --Main Episode: 00.00.53A Conversation with TPM's Josh Marshall and Texas Observer's Justin Miller: 54.54.00--TPM's Annual Membership Drive is underway! If you're not a member, now's the perfect time to join! For a limited time, you can get 25% off an annual Prime or Prime Ad Free membership!To watch this episode on video, go to our YouTube page.We also have newsletters: subscribe here!Follow us on:Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/talkingpointsmemo.comFacebook: https://facebook.com/talkingpointsmemoTwitter: https://twitter.com/tpmInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/talkingpointsmemo/See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The coverage by the Texas Observer, a longstanding and legendary liberal Texas media outlet - of a recent hit piece on Houston State Rep. Gene Wu by the Dallas Express, an upstart, well-funded right wing rag masquerading as a "spin-free" media entity - has us thinkin' about how difficult it has become to tell fact from fiction in the news...and that's before we even start thinkin' about AI. Now, more than ever, it's vital to find, patronize, and support fact-based indie media with high standards of journalistic integrity - without whom, we're all at the mercy of fat cats and MAGA propagandists. Our very democracy now depends on selective and informed media savvy.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.

Tom Brzozowski, formerly of the Justice Department; Lawfare Public Service Fellow Troy “LT” Edwards; and Steven Monacelli, an investigative correspondent at the Texas Observer, sit down with Lawfare Associate Editor Peter Beck to discuss the ongoing terrorism trial of an alleged Antifa cell in North Texas. The group talks about the events leading up to the trial, practices around domestic terrorism investigations and prosecutions, how the trial is unique to other terror prosecutions, and more.To receive ad-free podcasts, become a Lawfare Material Supporter at www.patreon.com/lawfare. You can also support Lawfare by making a one-time donation at https://givebutter.com/lawfare-institute.Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Years ago, when I announced that I was leaving my job as editor of The Texas Observer to run for political office, I had to admit that into politics is the only downward career move one can make from journalism!But being a both a journalist and a politician does hone in one's ability to detect the smell of BS – and we Americans are presently getting a noxious blast of that stench from our warmongering Department of Defense.The vast, trillion-dollar Pentagon is the ultimate Big Brother bureaucracy, literally empowered to compel thousands of Americans to die in foolish military misadventures cooked up by political partisans and profiteering corporate contractors. That's why it's so alarming that Trump's “Project 2025” autocrats are now rushing to slam an iron door of censorship on reporters trying to inform us commoners about the militaristic schemes and corporate fraud that come from inside this government fortress.In the name of defending freedom, Trump's palace guards are banning media outlets that displease his royal highness. Also, “Pretty Boy Pete Hegseth,” Trump's made-for-TV Pentagon honcho, has even decreed that reporters must be tightly monitored by military escorts while doing interviews, reviewing documents, and otherwise exorcising the essential Constitutional rights of our nation's free press.The good news is that rather than kowtowing to the autocrats, dozens of media organizations have told Pete to stuff it, choosing to do old-school outsider digging into this insider war machine.Meanwhile, the “Project 2025” authoritarians hail their clamp down on free press rights by touting their “fresh relationship” with what they call their “new Pentagon press corps.” Right – it's their partisan press corps, not ours.Do something!Our friends over at Free Press have launched a newsletter, “Pressing Issues,” to cover the future of media—and advocate for the freedoms we need in journalism. Check it out at pressingissues.org.Jim Hightower's Lowdown is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit jimhightower.substack.com/subscribe

En Texas, la policía ha gastado millones de dólares en una nueva herramienta para rastrear teléfonos. No se trata de una escucha telefónica. Además, no se necesita una orden judicial para hacer el rastreo. Se trata de un sistema de vigilancia poco conocido que se basa en datos comerciales recopilados discretamente de las aplicaciones cotidianas de los teléfonos inteligentes. Si bien la herramienta de vigilancia y rastreo telefónico, conocida como Tangles, ha sido usada por años, las autoridades se niegan a revelar cómo ha contribuido, o no, a adelantar investigaciones, revela una investigación del Texas Observer. Así que para hablar sobre el aumento del rastreo telefónico sin orden judicial, las empresas tecnológicas que hay detrás y las dudas que genera esta vigilancia, invitamos a la autora de la investigación, Francesca D'Annunzio, quien acaba de terminar su fellowship con el Texas Observer.

Part 1:We talk with Josephine Lee, staff writer at the Texas Observer.We discuss the implementation of school vouchers in Texas. Funding for private schools is unevenly distributed: some religious schools are funded, while others are not. While the governor had promised vouchers availability for rural schools, the majority of voucher payments are going to urban schools. Other problems have become evident.We also touch on the Democratic primary for the US Senate. Talarico and Crockett are very competitive, though with different segments: Black, White, Hispanic.Part 2:We talk with Bill Curry and Robert Hennelly.We discuss the Verizon cell outage, and how it shows the vulnerability of the US communications grid. There is no real regulation that requires a level of robustness.We also talk about the nurses' strike in NYC, and how it is likely to affect other unions.WNHNFM.ORG  productionMusic: Buffalo Springfield, "Hey, Stop, What's that Sound?"

On Tuesday's show: We learn about problems with group homes for elderly or disabled people across the state, which is the subject of an investigation from the Texas Observer.Also this hour: The holidays may bring realizations about the health of aging family members in your life. We get some advice on how to handle that situation with care.Then, in this month's installment of The Bigger Picture, we consider what the new Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man, has to say about religious leadership and guidance.And listeners share some of their favorite holiday songs in the Houston Matters Holiday Mixtape.Watch

Synopsis:  Meet the fearless reporters who dare to shine a light on dark corners of American politics, tracking extremist groups and debunking disinformation with courage and conviction.Make a tax deductible YEAR END DONATION and become a member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Description: Today's guests have paid a price for their reporting on far Right extremists. But if journalists don't do this critical work, then who will? The Trump administration is deprioritizing domestic terrorism to serve a political agenda, scaling back investigations of far-Right extremism while redirecting DHS agents to immigration crackdowns. As programs tracking domestic extremism are dismantled and January 6 rioters are recast as "patriots," journalists find themselves on the frontlines — and their attackers are now people in power. Jordan Green is an investigative reporter for Raw Story whose coverage on far-Right extremism has spanned from Charlottesville to January 6. He is currently working on a book about militant accelerationism. Green also reported on a story we've covered extensively on the show: the attack on two power stations in Moore County, North Carolina. A correspondent for the Texas Observer, investigative journalist Steven Monacelli has been tracking extremism, disinformation, social movements, and the influence of dark money in politics. He received the The Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award for revealing the identities of far-Right extremists, including government employees. Freelance journalist Amanda Moore embedded with the far Right in 2020 and has faced backlash from far-Right groups for her reporting. Her reporting at present focuses on ICE and Border Control, and her work has appeared in the Nation, Politico, and the Intercept. Join us for this chilling conversation on threats against journalists and the implications for democracy, plus a commentary from Laura.Guests:•  Jordan Green: Investigative Journalist, Raw Story•  Steven Monacelli: Freelance Investigative Journalist; Correspondent, The Texas Observer;  publisher of Protean Magazine, a nonprofit literary magazine; co-founder of Apprentice Creative Space•  Amanda Moore: Freelance Investigative Journalist Watch the episode released on YouTube; airing on PBS World Channel 11:30am ET, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast December 10th.Full Episode Notes are located HERE.Music Credit: “Logue” by Tom Skinner featuring Contour from the album Kaleidoscopic Visions released on Brownswood Recordings, "Steppin" by Podington Bear, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES:Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Power Grids Under Attack: The Threat is Domestic Terrorism – Not Drag Artists:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut•  What is Political Violence? Uncovering MAGA Militancy & Strategies to Protect Democracy:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation•  Congresswoman Jayapal & Marine Vet Goldbeck: Standing Against the Administration's War on Civilians:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut and Full Uncut ConversationRelated Articles and Resources:•  I've Seen How the Neo-Nazi Movement Is Escalating. You Should Worry.  By Jordan Green, July 14, 2025, The Assembly NC•  Pentagon Marine tied to ‘6 bullets to head' threat against Pete Hegseth won't face probe, by Jordan Green, November 7, 2025, Raw Story•. Ex-Soldier linked to far-right groups pleads guilty to gun charge, by Jordan Green, September 17, 2205, Raw Story•  I Was Banned From CPAC, but the Extremists Weren't, by Amanda Moore, February 27, 2024, The Nation•  Undercover With the New Alt-Right, by Amanda Moore, August 22, 2023, The Nation•  Trump Inauguration Official's “Phony Charity” Allegedly Pocketed East Palestine Train Disaster Funds, by Amanda Moore, January 19, 2025, The Intercept•  Revealed:  The Operators Behind Four Major Neo-Nazi X Accounts, by Steven Monacelli and Tristan Lee, December 4, 2024, Texas Observer•  The GOP Mega Donor Behind The Big to Break Dallas City Government, by Steven Monacelli, October 14, 2024, Texas Observer•  Parker County ‘White Nationalist Fight Club' Leader Exposed, by Steven Monacelli, February 15, 2024, Texas Observer•  “The Federal Government Is Gone:  Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States, by Hannah Allam, May 29, 2025, ProPublica•  How MAGA Took Over America's 250th Birthday, by Amanda Moore and Dan Friedman, June 13, 2025, Mother Jones Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. FOLLOW Laura Flanders and FriendsInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraflandersandfriends/Blueky: https://bsky.app/profile/lfandfriends.bsky.socialFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/LauraFlandersAndFriends/Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lauraflandersandfriendsYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFLRxVeYcB1H7DbuYZQG-lgLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lauraflandersandfriendsPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/lauraflandersandfriendsACCESSIBILITY - The broadcast edition of this episode is available with closed captioned by clicking here for our YouTube Channel

Synopsis:  Journalists Investigating Far-Right Extremism Face Growing Threats: As the Trump administration scales back investigations into far-right extremist groups, journalists on the front lines are facing increased attacks and threats from powerful figures.Make a tax deductible YEAR END DONATION and become a member go to LauraFlanders.org/donate. This show is made possible by you! Description: Today's guests have paid a price for their reporting on far Right extremists. But if journalists don't do this critical work, then who will? The Trump administration is deprioritizing domestic terrorism to serve a political agenda, scaling back investigations of far-Right extremism while redirecting DHS agents to immigration crackdowns. As programs tracking domestic extremism are dismantled and January 6 rioters are recast as "patriots," journalists find themselves on the frontlines — and their attackers are now people in power. Jordan Green is an investigative reporter for Raw Story whose coverage on far-Right extremism has spanned from Charlottesville to January 6. He is currently working on a book about militant accelerationism. Green also reported on a story we've covered extensively on the show: the attack on two power stations in Moore County, North Carolina. A correspondent for the Texas Observer, investigative journalist Steven Monacelli has been tracking extremism, disinformation, social movements, and the influence of dark money in politics. He received the The Al Neuharth Innovation in Investigative Journalism Award for revealing the identities of far-Right extremists, including government employees. Freelance journalist Amanda Moore embedded with the far Right in 2020 and has faced backlash from far-Right groups for her reporting. Her reporting at present focuses on ICE and Border Control, and her work has appeared in the Nation, Politico, and the Intercept. Join us for this chilling conversation on threats against journalists and the implications for democracy, plus a commentary from Laura.Guests:•  Jordan Green: Investigative Journalist, Raw Story•  Steven Monacelli: Freelance Investigative Journalist; Correspondent, The Texas Observer;  publisher of Protean Magazine, a nonprofit literary magazine; co-founder of Apprentice Creative Space•  Amanda Moore: Freelance Investigative Journalist Full Conversation Release: While our weekly shows are edited to time for broadcast on Public TV and community radio, we offer to our members and podcast subscribers the full uncut conversation. These audio exclusives are made possible thanks to our member supporters. Watch the episode released on YouTube; PBS World Channel December 7th, and on over 300 public stations across the country (check your listings, or search here via zipcode). Listen: Episode airing on community radio (check here to see if your station airs the show) & available as a podcast December 10th.Full Episode Notes are located HERE.Music Credit:  'Thrum of Soil' by Bluedot Sessions, and original sound design by Jeannie Hopper Support Laura Flanders and Friends by becoming a member at https://www.patreon.com/c/lauraflandersandfriends RESOURCES:Related Laura Flanders Show Episodes:•  Power Grids Under Attack: The Threat is Domestic Terrorism – Not Drag Artists:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut•  What is Political Violence? Uncovering MAGA Militancy & Strategies to Protect Democracy:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut and Full Uncut Conversation•  Congresswoman Jayapal & Marine Vet Goldbeck: Standing Against the Administration's War on Civilians:  Watch / Listen:  Episode Cut and Full Uncut ConversationRelated Articles and Resources:•  I've Seen How the Neo-Nazi Movement Is Escalating. You Should Worry.  By Jordan Green, July 14, 2025, The Assembly NC•  Pentagon Marine tied to ‘6 bullets to head' threat against Pete Hegseth won't face probe, by Jordan Green, November 7, 2025, Raw Story•. Ex-Soldier linked to far-right groups pleads guilty to gun charge, by Jordan Green, September 17, 2205, Raw Story•  I Was Banned From CPAC, but the Extremists Weren't, by Amanda Moore, February 27, 2024, The Nation•  Undercover With the New Alt-Right, by Amanda Moore, August 22, 2023, The Nation•  Trump Inauguration Official's “Phony Charity” Allegedly Pocketed East Palestine Train Disaster Funds, by Amanda Moore, January 19, 2025, The Intercept•  Revealed:  The Operators Behind Four Major Neo-Nazi X Accounts, by Steven Monacelli and Tristan Lee, December 4, 2024, Texas Observer•  The GOP Mega Donor Behind The Big to Break Dallas City Government, by Steven Monacelli, October 14, 2024, Texas Observer•  Parker County ‘White Nationalist Fight Club' Leader Exposed, by Steven Monacelli, February 15, 2024, Texas Observer•  “The Federal Government Is Gone:  Under Trump, the Fight Against Extremist Violence Is Left Up to the States, by Hannah Allam, May 29, 2025, ProPublica•  How MAGA Took Over America's 250th Birthday, by Amanda Moore and Dan Friedman, June 13, 2025, Mother Jones Laura Flanders and Friends Crew: Laura Flanders-Executive Producer, Writer; Sabrina Artel-Supervising Producer; Jeremiah Cothren-Senior Producer; Veronica Delgado-Video Editor, Janet Hernandez-Communications Director; Jeannie Hopper-Audio Director, Podcast & Radio Producer, Audio Editor, Sound Design, Narrator; Sarah Miller-Development Director, Nat Needham-Editor, Graphic Design emeritus; David Neuman-Senior Video Editor, and Rory O'Conner-Senior Consulting Producer. 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In this episode of the Soil Sisters Podcast, discover the integral role of advocacy in agriculture with Judith McGeary, the executive director and founder of the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance (FARFA). Explore the mission and achievements of FARFA, including significant legislative wins that support small farmers and local food producers. The conversation delves into the importance of civic engagement, the challenges and opposition faced from large agribusinesses, and the opportunities available for cottage food producers. Judith also provides actionable advice on how you can become an effective 'agtivist' with an invitation to become more involved in shaping future agricultural policies. Whether it's buying local food, engaging with policymakers, or attending conferences, there are numerous ways to support a sustainable food system. Tune into this episode and get inspired to join us! MEET OUR GUEST: Judith McGeary is an attorney, activist, and sustainable farmer.  After earning her Bachelors of Science from Stanford University and her law degree with high honors from the University of Texas at Austin, she clerked for a Federal Appeals Court and went on to private law practice.  During that time, she became a passionate advocate of sustainable agriculture, and she and her husband established their own livestock farm.  After seeing how government regulations benefit industrial agriculture at the expense of family farms, she founded the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance to promote common-sense policies for local, diversified agricultural systems. Judith has been profiled in the Texas Observer and Edible Austin, appears in the documentary Farmageddon, and has been interviewed on numerous radio shows across the country. Judith has served as the Vice Chair of the U.S. Secretary's Advisory Committee on Animal Health and is also active with Texas Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Weston A. Price Foundation, and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund.Time Stamps:00:00 Welcome to the Soil Sisters Podcast00:31 Introducing Judith McGeary and FARFA01:48 Judith's Journey from Law to Farming Advocacy03:27 The Battle Against National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and Big Agribusiness04:54 The Importance of Regenerative Agriculture06:23 Historical Parallels and Antitrust Movements08:42 Challenges Facing Small Farmers11:17 FARFA's Legislative Successes17:09 Cottage Food Law and New Opportunities22:31 Federal Issues and Labeling Regulations29:22 Agtivism 101: How to Get Involved31:33 Understanding Political Realities32:10 Effective Advocacy Strategies34:39 Personal Experiences with Advocacy37:58 The Power of Persistence45:02 Challenges with the Farm Bill49:31 Encouraging Local Food Systems57:54 Invitation to Engage and Final Thoughts 

Most disappearances leave echoes—missing persons flyers, TV reports, police pleas for tips. But when James Robert “Jimmy” Farenthold vanished in the spring of 1989, there was only silence. No bulletin. No headlines. No public outcry. Just absence.Jimmy wasn't just anyone. He was the youngest son of one of Texas's most prominent dynasties, a family bound by oil, politics, and power. But behind the legacy was a private story of grief and dysfunction. Jimmy had been born a twin—and when his brother Vincent died suddenly, Jimmy became the “one who lived,” carrying scars that shaped the rest of his life.Charming yet reckless, Jimmy drifted through addiction, rehab programs, and cities across the South. In April 1989, he promised a fresh start. Bags packed, ticket in hand, he was set to enter a Florida treatment program. Instead, he disappeared. His car, his passport, even his clothes—left behind.What followed was not the frantic search you'd expect for the son of a famous family. Instead, his disappearance became another fracture inside an already divided household. A father chasing rumors. A mother haunted by silence. A family dynasty unraveling.Part 3 of 3 of our series follows Jimmy's apparent final days, the dead ends that followed, and the generational weight of a name built on both power and tragedy.If you have information about the disappearance of James Robert “Jimmy” Farenthold, please contact the San Antonio Police Department at 210-207-8939. Sources: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, The Port Aransas South Jetty, The Houston Chronicle, The San Antonio Express-News, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, texashistory.unt.edu, The Los Angeles Times, The University of Texas School of Law – Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold Archives ProjectYou can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcastFind us at https://www.gonecold.comFor Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.com Follow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast#WhereIsJimmyFarenthold #CorpusChristi #CCTX #TX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #ColdCase #Unsolved #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #TrueCrimeObsessed #CrimeDocs #InvestigationDiscovery #PodcastAddict #TrueCrimeFan #CriminalJustice #ForensicFilesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

On June 6, 1972, the Gulf of Mexico gave back one of its secrets. The body of Randolph “Randy” Farenthold, 32 years old, oil money in his veins, and gambling smoke in his lungs, washed ashore on Mustang Island. His hands were bound, his body chained, his skull fractured. The brutal murder of the South Texas “sportsman” triggered one of the most intensive investigations in Nueces County history, pulling in local lawmen, Texas Rangers, and even the FBI.But this was no simple killing. Randy had been scheduled to testify in a federal fraud case against men tied to shady financial schemes, leaving investigators to question whether his death was a mob-style hit meant to silence him. His movements in the final hours were traced from Corpus Christi's nightlife to the waters he loved, yet every lead pointed to a tangle of gambling debts, betrayals, and organized crime connections.Though suspects were named and one man, Bruce Lusk Bass III, eventually indicted and convicted, Randy's murder remains clouded by unanswered questions. His violent end became one more curse in a dynasty already fractured by addiction, politics, and loss.Randy's death was only the beginning. Seventeen years later, the family would face another devastating silence—the disappearance of his younger brother, James Robert “Jimmy” Farenthold.If you have any information about the disappearance of Jimmy Farenthold, please contact the San Antonio Police Department at (210) 207-8939.Sources: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, The Port Aransas South Jetty, The Houston Chronicle, The San Antonio Express-News, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, texashistory.unt.edu, The Los Angeles TimesYou can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcastFind us at https://www.gonecold.comFor Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.comFollow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast#WhereIsJimmyFarenthold #CorpusChristi #CCTX #TX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #ColdCase #Unsolved #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #TrueCrimeObsessed #CrimeDocs #InvestigationDiscovery #PodcastAddict #TrueCrimeFan #CriminalJustice #ForensicFilesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

July, August & September — Dante's New South Mega ReturnRichard Blanco — Selected by President Obama as the fifth Presidential Inaugural Poet, Blanco was the youngest, first Latinx, immigrant, and gay person in that role. In 2023, President Biden awarded him the National Humanities Medal. Born to Cuban exile parents and raised in Miami, Blanco explores identity, belonging, and place in works like Homeland of My Body, For All of Us, One Today, and The Prince of Los Cocuyos. His honors include the Agnes Starrett Prize, PEN America Beyond Margins Award, Patterson Prize, and Lambda Literary Award. Blanco is Education Ambassador for The Academy of American Poets, Associate Professor at Florida International University, and Poet Laureate of Miami-Dade County. www.richard-blanco.comSamiya Bashir — Poet, writer, librettist, and multimedia artist described as “a dynamic, shape-shifting machine of perpetual motion.” Her work has been seen from Berlin to Accra, Florence to across the U.S. She is the author of Field Theories (Oregon Book Award) and I Hope This Helps (Nightboat Books, 2025). Honors include the Rome Prize, Pushcart Prize, and Oregon Arts & Culture Council Fellowship, with residencies at MacDowell and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. She is reigniting Fire & Inkwell to support LGBTQ+ artists and writers of African descent. www.samiyabashir.comOctavio Quintanilla — Author of If I Go Missing (2014) and Poet Laureate of Texas. His poetry, fiction, translations, and Frontextos (visual poems) appear in Alaska Quarterly Review, Texas Observer, Green Mountains Review, and more. Exhibitions include Southwest School of Art, Weslaco Museum, and the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. Regional editor for Texas Books in Review, poetry editor for Voices de la Luna, and faculty in Literature & Creative Writing at Our Lady of the Lake University. www.octavioquintanilla.com  |  IG: @writeroctavioquintanilla  |  X: @OctQuintanillaVince Herman (Leftover Salmon) — Since co-founding Leftover Salmon in 1989, Herman's joyful, theatrical energy has defined the band. After moving from West Virginia to Boulder, CO, he briefly joined the Left-Hand String Band before forming Salmon Heads; both merged on New Year's Eve 1989 to become Leftover Salmon. Decades on, Herman continues to bring his eclectic musical vision to audiences everywhere.Additional Music: Alain Johannes — www.alainjohannes.com  |  Documentary: YouTubeSponsorsThe Pickens County Chamber of CommerceThe CrownBright Hill PressSpecial ThanksUCLA Extension Writing ProgramMercer University PressRed Phone BoothAlain Johannes — original score: www.alainjohannes.comHost Clifford Brooks — The Draw of Broken Eyes & Whirling Metaphysics, Athena Departs, Old Gods: www.cliffbrooks.com/how-to-orderCheck out his Teachable courses, The Working Writer and Adulting with Autism, here: brooks-sessions.teachable.com

Texas dynasties are remembered for oil, ranching, and politics. Their names are carved into courthouses and campuses—but behind the polished legacy of the Farenthold family lies a darker story. In this first part of our multi-episode series, we trace the family's rise from European aristocracy and South Texas oil wealth into political power, before unraveling the tragedies that shadowed their name.From the sudden death of a child to the brutal gangland-style murder of 32-year-old Randy Farenthold, this episode examines the intersections of privilege, politics, and violence. As Frances “Sissy” Farenthold's political star rose on reform and civil rights, her family life was shattered by a killing that sent shockwaves through Corpus Christi society.But Randy's murder was only the beginning. Another son, Jimmy, would one day vanish—without obituary, without a police report, without answers. Just silence.This is Part One of Three of The Disappearance of Jimmy Farenthold: Oil, Power, and Secrets.If you have any information about the disappearance of Jimmy Farenthold, please contact the San Antonio Police Department at (210) 207-8939.Sources: The Corpus Christi Caller-Times, The Port Aransas South Jetty, The Houston Chronicle, The San Antonio Express-News, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, texashistory.unt.edu, The Los Angeles Times,You can support gone cold and listen to the show ad-free at https://patreon.com/gonecoldpodcastFind us at https://www.gonecold.comFor Gone Cold merch, visit https://gonecold.dashery.comFollow gone cold on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, TikTok, YouTube, and X. Search @gonecoldpodcast at all or just click https://linknbio.com/gonecoldpodcast#WhereIsJimmyFarenthold #CorpusChristi #CCTX #TX #Texas #TrueCrime #TexasTrueCrime #ColdCase #TrueCrimePodcast #Podcast #ColdCase #Unsolved #Murder #UnsolvedMurder #UnsolvedMysteries #Homicide #CrimeStories #PodcastRecommendations #CrimeJunkie #MysteryPodcast #TrueCrimeObsessed #CrimeDocs #InvestigationDiscovery #PodcastAddict #TrueCrimeFan #CriminalJustice #ForensicFilesBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/gone-cold-texas-true-crime--3203003/support.

Journalist Seth Harp talks about his hit book, which has just been picked up by HBO, investigating the drug cartels and string of murders plaguing the Fort Bragg U.S. Army military installation located in North Carolina. He also discusses his own time in the military as well as what he saw in Ukraine. Then we're joined by student organizer Hadeeqa Arzoo Malik, who was recently suspended by CUNY City College and adjunct professor Dr. Corinna Mullin who was recently fired by John Jay and Brooklyn College for pro-Palestine activism. To see the full discussion, please join us on Patreon at - https://www.patreon.com/posts/patreon-full-dr-138556252 Seth Harp is an investigative reporter and foreign correspondent who writes about the intersection of armed conflict and organized crime. A contributing editor at Rolling Stone, he has reported from countries including Iraq, Syria, Mexico, Ukraine, and elsewhere for Harper's, the New Yorker, The Intercept, and Columbia Journalism Review. He has also written for the New York Times and the Texas Observer. He is currently working on a book for Viking Press about drug-trafficking in the U.S. Army Special Forces and a series of unsolved murders at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Before becoming a journalist, Harp practiced law for five years, and was an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Texas. During college and law school, he served in the U.S. Army Reserve and did one tour of duty in Iraq. He lives in Austin, Texas, where he was born and raised. Hadeeqa Arzoo Malik is a 21 year-old organizer, student, poet, and Student Leader of the Tamkeen Movement, which aims to uplift the Muslim community through education and social organization. She is a double major in Political Science, International Relations, and minors in Human Rights. She was recently suspended from CUNY City College for pro -Palestine activism. Dr. Corinna Mullin is an anti-imperialist academic who was recently fired from her job as adjunct faculty at The City University of New York for Palestine solidarity. Corinna is a member of the Anti-Imperialist Scholars Collective. She is a delegate in the PSC-CUNY's delegate assembly and serves on the Steering Committee of the PSC-CUNY's International Committee. Corinna organizes with CUNY for Palestine and Labor for Palestine. She is an Associate Editor for Middle East Critique and Science & Society. ***Please support The Katie Halper Show *** For bonus content, exclusive interviews, to support independent media & to help make this program possible, please join us on Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpershow Get your Katie Halper Show Merch here! https://katiehalper.myspreadshop.com/all Follow Katie on Twitter: https://x.com/kthalps Follow Katie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kthalps Follow Katie on TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@kthalps

On Tuesday's show: President Donald Trump wants specialized National Guard units ready to deploy to U.S. cities to quell civil disturbances and ensure public safety and order. We discuss what that means, whether we could see troops deployed here, and whether this is largely a pretense to step up immigration enforcement.Also this hour: A new Texas law expands when someone can be detained for psychiatric evaluation. Some welcome the change while others worry it crosses a line. We discuss the debate over involuntary treatment and its cost.Then, a recent investigation by the Texas Observer explores the murky legal world of some private foster and adoption agencies.And we meet a competitive Scrabble player.

First up, Georgetown law professor and former national legal director at the ACLU, David Cole, joins us to discuss the legal response to the Trump Administration's serial violations of the Constitution. Then Mike Ferner of Veterans for Peace checks in to update us halfway through his Fast for Gaza, 40 days of living on 250 calories per day, which is the average caloric intake of Palestinian survivors in Gaza. Finally, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Joe Holley, stops by to pay tribute to his mentor and colleague, the late crusading journalist, Ronnie Dugger, founder of the progressive Texas Observer.David Cole is the Honorable George J. Mitchell Professor in Law and Public Policy and former National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He writes about and teaches constitutional law, freedom of speech, and constitutional criminal procedure. He is a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and is the legal affairs correspondent for The Nation.Trump is obviously not concerned about antisemitism. He's concerned about targeting schools because they are places where people can criticize the president, where people can think independently, are taught to think independently, and often don't support what the president is doing. He's using his excuse to target a central institution of civil society.David ColeThe decision on Trump versus the United States is only about criminal liability for criminal acts, not for unconstitutional acts. And violating the Constitution is not a crime. Every president has violated the Constitution probably since George Washington. That's not a crime.David ColeMike Ferner served in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he is former National Director and current Special Projects Coordinator for Veterans for Peace. He is the author of Inside the Red Zone: A Veteran for Peace Reports from Iraq.Two hundred and fifty calories is technically, officially, a starvation diet, and we're doing it for 40 days. The people in Gaza have been doing it for months and months and months, and they're dying like crazy. That's the whole concern that we're trying to raise. And I'll tell you at the end of this fast, on the 40th day, we are not just going out silently. There are going to be some fireworks before we're done with this thing. So all I'm saying is: stay tuned.Mike Ferner: Special Projects Coordinator of Veterans for Peace on “FastforGaza”They're (The Veterans Administration is) being defamed, Ralph, for the same reason that those right-wing corporatists defamed public education. So they can privatize it. And that's exactly what they're trying to do with the VA. And I can tell you every single member of Veterans for Peace has got nothing but praise for the VA.Mike FernerJoe Holley was the editor of the Texas Observer in the early 1980s. A former staff writer at The Washington Post and a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial writer and columnist at the Houston Chronicle, he is the author of eight books, mostly about Texas.He would talk to people, and he would find out things going on about racial discrimination, about farm workers being mistreated, all kind of stories that the big papers weren't reporting. And this one guy, young Ronnie Dugger, would write these stories and expose things about Texas that a lot of Texans just did not know.Joe Holley on the late progressive journalist, Ronnie DuggerHe knew the dark side of Texas, but he always had an upbeat personality. I had numerous conversations with Ronnie (Dugger), and he was ferociously independent.Ralph NaderNews 6/13/251. On Monday, Israeli forces seized the Madleen, the ship carrying activist Greta Thunberg and others attempting to bring food and other supplies past the Israeli blockade into Gaza, and detained the crew. The ship was part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and Thunberg had been designated an “Ambassador of Conscience,” by Amnesty International. The group decried her detention, with Secretary General Agnès Callamard writing, “Israel has once again flouted its legal obligations towards civilians in the occupied Gaza Strip and demonstrated its chilling contempt for legally binding orders of the International Court of Justice.” On Tuesday, CBS reported that Israel deported Thunberg. Eight other passengers refused deportation and the Jerusalem Post reports they remain in Israeli custody. They will be represented in Israeli courts by Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. One of these detainees is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament.2. Shortly before the Madleen was intercepted, members of Congress sent a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio expressing concern for the safety of these activists, citing the deadly 2010 raid of the Mavi Marmara, which ultimately resulted in the death of ten activists, including an American. This letter continued, “any attack on the Madleen or its civilian crew is a clear and blatant violation of international law. United Nations experts have called for the ship's safe passage and warned Israel to “refrain from any act of hostility” against the Madleen and its passengers…We call on you to monitor the Madleen's journey and deter any such hostile actions.” This letter was led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and drew signatures from Congressional progressives like Reps. Summer Lee, AOC, Ilhan Omar, Greg Casar, and others.3. On the other end of the political spectrum, Trump – ever unpredictable – seemed to criticize Israel's detention of Thunberg. In a press conference, “Trump was…asked about Thunberg's claim that she had been kidnapped.” The president responded “I think Israel has enough problems without kidnapping Greta Thunberg…Is that what she said? She was kidnapped by Israel?” The reporter replied “Yes, sir,” to which “Trump responded by shaking his head.” This from Newsweek.4. Of course, the major Trump news this week is his response to the uprising in Los Angeles. Set off by a new wave of ICE raids, protesters have clashed with police in the streets and Trump has responded by increasingly upping the ante, including threatening to arrest California Governor Gavin Newsom, per KTLA. Beyond such bluster however, Trump has moved to deploy U.S. Marines onto the streets of the nation's second-largest city. Reuters reports, “About 700 Marines were in a staging area in the Seal Beach area about 30 miles…south of Los Angeles, awaiting deployment to specific locations,” in addition to 2,100 National Guard troops. The deployment of these troops raises thorny legal questions. Per Reuters, “The Marines and National Guard troops lack the authority to makes arrests and will be charged only with protecting federal property and personnel,” but “California Attorney General Rob Bonta… [said] there was a risk that could violate an 1878 law that…forbids the U.S. military, including the National Guard, from taking part in civilian law enforcement.” Yet, despite all the tumult, these protests seem to have gotten the goods, so to speak: the City of Glendale announced it would, “end its agreement with…ICE to house federal immigration detainees.” All of this sets quite a scene going into Trump's military parade in DC slated for Saturday, June 14th.5. In classic fashion however, Trump's tough posture does not extend to corporate crime. Public Citizen's Rick Claypool reports, “Trump's DOJ just announced American corporations that engage in criminal bribery schemes abroad will no longer be prosecuted.” Claypool cites a June 9th memo from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, which reads, “Effective today, prosecutors shall…not attribute…malfeasance to corporate structures.” Claypool also cites a Wall Street Journal piece noting that “the DOJ has already ended half of its criminal investigations into corporate bribery in foreign countries and shrunk its [Foreign Corrupt Practices Act] unit down to 25 employees.”6. Americans can at least take small comfort in one thing: the departure of Elon Musk from the top rungs of government. It remains to be seen what exactly precipitated his final exit and how deep his rift with Trump goes – Musk has already backed down on his harshest criticisms of the president, deleting his tweet claiming Trump was in Epstein files, per ABC. Yet, this appears to be a victory for Steve Bannon and the forces he represents within Trump's inner circle. On June 5th, the New York Times reported that Bannon, “said he was advising the president to cancel all [Musk's] contracts and… ‘initiate a formal investigation of his immigration status'.” Bannon added, “[Musk] should be deported from the country immediately.'” Bannon has even called for a special counsel probe, per the Hill. Bannon's apparent ascendency goes beyond the Oval Office as well. POLITICO Playbook reports Bannon had a 20-minute-long conversation with Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman on Monday evening – while Fetterman dined with Washington bureau chief for Breitbart, Matt Boyle – at Butterworth's, the DC MAGA “watering hole.” This also from the Hill.7. On the way out, the Daily Beast reports, “Elon Musk's goons at the Department of Government Efficiency transmitted a large amount of data—all of it undetected—using a Starlink Wi-Fi terminal they installed on top of the White House.” Sources “suggested that the [the installation of the Starlink terminal] was intended to bypass White House systems that track the transmission of data—with names and time stamps—and secure it from spies.” It is unknown exactly what data Musk and his minions absconded with, and for what purpose. We can only hope the public gets some answers.8. With Musk and Trump parting ways, other political forces are now seeking to woo the richest man in the world. Semafor reports enigmatic Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley and chaired Bernie Sanders' campaign in California, “talked with one of…Musk's ‘senior confidants' …about whether the ex-DOGE leader…might want to help the Democratic Party in the midterms.” Khanna added, “Having Elon speak out against the irrational tariff policy, against the deficit exploding Trump bill, and the anti-science and anti-immigrant agenda can help check Trump's unconstitutional administration…I look forward to Elon turning his fire against MAGA Republicans instead of Democrats in 2026.” On the other hand, the Hill reports ex-Democrat Andrew Yang is publicly appealing to Musk for an alliance following Musk's call for the establishment of an “America Party.” Yang himself founded the Forward Party in 2021. Yang indicated Musk has not responded to his overtures.9. Meanwhile, the leadership of the Democratic Party appears to be giving up entirely. In a leaked Zoom meeting, DNC Chair Ken Martin – only elected in February – said, “I don't know if I wanna do this anymore,” per POLITICO. On this call, Martin expressed frustration with DNC Vice Chair David Hogg, blaming him for, “[destroying] any chance I have to show the leadership that I need to.” Hogg meanwhile has doubled down, defying DNC leadership by “wading into another primary,” this time for the open seat left by the death of Congressman Gerry Conolly in Virginia, the Washington Post reports. The DNC is still weighing whether to void Hogg's election as Vice Chair.10. Finally, in some good news from New York City, State Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani appears to have closed the gap with disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo began the race with a 40-point lead; a new Data for Progress poll shows that lead has been cut down to just two points. Moreover, that poll was conducted before Mamdani was endorsed by AOC, who is expected to bring with her substantial support from Latinos and residents of Queens, among other groups. Notably, Mamdani has racked up tremendous numbers among young men, a demographic the Democratic Party has struggled to attract in recent elections. Cuomo will not go down without a fight however. The political nepo-baby has already secured a separate ballot line for the November election, meaning he will be in the race even if he loses the Democratic primary, and he is being boosted by a new million-dollar digital ad spend by Airbnb, per POLITICO. The New York City Democratic Primary will be held on June 24th.This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven't Heard. Get full access to Ralph Nader Radio Hour at www.ralphnaderradiohour.com/subscribe

The Trump regime cracks down on anti-ICE protestors in Los Angeles: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj93d3r0zz0o...California Governor Gavin Newsome: "This is about authoritarian tendencies. This about command and control. This is about power": https://t.co/uuAiHzYiIo(https://x.com/Acyn/status/1931914095382683742?t=0lQ3pMrV8fm2BgTsRdCUfw&s=03...Houston Congressman Al Green: https://x.com/RepAlGreen/status/1931854998792483178?t=Hch52bcXItXUxhnB663h5Q&s=03...Dallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett: https://x.com/RepJasmine/status/1931765398464278764?t=uecU2-aFLGLqskq7CdNCuw&s=03...San Antonio Congresman Joaquin Castro: https://x.com/JoaquinCastrotx/status/1931850211707818119?t=pgmCz58LyIIHwUNnm5TSjw&s=03...Robert Reich writes that "we are witnessing the first stages of a Trump police state": https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/09/trump-police-state-robert-reich...While Texas normally resists federal control, the current state government is in close lockstep with Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/09/texas-doj-undocumented-tuition-courts-friendly-lawsuit-paxton/?_bhlid=903e7fc1680827506b8a6fbc8da6f56a70ef7d2f...As Governor Abbott prepares to sign a law that will force all Texas sheriff's departments to enter collaborative agreements with ICE: https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/gov-abbott-to-sign-bill-into-law-requiring-county-jails-to-work-with-ice/...More on those agreements with Francesca D'Annunzio of the Texas Observer: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/happy-hour-212-a-giant-ice-army-how-local-police-in/id1552998795?i=1000705993353...All of this leads into Saturday's No Kings Day rallies and protests, dozens of which dot the entire range of Texas: https://www.nokings.org/Runoff elections across Texas this weekend confirm a progressive resurgence, including Gina Ortiz Jones' win for San Antonio mayor: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/06/07/san-antonio-mayor-gina-ortiz-jones/...Other wins confirm that Republicans in Texas "don't own the cities anymore": https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/texas-runoff-results-prove-the-tide?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=1220969&post_id=165491676&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=33j12m&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=emailWe're celebrating our 15th anniversary in Dallas Tonight! Join us: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://act.progresstexas.org/a/2025anniversary⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://store.progresstexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Radio and TV journalist Ira Flatow produced his first science stories back in 1970 during the inaugural Earth Day. Since then, he has worked for Emmy Award-winning science programs and covered science for a number of high-profile news organizations, and has hosted the popular public radio program “Science Friday” for more than three decades. In his career, Flatow has interviewed countless scientists, journalists and other experts about the most exciting developments in science. Now the Club welcomes Flatow in conversation with local journalists to speak about the role of science writing in the current cultural climate. About the Speakers Ira Flatow is an award-winning science correspondent, TV journalist, and the host of "Science Friday," heard on public radio stations across the country and distributed by WNYC Studios. He brings radio and podcast listeners worldwide a lively, informative discussion on science, technology, health, space, the environment and more. Flatow describes his work as the challenge “to make science and technology a topic for discussion around the dinner table.” Annalee Newitz writes science fiction and nonfiction. Most recently, as a science journalist, they are the author of Stories Are Weapons: Psychological Warfare and the American Mind, about the history of psychological warfare, from Sun Tzu to Benjamin Franklin and beyond. They have published in The Washington Post, Slate, Scientific American, Ars Technica, The New Yorker, and Technology Review, among others. Newitz is the co-host of the Hugo Award-winning podcast "Our Opinions Are Correct," and has contributed to the public radio shows "Science Friday," "On the Media," KQED "Forum," and "Here and Now." Ezra David Romero is a climate reporter for KQED News. He covers the absence and excess of water in the Bay Area—think sea level rise, flooding and drought. For 12 years he's covered how warming temperatures are altering the lives of Californians. He's reported on farmers worried their pistachio trees aren't getting enough sleep, families desperate for water, scientists studying dying giant sequoias, and alongside firefighters containing wildfires. His work has appeared on local stations across California and nationally on public radio shows such as "Morning Edition," "Here and Now," "All Things Considered" and "Science Friday." Naveena Sadasivam is a writer and editor at Grist covering the oil and gas industry and climate change. She previously worked at the Texas Observer, Inside Climate News, and ProPublica, and is based in Oakland, California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 5/14/25, we kicked off our 8th year with featured poet Robin Turner!Robin Turner's poems, prose poems, and flash fiction have appeared in numerous publications, among them Rattle, The Texas Observer, Rust & Moth, DMQ Review, One, and Bracken Magazine. Her work has been tucked inside little poetry houses in Pittsburgh, paired with photographs in a Deep Ellum art gallery, and transformed into tiny artist books for Lisa Huffaker's White Rock Zine Machine. Her chapbooks are Elegy with Clouds & (Kelsay Books) and bindweed & crow poison (Porkbelly Press). A longtime community teaching artist and sometime reader for Sugared Water, she lives near White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Reviving a program that was discontinued under the Obama Administration due to widespread abuse including racial profiling, the Trump administration has begun entering into agreements with local law enforcement agencies that essentially convert their officers into ICE agents, tasked with seeking out and arresting people whom they suspect are undocumented. More and more Texas police and sheriff's departments are signing up to work for ICE - which sidetracks time normally spent keeping their communities safe - on YOUR taxpayer dime. Investigative reporter Francesca D'Annunzio's excellent work on this story for the Texas Observer prompted us to invite her to join us for the first time.Read "Texas Police Are Slowly Joining What Could Be A Giant ICE Army": https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-police-287g-ice-army/?goal=0_975e2d1fa1-6ccb7927f5-34916602&mc_cid=6ccb7927f5&mc_eid=0c4d5631c2Learn more about Francesca D'Annunzio at https://www.texasobserver.org/author/francesca-dannunzio/.Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.

*Trigger warning for this episode at book, as we do discuss briefly some of the traumatic experiences that are written about in the book. After today's episode, head on over to @therapybookspodcast to learn about our latest giveaway.   If you are enjoying these episodes, please leave us a 5-star review.   *Information shared on this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only.  In this weeks episode, Jessica Fowler speaks with Dr. David Dorado Romo about his book Borderlands and the Mexican American Story. We discussed a lot in this episode about stories that are often not taught about Mexican American History, why it is important to know for ourself, to teach about it, how it can be related to mental health and intergenerational trauma. Highlights include: 4:16 Dr. Romo shares why he wrote this book, including for himself as he was taught very little about his own history in school.   7:03 We discuss the bath riots. 18:53 Institutionalized racism.  20:37 Examples of young people protesting. 28:36 The importance of younger people knowing these stories. 30:05 Who this book is for and why. 32:44 Discussing why these stories are not told. About the author: David Dorado Romo, is an author, historian and musician with a Ph.D. in Borderlands History. He is the author of the award-winning Ringside Seat to a Revolution: An Underground Cultural History of El Paso and Juárez, 1893-1923 (Cinco Puntos Press, 2005) and Borderlands and the Mexican American Story (Penguin Random House, 2024), which was recently placed on the list of Best Books of 2024 by Kirkus Review and the School Library Journal. His historical essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Texas Monthly, Texas Observer, and Mexico's City's Nexus. Borderlands and the Mexican American Story is his first non-fiction book aimed at middle and high school students.  David is a curator and co-director of the Museo Urbano, a public history project based in El Paso that exhibited “Uncaged Art,” a 2018 exhibit the featured the artwork of migrant children interned at a detention center in Tornillo, Texas.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:A child died Tuesday night of measles at a Lubbock hospital - the first American measles death since 2015: https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-west-texas-death-rfk-41adc66641e4a56ce2b2677480031ab9...New Trump administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tried to downplay the Texas outbreak, falsely claiming that most hospitalizations are simply for quarantine purposes: https://newrepublic.com/post/192025/robert-f-kennedy-jr-response-measles-death...Texas Republican leaders are now forced to try to counter the anti-vax sentiments they've allowed to develop in Texas as they send out teams to contain the outbreak: https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/texas-measles-death-outbreak-20189434.phpA rare unanimous vote in the Texas Senate as priority school funding passes, including raises for teachers but not an increase in the basic allotment for schools, which has not risen since 2019 despite inflation: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/18/texas-senate-teacher-pay/...A clear prioritization of raises for rural Texas teachers over their urban counterparts may be a strategy to soften the blow that small town schools are likely to suffer as private school vouchers get closer to passing: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/26/texas-house-vouchers-republican-cosponsors/...Proposed budgets from both the Senate and House include massive funding cuts for Texas universities, a clear threat for those institutions to do away with anything remotely resembling DEI: https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2025/02/27/texas-legislature-proposes-400-million-cut-to-higher-ed-as-dan-patrick-threatens-university-budgets-over-dei/A legal complaint against a Dallas-based assistant chief counsel for ICE has been filed, using a Texas Observer report that he's the author of a virulent racist social media account as its basis: https://www.theroot.com/this-texas-ice-attorney-allegedly-tweeted-america-is-a-1851766609We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Goodies at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://store.progresstexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas:Texas Republican lawmakers in D.C. are mostly silent as Donald Trump threatens to abandon Ukraine and NATO in favor of Russia and Vladimir Putin: https://www.mytexasdaily.com/news/national/pressured-by-putin-and-trump-walls-close-in-on-zelensky/article_4c5d2204-56ec-51ad-b4f3-35c960e01b04.htmlDallas Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett points out that red states that elected Trump generally use more federal benefits than blue states do, and that that funding is on Elon Musk's chopping block: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jasmine-crockett-red-states-recession-find-out-trump-cuts_n_67b6b508e4b0cc5d77998248Trump and Elon Musk are both weighing in in favor of private school vouchers in Texas, with Trump threatening House Republicans that he "will be watching closely": https://www.texastribune.org/2025/02/20/texas-vouchers-trump-elon-musk-greg-abbott/Congressman Greg Casar is demanding answers from OSHA on the death of a Pleasanton electrician at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/greg-casar-tesla-death-gigafactory-austin-texas-elon-musk-victor-gomez/269-c045d03a-35ae-4100-a312-0839489aeaeeWe are heartbroken at the story of Jocelynn Carranza, a Gainesville sixth grader thought to have committed suicide after being bullied with threats from classmates to turn her parents in to ICE: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/family-blames-bullying-immigration-status-11-year-olds-death-suicide/287-257d34b7-b8ba-41e1-8504-7122e7004105...Right on cue, Texas Observer investigative reporter Steven Monacelli identifies a Dallas ICE legal employee as the manager of a virulently racist social media account: https://www.texasobserver.org/ice-prosecutor-dallas-white-supremacist-x-account/We celebrate Black History Month throughout February! See a great essay on this year's celebration, happening amidst so much turmoil, and a listing of related events happening across Texas:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org/blog/black-history-month-2025-celebrating-texas-culture⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠...Check out a terrific essay for Black History Month by Progress Texas Institute Board Chair Louis Bedford:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org/blog/trickle-down-diversity-doesn%E2%80%99t-work⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The early giving period for this year's Amplify Austin Day has begun! Support Progress Texas at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.amplifyatx.org/organizations/progress-texas-institute⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Progress Texas is now ranked in the top 3% of all podcasts worldwide for listenership - thank you!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/progress-texas-podcasts-progress-texas-pHdPjbaN-7B/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The merch to match your progressive values awaits at our web store! Grab your goodies at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://store.progresstexas.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.We're loving the troll-free environment at BlueSky! Follow us there at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://bsky.app/profile/progresstexas.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

This is Part 5 in the series that covers the story of Billy Sol Estes, Mac Wallace, Bobby Baker and other members of Johnson's Texas inner circle.  Men who were quite intertwined around Johnson at the time of the assassination. These men were involved in circumstances that were closing in on Johnson too and that provided him great motive in the killing of the president. Today's episode continues with the story of  Billy Sol Estes  as we present the third mini episode wander into the story of  the Henry Marshall murder. Today's episode goes deeper and covers the final portion of the story tell as it appeared in the 1986 Texas Observer article by Bill Adler. Marshall, who worked for the agriculture department, dared to step in front of Billy Sol Este's cotton allotment scheme and he paid the price for it with his life. The case was originally ruled a suicide until larger forces prevailed. According to Estes, this murder is but one of many that can be tied back to Lyndon Johnson and Mac Wallace. It also involves Cliff Carter and Estes himself. Rumors of Johnson's involvement began to swirl almost immediately after the assassination and there is a defined school of thought within the JFK assassination research community that staunchly believes in Johnson's involvement. His involvement  in both the assassination and its cover up. Join us in one of the most fascinating story tells of the Kennedy assassination and stick around as we will be returning to the Mexico City series right after we complete this min-series that was spawned by the recent release of the Billy Sol Estes and Cliff Carter tape that the two recorded in 1971. Folks, you just can't write this stuff. Even as early as 1964, rumors and serious concerns over  the lone gunman theory and the evidence that might contravene it,  were becoming a major concern for the government and the commission. Conspiracy theories were contrary to the government's stated narrative from the very beginning. This  real-life story is more fascinating than fiction.  No matter whether you are a serious researcher or a casual student, you will enjoy the fact filled narrative and story as  we relive one of the most shocking moments in American History. An event that changed the nation and changed the world forever.

We're sharing a recent interview with Michelle Pitcher of the Texas Observer about living conditions and forced labor in the TDCJ, the Texas prison system. You can reach Michelle at pitcher@texasobserver.org or follow her at @michellepitcher.bsky.social . Thank you again so much for the continuing support of this project. https://www.texasobserver.org/prison-heat-lawsuit-tdcj/ https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-prison-plantations https://www.texasobserver.org/solidarity-prison-labor-union/ Our prior interview with Jason Walker (more of his writings at his blog) can be found here (with a transcript available). And our prior chat with Comrade Z can be found here.

“The Apprentice” is one of 2024's best films, and didn't get as much credit as it deserved, according to the co-hosts of The New Abnormal. Then, a conversation with Steven Monacelli of the Texas Observer about his investigation into the identities behind four anonymous neo-Nazi accounts on X. Plus! Paola Ramos, the author of “Defectors: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means For America” joins the program to discuss the Democratic Party's post-election struggles and the challenges of reconnecting with disillusioned young voters and communities of color. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to season 2 episode 12 of A Friend for the Long Haul - A Long COVID Podcast! This week's guest is Katie Drackert, who most of you will know as @kd_kinetic. Katie is the founder of Clear the Air ATX, a volunteer-led, community resource library that lends out air purifiers and other COVID mitigation tools for free to artists, musicians, and independent event producers in Austin, Texas - where I lived for many years and sadly had to leave due to my COVID experience. In the pre-rona days, Katie primarily worked full time as a performance artist. When Omicron hit, things changed. In this episode, we discuss our personal experiences with chronic health issues, including long COVID, and the challenges we face managing our symptoms while advocating for ourselves and others. We share our experiences with medical treatments, their emotional impacts, and the importance of community support and self-care. The conversation also touches on our backgrounds - which are really similar despite our age difference (I am an old) as well as our many shared interests, and future plans for advocacy work and creative projects that we are both plotting. By the end of this episode, I became fully obsessed with Katie, and I think you will, too! You can find out more about Katie's advocacy work in so many places! Check out: Co-created a Zine with The Sick Times, Featured in  BioWorld Med Tech, Teen Vogue, CBS Austin - Mask Bans, CBS Austin - Homeless Camping Ban, Texas Observer, Spectrum Local News, YES! Magazine, 48 Hills, KUT Austin, and Austin American Statesman. Follow Katie on Instagram Follow Clear the Air ATX on Instagram Clear the Air ATX's Linktree is full of so many resources and ways you can donate and support the org! Don't forget to like, subscribe, follow, and share A Friend for the Long Haul if you can. And if you're feeling extra generous, leave a review. Your support helps get this in front of more earballs and helps me bring more episodes.You can listen to the A Friend for the Long Haul Long Covid Theme Songs playlist on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3n0GXLFRWqDJyifglNNM4K?si=7948dbf2222c4392 If you'd like to support this low budget/high love podcast, you can check out my Bonfire shirt for silly long covid apparel: https://www.bonfire.com/store/a-friend-for-the-long-haul/ or my Amazon wishlist: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3MYBB5G0P7YUD?ref_=wl_share

Monday, December 9th, 2024Today, the Assad regime in Syria has fallen and Russian state media says he has fled to Moscow; ex-Proud Boys leader delivers combative testimony in court; a judge rules that the Naval Academy can use affirmative action for admissions; Elon Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars electing Trump; President Biden crushed the November jobs report; Tennessee state Republican Senator Ken Yager was arrested and charged for a DUI hit and run in Georgia; JP Morgan Chase told the Texas Observer they fired the operator of a neo-Nazi X account identified as their employee; Jamie Raskin asks the inspectors general to keep him posted on Trump malfeasance; Pete Hegseth and Doug Collins push to cut veterans benefits at the VA; military leaders are rattled by a list of ‘woke' officers that a group has urged Hegseth to fire; Nick Fuentes has been arrested and charged with assault; and Allison and Dana deliver your Good News.Thank You Beam DreamIf you want to try Beam's best-selling Dream Powder, get up to 40% off for a limited time when you go to ShopBeam.com/DAILYBEANS and use the code DAILYBEANS at checkout.Thank You Helix SleepHelix is offering 20% off sitewide plus 2 FREE  Pillows with any mattress purchase when you go to HelixSleep.com/DailyBeans.Stories:Employment Situation Summary (bls.gov)Naval Academy can consider race in admissions, federal judge rules (The Washington Post)REVEALED: THE OPERATORS BEHIND FOUR MAJOR NEO-NAZI X ACCOUNTS (Texas Observer)Raskin pledges to back federal watchdogs (Politico)Tennessee State Sen. Ken Yager arrested, charged with DUI, hit and run in Georgia on Tuesday (The Tennessean)Military leaders are rattled by a list of ‘woke' officers that a group urges Hegseth to fire (AP News)Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio delivers combative testimony in ex-cops defense (Ella Lee|The Hill)Elon Musk spent a quarter-billion dollars electing Trump, including financing mysterious 'RBG PAC' (By Bridget Bowman, Ben Kamisar, Scott Bland|NBC News)White supremacist Nick Fuentes charged over Chicago pepper-spray incident (The Guardian)Hegseth and Collins' push for cutting veterans' health benefits alarms service members and veterans groups (Natasha Bertrand and Haley Britzky|CNN) If you want to support what Harry and I are up to, head to patreon.com/aisle45podHave some good news; a confession; or a correction to share?Good News & Confessions - The Daily Beanshttps://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/From The Good NewsBluesky (bsky.app)hud.govva.govAbout GI Bill benefits (VA.gov)Petunia (El Cajon, CA | petfinder.com)lionelslegacy.org Check out other MSW Media podcastshttps://mswmedia.com/shows/Subscribe for free to MuellerSheWrote on Substackhttps://muellershewrote.substack.comFollow AG and Dana on Social MediaDr. Allison Gill Substack|Muellershewrote, Twitter|@MuellerSheWrote, Threads|@muellershewrote, TikTok|@muellershewrote, IG|muellershewrote, BlueSky|@muellershewroteDana GoldbergTwitter|@DGComedy, IG|dgcomedy, facebook|dgcomedy, IG|dgcomedy, danagoldberg.com, BlueSky|@dgcomedyHave some good news; a confession; or a correction to share?Good News & Confessions - The Daily Beanshttps://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/ Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:The Daily Beans on Apple PodcastsWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?Supercasthttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/Patreon https://patreon.com/thedailybeansOr subscribe on Apple Podcasts with our affiliate linkThe Daily Beans on Apple Podcasts

In this episode of the Non-Profit Build Up Podcast, we explore the critical role of fiscal sponsorship in justice reform with special guest Jennifer Toon. Jennifer, Executive Director for Lioness JIWA and a powerful advocate for system-impacted women, joins our Founder, CEO, and Managing Attorney, Nic Campbell, to discuss how fiscal sponsorship creates capacity and provides essential support for justice-impacted communities. Together, they dive into the unique challenges and opportunities of building infrastructure, securing funding, and sustaining advocacy work. Jennifer shares her personal journey, offering insights into why trauma-informed leadership is essential and how fiscal sponsorship can be a pathway to amplify the voices and efforts of marginalized communities. Join us as we unpack strategies for developing sustainable support structures, fostering partnerships, and navigating the complexities of justice reform funding. Whether you're a nonprofit leader, funder, or advocate looking to better understand the impact of fiscal sponsorship, this conversation is for you! Jennifer Toon, Project Director for Lioness: JIWAJennifer Toon is a passionate prison abolitionist. As a formerly incarcerated woman, her experience with the criminal legal system began at age 15 when she was adjudicated under Texas determinate sentencing laws. Her conviction started a long journey through 27 years of criminal justice involvement. Jennifer has been published in The Texas Observer, The Marshall Project, The Guardian and is also the co-host of On the Rec Yard: Women's Prison Podcast. As the Project Director for Lioness, Jennifer aspires to use her lived experience to bring attention to the often-forgotten voices of other system-impacted women, youth, and people with disabilities. She lives in Austin, Texas with her cat Taylor, who embodies the mischievous energy of Taylor Swift.

As President-Elect Donald Trump fills out his cabinet and key White House positions, including creating a new government-efficiency office for Elon Musk, the DMZ America podcast's Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) are joined by their colleague, fellow political cartoonist Ben Sargent, formerly of the Austin American-Statesman and now at the Texas Observer.Republicans are urging a peaceful easy feeling between Americans whether or not they voted for Trump, but is that possible with an ideologically far-right slate of top personnel? On the other hand, many in MAGA world seem disappointed that Trump's appointees include long-time Washington “swamp creatures.” Whatever happened to draining the swamp?If personnel is policy, what do these choices harken about Trump's intended policies for his second term?Ben Sargent is the Texas Observer's longtime cartoonist. He launched his career drawing editorial cartoons for the Austin American-Statesman in 1974. Sargent won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1982. He has also received awards from Women in Communications, Inc., Common Cause of Texas, and Cox Newspapers. He is the author of Texas Statehouse Blues and Big Brother Blues.The DMZ America Podcast is recorded weekly by political cartoonists Ted Rall and Scott Stantis. Twitter/X: @scottstantis and @tedrallWeb: Rall.com

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Multiple Texas news outlets are pointing to the Texas Democratic Party, led by Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa since 2012, which must own a major part of this historic defeat. Reform Austin: https://www.reformaustin.org/elections/after-three-decades-of-defeat-will-texas-democrats-finally-demand-change/ ...The Texas Observer: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-house-dems-defeat-2024/ ...The Texas Tribune: https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-house-dems-defeat-2024/ ...The Dallas Morning News: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2024/11/07/texas-republicans-rewrote-states-political-playbook/ What the battle is likely to look like in Texas under the second Trump administration: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2024/11/06/trump-election-texas-impact Why NOW is the time to renew our commitment and stand up for our values: https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/11/trump-victory-democracy/680549/ We salute the Texas State University students who stood down a Christian Nationalist demonstration on their San Marcos campus yesterday: https://universitystar.com/28322/multimedia/photo-gallery-demonstrators-spark-counter-protest-of-hundreds-at-txst/ Our annual holiday fundraising parties approach! We'll be gathering both in Dallas and Austin this December, and there are sponsorship opportunities available: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://act.progresstexas.org/a/progress-texas-holiday-parties-2024⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Project 2025 is no longer a warning: it's now the playbook of the next American administration: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.mediamatters.org/heritage-foundation/guide-project-2025-extreme-right-wing-agenda-next-republican-administration⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thanks for listening! Find our web store and other ways to support our important work this election year at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://progresstexas.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

Cuban journalist Jesús Jank Curbelo joins Rebecca to speak about a range of topics, including the legacy of El Taiger, one of Cuba's most popular artists who was killed recently in Miami. We also talk about Curbelo's career in Cuba reporting on the reparto movement, as well as the pain of leaving Cuba and challenges of building a new life in Texas.Curbelo has published several pieces at the Texas Observer and Palabra.Conversation in Spanish. Follow along with an English-language transcript here:Songs played:Coronamos (Remix), Taiger & J. Balvin (feat. Cosculluela, Bad Bunny & Bryant Myers) Hilito Rojo, El Taiger & DJ CondsSend us a textSupport the showIf you like this podcast, please subscribe and give us a 5-star rating on Apple PodcastsFollow The Clave Chronicles on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook @clavechronicleshttps://theclavechronicles.buzzsprout.comIntro and outro music: "Bengo Latino," Jimmy Fontanez/Media Right Productions

Early voting is almost here, and while many of our regulars are excited to vote for Kamala Harris and Colin Allred, we remind you that it's important to understand and vote your ENTIRE ballot - and nowhere in Texas is that more true this time than in Dallas. Propositions S, T, and U are written for the ballot to appear common sense, public safety and accountability measures, but in reality, they threaten to bankrupt the City of Dallas' budget and grant unprecedented local control to wealthy activists - many of whom directly involved don't even live or work in Dallas. We're happy to welcome back Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua, who has a keen understanding of how these measures threaten to upend Big D, and investigative reporter Steven Monacelli, who has just dropped a major expose on the "Dallas HERO" group behind these three measures, exposing their funding, their motives, and how they hope to establish a model for the future short-circuiting of other Democratically-run big cities in Texas. Find Steven's piece in the Texas Observer at https://www.texasobserver.org/dallas-hero-initiative-monty-bennett-crowds-on-demand/. Find Dallas City Council Member Adam Bazaldua at https://dallascityhall.com/government/citycouncil/district7/Pages/default.aspx Thanks for listening! Learn more about how you can support Progress Texas' important work, through the election and into next year's pivotal legislative session - including by attending or sponsoring our December holiday parties in Dallas and Austin - at https://progresstexas.org/.

NOTE: This is part two of a two-part episode. To hear both parts right now and without ads, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars. In part two of our deep dive on John Forester and his 1976 book Effective Cycling, we take a look at the paltry data and research underpinning the alleged safety benefits of vehicular cycling and the long-term impact Forester had on cycling for transportation in the United States. Even though cities such as New York started building protected bicycle lanes in earnest in the late 2000s and early 2010s — and even though quality bike infrastructure has existed in places such as Davis, California for decades — John Forester's legacy continued well into the 21st century, with federal guides such as AASHTO's "Green Book" discouraging or even prohibiting things such as parking-protected bikeways until as recently as 2018. On top of that, many of Forester's disciples held positions atop major advocacy organizations and city bike planning departments for years, and used their influence to prevent the construction of protected bike lanes. In a lot of ways, we're still pedaling in the world John Forester created. This episode was sponsored by Bull Moose Softgoods and Cleverhood.  Listen to the episode for the latest discount codes. LINKS/SOURCES Read Peter Flax in conversation with John Forester, via Bicycling Magazine. Northeastern University's Peter Furth takes on John Forester. STUDY: "Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street," by Lusk, Furth, et. al. PAPER: "A Historical Perspective on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and the Impact of the Vehicular Cycling Movement," Schultheiss, Sanders, and Toole, 2018 AASHTO's Draft Bikeway Guide Includes Protected Bike Lanes and More, Streetsblog 2016 Key Design Guide to Finally Include Protected Bike Lanes, Streetsblog 2018 'Death Of A ‘Dinosaur:' Anti-Cycleway Campaigner John Forester Dies, Aged 90, by Carlton Reid in Forbes Read Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, by Carlton Reid. Read Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, by James Longhurst. How the former Dallas bicycle coordinator held back cycling infrastructure for years, via the Texas Observer. Dallas' Former Bike Czar Tells Newbie Riders to Go Play in Traffic, via the Dallas Observer Access John Forester's website via the Wayback Machine. If you're a glutton for punishment, pick up a copy of John Forester's Effective Cycling. Grab some merch in our official store! This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. https://thewaroncars.org/

NOTE: This is part one of a two-part episode. To hear both parts right now and without ads, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars. "Cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as drivers of vehicles." That quote is the core philosophy of John Forester, the father of vehicular cycling. Forester, who died in 2020, was a major figure in the the world of cycling advocacy and transportation policy, and his influence shaped street design and bicycle safety in the United States for decades. We take a deep dive into Forester's 1976 book, Effective Cycling. Part guidebook, part encyclopedia, part polemic, Effective Cycling explains why cyclists should not be afraid to ride not just in traffic, but as traffic. Throughout the book, Forester dismisses anyone who might be afraid of taking the lane with fast-moving cars and trucks as suffering from what he calls the "cyclist inferiority complex" and asserts that only a strict adherence to the principles of vehicular cycling can keep everyone safe. Who was John Forester? What is vehicular cycling? Why are we talking about a book that was published almost fifty years ago? It's all here in this mega episode. This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Pinhead Locks. Listen for the latest discount codes. LINKS/SOURCES Read Peter Flax in conversation with John Forester, via Bicycling Magazine. Northeastern University's Peter Furth takes on John Forester. STUDY: "Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street," by Lusk, Furth, et. al. PAPER: "A Historical Perspective on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities and the Impact of the Vehicular Cycling Movement," Schultheiss, Sanders, and Toole, 2018 AASHTO's Draft Bikeway Guide Includes Protected Bike Lanes and More, Streetsblog 2016 Key Design Guide to Finally Include Protected Bike Lanes, Streetsblog 2018 'Death Of A ‘Dinosaur:' Anti-Cycleway Campaigner John Forester Dies, Aged 90, by Carlton Reid in Forbes Read Bike Boom: The Unexpected Resurgence of Cycling, by Carlton Reid. Read Bike Battles: A History of Sharing the American Road, by James Longhurst. How the former Dallas bicycle coordinator held back cycling infrastructure for years, via the Texas Observer. Dallas' Former Bike Czar Tells Newbie Riders to Go Play in Traffic, via the Dallas Observer Access John Forester's website via the Wayback Machine. If you're a glutton for punishment, pick up a copy of John Forester's Effective Cycling. Grab some merch in our official store! This episode was edited by Yessenia Moreno. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. https://thewaroncars.org/

Writer Deirdre Coyle's fiction and essays have appeared in Electric Literature, Lit Hub, The New Republic, The Texas Observer, Hobart Pulp, and elsewhere. This story, "Stakes," was performed at a show at the Getty Center in L.A., at a show produced in conjunction with the online literary collective, Belletrist Book Club. If you don't know Belletrist, it was founded by committed friends and readers Emma Roberts and Karah Preiss. They recommend new works by an incredible collection of writers, host online conversations and foster a community of like-minded readers. Emma Roberts reads this story, and we feature an interview between host Aparna Nancherla and Karah Preiss in this episode.

For 70 years, building out and expanding American highways have been core parts to the entire US transportation project. But the initial effort to connect cities and states has created gigantic problems in the subsequent decades. Instead of fixing many of these critical issues, too often we see cities and states double down on the problem and make our transportation system worse. And carbon emissions from the transportation sector are a huge part of the climate fight. So what do we do about highways as these roads continue to expand and draw investment? Our guest, Megan Kimble, has been looking for the answers. In her new book, City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and The Future of America's Highways, she both looks back at the origins of the American highway system and examines today's fight to determine what is happening and how decisions are being made that design our transportation system. We discuss the "freeway fighters" that are working to remove highways and prevent highways from being expanded, how federal investments favor highways over transit, how highways have been used to exacerbate racial inequities, and why climate activists are helping to make change.  Megan Kimble is an investigative journalist and former executive editor at The Texas Observer. She has written about housing, transportation, and urban development for The New York Times, Texas Monthly, The Guardian, and Bloomberg CityLab.  Check out City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and The Future of America's Highways As always, follow us @climatepod on Twitter and email us at theclimatepod@gmail.com. Our music is "Gotta Get Up" by The Passion Hifi, check out his music at thepassionhifi.com. Rate, review and subscribe to this podcast on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more! Subscribe to our YouTube channel! Join our Facebook group.

Megan Kimble is the former executive editor of The Texas Observer and has written for The New York Times, Texas Monthly, and The Guardian. Her new book is City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. “I have never lived in a city that was not wrapped in highways. It's hard for me to imagine anything else. And I think that's true for a lot of people today. ... [But] we have known since the origins of the interstate highways program that building highways through cities doesn't fix traffic. And yet we keep doing it. To me, that really fueled a lot of the book. It wasn't supposed to be this way.” Show notes: @megankimble megankimble.com Kimble on Longform Kimble's Texas Observer archive 11:00 Kimble's Austin Monthly archive 13:00 “Austin's Not-So-Fair Housing Market” (Austin Monthly • Sept 2018) 49:00 “The Road Home” (Texas Observer • July 2021) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

MSNBC legal analyst Glenn Kirschner tells The New Abnormal that the former president could soon see his assets seized. Plus! Andy Levy speaks with Steven Monacelli, the Texas Observer's Special Investigative Correspondent, about a new social network built on a vision of Christian supremacy in America that's gaining traction with GOP politicians. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

According to the UN, the United States-Mexico border is the world's deadliest land route for migrants, with at least 686 deaths and disappearances in 2023. 148 of those deaths happened in the region along the Texas and New Mexico borders with Mexico. Texas's Gov. Greg Abbott has attempted to create a crisis in Eagle Pass, TX with deadly razor wire fencing and deploying national guard units to police the border. He's been supported by at least 14 Republican governors. Abbott has defied a cease and desist order from Biden, and supported by the U.S. Supreme Court. In the Senate, an (anti) immigration bill recently failed as Trump needs the issue for the 2024 campaign. In our latest, we talk with Truthout's Candice Bernd (@candicebernd) about the crisis being created by Greg Abbott, Donald Trump and other far right political actors. We discuss her recent trip to Eagle Pass, TX and her interviews with local residents opposed to Abbott's machinations and the far right convoy which traveled to the area to stand up to the federal government. Bio// Candice Bernd (@CandiceBernd) is senior editor/staff reporter at Truthout. Her work has also appeared in several other publications, including The Nation, In These Times, the Texas Observer, Salon, Rewire News Group, Sludge, YES! Magazine and Earth Island Journal. Her work has received awards from the San Francisco Press Club, the Fort Worth chapter of Society of Professional Journalists, the Native American Journalists Association, and the Dallas Peace and Justice Center. --------------------------------------------------------- Outro- "Headin' for the Texas Border" by Hooka Hey Links// +Locals Say Eagle Pass Is Being Invaded by Christian Nationalists — Not Migrants: https://bit.ly/49dAezQ Follow Green and Red// +G&R Linktree: ⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/greenandredpodcast⁠⁠ +Our rad website: ⁠⁠https://greenandredpodcast.org/⁠⁠ +We're part of the Labor Podcast Network: ⁠⁠https://www.laborradionetwork.org/⁠ Support the Green and Red Podcast// +Become a Patron at   / greenredpodcast   +Or make a one time donation here: ⁠⁠https://bit.ly/DonateGandR⁠⁠ This is a Green and Red Podcast (@PodcastGreenRed) production. Produced by Bob (@bobbuzzanco) and Scott (@sparki1969). “Green and Red Blues" by Moody. Editing by Isaac.

On this week's episode of The New Abnormal, Texas Observer's Special Investigative correspondent Steven Monacelli talks Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's impeachment problems. Then, climate tech investor Molly Wood joins the show to discuss the impact of the Canadian wildfires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.