Texas Standard » Stories From Texas

The start of the school year means it’s the end of summer travel season for many families. As Texans well know, depending on where you live in the state, it can take longer to travel out of it than to cross several state lines beyond our borders. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong reflects on coming […] The post The sky welcomes you home appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There are a few symbols so deeply woven into the fabric of Texas that they seem as native as mesquite or bluebonnets. One of them is the Stetson hat. Not just any Stetson hat – the Boss of the Plains. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says that oddly enough, it didn’t come from Texas at […] The post The hat that made the cowboy appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If there’s one thing the Texans of the early republic never lacked, it was imagination – especially when it came to dodging tariffs and taxes. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explains. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available […] The post Creative smuggling when Texas was a republic appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Back in frontier times, it was the most deeply feared moon in Texas and northern Mexico. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps. The post The Comanche Moon appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

This bit of history really does seem too strange to be true. It involves the family of John Wilkes Booth, the son of Abraham Lincoln, and Sam Houston. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or […] The post New York aids Texas Revolution appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Growing up in Texas, WF Strong found that whistling played a important role in his life. But there are many ways to whistle. He explores a few of them. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles […] The post Whistling while you work appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you examine any good map of Texas, you’ll notice a natural division of East and West Texas that runs from the eastern side of the Panhandle down to Abilene and San Angelo and on past Uvalde to Carrizo Springs and Laredo. To the west side of that line is arid and to the east […] The post The 100th meridian appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Steinbeck’s comments about Texas and Texans go well beyond his “Texas is a state of mind” quote. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explores. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps. The post John Steinbeck (and Charley) on Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Texas Standard is celebrating its 10th birthday by looking back on 10 years of covering Texas. One way we’re going to do that is with top 10 lists. We started by counting down our top 10 Stories from Texas from commentator W.F. Strong. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the […] The post Do you have a favorite W.F. Strong story? Here are our top 10 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Some of the most frustrating hours of our lives might be spent in a vehicle. After some hard times on the road, nothing can feel better than the perfect parking spot at the place you need to be. But how will you pull in? Texas Standard commentator WF Strong has some thoughts. The full transcript […] The post Fronters and backers appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

On the western side of the Panhandle, right on the Texas/New Mexico border are two towns that were established just a few years apart in the late 1800s. They were separated by a line as thin as a goal line. They both still exist today — with populations of less than 1,500 each. But Texas […] The post A tale of a stolen town appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says the Gruver Farm Scholarship Foundation has already made a multi-generational impact. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps. The post How some donated land became a bounty for a small town’s students appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

A strongman politician is something we’ve heard a lot about recently. This Stories From Texas is about a strongman from history and a plan to set him up anew in Texas. Texas Standard Commentator W.F. Strong dug up this story — one that you probably didn’t hear about in Texas history, for one, because it […] The post Could Napoleon have ruled over Texas? appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Even though the words “Remember the Alamo” are available on t-shirts, bumper-stickers, and kitchen kitsch, the Alamo wasn’t always remembered with the reverence it is today. For a long time, the Alamo was used mostly as a warehouse. Even the church, which people rather universally think of as the Alamo, was used as an army […] The post A second siege of the Alamo appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Sometimes things happen in the world that just seem too coincidental to be coincidental. We have lots of words to describe these moments — luck, serendipity, maybe fate or destiny, perhaps a miracle? Texas Standard Commentator WF Strong remembers one of these moments he just can’t explain. The full transcript of this episode of Stories […] The post My brush with fate or serendipity appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

These five Californians, including John Wayne and Robert Duvall, have made great Texans in movies. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps. The post Some of the best Texans have been Californians – on film appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

The recipe is a mainstay under the Friday night lights and has morphed – and gotten more portable – since its debut in 1949. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast […] The post Frito pie is a Texas original appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says that, starting in the 1950s, participants in the Padre Island Walkathon covered 110 miles – all walking, no running – over three days. The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles […] The post The craziest race you’ve never heard of happened on Padre Island appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about artificial intelligence — what it can do and what its limitations are. And if you’ve been keeping tabs on it at all, there’s no doubt that it seems to be getting better — and fast. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong wanted to find out for himself just […] The post An AI Experiment appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Longtime listeners may know — Texas Standard is fast approaching a milestone birthday. We’re turning 10 next March. With us almost from the beginning have been signature segments including the Typewriter Rodeo and Stories From Texas — these bi-weekly commentaries from WF Strong. He says he has a goal beyond entertainment. The post Counting Cattle With the Fathers appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.