Texas Standard » Stories From Texas

James Dean – in the movie “Giant” – tells Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Taylor that he has struck oil. And not only that, it’s payback time. James Dean was playing Jett Rink, a hard drinkin’, brawlin’, tough-talkin’ uncultured Texas wildcatter who struck it rich. But everybody in Texas knew that he was really playing Glen […] The post The Story of James Dean and the Shamrock Hotel appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Every Christmas my mom would bake eight pies: four apple and four pecan. Now, we wouldn’t eat all of those ourselves. Two would be given away to pie-less people and two would be placed in the deep freeze for some emergency of the future. Pies and money were similar in my mom’s mind. Save a […] The post Here’s An Apple Pie Recipe For Any Texan Holiday appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

If you want to hold public office in Texas, you have to believe in God. You cannot serve even as dog catcher – if it’s an elected office, you must believe in God. Given the long history we have had of con artists, and scofflaws, carpetbaggers, and white-collar criminals holding public office around the state, […] The post What You Might Not Know About the Texas Constitution appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There is an unusual map of the world that was once a popular poster. You still see it around in many places because it is a map that makes you see the world in new ways. This map reduces the world’s 7.3 billion people to a village of just 100 people. It keeps all the […] The post One Texan In The Global Village appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

There’s a popular bumper sticker up there in Alaska that says, “Making Texans Mad Since 1959.” That’s loosely translated — otherwise I couldn’t say it on the radio The allusion is, of course, to the fact that when Alaska became a state, Texas immediately got demoted to second biggest state. No doubt Alaska is geographically […] The post 6 Reasons Texas Is Better Than Alaska appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Spoiler alert! In case you’ve been under a rock in Ogallala for the last three decades, this story contains spoilers for “Lonesome Dove.” Since I am, like many Texans, an amateur expert on “Lonesome Dove,” people often ask me what I figure are the most loved quotes from the miniseries. If I were wise, I […] The post The Top 12 Quotes From ‘Lonesome Dove’ appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

He was 22 years old, riding his horse south of Corpus Christi in the vicinity of what would one day be called the King Ranch. But that wouldn’t happen for another twenty years. This vast stretch of sandy prairie was still known as “The Wild Horse Desert.” In some ways it was a spooky place […] The post When the Young Lieutenant Met the Wild Mustangs appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.