Texas Matters

This week on Texas Matters: Democratic candidate for governor, Gina Hinojosa, makes her closing pitch to voters. And in the last days before election day — it's prime time for campaign text messaging.

This week on Texas Matters: Elon Musk is pumping about $200 million into the election to help Republicans. So then is Musk on the ballot? Also, Governor Abbott said he hit pause on new data centers — but that didn’t really happen. And if this becomes a blue wave election could the federal government stop the certification?

As a growing number of people are caught in the affordability crisis, they are turning to selling their blood plasma to make ends meet. That plasma is used to make many lifesaving medications but are the donors being fairly compensated? We take a look at how the international blood plasma economy works and why Texas is the leading source for plasma.

This week on Texas Matters: President Trump makes a Texas campaign stop in Texas. Inside Ken Paxton’s jet-setting travels. And a Texas State University anthropologist wins a “genius award."

This week on Texas Matters — forgotten songs from Texas prisons. Heartfelt tracks written, performed, and recorded by incarcerated men. The resurrected recordings from the '60s, ’70s, and ’80s tell us about crime and punishment, rehabilitation, and the humanity of the men locked inside.

Today on Texas Matters: New polling in Texas shows that the coming election could break a 30-year drought for Democrats. How high diesel prices are impacting truckers and consumers. And after seven indictments for noncitizens voting in Texas, what are the implications for the upcoming election?

This week on Texas Matters: Ectopic pregnancy deaths are increasing in Texas. Is there a link to abortion bans? The Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee is holding back its report until after the election. What are the concerns? And could ICE agents show up at the polls this coming election? A lawsuit has been filed to try to prevent that.

This week on Texas Matters: Will it be harder to vote in Texas in the coming midterm elections? We hear from Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor, Vikki Goodwin. And the Texas Gulf Coast is home to the nation’s petrochemical industry. Is this the economic boon that was promised?

This week on Texas Matters: Why are so many Texas public school campuses closing? We hear about the impact of vouchers, charter schools and the underfunding of the public school system. Also, a new law in Texas goes into effect in Texas on Sept. 1 — the right to repair your smart phone and other personal electronic devices. We hear what the new law covers and what it doesn't.

This week on Texas Matters: Is the Republican nominee for Senate, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, exceptionally corrupt? One group is calling out Paxton’s alleged history of abusing his office. And the fight in Texas over transmission powerlines cutting through rural areas.

Texas home insurance costs are skyrocketing and becoming a barrier for housing affordability. Rising insurance costs disproportionately burden low- and moderate-income families, erode homeownership stability and weaken communities. And how the Texas Juvenile Justice Department’s five state secure facilities continue to fall short.

This week on Texas Matters— How data centers have become a hot-button issue this political cycle and how that controversy could tip the rural vote in the 2026 midterm election. Quorum Report's Scott Braddock breaks down the Texas political landscape.

During his time as mayor of Austin from 2015 through 2023, the capital city grew by 20%, saw homelessness become a crisis and faced off against a Republican state government that threatened to take over the city. In Adler's new book, "Hot Seat — Hot City," he reflects on his days at city hall and warns about coming threats to democracy in Texas.

Nearly a year after the July 4, 2025, floods in the Texas Hill Country, the families of children and counselors killed at Camp Mystic are still seeking accountability and pushing for stronger safety standards.

It has been one year since the tragic flash flood on the upper Guadalupe River that took over 117 lives. Why were local officials caught off guard when the rains came and the flooding hit? The region is called "flash flood alley," and there is a long history of tragic floods on the river. We hear the second episode of the Texas Newsroom podcast, “After the Flood.”

The Texas Newsroom and FRONTLINE (PBS) are collaborating on a new five-part podcast series, After the Flood, an intimate and deeply reported look at the catastrophic Central Texas flooding that killed more than 130 people over the Fourth of July weekend in 2025.

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller says the screwworm will continue to spread unless officials adopt a more aggressive response. Also, energy economist Ed Hirs says Texas oil producers are not significantly increasing production despite higher oil prices.

The ICE detention center in Dilley, Texas, is again at the center of a national fight over the detention of migrant families and children. But for Tania Warner, the controversy is not abstract. It is something she says she lived through with her 7-year-old daughter.

This week on Texas Matters we hear from the Democratic nominee for Senate — James Talarico. We also hear from Scott Braddock about the race between Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.

This week on Texas Matters: Sections of SB4 are blocked — which would have allowed local police to arrest suspected illegal border crossers. And Despite outcry in West Texas the efforts to build the border wall in Big Bend Country continues.