Progress Texas Podcasts

The filing deadline for Texas' May elections is coming up at the end of the day this Friday, February 17 - and this episode is directed at Texas progressives who have considered running for local office but have hesitated, thinking the fight in a "red state" will be too difficult. Using as an onramp recent controversies involving the current Mayor of the otherwise-sleepy D/FW suburb of Colleyville...

In the second of two episodes focused on police reform in Texas, we're glad to meet and get to know Jalen McKee-Rodriguez of the San Antonio City Council, who happens to hold the historic distinction of being the first Black and openly-LGBTQ elected official in Texas ! Not only does he share his views on police reforms and police unions, but also his unique take on being an elected official - how...

The nation, once again, reels in the aftermath of an unjustified and tragic young Black death at the hands of law enforcement in the case of Tyre Nichols. Over two episodes, Progress Texas seeks to learn: what's the status of police reform in Texas, and nationwide? What are the factors that lead to what seems to be an ever-escalating epidemic of lethal police violence against unarmed Black citizen...

What will become of the historic surplus currently at the fingertips of the Texas Legislature? Given the state of public education, you'd think a big spend on our schools and students would be a no-brainer - but after all, we're talking about the Texas GOP here. We talk education and more this week with a pair of young Democratic officeholders: Jeff Casper of the Mesquite City Council (a high scho...

Our first episode of the year features two Texans we plan to follow closely as the Texas Legislature begins another session. First, Tarrant County's State Representative Salman Bhojani , who alongside freshman Rep. Suleman Lalani of Fort Bend County is one of the two first Muslim and South Asian lawmakers in state history! And Nicole Golden, Executive Director of Texas Gun Sense joins us with deta...

Our annual holiday party was a blast last night at Antone's in downtown Austin, and as has become tradition, we took the time to interrogate our guests in between sips of sweet beverage. This time: As Texas progressives, what do we most want for the holidays - politically speaking of course? We got a bunch of terrific answers from a bunch of terrific people, with whom we were happy to reconnect af...

It's become an annual exercise of catharsis, renewal and forward strategy for us at Progress Texas: every year, we analyze the last year of the battle and pick out the five best, and five worst, Texans when it came to the arc of politics in the Lone Star State. On the good side, the obvious: Beto O'Rourke and Mothers Against Greg Abbott, along with pleasant surprise heroes like Olivia Julianna and...

At a moment when Elon Musk appears to be doing all he can to destroy his new $44 billion toy, Facebook is largely DOA, the TikTok kids are interested in anything but politics, and one particular orange gorilla has thrown in once again for the top job - how on Earth are candidates and political orgs to navigate the catastrophic mess that is the current scene of social media? As things ramp up (yes,...

Nationally, and also at the city level in the large metros of Texas, Democrats actually had a better than expected night on Tuesday. But at the statewide level? The same old goose egg. What happened? Is this just an impossible fight? And if not, what have we learned? The crew is joined by Texas Blue Action Democrats President Carrie Collier-Brown for a post-mortem of the '22 midterm election, in w...

Here we are folks - as we publish this podcast, there's one day of early voting left (Friday November 4), followed by Election Day on Tuesday November 8. In the spirit of Go Time, we present a carefully constructed, somewhat triggering, and cruelly short list of the top ten reasons YOU should vote AGAINST Governor Greg Abbott. In no particular order: 1 - Abortion Bans (3:50) 2 - Border Bullshit (1...

As early voting gets underway, we gather to take a tour through some of the prominent TV commercials being leveled in various directions by prominent players including Beto O'Rourke , Mike Collier , Rochelle Garza and yes - Governor Greg Abbott . Plus, a look at a powerful new piece from our heroes at Mothers Against Greg Abbott , and one of a more homegrown strain from TikTok that, we think, may...

Proud to welcome back Lana Hansen, Executive Director of Texas Blue Action, to provide an update on the ongoing Two Million Texans relational organizing effort aimed at strengthening Democratic performance in what may shake out to be a very challenging mid-term election. Listen to learn about how the Reach app can provide an invaluable tool in your own personal organizing effort! Thanks as always...

We celebrate the birthday of resident pumpkin spice latte enthusiast and IPA Truther Brett Isaacs with an overview of the potentially disastrous impact looming with multiple on-record 2020 election deniers occupying GOP slots on 2022 midterm ballots - more of them in Texas than in any other state . Not only is it a despicable, desperate and underhanded tactic, but the undermining of confidence in...

Proud to welcome a guest episode from our friends Nichole Abshire and Claire Campos-O'Neal at the Go Behind The Ballot podcast, which is quite well-timed as the first of several 2022 midterm election deadlines - the registration deadline on October 11 - has now come and gone. You'll recognize our good friend Emily Eby of the Texas Civil Rights Project here, with details on how elections have evolv...

Gotta hand it to Governor Greg Abbott: insisting on a Friday night debate with no audience is a great way to hide from the Texas electorate. Lucky you, the Progress Texas staff DID watch it - and bring to you this week a recap of five of the primary topics that were covered. Listen as we pick apart immigrant busing (7:19), guns (13:12), abortion (18:20), teachers and education (25:41), and housing...

Adding to his laundry list of career lows this week, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made the news for literally running from a process server attempting to serve him with a subpoena at his North Texas home. The crew convenes this week to closely examine the years and years of outlandish, outlaw behavior that our state's top law enforcement official has (so far) gotten away with, and to also ima...

In this second part of our discussion of Hispanic Heritage Month, Sam Gonzalez again hosts Diana Gomez, Ed Espinoza and special guest Abel Prado of Cambio Texas in an exploration of the cornucopia of terms that American Hispanics use to describe themselves and each other - frequently leading to confusion, and sometimes conflict. Latino/Latino/Latinx? Chicano? Tejano? Each has a particular meaning,...

September 15 thru October 15 is National Hispanic Heritage Month , and to celebrate we're embarking on a two-part conversation on the complex politics of that particular community here in the Lone Star State, in particular in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley. Sam Gonzalez hosts Diana Gomez and Ed Espinoza , plus special guest Abel Prado, Executive Director of Cambio Texas : a renowned org ded...

In what seemed to us - and likely many of you - as either a joke or a typo, South Carolina U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a federal ban on abortion past 15 weeks. And curiously, this comes right at a moment when Republicans across the country (especially in places like Texas) are doing all they can to avoid the subject. Chris Mosser hosts a roundtable discussion with Brett Isaacs, Diana...

Sam Gonzalez hosts a trio of powerhouse progressive Texas women this week: our own Diana Gomez and Brett Isaacs, alongside super special guest Ana Ramon, who has just been announced as the new Executive Director of Annie's List , the undisputed champion in the encouragement and support of female political candidates here in Texas. We get a close look at what Annie's List does, and also take a deep...

Chris Mosser hosts this week as Ed Espinoza extrapolates what would appear to be some pretty promising recent polling for Texas progressives - that is, if Texas progressives hadn't been burned by promising polling time and time again. Still - it does look pretty good at the moment, and should serve as inspiration to double down and work even harder to elect Democrats all the way down the ballot. A...

As of today – Thursday, August 25, 2022 – Texas’ so-called trigger ban on abortion, which was set to take effect 30 days beyond the striking down of Roe v Wade and represents a significant escalation beyond the nefarious SB8, is officially the law of the land in the Lone Star State. It’s a grim moment indeed – and one that calls for a review of the ruins of reproductive rights in our state. Meanwh...

The majority of schoolkids in Texas return to the classroom this week, and while this is normally an exciting time of adventure and fun, it's lost on nobody - including the kids themselves - that they're returning to a Texas public school system in the throes of crisis. Political culture battles at school board meetings, massive staffing shortfalls, continued threats from Republican leadership on...

We've sat in bemusement from yet another wave of crazy from MAGA-Land since the FBI executed a (perfectly legal and justified) search warrant at Donald Trump's place. And when Trump-world gets fired up, it's not only funny - it can also be dangerous, in a number of different ways. Will the burst of sympathy for TFG sustain itself into November with positive impact for a new crew of Trumpy candidat...

Texas Democrats are understandably wary of optimism - but lately, there are abundant signs that things may be turning around for the better. Recent wins for the Biden Administration, huge enthusiasm and turnout on Beto O'Rourke's Texas tour, the amazing outcome of the Kansas referendum on abortion rights, and the spectacular implosion of Alex Jones' defense in the ongoing Sandy Hook damages trial...