Progress Texas Podcasts

The Texas State Capitol building, known for being a place where it's easy - perhaps, even encouraged - for visitors to carry in their guns, saw a credible gun threat narrowly averted by law enforcement yesterday. Texas transplant Elon Musk is named a high-level consultant in a new Trump administration effort to extend American autonomous lethal weaponry “from subterranean depths to the cislunar fr...

Our friends at Texas Gun Sense envision a future free of gun violence. They advocate for stronger, safer gun laws and support policies that make our communities safer—all while protecting the rights of responsible gun owners. Texas Gun Sense held their annual fall fundraiser last week - this organization is very meaningful to our Executive Director Kathleen Thompson, as a former advisory board mem...

We are days away from the October 5 voter registration deadline - so, what’s changed for Texas voters in 2026, and who is working to protect our right to participate at the polls? All your questions answered, in our series with the Texas Civil Rights Project: today’s episode features the TCRP's Taylor Trevino and La’Dereka Sylvan, who discuss election protection and voter mobilization, what th...

By boldly reclaiming the actual teachings of Christianity and clearly expressing a vision of progressive success, even before the election arrives, James Talarico has reinvigorated a distinct and realistic vision for a much better Texas. While Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott continue to dodge the debate stage, Republicans in the Texas Legislature promise the same old culture war, despite the likelihood...

This week's In Progress roundtable discussion comes straight from the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival in Austin: a discussion of the current state and future of our state parks, with Texas Parks and Wildlife Executive Director Annie Brown, Texas State Parks Director Rodney Franklin, Texas Parks And Wildlife State Parks Advisory Committee Chair Brian Trusty, and Gulf Trust Executive Director, forme...

The ICE agent who shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston two months ago has been identified by the Texas Tribune as Gregory Feathers. A candidate for the Austin City Council was dramatically arrested on Saturday for taking part in a protest over the ICE shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in Austin - almost a week after that protest. And CNN details heartbreaking court proceedings in...

Misael Ramos is the DSA-endorsed candidate running for the Austin City Council's District 1 seat, and was unexpectedly arrested by a group of law enforcement officers representing at least two different agencies on Saturday in connection with his attendance at a protest the prior weekend against the ICE-related shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez in north Austin. Ramos joins us to share his...

Republican luminaries continue kvetching that in choosing Ken Paxton over John Cornyn, Texas GOP primary voters have endangered that seat for Republicans - but will lifelong rural conservatives, in the privacy of the voting booth, actually vote against him in favor of James Talarico? Karl Rove discovers that speaking up out of step with MAGA carries real-world complications. And, maybe some of tho...

Here comes another TribFest talk that, in our opinion, clearly demonstrates the overall quality of the Democratic ticket this year. When you vote all the way down your ballot in a few weeks, these are some of the Democrats you have a chance to put into statewide office after 30 years of Republican stranglehold. Democratic nominees for Lt. Governor, State Comptroller and Railroad Commission - Vikki...

Great to be back at the historic Clay Pit in downtown Austin for another live podcast with our friends at the Asian Texans For Justice Action Fund last night! Thanks to BallotReady for presenting our event. Who knew the job of County Judge could be this sexy? We heard from four genuine Texas political rock stars nominated for that key role in four of our state's most densely-populated counties on...

Our adventures at TribFest 2026 continue with "The Battle For South Texas" - a panel hosted by Texas Tribune reporter Berenice Garcia, featuring congressional nominee Bobby Pulido and Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño on how the political realities in South Texas are changing - and how Latino voters in Texas have unique power in shaping the nation's future. Learn more about Bobby Pu...

Both Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico and gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa gave major live interviews during the first day of the 2026 Texas Tribune Festival on Thursday. Donald Trump's suprise attendance at this weekend's Texas vs Tennessee football game is a pain for everyone, including the coaches, the players and the fans - though ticket prices have dropped considerabl...

We had one hell of a Day One at Tribfest 2026, capturing live talks with Gina Hinojosa (one click back) and James Talarico (coming shortly) - but we had to get an In Progress report in from the center of the action at Austin's Omni Hotel, where we enjoyed an unplanned pop-in from Congressman Greg Casar! Stay tuned for Day Two. Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you c...

Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa was interviewed before a packed house at St. David's Episcopal Church in Austin this morning as TribFest 2026 got underway. She talked about ending corporate welfare in Texas, fully funding public education and ending high-stakes testing, economic populism, and - has an exciting fundraising update to share! Our TribFest journey has just begun - st...

A major DPS failure has left an unknown number of Texas voter registration applications and updates stranded for nearly a year, and the state has dumped tens of thousands of records onto already-overburdened county election offices just weeks before the election. Under pressure, counties must now sort and verify the backlog, while ensuring old or duplicate information doesn't overwrite newer v...

Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation - known affectionately to many as “Mayor Pete" and already with early 2028 presidential buzz, traveled to North Texas over last weekend for the annual Johnson/Jordan Dinner to fire up the already hot-as-hell and motivated-as-hell Texas Democrats at the end of a scorching summer, in the most competitive position they’ve been in, going int...

An apparent error with a Texas Department of Public Safety online portal used since from 2020 to 2024 by around 6 million Texans - a full third of our entire voting electorate - has compromised the voter registration of an unknown number of Texans. It would appear that Ken Paxton has finally and fully chickened out of a debate with James Talarico. And as more details emerge in the ICE shooting in...

Our 300th Happy Hour talk sees the return of Democratic nominee for Texas Lieutenant Governor Vikki Goodwin! We discuss her recent legal action against current Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over his use of AI deepfakes of her, her take on the most recent ICE shooting in her city of Austin, and more from the campaign trail as a critical and exciting election season nears its climax. Learn more about Vikki G...

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, the Venezuelan national shot by an ICE agent in Austin on Sunday, was thrown into the detention center at Pearsall with a federal bullet still lodged in his back. His shooting comes amidst a marked escalation of ICE aggression in North Central Austin and across the San Antonio ICE sector, where agitation in affected neighborhoods is rising. Ken Paxton, while blaming Jam...

The midterm elections have surrounded a decline in affordability, trust in our government, and increase in attacks on Texas communities. One issue that has not dominated this election cycle, though it coincides with all of these factors described, is Texas’ restrictive reproductive rights and the connected fight to preserve democracy. For the third installment of our midterms election protection a...

A Venezuelan national, shot by ICE while working as a DoorDash driver in Austin, has survived - but is now in custody and subject to deportation. While he's taking in fresh millions from Donald Trump, a slew of new problems for Ken Paxton emerges over the weekend: an overdue tax bill in Hawaii, allegations of chumminess with a notorious sexual abuser, millions in whistleblower settlements to e...

Once thought an unlikely prospect, Democratic nominee for Texas Governor Gina Hinojosa now leads Governor Greg Abbott by four points in a recent poll. National Republicans are panicking, and Texas is one of the former strongholds in which they are now spending massive amounts of money, while most prominent GOP figures, despite his undisputed and bold racism, still support Bo French's candidacy...

Bigotry and open hatred against South Asians and Muslims has become a common, foundational viewpoint among Texas Republican officeholders and candidates - Bo French's ridiculous and widely-condemned comments about Texas Longhorns fans being the most egregious recent example. We invited Chanda Parbhoo of the SAAVE Texas Education Fund, one of Texas’s largest AAPI organizations focused specifica...

Texas Democrats find themselves in their strongest election position in decades as the Texas GOP collapses under the weight of scandals, high-profile defections and its own bad policy choices. Texas Democrats have largely performed without major missteps - except, of course, that strange award given to musician and notorious abuser Chris Brown, who has punched back at State Rep. Venton Jones for a...

As we all know, Social Security is under attack - and is also likely to be the top issue in D.C. in 2027 - after decades of Republican defunding and dismantling. We were proud to capture a town hall on this all-important topic earlier today at the Dallas County Democratic Party HQ, presented by Social Security Works: a non-profit dedicated to protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare, and...