City Cast Houston

Why buy your holiday gifts from Amazon or big-box stores? You’ll find cooler stuff at locally owned businesses — and patronizing them helps keep Houston interesting. M-K-T in the Heights. Anvil Cards. Murder By The Book. Brazos Bookstore. Blue Willow Bookshop. Celebration Company. Cacao & Cardamom. Crumbville, TX. Erica DelGardo Jewelry Designs. Rocambolesc. Goode Company. JED's Finest. Clark's Je...

Houston has one of the fastest-growing Black populations in the U.S., and it’s among the leading cities for Black businesses. Influencer Keandré Jordan, of My Southern Brands, tells us why some now call Houston “America’s best-kept Black secret.” mysouthernbrands' Instagram page. mysouthernbrands' series on Houston Black businesses. Black neighborhoods lead the surge in population growth in HTX. A...

Anita Jaisinghani, the owner/chef behind Pondicheri, one of Houston’s favorite restaurants, has just published a cookbook: “Masala: Recipes from India, the Land of Spices.” In it, she describes an Indian cooking technique that can change the way you cook everything — as well as her approach to life in a multi-cultural world. “Food should unite us,” she says, “not divide us.” Want to spice up your...

From 1960s “brown-eyed soul” to present-day cumbia, Houston’s Chicano music reflects our Gulf Coast multicultural meltdown. Guests Nick Gaitan, Isaac Rodriguez, and Pat Jasper are trying to make sure that H-town’s greats get their due. You can get your tickets for Tejas Got Soul right here: https://www.discoverygreen.com/signature-experiences/tejas-got-soul/ Subscribe to our newsletter Hey houston...

For decades we’ve heard that shopping malls are withering away. So why is the Galleria packed? In this rebroadcast of a favorite show from summer, Alexandra Lange, author of “Meet Me at the Fountain,” joins City Cast architecture contributor Allyn West and host Lisa Gray. Alexandra Lange's Book: https://www.amazon.com/Meet-Me-Fountain-Inside-History-ebook/dp/B09JXK1KBL Subscribe to our newsletter...

Time to wrap up the week’s Houston news! Host Lisa Gray hashes it out with producer Carlignon Jones and cultural contributor Antréchelle Dorsey. Houston Chronicle on Governor Greg Abbott's call to investigate Harris County allegations of election irregularities: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/Gov-Abbott-calls-for-investigation-into-Harris-17583824.php The Houston Chronicle...

The City Cast crew has your back. Plus, producer AK AL-Mouman asks what so many of Houston’s immigrants wonder: What’s with this strange American holiday? What is the U.S. president doing with that turkey every year? Do families really get together to eat and fight. Luby's website: https://www.lubys.com/ Fadi's Cuisine website: https://www.fadiscuisine.com/ Turkey Leg Hut's website: https://www.th...

Got overdue Houston speeding tickets? Through Saturday, you can pay them off at a discount, and without getting arrested. But the municipal courts’ amnesty program raises a deeper question: Why do so many Houstonians speed? And how can we make our roads safer? Joe Cutrufo, of Bike Houston, says that our biggest problem isn’t a lack of police enforcement. It’s that Houston’s roads are designed badl...

Ever thought about getting a tattoo, but the “permanent” part held you back? Ephemeral, a small chain that recently opened an outpost on Westheimer, is all about removing that barrier. Ephemeral CEO Jeff Liu explains why his company especially wanted to be in Houston, and newsletter writer Brooke Lewis semi-commits herself to ink. Ephemeral Tattoo's Houston studio website. The Houston Chronicle's...

The Alley Theatre — Houston’s oldest and biggest theater — turned 75 this year. For several of those decades, the Alley was led by artistic director Gregory Boyd, who in 2018 went down in Houston’s biggest #MeToo scandal. But now, says City Cast arts contributor Olivia Flores-Alvarez, the theater’s future is bright. The Alley Theater website: ite where you can find where you can check out when TOR...

Yow, what a week for Houston news this has been! Scott Braddock, of the Quorum Report and Texas Take, joins host Lisa Gray to process it all. Our newly named Hey Houston newsletter is a great way to keep up with all the news around the city! Make sure you sign up! We’re also on Twitter and Instagram follow us @CityCastHouston We love hearing from you! Leave us a voicemail or text us at +1 713-489-...

Though Republicans swept statewide offices (same as it ever was), Democrats overwhelmingly won in Harris County. Do those skinny margins of victory mean that Harris County is firmly Democratic now? Plus, were Tuesday’s polling place problems understandable screwups or harbingers of future chaos? Political contributor Evan Mintz and host Lisa Gray try to get their heads around it all. Texas Electio...

Election update from host Lisa Gray. Plus, producer AK AL-Moumen interviews Rafael Struve and Eliot Carter about the GOP push to attract young people.  For regular updates on the polls check out FiveThirtyEight Want more Houston news? Then make sure to sign up for our newly named Hey Houston newsletter We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Not on social media? Then leave us a voicemail or text us a...

Producers Carlignon Jones and AK AL-Moumen capture the sounds Astros’ World Series championship parade. Plus: City Cast Philly makes good on its bet. Astros World Series MVP Jeremy Pena's interview at the parade. Fox 26's Live Coverage of the prade. The Houston Chronicle's reporting on the parade. Wanna enjoy more of our Astros coverage? Head on over to our Twitter Wanna see City Cast Philly pay u...

Politics contributor Evan Mintz and host Lisa Gray discuss tomorrow’s mid-term election. What do we know from early voting? How does it look different from other years? Will challenger Alexandra Mealer unseat County Judge Lina Hidalgo? New York Times's story on Republicans focusing on inner-city Hispanic voters. Houston Public Media's reporting on the unassociated mailers trying to pit Hispanic vo...

Political analyst Scott Braddock joins host Lisa Gray and producer AK AL-Moumen to unpack the week’s news. Want more Houston news? Then make sure to sign up for our newly named Hey Houston newsletter We’re also on Twitter and Instagram! Not on social media? Then leave us a voicemail or text us at +1 713-489-6972 with your thoughts!

We're breaking down the best food trucks in Houston today with host Lisa Gray, and producers (and noted food truck enthusiasts) Carlignon Jones and AK AL-Moumen. They’ll dive into Houston’s expanding and wildly diverse food truck scene, explain why food trucks might be the future of food in Houston, and reveal our top picks for food trucks in the city.  Food trucks mentioned in this episode:  Abu...

Sprawling, spread-out Houston is a different kind of city than Chicago or New York, so we need to think differently about our parks. Our guest, Pulitzer-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin, author of the new book "Who Is the City For?", says that transforming Houston’s park system won’t be easy — but he’s impressed by what he’s seen so far.  Find out more about Houston's ParkScore (from the Tr...

Fall means that the weather perfect for exploring Houston neighborhoods. Today we’re revisiting one of our favorite “neighborhood guide” episodes. Two West University residents — novelist Chris Cander and City Cast contributor Evan Mintz — tell us where to go and what we should know when we visit their town. Chris Cander's phenomenal fictional novel 'Gracious Neighbor'. Here are some parks to try...

When playwright Brendan Bourque-Sheil was 18, he and his mom lived in an apartment in The Woodlands. One night, they started hearing a knocking sound that kept waking them up around 3 a.m. Eventually, his mom became convinced that there was a ghost in the house. Brendan tells the true story of their ghostly encounter, and talks with host Lisa Gray about why it's still impactful years later. Check...

With the World Series about to start, City Cast Philly’s Trenae Nuri challenges host Lisa Gray to a bet that Philly is gonna regret. Plus, Lisa and producer AK AL-Moumen talk over the week’s Houston news. FiveThirtyEight's breakdown of Astros dominance by the numbers. The Center Square reports inspectors sent to Harris County to monitor election. ABC 13'S reporting on the Houston ISD lead in water...

Obviously Houston is better. But why? Dallas partisan Angelica “Jelly” Walker bravely makes the case for the wrong city. Host Lisa Gray and producer Carlignon Jones respect her for even trying! Check out our previous episode on Texas city rivalries. And what makes Houston a tier above the rest! Want a deeper dive into the city? Then make sure to sign up for our morning newsletter, Hey Houston Want...

Independence Heights, now in northwest Houston, was originally its own town — and in fact, was Texas’ first municipality registered by African Americans. Tanya Debose, a fourth-generation descendant of an Independence Heights landowner, tells us the best way to experience the history that gentrification threatens to erase. The community site for Independence Heights Esther's Cajun Soul Food Gatlin...

What does Beto have to do with the Alamo? Why are people screaming at school boards? And what’s the deeper meaning of it all? University of Houston history professor Raul Ramos dives in. Raul Ramos' UH page and link to his book; Beyond the Alamo: Forging Mexican Ethnicity in San Antonio, 1821-1861  Houston Chronicle's reporting on the strange Beto O'Rourke billboard Want more Houston news? Then ma...

When did bike paths become the stuff of attack ads? And was that Pride Ride hit-and-run an accident or an attack? Joe Cutrufo, executive director of Bike Houston, brings us up to date. The Fallout from Alexandra del Moral Mealer campaign ad. Click 2 Houston full story on the Pride Ride victim. Click 2 Houston full coverage of the Waller rolling coal incident. Want more Houston news? Then make sure...