Hill Country Institute Live: Exploring Christ and Culture

Send us Fan Mail Judd Messer, an advocate for wind and solar energy, as well as battery storage systems, on the Texas Electricity Grid, discusses how these assets contribute to reliability and affordability of electricity in Texas. 

Send us Fan Mail Zack Cooper is a Senior Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute and the author of Tides of Fortune: The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries. In this conversation, Larry and Zack explore how economic growth has historically been closely linked to the development of powerful militaries. They discuss examples from the late 19th century, when robust economies of the U.S. and Ge...

Send us Fan Mail Senator Perry is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs. He was also Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Disaster Preparedness and Flooding during the recent special session of the Legislature. He is a visionary and a leader in addressing the severe water issues facing Texas.  Larry and Senator Perry discuss how his faith informs his work...

Send us Fan Mail Jeremy Mazur is the Director of Infrastructure and Natural Resources for Texas 2036 . He was on Hill Country Institute Live in 2023 (podcast for that interview is available in our podcast library). In today's interview, Larry and Jeremy discuss water policy for Texas, including water supply, aging infrastructure, and flood control.

Send us Fan Mail Sarah is the CEO of Texas Water Foundation. She and Jeremy Mazur were on Hill Country Institute Live in 2023. In this interview, Sarah and Larry discuss water policy for Texas, including water supply, aging infrastructure, and flood control.

Send us Fan Mail Veronica, a native Argentinian, is the Central Texas Conservation Project Director for A Rocha, the international creation care ministry. She is passionate about connecting people with God's creation, caring for His creation, and growing awareness of creation care in the church. In this interview, you'll hear about A Rocha's work on 6 continents, Veronica's pro...

Send us Fan Mail John Davis, Wildlife Biologist, worked for Texas Parks and Wildlife for 30 years and currently serves as the new Conservation Program Manager with the Kyle Parks and Rec Department, working to improve the native wildlife and plant conservation efforts in Kyle. Larry and John discuss environmental stewardship, creation care, and the spectrum of things individual residents can do to...

Send us Fan Mail See inside the day-to-day realities of this couple  faithfully serving the least of these in the Ukraine. Chris & Christy Hill of Program for Humanitarian Aid talk with Larry about the orphans and other individuals they are caring for in Ukraine.

Send us Fan Mail The Hill Country Institute is non-partisan; however, we like to talk to Christians who are in the political arena about how their faith impacts their approach to governance, how we develop and live as good citizens, and how we initiate and sustain gracious, respectful dialogue in our pluralistic culture. Josh Graham is an independent candidate for U.S. Congress in the 37th Distric...

Send us Fan Mail In this fascinating interview, Larry talks with General Robert Neller about  Just War Theory; the increasing security risks our country faces from the alliance of China, Russia, and Iran; the importance of Allies to the United States; and our commitment to Ukraine from the time they gave up nuclear weapons. General Neller served in the U.S. Marine Corps for forty-four years. He wa...

Send us Fan Mail In this interview with Dr. Vlasta Zekulic, Head of Strategic Issues and Engagements of the Supreme Allied Command Transformation of NATO, we discuss Dr. Zekulic's calling to military service and the challenging and rewarding career it can be for women, the role of her faith in her career, Just War Theory applied, the complexity of warfare today, and the need for alliances to...

Send us Fan Mail In this interview, Larry and Father Captain Herb Bailey, a motorcycle-riding, Anglican priest and artist, discuss the amazing way God has worked in Father Herb's life, how we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and how to be an evangelist where God has called us. You'll hear an amazing personal story of God’s moving in this man's life and calling him to ministry....

Send us Fan Mail In this interview, Larry talks with Bob O’Dell, tech entrepreneur, author, screenwriter, and movie producer, about the little-known history of the impact that the Tonkawa Tribe had on the city of Austin, Texas. Bob and others are working on bringing friendship and recognition to the Tonkawa Tribe, and Bob is in the process of producing a documentary on the Tribe’s history. They al...

Send us Fan Mail Presenting at Concordia University in Austin, Texas, Larry presents three perspectives from which we should consider creation care: 1) God's Word, the Bible; 2) God's World - what we observe as we study God's good creation; and 3) God's Work - what we do to take care of His amazing and bountiful creation. Areas of concern which he addresses are loss of biodiver...

Send us Fan Mail Water is an issue for Texans. We face droughts, floods, aging infrastructure, and increasing population. What is a Christian response to the problems we're experiencing, and how do we plan for the future? Larry discusses these and other issues with Chairman Tracy King, Representative for Texas House District 80, Chairman of the powerful House Natural Resources Committee, and...

Send us Fan Mail Two leading analysts and advocates for a data-driven, comprehensive approach to water policy in Texas, Sarah Rountree Schlessinger, CEO of the Texas Water Foundation, and Jeremy Mazur, Senior Policy Analyst with Texas 2036 have a conversation with Larry on the water issues of Texas and the potential impact of Proposition 6 on meeting those challenges. Both Sarah and Jeremy are hig...

Send us Fan Mail Third in a series of conversations related to the Dream Together2023 initiative which begins on August 28, 2023. Kim Patton, Executive Director of Life Anew Restorative Justice, talks about how their team works to rebuild lives and communities in a Biblical, restorative way. Bianca Neal, wife of hiphop artist SaulPaul and Executive Director of the SaulPaul Foundation, discusses th...

Send us Fan Mail Pastor Edwin Pope and Pete Inman, both business leaders in the Austin Metro area as well as leaders in various Christian ministries in Round Rock and Austin, talk with Larry about Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's "I Have a Dream Speech" and Dream Together 2030, the event on August 28 at the State Capitol which kicks off the Seven-Year Initiative to develop Dr. King...

Send us Fan Mail Joe Bland, a contractor in Austin who was led by God to begin Dream Together 2030, and Dr. Archbishop Sterling Lands, a key leader of the initiative, are interviewed by Larry on this episode of Hill Country Institute Live. They discuss the upcoming kickoff of the Dream Together 2030 initiative on August 28 at the Texas State Capital. The mission of Dream Together 2030 is to create...

Send us Fan Mail Doug Lewin, President of Stoic Energy, is a nationally recognized energy expert, particularly in the electric grid, renewable energy, energy efficiency, demand response, utility regulation, and pollution reduction. He is regularly featured in local, state, and national broadcasts and publications on energy issues. In this interview, Larry and Doug talk about the electric grid in T...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Daniel Cohan, an atmospheric scientist and environmental engineer, is an Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering at Rice University, as well as a Rice Faculty Scholar at the Baker Institute for Public Policy. Clean air, water, and energy are important to the life and health of Texans and people around the world. Larry and Dr. Cohan discuss the health impacts of pollut...

Send us Fan Mail Senator Perry represents District 28, which is the largest Senate District, geographically, in the State of Texas. We’ll be discussing water issues Texas is facing such as boil water notices, drought, flooding, and population growth. We'll also talk about  Senate Bill 28, which Senator Perry authored and has bipartisan support as it advances through the Texas Legislature. Due...

Send us Fan Mail Schuyler Wight is a fourth-generation rancher who has raised cattle near Fort Stockton for decades. Now he's fighting a battle he did not create. Scattered across his sprawling 20,000-acre ranch are more than 100 abandoned oil and gas wells left behind by oil and gas companies. Water is now bubbling up from these abandoned oil wells and is polluting Wight's pasture and k...

Send us Fan Mail Barry Smitherman is an attorney, consultant, private investor, author, and board member for not-for-profit and for-profit organizations. He is the only person to have served as Chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Texas Railroad Commission. He probably has as much knowledge of the oil and gas and the electricity business as anyone in the U.S. He is n...

Send us Fan Mail Join us as we consider the wisdom and experiences of a Godly man of faith, science, and scholarship. Walter Bradley has been a longtime friend to the Hill Country Institute and is a Fellow of the Institute. He partnered with us to bring Christian leaders together with differing views on faith and science in our Vibrant Dance of Faith and Science Initiative. His statesmanship made...