Progress Texas Podcasts

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: No Kings rallies saw massive attendance and great success across Texas on Saturday: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/oct/20/no-kings-protests-trump-democrats ...Which didn't stop Trump from posting videos of himself dumping sewage on protesters, or Governor Greg Abbott from tweeting that "Texas is targeting professors": https://thehil...

The whole country is holding its breath for tomorrow's second national No Kings demonstrations - for progressives, an important opportunity to stand up to encroaching authoritarianism - but for Donald Trump, perhaps a tempting target to further crack down on his political opponents. We talk about the importance of courage at this critical moment, not only for No Kings 2, but as we face yet another...

The second No Kings Day takes place tomorrow, Saturday October 18, at thousands of locations across the country and over 40 here in Texas. We've invited Hands Off Central Texas VP Melody Tramallo to join us for an inside look at the organizing of the Austin event in particular, what to expect, and best practices for a safe and effective experience for all attendees. A handy map of No Kings events:...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: No Kings events, happening nationally tomorrow, include at least 40 across Texas: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.nokings.org/#map⁠⁠⁠ ...Governor Greg Abbott has again activated the Texas National Guard against the second No Kings event, specifically targeting Austin, and calling the rally a "planned Antifa-linked demonstration": https://www.texastribune.org/...

No shortage of chaos to cover with Congresswoman Julie Johnson, between the federal government shutdown, the continued desperate GOP dodging of the Epstein files, the new congressional map designed to draw her out of the picture - and now, a Qatari military base on U.S. soil? We're truly in a WTF moment, and we're glad to have Rep. Johnson in D.C. to help fight back. Learn more about Congr...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Further rollbacks of the Voting Rights Act, under consideration now by the U.S. Supreme Court, could largely wipe out minority-majority congressional districts in Texas - potentially reducing the presence of Texas Democrats in the U.S. House to 3: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/supreme-court-weighs-future-vot...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The widespread buzz that Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa has been planning a gubernatorial run turns out correct - she announced her run for Governor this morning: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/15/gina-hinojosa-texas-governor-campaign-launch-2026-greg-abbott/ ...We presented the first full-length interview after Hinojosa's announcement...

We've been fans of Austin State Rep. Gina Hinojosa for a long time, and have been proud to feature her on our podcast on multiple occasions - for THIS occasion, it's a conversation about her run for Governor of Texas in 2026, just announced today! Learn more about Rep. Gina Hinojosa's campaign at https://ginafortexas.com/. Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can suppo...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: President Barack Obama appeared on the final episode of comedian Marc Maron's "WTF" podcast, heaping praise on Austin State Rep. and Senate Candidate James Talarico, and taking issue with Governor Greg Abbott's deployment of Texas troops to Chicago, considering Abbott's freakout over Jade Helm in 2015: https://deadline.com/2025/10/barack-obam...

Ballotpedia counts a total of sixteen candidates who have declared runs for the historic 18th Congressional District in Houston, seeking to be the next to fill a seat once held by the legendary Barbara Jordan, more recently by the beloved and departed Sheila Jackson Lee and Sylvester Turner, and shamefully held vacant by Governor Greg Abbott since Turner's untimely death last March. We present...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Ten Democratic U.S House members have demanded that Governor Greg Abbott withdraw Texas National Guard troops that he has sent to Illinois and Oregon on the orders of Donald Trump: https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/politics/2025/10/09/texas-lawmakers-oppose-guard-use-in-out-of-state-policing/86572196007/ ...Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzke...

The staff, and special guest Julio Salinas, vent at the end of a long week that consisted of Texas-sized problems: from Gov. Abbott sending Texas National Guard troops to Illinois to Ken Paxton's ego, and threat as the top lawyer and candidate in 2026. Plus, what's concerning us and what's keeping us hopeful in these busy, chaotic times. Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas at htt...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted a stay of execution for Robert Roberson, who would have become the first person in the US put to death in a shaken baby syndrome case: https://www.texastribune.org/2025/10/09/robert-roberson-execution-blocked-texas-court-of-criminal-appeals ...A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Texas Nation...

Texas Blue Action and Powered By People - already two of the Lone Star State's most prominent powerhouses in progressive voter activation and grassroots organizing - have announced a merger of Powered by People’s voter registration program with Texas Blue Action's relational organizing network. Executive Director and Progress Texas podcast regular Lana Hansen brings us the details on the formation...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Protesters are beginning to mass in Chicago in anticipation of the arrival of National Guard troops, hundreds of whom have come to their city from Texas: https://chicago.suntimes.com/immigration/2025/10/08/texas-national-guard-broadview-illinois ...A federal judge in Illinois will consider a restraining order against the troop deployment toda...

We're joined today by Adrian Shelley and Cassidy Levin of the national watchdog group Public Citizen, who have uncovered a massive and years-long apparent pay-to-play scheme in which large-dollar donors to Governor Greg Abbott's campaign finance PAC appear to have been rewarded with very large, and in some cases, dubiously documented, state contracts - a situation that, while legal under Texas law...

Attorney General Ken Paxton has issued a press release regarding a new escalation his office plans to execute against "transgenderism and Antifa", long on right-wing belligerence and short on actual facts: https://www.keranews.org/news/2025-10-07/ag-ken-paxton-announces-undercover-operations-of-leftist-terror-cells Houston friends! Join Progress Texas in The Heights on Monday October 20 for our H-...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Around 200 National Guard troops from Texas have been deployed to Chicago over the protests of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, ostensibly to back up ICE agents: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WRl6UUwYGI ...Trump's pretext is a countering of "rebellion against the federal government": https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2025-10-06/texas-nat...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Governor Greg Abbott approved a request by Donald Trump to deploy Texas National Guard troops into both Chicago and Portland, Oregon, under the pretext of protecting ICE agents from Antifa: https://youtu.be/8QFKsX1s_lM?si=Xa-pRwaY6YGgoQ0S ...A Trump-appointed federal judge has temporarily blocked that move: https://thehill.com/homenews/admini...

Yet another chaotic political week (should we say, typically chaotic?) ends this Friday afternoon with our regular roundtable pod. How the Democrats can have the edge with the federal shutdown, what's at stake and what to understand about the court fight over the new state congressional map, a conversation with a new key player in the RGV and more - the staff breaks down another wild week in Texas...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Trump administration has offered the University of Texas access to enhanced federal funding - if it agrees to a set of conditions that will accelerate the MAGA-fication of the 40 Acres: https://thedailytexan.com/2025/10/02/ut-system-to-review-proposal-from-trump-administration/ ...Academic experts see the adoption of this Trump "compact"...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: As the second day of the federal shutdown begins, progressives and Democrats must remind themselves and others that it represents a last stand for affordable healthcare, and a stand against the destructive agenda of Donald Trump: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTM6Wvbc5/ ...Should the Dems cave, as many as 1 million Texans may find themselves price...

The major turn towards Donald Trump by Texas Latino voters, especially those in South Texas, serves as a painful memory and a fearsome harbinger of what might be in store in the 2026 midterms. A major momentum shift would come in handy for South Texas Democrats - and one may have arrived in the form of Tejano music star Bobby Pulido, who has recently announced a run as a Democrat for the U.S. Cong...

In a federal court in El Paso, as of this morning, a trio of judges have begun considering whether the state of Texas can use the new congressional map - ordered by Donald Trump and eventually passed during a pair of highly contentious special legislative sessions - in the 2026 election. We're fortunate to have the expert legal view of attorneys Louis Bedford IV and Jason Smith, members of Progres...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Democrats in the U.S. House hold the line against the gutting of healthcare, as Republicans skip town - thus, a federal shutdown has begun: https://apnews.com/article/government-shutdown-democrats-republicans-trump-fight-c4949dace66c18d6099b5e23fd98b049 ...Reactions from Texas House Democrats, including El Paso's Veronica Escobar: https://x.c...