Progress Texas Podcasts

In this live pod captured at Sul Ross State University in Alpine, former PT staffer Reagan Stone moderates a panel of Democrats seeking their party's nomination to challenge Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez, a lawmaker whose reputation as a moderate does not resolve his failure to address the poverty and healthcare crisis that plagues one of the largest political districts in the nation. L...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Progress Texas board has issued an endorsement for freshly-elected Congressman Christian Menefee in Houston's 18th Congressional District: https://progresstexas.org/blog/progress-texas-endorsements-march-primaries-0 Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare was at it again last night - kicking citizens out for questioning the county&#39...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett's comments after Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislane Maxwell pled the Fifth yesterday: https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2026/02/09/rep_jasmine_crockett_the_united_states_is_falling_apart_right_now_its_time_to_take_off_the_blinders.html New University of Houston polling shows significant leads for...

Thanks for finding Progress Texas Podcasts! How do we make progress in 2026? Progress Texas is the permanent home for nonprofit, progressive media and action in the Lone Star State. Our team of communications pros is meeting the moment of the podcasting boom with the largest progressive audience in Texas, reaching millions online monthly. As of the beginning of 2026 we enjoy user ratings of 4.9 ou...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Our board at Progress Texas announces the following endorsements in the 2026 midterm elections: Gina Hinojosa for Texas Governor Sarah Eckhardt for Texas Comptroller Alisa Simmons for Tarrant County Judge Terry Virts for Houston's Congressional District 9 Bobby Pulido for South Texas' Congressional District 15 Kevin Burge for Nort...

Secular Houston founder and new Progress Texas Institute board member Wil Jeudy returns for a deep dive on an even more nutty week than usual in Texas politics, as we unpack the drama this week between former Congressman Colin Allred, State Rep. James Talarico, and Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett as the hopes of a friendly primary in the Senate race, held by most Texas Democrats, proved perhaps a t...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The Trump DOJ's move to "nationalize" and "clean" voter rolls via massive purges is being resisted by two dozen U.S. states - but not Texas, which has already handed over our full voter roll information: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/article/trump-nationalize-texas-voter-rolls-21331488.php ...Meanwhile...

We know what keeps our communities safe. Public safety comes in the form of strong communities and trusted leaders—not masked goons enabled by an authoritarian regime. Katharine Pichardo, CEO and President of Latino Victory, joins us to discuss how they’re building lasting political power to protect and represent Latino communities across the nation and in Texas. Learn more about Latino Victory at...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: ICE is making its presence known in cities across Texas - in El Paso, officials at Camp East Montana have begun sending the bodies of detained immigrants who have died on their watch to an internal military hospital - not the local county medical examiner, where one recent such death was deemed a homicide: https://www.texastribune.org/202...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett weighs in on the racial turmoil that has erupted between her competitor Rep. James Talarico and former Congressman Colin Allred: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article314552282.html ...Racial tensions have undercut recent enthusiasm among Texas Democrats spurred by Tayl...

We welcome back Congresswoman Julie Johnson, whom as you may know is in the midst of the second year of her first term representing Dallas' CD 32, while also running for the newly drawn CD 33 as a result of the recent Donald Trump-ordered and Greg Abbott-delivered carving up of Texas' congressional map. We got an update on the hard work she's doing both in D.C., and on the campaign tra...

Stories we're following at Progress Texas: Throwing cold water on the enthusiasm Texas progressives were enjoying early Monday after the Taylor Rehmet win in SD 9 and the regaining of representation for CD 18 with Christian Menefee's swearing in, former Congressman Colin Allred, citing an online influencer, has publicly accused U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico of racism: https://www.te...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A resounding win by Democrat Taylor Rehmet over Republican Leigh Wambsganss in Tarrant County's SD 9 proves that hard work pays off, and that voters even in reliably Republican territory are souring on the disaster of Donald Trump: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/02/texas-senate-district-9-special-election-taylor-rehmet-upset-lat...

Here's a full run of the Stop Ice rally on Saturday afternoon - one of hundreds of such events that happened across the nation this weekend as America stirs from its slumber to begin addressing the real nightmare our country now faces. Austin City Council Member Zo Qadri emceed a lineup of great speeches today, from: The Reverend Dr. Daryl Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Austin (04:58)...

Democratic Congressman Vicente Gonzales - along with fellow South Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar - has become known for breaking ranks with his party and supporting the initiatives of Trump's GOP. Is the notion that "the Valley is different" - that intrinsic social conservatism in South Texas justifies these two Democrats' frequent undermining of their party's goals - one ba...

Starting today with Friday's national shutdown day and continuing through a weekend of rallies and protests scheduled across the country - again - America and Texas appear to be awakening to the fact that the nightmare of authoritarianism is no longer a dream - it's the real deal. We're joined this week by Richardson City Council Member and CD 32 congressional candidate Dan Barrios to...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: As a weekend of protest dawns, reports emerge of a Texas DPS crackdown on a group of peaceful protestors outside the ICE detention facility at Dilley on Wednesday: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/eveything-we-saw-at-dilley-protest/ A national shutdown of work, school and spending has been called by a coalition of activist groups: https://w...

The Texas Secretary of State just turned over every registered voter in Texas’ private voter information (like your birthdate and the last digits of your Social Security number) to the Donald Trump Department of Justice. So, what happens now? Voting rights experts Matt Cohen, a reporter with Democracy Docket delivering national coverage on this story, and Ashley Harris, a Staff Attorney with ACLU...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Texas U.S. Reps Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett toured the ICE immigration detention facility at Dilley yesterday, and are now demanding the release of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos: https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ice-texas-democrats-release-liam-conejo-ramos-dilley-facility ...A St. Edward's University social work professor says that...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: A federal judge has ordered that five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, grabbed with his father in Minneapolis last week and rushed to a Texas detention lockup, not be deported until his case can be reviewed: https://kstp.com/kstp-news/local-news/judge-blocks-transfer-of-5-year-old-liam-ramos-father-from-texas-detention-facility/ ...Immigration att...

An important note: this discussion involves the March primary, NOT the ongoing special election runoffs in Houston's CD 18 and Tarrant County's State Senate District 9 - it is specific to the March primary's Election Day on Tuesday March 3, and specific to voters in Dallas and Williamson Counties. The county Republican Parties of Williamson and Dallas Counties have chosen to eliminate countywide v...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: Donald Trump, Greg Abbott, Ted Cruz and other MAGA leaders are backtracking on their commitment to the ICE occupation of Minneapolis - but not all are discovering their latent humanity: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/01/26/minneapolis-shooting-federal-agents-texas-republicans-respond-mccaul-investigation/ ...The deliberate mirroring of 193...

Stories we're following this morning at Progress Texas: The horrifying murder of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis has lent a sense of dread to the iced-in situation most of Texas is enduring, and has proven that ICE holds zero regard for the safety of either their supposed undocumented targets, or that of the citizens in their midst: https://en.newsner.com/news/body-language-expert-tells-people-pay-very...

As our ongoing series of live debates continues, we present a discussion between the Democratic candidates for Texas Attorney General: Dallas State Senator Nathan Johnson and former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski (attorney Tony Box is also running, but declined to participate in this debate). Thanks to the Richardson Area Democrats for organizing and allowing us to participate! Learn more about RAD...

U.S. Senate hopefuls and longtime colleagues Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico met in debate for the first time this afternoon as part of the Texas AFL/CIO's COPE Convention in Georgetown. This pod presents the full debate, largely unedited. Our thanks to our friends at Texas AFL/CIO for the access today! Learn more about them at https://texasaflcio.org/ . Thanks for listening! Learn more about...