Texas Standard » Stories from Texas

Texas has had perhaps more than its share of unusual names of cities and towns. Cut and Shoot – Dime Box – Bug Tussle. But perhaps the strangest was Toadsuck, Texas. You won’t find it on a map today because it eventually became Collinsville in western Grayson County. But for a relatively brief and shining […] The post What happened to Toadsuck, Texas? appeared first on KUT & KUTX S...

One in 7 working Texans has an agriculture-related job. That’s a lot of people who depend at least in part on unpredictable markets and mother nature to make a living. So it’s no surprise some of those folks might look towards the future with a bit of uncertainty. At least that’s the sentiment behind the […] The post The Pessimistic Farmer appeared first on KUT & KUTX S...

Early Texas towns took hold alongside protected bays – think Galveston and Corpus Christi. Others developed along the banks of fine rivers, such as San Antonio, Goliad and El Paso. But later it was the steel tributaries called railroads that were planting the seeds that raised towns alongside them. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says […] The post How The Railroad Help Built Texas app...

By this time, you’ve no doubt seen or heard of the game Wordle. The daily puzzle game with the yellow and green boxes has become part of the morning routine for millions of people around the world. To coin a word too long for the puzzle — it’s become a wordemic. The post Wordle For Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

When most people think of Lyndon Johnson they don’t envision a man with a great sense of humor. He was in power in turbulent times. When I see his face in my mind I see a man who was troubled, an unsmiling man with furrows in his brow accentuating unrelenting worries. Yet even in those […] The post LBJ’s Humor appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

Likely you haven’t had a test of Texas’ official symbols since about 5th grade. You probably still know the major ones – but do you remember the state small mammal? The post A Little Test Of Texas’ Official Symbols appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

These days, if you’re out working on a ranch and you need some backup, you just pick up your cell phone. If you’re in a remote area of Texas with bad service — you might also have a walkie talkie handy. But not so long ago, the options were a little less sophisticated. Still, you […] The post How Ranchers Used Barbed Wire To Make Phone Calls appeared first on KUT & KUTX...

It’s unlikely Texas will see a major freeze this winter like we did last year. At least that’s what forecasters are saying right now. The extreme cold of last February reminded Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong about a bit of folklore he once heard about a Texas winter. The post Texas Ice Fishing appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

Most Texans probably know the Brackenridge name. But, depending on where you’re from, you might have a different landmark (and namesake) in mind. In Austin, there was the area’s first public hospital. In Edna, there’s a more than one thousand acre Brackenridge Recreation Complex. But as Commentator WF Strong notes, the Brackenridge who lent his […] The post The Most Generou...

On Google Maps you can get navigator voices in English with either an American, British, Indian, or Canadian accent. Commentator W.F. Strong thinks they should offer a Texas navigator accent – one that also offers Texas expressions and colloquialisms. The post Texas Navigator App appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

This is the time of year that Peregrine falcons make their incredible journey from Greenland to Argentina and Chile, a distance of over eight thousand miles. One of the most popular migration stopovers for Peregrines is Padre Island. There, they rest and eat for a few days. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says it’s like […] The post Peregrine Falcons appeared first on KUT & KU...

American history sometimes snuggles up close with what might be better termed American mythology. Take that story about a young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree. But other bits of history based quite a bit more in fact are less well known — though just as extraordinary. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong offers up […] The post The Young Lieutenant Who Crossed the Wild Ho...

Yes, everything may be bigger in Texas. And Texans are used to being pegged as exaggerators — the tellers of tall tales like Pecos Bill who roped tornadoes and shot stars from the sky. But Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says a characteristic of Texas conversation that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves is […] The post Texas And The Art Of Understatement appeared...

I showed a friend of mine a picture of me sitting at the edge of a thin ridge jutting out, about 300 feet above the Pecos River. He said, “I can’t look at that, it gives me the willies.” Oh, yes, the willies, goosebumps and shiverings triggered by our phobias.  As an amateur linguist, I’m […] The post Words That Migrated appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Pod...

The Olympics — as we were all just reminded — are a fantastic display of athleticism of all sorts. For many of us, watching the games is a reminder of just how we could never do that thing that we’re watching other people do. But watching got commentator W-F Strong thinking there’s quite a lot […] The post The Texas Olympics appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios --...

One way I know a book is special is if I keep thinking about it years after I first read it. Miles and Miles of Texas, 100 years of the Texas Highway Department, by Carol Dawson and Roger Allen Polson, is such a book. I first read it several years ago, and even recommended it […] The post Miles And Miles Of Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

One hundred years ago, Col. Sam Robertson stood on the same Boca Chica Beach in South Texas that Elon Musk owns today and dreamed a different dream. Instead of Musk’s spaceport, Robertson dreamed of seaports and an oceanside highway.   Robertson owned 800 acres at Boca Chica, about 20 miles northeast of Brownsville and it was […] The post Long Before Elon Musk, A Different Man Had A Plan To...

Tex is an incredibly popular nickname. It is so fitting for some… that it pushes their given first name entirely out of use. I thought it would be interesting to look at a few famous folks known mostly as just Tex. Tex Ritter is probably the most famous person named Tex. I doubt more than […] The post There’s Something About A Person Named Tex appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -...

It’s June. Watermelon season. All my life, June has meant watermelon season and I don’t mean it’s just the time of year to eat them. As a kid, it also meant a time to work, and work hard, from can’t-see-in-the-morning to can’t-see-at-night, for no more than a little over a dollar an hour to get […] The post Watermelon Season appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios --...

Carl Hilmar Guenther left Germany for America when he was 22. The year was 1846. He left without telling his parents he was going for fear they’d try to stop him. Young Guenther sailed for America because he thought his future was limited in Germany. He wrote that he “felt hemmed in,” that there was little […] The post The Story of C.H. Guenther appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Po...

My friend of many years, Tony Zavaleta, told me the following story: He said, “There was once a married couple who lived in Rio Grande City back in the late 1800s. They had tried for some time to have a baby, but had had no luck. They went to see doctors and followed their advice, […] The post Don Pedrito: Healer of Los Olmos appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts .

Of the thousands of mourners who posted their goodbyes and gratitudes to Texas writer Larry McMurtry across last month, there was one stand-out theme. It was to thank McMurtry for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Lonesome Dove.” Most considered it his premiere gift to them personally, a gift that had immeasurably enriched their lives, as culturally […] The post Larry McMurtry and the Loneso...

By W. F. Strong Broadly speaking, there are two kinds of neighborhood cultures in Texas: high security and low security. My wife is high security and I’m low security, by tradition. She was raised in Mexico, in a compound surrounded by the classic 12 foot walls with shards of glass embedded on top. I was […] The post High Security and Low Security Texas appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studi...

By W. F. Strong Could there be a better name for the world’s faster runner than Usain Bolt?  It’s a dead solid perfect aptronym, which is the formal word for a name that appropriately fits one’s occupation, sometimes humorously. A neurological scholar in England was knighted and became, I kid you not, Lord Brain. The […] The post What’s In A Name? For These Famous Texans, Everything. appeare...

As Valentine’s Day is approaching, I thought I’d share a romantic story about one of Texas’s greatest artists, Tom Lea.  This is a love story, expressed in one painting, titled “Sarah in the Summertime.”  I’ll tell you the story of that painting and how it came to be. Tom Lea was a true renaissance artist in […] The post Artist Tom Lea’s ‘Sarah In The Summertime’ appeared first on KUT &...