Category: Houston Matters Weekend

Houston Matters

Zina Garrison, Sinking Houston and a Fear the Beard Emoji: Houston Matters Weekend for Feb. 11, 2017

Posted on · In June of last year, we presented the 2016 Houston Matters Road Show in front of a live audience at the Asia Society Texas Center, including a conversation with Houstonian and longtime tennis star Zina Garrison. In the 1980s and 90s, Garrison was a fixture in professional tennis, routinely among the top women’s singles players […]

Houston Matters

George H.W. Bush Biographer, City Floods and ‘Prairie Home’ Host Chris Thile: Houston Matters Weekend for Feb. 4, 2017

Posted on · In his 2015 biography Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, author Jon Meacham explored how the nation's 41st president has conducted himself throughout his life, through extensive interviews over a decade with the president, his family, friends, and colleagues. Meacham was also granted access to the former president's audio diaries […]

Full Show

President Trump, and Civil Rights in the Space Race: Houston Matters Weekend for Jan. 28, 2017

Posted on · President Donald Trump was sworn into office on Jan. 20, 2017. And before the ceremony, we asked you to share what you want him to know about Houston as part of NPR's A Nation Engaged project. On this edition of Houston Matters Weekend, we hear some of your answers and discuss them with Brandon Rottinghaus, […]

Full Show

Improving Houston’s Suburbs, and Grieving Substance Abuse: Houston Matters Weekend (January 21, 2017)

Posted on · What makes a great suburb? A report from Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research examines ways Houston suburbs can improve. The study is based on five case studies of Houston suburbs, including Sugar Land and The Woodlands. On this edition of Houston Matters Weekend, Kyle Shelton, the man behind the research, joins us to […]

Full Show

Raising a Transgender Son, and the 80’s Oil Bust: Houston Matters Weekend for January 14, 2017

Posted on · LGBT rights continue to be a divisive issue in this country, with battles waging inside the legislature and courts of North Carolina making news. Now Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s Senate Bill 6 has been filed and mimics the very language that has cost North Carolina millions of dollars thus far. The bill isn’t that […]

Full Show

Affordable Housing, and Mental Health Care Issues; Houston Matters Weekend (January 7, 2017)

Posted on · A question that perplexes potential home buyers and renters: where’s the affordable housing for the rest of us? The Search for Affordable Housing has More than 50 percent of Houston housing consumers in the middle- to lower-income market, making less than $50,000 a year. Many are "rent-burdened," which means they spend more than the recommended […]

Full Show

Look Back at 2016, and Catch Fever: Houston Matters Weekend for Dec. 31, 2016

Posted on · It happened in a flash — 2016 is almost in the Mixdown HMW 123116books. It's been a busy year for Greater Houston, so we're taking some time today to recap this past year's biggest developments with our beat reporters, covering transportation, education, politics and arts and culture and business. On this edition of Houston Matters […]

Good, Bad and Ugly

Prisons, Queso and Pints: Houston Matters Weekend for Dec. 17, 2016

Posted on · A recent report from the U.S. Department of Education says over the past three decades, state and local spending on prisons and jails has risen more than three times faster than spending on elementary and secondary education. The disparities are far greater in Texas, where prison spending grew at nearly eight times the rate of […]

Full Show

Cyber Attacks, and the 17th Century Sounds of Mexico: Houston Matters Weekend for Dec. 10, 2016

Posted on · A while back, Houston Matters went on a search to identify Houston’s signature food. Many major cities are known for a particular signature food. Chicago has deep dish pizza, Philadelphia has cheese steaks, and St. Louis has toasted ravioli. And while, yes, we have Tex Mex in Houston and kolaches — and great barbecue and […]

Full Show

Houston Matters Weekend for December 3, 2016

Posted on · Houston Matters was ground zero for the launch of Public Media's year-long DiverseCity initiative, an ongoing look at the many was race effects our lives in Houston. We started with an hour-long town hall to talk about law enforcement and people of color intersect. We hear an excerpt of that dialogue. Our guests include: Harris […]

Full Show

Policing Black Neighborhoods, and Revitalizing the Fifth Ward: Houston Matters Weekend for November 26, 2016

Posted on · Following fatal police shootings of black men captured on video in Louisiana and Minnesota, Robert Muhammad, a Nation of Islam representative and student minister, suggested a number of ways to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the black community, including more face-to-face contact, more community involvement and more de-escalation and tension-reduction training for officers. […]

Full Show

Zoning By Other Means, and Another Genius Grant: Houston Matters Weekend for Nov. 19, 2016

Posted on · Much is made about Houston's lack of zoning. But Matthew Festa, a law professor from South Texas College of Law Houston, argues Houston doesn't really look that different from most other cities. On this edition of Houston Matters Weekend, we talk with Festa, and others around town, about whether a variety of land rules, regulations […]

Full Show

Karbach Purchased, and The Beer Drinker’s Guide to God: Houston Matters Weekend for Nov. 12, 2016

Posted on · On Nov. 3, 2016, we leanred one of Houston's fastest-growing breweries — Karbach Brewing Company — is being acquired by Anheuser-Busch InBev, Budweiser's parent company. Perhaps this was inevitable. Some in the local brewing industry have been worried we'd reached "peak beer" in Houston, with 17 breweries operating in the region. Even after Karbach's acquisition, […]

Houston Matters

State of TV News and Best Breakfast Joints: Houston Matters Weekend for November 5, 2016

Posted on · On this edition of Houston Matters Weekend, we talk with veteran TV journalists to discuss the current state of TV news — both locally and nationally. Our round table includes former CNN correspondent Kelli Arena, who's now the executive director of the Global Center for Journalism and Democracy at Sam Houston State University. We also […]