Texas Standard For November 24, 2020

How did an agency that oversees managing office space and procuring supplies come to play such a role in the presidential transition? Gimme a T for transition: what changes and how for Team Biden with an election acknowledgement by a key government agency? And: Who Biden’s tapping for his administration and what it could mean for Texas. Also: Mexico’s president has also slow to concede the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. What that could mean for relations with our crucial neighbors to the south. Plus: Before the family gatherings begin, a North Texas family offers a warning informed by experience. Those stories and so much more today on the Texas Standard:

By Texas StandardNovember 24, 2020 9:30 am

Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Tuesday, November 24, 2020. Listen on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard. We’ll have full posts for each story, including audio, a little later today.

 Presidential Transitions 

After weeks of court challenges, it appears the Trump administration is working towards a handoff to the Biden presidency.  Jeffrey Engel, a history professor and founding director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University, talks to the Standard about what happens next.

Biden Cabinet Picks

As you might imagine, a presidential transition comes with quite the to-do list. And toward the very top is filling out the president-elect’s cabinet. This week, the Biden administration announced its picks for several cabinet positions and most of them are veterans of the Obama administration. Richard Pineda, director of the Sam Donaldson Center for Communication at the University of Texas at El Paso, talks to the Standard.

Family Hit Hard By COVID

In recent weeks, medical professionals have been warning folks that gathering with friends and family during the holidays could lead to a higher number of COVID-19 cases. And now, a North Texas family is cautioning others about getting together after most of them got infected. KERA’s Hady Mawajdeh reports.

 Suburban Latinas 

Since Election Day, there’s been a lot of focus on how Latinos and Latinas voted in Texas and nationwide and also the turnout of suburban women. But as the Standard’s Joy Diaz reports, it could take a few more election cycles for campaigns to understand that suburban women are a broader swath than the stereotypical white soccer moms. She talked to her own friends, Latinas living in Texas’ suburbs.

Repatriating Native Remains and Artifacts

Three decades ago, Congress passed the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Action. Since then, very few remains held by Texas museums and universities have been returned. Texas Observer reporter Amal Ahmed, wrote about the act and talked to the Standard about what should happen next.

Transgender Remembrance Day

Last Friday was the Transgender Day of Remembrance. It’s a day to honor the lives lost to anti-trans violence. More than 200 trans and gender non-conforming people have died in the last seven years and Texas leads the nation. KERA’s Bekah Morr spoke to LGBTQ advocates in Texas. 

Dumpster Fire Concert

Amid a pandemic, a national reckoning on racism and police violence, an election cycle that never seemed to end and the appearance of an insect known as a “murder hornet,” the year of 2020 has been described as somewhat of a “dumpster fire.” KUT’s Andrew Weber brings us the story of some Austin artists who looked to harness the collective uncertainty of this year and give audiences a cathartic performance. Using robots, hammers and, of course, dumpsters.

Mexico, AMLO and CIenfuegos

It’s been almost a month since the U.S. presidential election in the US and our closest neighbor just across the Rio Grande has yet to acknowledge that President-elect Joe Biden is about to take office in a matter of weeks. Alejandro Hope, a Mexico City-based security analyst talks to the Standard.

All this and Texas News Roundup, plus Social Media Editor Wells Dunbar with the talk of Texas.

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