Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Dec. 12, 2022:
Texas’ last public lighthouse shines for the first time in 117 years
Texas’s only public lighthouse was relit over the weekend for the first time in over 100 years, and residents of Port Isabel gathered around the city’s lighthouse to see the historic event. Texas Public Radio’s Gaige Davila reports.
The odds on a Greg Abbott presidential bid
For the past four decades, there’s almost always been a Texas Republican running when presidential elections roll around. Will Gov. Greg Abbott continue the trend? Joshua Blank, director of research for the Texas Politics Project at UT-Austin, has more.
Dallas composer’s work gets world premiere by renowned Philadelphia Orchestra
SMU professor Xi Wang’s work “Ensō” – her attempt to seek peace and enlightenment after traumas of the past few years – was commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra and premiered last week. She talked with KERA’s Bill Zeeble about the origins and creation of her work.
The next World Cup will be a financial score for Texas
As soccer fans warm up for the World Cup’s final stretch, many North Texans are already looking forward to the next tournament. In 2026, Dallas and Houston will be among the cup’s host cities. KERA’s Pablo Arauz Peña reports local leaders expect the games will bring billions to the region:
NASA’s plan to revisit the moon is right on course
NASA’s Orion spacecraft splashed down off Mexico’s Baja peninsula on Sunday, marking the successful end to a 25-day mission to the moon. The space agency’s Artemis program intends to return humans to the moon, and Orion was a chance to prove it was possible. Ars Technica reporter Eric Berger has more on the implications.
Inside the “Christmas Movie Industrial Complex”
Love them or hate them, you know the saccharine-sweet Christmas movies basic cable channels churn out at the holidays. Writer Rebecca Alter certainly does, and she was recently cast as an extra in a Lifetime channel Christmas flick. She joins to talk about her experiences and the genre writ large.
Austin ponders: What to do with 32 fighting roosters?
The Austin Animal Center is used to operating at capacity. But the center recently got an influx of a different kind: roosters, instead of dogs and cats. KUT’s Mose Buchele says it’s left staff and volunteers with a unique dilemma.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
