Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Feb. 27, 2024:
How the Supreme Court treated Texas’ argument to regulate social media
Do social media companies have the right to decide what content appears on their platforms and what can be removed? That question’s at the heart of Texas and Florida laws that would prevent platforms like Facebook and TikTok from removing users’ posts.
Charles W. “Rocky” Rhodes, a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston, joins the Standard with a recap of yesterday’s hearing.
How drugs are getting into El Paso jails
Texas regulators recently sent El Paso County jails a second non-compliance notice in less than a year. The first came from a drug-related death in a jail. The second was for last year’s murder of an El Paso County inmate.
Since 2020, drugs have been connected to half a dozen deaths in El Paso jails. How are illegal drugs getting behind bars? KTEP’s Aaron Montes reports:
Over 80% of electricity on the Texas grid was carbon-free at one point Sunday
The Texas power grid set a new record Sunday when more than 80% of the energy used came from wind and solar.
As KUT’s Mose Buchele reports, that’s not the only record the state energy system broke that day:
By many measures, the economy’s doing well. So why doesn’t it feel that way?
As inflation spiked after the pandemic, a recession seemed fast approaching – but so far, that hasn’t played out. The American economy has continued to add jobs, and monthly inflation increases have fallen. Still, when polled, many folks are pessimistic about the current state of the economy.
Rogé Karma is a staff writer at The Atlantic with a new piece that asks a question: “What would it take to convince Americans that the economy is fine?” We’ll ask him today.
Why we shouldn’t let AI come for our busy work
Busy work: those tedious, tiny tasks that seem to take up way more time than they’re worth. Supporters of artificial intelligence say AI will free workers from many such tasks.
But author Lauren Larson asks whether such a change is welcome. She joins the show to discuss her latest article in The Verge, “In defense of busywork.”
Black History Month profile: The Austin Chitlin’ Circuit
Seeing some live music in Austin? You may end up downtown, or at a venue on South Congress or Red River.
But in decades past, another area was central to part of the music scene. Miles Bloxson has this Black History Month profile for our home stations KUT and KUTX.
Two 16-year-old Ukrainian refugees navigate new life in San Antonio
Ukrainians in San Antonio held a rally over the weekend to commemorate two years since Russia’s invasion.
Texas Public Radio’s Kayla Padilla talked with two teenage refugees about their new life in the Alamo city.
Is this the end of the National Labor Relations Board?
What do SpaceX, Amazon and Trader Joe’s have in common? All three argue the National Labor Relations Board is unconstitutional and shouldn’t exist.
That argument, now in court, could have profound implications on work in the U.S. Texas A&M School of Law professor Michael Z. Green joins the show with more.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
