Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Jan. 20, 2025:
What the Legislature has on deck this chilly week
Lawmakers aren’t set to return to the Legislature until Wednesday due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the winter storm. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t a whole lot to talk about leading up to it.
Joining us for a weekly lookahead at what the Legislature has on the agenda this week is Blaise Gainey, Capitol reporter for The Texas Newsroom.
The Mustang members of the U.S. Marine band
Today’s 60th presidential inauguration is a U.S. tradition that’s featured music for more than two centuries. The official ensemble is the U.S. Marine band – known for nearly that long as “The president’s own.”
KERA’s Bill Zeeble reports two longtime members of the prestigious band are graduates of Southern Methodist University.
This week in Texas music history: Julius Hemphill born in Fort Worth
Jason Mellard with The Center for Texas Music History at Texas State University brings us the story of a Fort Worth-born avant-garde jazz trailblazer.
HHSC employees accused in data breach
Seven employees of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have been fired for improperly accessing, and in some cases, stealing, from the accounts of thousands of Texans receiving public assistance. It’s believed to be the largest data breach in the agency’s history.
Terri Langford reported on the story for The Texas Tribune, and she joins us today.
Studying ‘mini hearts’ in space helps scientists understand how microgravity affects astronauts
A multiyear research project began a new phase last year when a collection of tiny artificial heart-tissue structures, known as cardiac organoids, blasted off for the International Space Station. By studying these organoids, scientists hope to learn about the impact of microgravity on human heart tissue.
In November we spoke with Dr. Munmun Chattopadhyay, a faculty scientist at Texas Tech Health El Paso and a member of the team working in Earth-based labs to study what happens to these mini-hearts during a long space flight.
‘There’s Always This Year’ goes beyond the bounds of basketball
At first glance to the uninitiated, the book “There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension,” might appear to simply be an ode to playing hoops. But its meditations span not just the game, but themes of mortality, of place, and the concept of “making it.”
The book’s writer is Hanif Abdurraqib, a New York Times bestselling author, MacArthur Fellow and National Book Award finalist. He was also recently named the University of Texas Press American Music Series editor. He joined the Standard in October.
Revisiting the concerns surrounding TikTok
TikTok went dark for U.S. users on Saturday night, hours before a ban on the service was due to take effect. But on Sunday, the service returned, with a message crediting President-elect Trump, who said he would delay the ban.
Legal experts say it isn’t clear whether the new president can do that. But for now, TikTok users and creators are online again. Why is the fate of one Chinese-owned video app so crucial to so many? And why are its fans, including the new president, unconcerned about the potential national security implications that led Congress to pass the ban?
Alec Tefertiller is an assistant professor in the department of Journalism, Public Relations & New Media at Baylor University. He joins us today to discuss:
All this, plus Alexandra Hart with the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Raul Alonzo with the Talk of Texas.
