Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023:
United Auto Workers to end strike: what their agreement means for Texas
The United Auto Workers union reached a tentative contract agreement with General Motors on Monday, just days after striking similar deals with Ford and Stellantis. These agreements brought an end to the industry’s longest strike in 25 years.
Auto industry journalist Micheline Maynard joins the Standard with the contours of the deal.
Gilbert Garcia says he’s the change agent Houston needs
With early voting underway, Houston’s mayoral candidates are hunting for last-minute support, hoping they can convince residents they’re the right person to replace outgoing Mayor Sylvester Turner.
Houston Public Media’s Rebecca Noel talked to candidate Gilbert Garcia, who says he’s the solution for a city in transition:
What would Texas cryptids look like in real life? These fifth graders have some ideas
All October, Texas Standard has been tracking Texas cryptids: those mythical creatures whose real-word appearances elude us. Or do they?
For a little help imagining the unknown, we took a trip to a Central Texas elementary school, where the Texas Standard’s Gabrielle Muñoz pulled up a chair in art class.
What happens when two stars collide?
A collision of two stars in space: that’s not something astronomers are used to seeing. But scientists recently got to see what such an explosion (or kilonova) looks like and its aftermath.
Michael Fausnaugh, an assistant professor of physics and astronomy at Texas Tech University, was part of the team that discovered what happened. He joins the Standard with the details.
Scream, laugh, rinse, repeat: What it’s like to be a haunted house actor
Millions of people go to haunted houses every October for a thrill.
KUT’s Chelsey Zhu wanted a look at how it all happens. So she spent a night as a scare actor at the Bat City Scaregrounds in Buda. The Standard shares her blood-curdling look behind the curtain.
The real history behind Goatman’s Bridge is scarier than any ghost story
Cryptids, urban legends and spooky stories passed down through oral tradition often serve as cautionary tales. Some deal with social stigmas, some with violence, and some attempt to reckon with uncomfortable parts of history.
Others, like the story of Goatman, cover all of the above. The Texas Standard’s Sean Saldana takes us to Denton.
The White House is putting guardrails up around AI. Here’s what they are.
In an executive order released Monday, President Joe Biden attempted to take on the growing role artificial intelligence is likely to play in our lives.
Cason Schmit, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at Texas A&M University, joins the Standard with an overview of Biden’s order and the AI landscape.
All this, plus the Texas Newsroom’s state roundup and Wells Dunbar with the Talk of Texas.
