Here’s what’s coming up on Texas Standard for Friday, Nov. 24, 2023. Listen on your Texas public radio station, or ask your smart speaker to play Texas Standard.
Texas author Dina Gachman on facing grief head-on
Within the space of just a few years, author Dina Gachman lost her mother to cancer and her sister to alcoholism. But she was determined not to lose the important lessons from dealing with those tragedies.
Our Laura Rice spoke with Gachman in May about her book “So Sorry For Your Loss: How I Learned to Live with Grief, and Other Grave Concerns.”
The Sounds of Texas: ‘Vitamina C for Cultura’
Co-authors Suzanne García-Mateus and Mando Rayo set out to write a children’s book that reflected their own culture. What they ended up with is a series of three.
We heard from García-Mateus in January about the second book in the series, “Vitamina C for Cultura: An alphabet book, cultural dictionary and guide.”
A Texas Standard gift guide for book lovers
What’s your go-to gift during the holiday season? For a lot of people, the answer to that question is simple: books. Like a lot of retailers, booksellers do good business in November and December.
But why do so many turn to books as presents, and what should you buy this year for the bookworm in your life? Texas Standard producer Sarah Asch did some digging and has a few recommendations.
‘What an Owl Knows’ seeks to understand the enigmatic birds
What is it about owls that make them so fascinating across cultures and generations? Author Jennifer Ackerman takes a look in her book “What an Owl Knows: The New Science of the World’s Most Enigmatic Birds.” We heard from her in July.
50 years of hip-hop: from Kool Herc to Megan Thee Stallion
Five decades ago, DJ Kool Herc’s track “B-Boy” marked a defining moment in the genre’s emergence, as he pioneered the role of a DJ and earned the title of the “father of hip-hop.”
Over the years, hip-hop has evolved into a global cultural force, with an ever-changing artistic landscape that reflects the zeitgeist. Today, artists like Megan Thee Stallion, a Texas native, exemplify the genre’s contemporary impact.
We spoke with music journalist and culture critic Kiana Fitzgerald in August about her new book, “Ode to Hip-Hop: 50 Albums That Define 50 Years of Trailblazing Music,” which chronicles the evolution of hip-hop.
Celebrating a century of Texas state parks
This year, the Texas State Parks system is celebrating its centennial anniversary, and there’s a new book to mark the occasion.
“Texas State Parks: The First 100 Years” tells the story of how the state’s parks began. We talked to author George Bristol, a longtime Texas conservationist, about the book last month.
