With less than three weeks to go before Election Day, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton heat up the third and final presidential debate with bitter personal attacks against each other, even as Clinton dodges questions about whether shehas  engaged in pay-to-play politics, and Trump makes headlines for refusing to say he will accept the outcome of the November  election unless he wins.

Plus, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick outlines school choice and the so-called "bathroom bill" as his priorities for the legislative session that starts in January, proposals that may pass the Senate but which will almost certainly be defeated in the House.  

And finally, if Texas was such a reliably Republican state then why are the most recent polls showing Clinton and Trump in a near dead heat, and why is Clinton running TV ads here at the last minute?

Texas politics are never boring, and the intriguing highlights and these and other topics that have dominated headlines in recent days are explored in this week's Texas Take: The Podcast -- the leading political podcast in the Lone Star State, with a Facebook Live post so you can see the show each week as it happens.