Houston Matters

On Friday's show: We get updates from Houston Public Media reporters on several stories from Fort Bend County, Galveston County, and Harris County.

Also this hour: Classes begin for HISD students on Monday. Kids returning to class means another year of close contact, germs getting passed around, and a variety of other health-related questions and considerations. We talk through them with pediatrician Dr. Desiree Evans from Texas Children’s.

Then, we break down The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the week.

And we meet the director and one of the actors from the regional premiere of the newly revised West End production of Mean Girls: The Musical, on stage at Queensberry Theatre through Aug. 16.

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On Thursday's show: We learn why Moody's has upgraded the City of Houston's credit rating and what it means for the city and the rest of us.

Also this hour: AI is finding its way into the classroom more and more. We discuss what that looks like and how educators from grade school to college hope to handle it responsibly.

Then, we hear from Joseph Williams, lead singer of the rock band Toto, ahead of the band’s concert in The Woodlands on Friday. We discuss the group's enduring hits, like Africa, Hold the Line, and Rosanna, along with Williams’ solo efforts, which include the singing voice of Simba in the original The Lion King and working with his dad, John Williams, on three Star Wars films.

And we visit The Chess Refinery, a gathering space for chess players in Katy.

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On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup.

Also this hour: We get to know the new host of Reading Rainbow, librarian and literacy advocate Mychal Threets.

And comedian Maddy Kelly explains how her failed attempts to act dramatically on stage turned into a career in comedy and a recent appearance on The Tonight Show. Kelly performs in Houston Friday and Saturday at The Riot Comedy Club.

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On Tuesday's show: We learn why some local restaurants are choosing to do their own versions of Houston Restaurant Weeks, which is underway during the month of August and runs through Sept. 7. The event raises funds for the Houston Food Bank.

Also this hour: In this month’s installment of The Full Menu, food writers talk about what local restaurants that are participating in HRW are offering on their menus this year and what they’re looking forward to sampling.

Then, we learn about The Magnolia Fund, described as the "real estate investment fund for the rest of us." It takes small investments and groups them together to fund bigger projects as a way for neighbors to invest in their own communities.

And superheroes can do more than save the day. They can also inspire a love of reading. We meet the Houston couple behind Adroit Comics, a family-owned comic book company using original stories to help students build literacy skills.

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On Monday's show: Nearly one in five traffic deaths in Texas happen in the 13 counties the Houston-Galveston Area Council covers. We learn about an upcoming public meeting the agency is hosting on how to improve those numbers.

Also this hour: We offer listeners a chance to vent their pet peeves about life in our city.

And we discuss what the Astros might do before today's trade deadline and how they're positioned for the final two months of the season.

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On Friday's show: Starting today, Texas is banning hemp products containing certain intoxicating cannabinoids. We find out what will still be legal, what will not, and how it's affecting businesses.

Also this hour: We learn what a recent investigation by the Texas Observer tells us about when and why school districts across the state choose to have students ages 10-12 arrested for on-campus incidents and discuss how school leaders make those decisions.

Then, we break down The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly of the week.

And Houston singer/songwriter Kam Franklin performs live in studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TfaXAf-JcE&t=445s

On Thursday's show: A longstanding city of Houston program requiring some government contracts to be awarded to minority-owned businesses was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. We learn why and discuss the ramifications of the decision.

Also this hour: Free speech doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. Negative backlash, a boycott, a lost job -- lots can happen when you express yourself in a way others don’t like on social media. We discuss what is a fair and appropriate response and what is going too far.

Then, we preview the next installment of the podcast After the Flood.

Plus, we learn about the documentary Los Tejanos: A 500-Year History, which chronicles five centuries of Mexican American history in Texas. A free screening of the film will be held Aug. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Wilhelmina Cullen Robertson Auditorium on the campus of the University of Houston-Downtown.

And, with another new Spider-Man movie coming out, we talk about the big business of movies based on comic books.

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On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup.

Also this hour: We recall the influence the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee had on Houston and the city’s desegregation strategies more than half a century ago ahead of a panel discussion and screening of the 1998 documentary The Strange Demise of Jim Crow Thursday at 7 p.m. at The Menil Collection.

And we mark a key anniversary in the history of spaceflight -- the official establishment of NASA -- by learning what researchers found when they digitized audio recordings from NASA's Mission Control during the Apollo years.

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On Tuesday's show: This week could be the hottest stretch of the summer in Houston, with several triple-digit days in a row possible. We learn more from meteorologist Justin Ballard of the Houston Chronicle. And, amid that brutal heat, residents of Corpus Christi got some good news about their water crisis.

Also this hour: Recent efforts to inject religion into Texas public schools might be leading some Houstonians to seek out secular alternatives. We talk it over.

Then, we preview this year’s Houston Shakespeare Festival.

And we visit Creatorspace, a makerspace in League City where all kinds of practical, physical production takes place, like welding, laser cutting, electronics, woodworking, pottery, sewing, and jewelry-making.

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On Monday's show: Katy ISD is banning the use of AI by elementary school students. The district’s board also set limits on AI use by middle and high school students in a decision that stands in sharp contrast to Houston ISD’s plans. And we recap a Congressional forum in Houston over ICE tactics.

Also this hour: We dig deeper on the rights of renters in Greater Houston.

Then, a medical diagnosis kept Houstonian Ginger Kerrick from ever being an astronaut. It didn’t, however, stop her from making history at NASA. Her story is among those told in a PBS documentary series called Once Upon a Time in Space, which is airing this month on Houston Public Media, TV 8.

And we recap Sunday’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony, which features more than one former Astros players, and consider which current members of the team could someday join them in the hall.

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