As religion becomes more visible in Texas politics, how is it reshaping the modern workplace?
From expanded religious accommodations to the rollback of DEI initiatives, Texas employers are increasingly caught between federal protections, state legislation, and a workforce that is more religiously diverse than ever.

In this episode, Dr. Elaine Howard Ecklund, faculty scholar at the Baker Institute and director of Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance, joins Dr. Michael O. Emerson on the “Texas Briefing” podcast to unpack how religion is lived and practiced across industries and regions.

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This is the fourth episode in a four-part series, “Between Pulpit and Policy,” exploring the rising influence of faith, particularly Christian nationalism, in Texas politics — and how it’s transforming public policy and governance. The series was produced in partnership with the Baker Institute Student Forum.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on Nov. 20, 2025. Learn about future live recordings of the “Texas Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

How can scientists interact with religious beliefs that increasingly shape public policy? Must there instead exist a separation between faith and science?

Michael O. Emerson sits with Neal F. Lane, the Baker Institute’s senior fellow in science and technology, and Heidi Russell, the director of the Center for Health Policy, to dive into the complex, often misunderstood relationship among faith, science, and public policy. They explore how religious values and scientific evidence collide, and sometimes coexist, from the courtroom to the hospital bedside.

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This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on Nov. 7, 2025. Learn about future live recordings of the “Texas Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Why has the role of religion in Texas public education become one of the most consequential policy battles in the state? What is at stake for religious liberty, church-state separation, and the future of education across the nation?

Baker Institute fellow and guest host Michael O. Emerson is joined by nonresident scholar David R. Brockman to unpack how faith-based politics, Christian nationalism, and recent legislative actions are reshaping classrooms across Texas.

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This is the second episode in a four-part series, “Between Pulpit and Policy,” exploring the rising influence of faith, particularly Christian nationalism, in Texas politics — and how it’s transforming public policy and governance. The series was produced in partnership with the Baker Institute Student Forum.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on Oct. 10, 2025. Learn about future live recordings of the “Texas Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

How has faith – particularly Christian nationalism – become a powerful force shaping Texas politics and public policy? How should policymakers approach religion?

Joined by Baker Institute fellows Eric McDaniel and Mark P. Jones, guest host Michael O. Emerson unpacks what Christian nationalism is, how it differs from religious conservatism, and why Texas has emerged as a key testing ground for its political influence. From abortion policy and education vouchers to immigration, gender identity, and higher education, the conversation explores how religiously framed ideas motivate lawmakers.

Featured guests:

Mentioned in this episode:

This is the first episode in a four-part series, “Between Pulpit and Policy,” exploring the rising influence of faith, particularly Christian nationalism, in Texas politics — and how it’s transforming public policy and governance. The series was produced in partnership with the Baker Institute Student Forum.

This conversation was recorded on Oct. 17, 2025. Learn about future recordings of the “Texas Briefing” podcast by subscribing to our “Events Digest” newsletter at https://www.bakerinstitute.org/newsletter.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

More than half of Texas women can’t access their preferred birth control method — meaning they can’t use the method that works best for them. Gracia Sierra, a nonresident scholar at the Baker Institute and data scientist at Resound Research for Reproductive Health, sits down with senior health policy fellow Elena Marks to discuss how insurance status shapes access to contraception and why uninsured and publicly insured people are most likely to face barriers.

Sierra also lays out policy solutions to the gap, from expanding Medicaid to strengthening existing programs for low-income Texans, from her latest co-authored report for the Baker Institute.

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This conversation was recorded on Oct. 17, 2025.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Texas lawmakers returned to the Capitol yesterday for a special legislative session intended to address flood resilience, congressional redistricting, and the state’s booming consumable hemp industry. Katharine Neill Harris lays out the consumer risks of underregulated hemp products and commonsense measures to protect public health and child safety.

For more, read Harris’ road map for hemp regulation in Texas.

Featured guest:

• Katharine Neill Harris, Ph.D., https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/katharine-neill-harris

Mentioned in this episode:

• Katharine Neill Harris, Victoria Jupp, and Lisa Pittman, “How a Well-Regulated Texas Hemp Industry Can Promote Public Safety,” https://doi.org/10.25613/CVDC-0V10.

This conversation was recorded on July 14, 2025. A transcript of this episode is available here: http://bit.ly/4kPDYfG 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is our third episodes in a miniseries series on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes.

Texas banned all abortions in 2022, with one exception — to save the life of the pregnant patient or “prevent substantial impairment of a major bodily function.” The law’s vague language and harsh penalties for doctors who perform abortions, including possible life imprisonment and a $100,000 fine, have left OB-GYN physicians unsure of when emergency care is legally allowed and fearful of acting outside the law.

As a result, OB-GYNs across the state are reconsidering how — and where — they practice.

Alex Morin, managing director at Manatt Health and co-author of two recent studies on the ban’s impact, joins Elena Marks to discuss how legal uncertainty around the ban is reshaping reproductive health outcomes in Texas and what it means for the state’s OB-GYN workforce pipeline.

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Alex Morin, https://www.manatt.com/alex-morin 

Elena Marks, J.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks 

Mentioned in this episode:

Manatt Health, Confusion, Cruelty and Fear: Delivering Reproductive Care to Women After Texas’ Abortion Ban, https://www.manatt.com/insights/white-papers/2025/health-highlights/confusion-cruelty-and-fear-delivering-reproductive-care-to-women-after-texas-abortion-ban 

Manatt Health, Texas OBGYN Physician Workforce Study, https://www.manatt.com/insights/white-papers/2024/texas-obgyn-physician-workforce-study

This conversation was recorded on May 29, 2025.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/4kzNq7U 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is Episode 2 in our miniseries on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes.

Kari White, the Baker Institute’s new nonresident fellow in maternal and reproductive health, joins senior health policy fellow Elena Marks to discuss teenagers’ access to confidential contraceptive care.

Texas, which has one of the country’s highest rates of teen pregnancy, is one of 27 states in the U.S. that doesn’t allow minors to consent to their own contraceptive care. Kari and Elena examine the role of confidential care in teens’ health and the policy case for expanding access.

Kari is also the executive and scientific director at Resound Research for Reproductive Health and the co-author, with Laura Dixon, of a recent Baker Institute issue brief on this topic.

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Kari White, Ph.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/kari-white

Elena Marks, J.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks 

This conversation was recorded on April 28, 2025.

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/3HnKbBH.

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

This is Episode 1 in our miniseries on reproductive health in Texas — where we have world-class health facilities, yet rank near the bottom when it comes to women’s health outcomes.

Eleanor Klibanoff, the law and politics reporter and former women’s health reporter at the Texas Tribune, joined senior health policy fellow Elena Marks to discuss new abortion legislation in Texas that aims to clarify when doctors can perform emergency abortions.

Senate Bill 31, or the Life of the Mother Act, was passed by the Texas House in late May and awaits passage by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Eleanor and Elena explored the bipartisan support for the legislation and whether it goes far enough to clarify the only exception allowed by the state’s abortion ban — to save the life of the pregnant patient — following numerous reports of women who died or nearly died after being denied abortions by doctors who were confused by the law or too fearful of strict penalties to intervene.

They also discussed SB 2880, or the Women and Child Protection Act, which was in committee at the time of recording. This bill, which would have expanded penalties for violating the abortion ban, ultimately died in the Texas House with the end of the state legislative session on June 2.

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Eleanor Klibanoff, https://www.texastribune.org/about/staff/eleanor-klibanoff/

Elena Marks, J.D., MPH, https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/elena-m-marks 

This conversation was recorded on May 9, 2025. 

A transcript of this episode is available here: https://bit.ly/43XeW9g 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.

Introducing “Texas Briefing,” a new podcast that brings expert insights into the challenges shaping life in the Lone Star State. Institute scholars and their guests will untangle issues in health, the economy, climate resilience, and more to understand how policy matters are impacting communities, from the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast.

In our first series, senior health policy fellow Elena Marks explores issues in reproductive health — including new abortion legislation, teen access to contraception, and the impact of the abortion ban on the state’s OB-GYN workforce pipeline — with guests Eleanor Klibanoff of The Texas Tribune, Kari White of Resound Research for Reproductive Health, and Manatt Health’s Alex Morin.

Listen to the first two episodes in the series now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Learn more on our website: https://www.bakerinstitute.org/texas-briefing 

You can follow @BakerInstitute on X, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube. Learn more about our data-driven, nonpartisan policy research and analysis at bakerinstitute.org.