Texas Rising

Stories abound of increased university student reluctance to explore unconventional views on campus.

At the University of Illinois, Ilana Redstone has sought to create an environment in her classroom that promotes an exploration of many viewpoints and ideas. Her approach led her to found "Diverse Perspectives Consulting," an effort that helps organizations have hard conversations while building instutional resilience.

Her work also attracted the attention of UATX. She is now the Director of the Mill Istitute at UATX and helps with faculty hiring efforts.

Listen is as we discuss the challenges on campus and solutions that allow for free speech to flourish.

When asked "what do you wish you were taught in school?", many adults wish they had been taught financial literacy and competence at an earlier age.

Travis Adams and the GravyStack team are launching a platform to solve that gap.

Leveraging his own journey in entrepreneurship, lessons learned from seeing how kids learn, and the magic of gamification, Travis has built a platform that trains kids to see money as a tool.

We explore Travis' experience at Acton School of Business, the philosophies that undergird the GravyStack platform, and how their approach to education transforms the lives of kids...and their parents.

Record inflation. A Fed on the warpath after 10 years of zero-interest rate policy. On shoring and geopolitical strife. The rise...and fall...and rise (?) of crypto.

What does it all mean for the nation and Texas? David Luttrell, Chief Investment Officer at LCM group, has thoughts.

David lives and breathes Macro. He spent his formative years at the elbow of former Dallas Fed Governor Richard Fischer, where as chief of staff, he saw the inner workings of the Federal Open Market Committee. As an active investor across public and private equities, he knows the impact Fed policies have on mom and pop businesses.

We explore everything from the current economic cycle, why the Fed does what it does, and even dip our toe into Web 3.0 and Fiscal policy.

As an operations consultant, Mike Kinder saw the vast disparity between the needs of manufacturing employeers and their technicians. 

He also saw that the next generation of manufacturing technicians didn't want to be locked into 40+ hours of guaranteed labor. 

So he created Varyable, an on-demand marketplace for manufacturing and warehouse labor.  

Varyable is on a tear, and Mike's leadership philsophy is making a mark on a legacy industry.

Geoff and Ben harken back to the early days of Texas Rising with an extended edition of Hear Ye, Hear Y'all with special guest Elizabeth Saab. 

Topics include Southwest Airlines, The Texas Legislative Session, and what Texas faces in 2023.

With the price of eggs reaching near all-time highs, interest in raising urban chickens is on the rise.  And just in time, a pair of seasoned Silicon Valley startup execs have the perfect solution - Coop. 

Join us as we explore the fine art of building the perfect, connected, backyard chicken coop while providing all-encompassing, concierge services for poultry hobbyists.  In this episode we discuss:

Boy, did we have fun during this conversation.

Sassie Duggleby is on a mission to commercialize hypersonic engines - getting paying civilian customers anywhere in the world within one hour on a Mach-10 aircraft. She runs Venus Aerospace, a venture-backed startup based in Houston.  

Buckle up.  This episode is quite a ride.

Cartel violence is increasingly prevalent and spilling over the Texas / Mexico border.  Join us in conversation with Texas Public Policy scholar Josh Trevino as we explore the history of Mexican cartels, the political structure of Mexico and how violence south of the border impacts Texas.

The Texas / Mexico relationship is a critical one for our state, and one with frequent ups and downs.  On this episode, we're joined Ambassador Antonio Garza, who was the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico under President George W. Bush from 2002 until 2009.  

We discuss trade relations, labor flows, and how the macro environment promises much more engagement between our two polities for decades to come.

With the 2022 midterm elections just around the corner, the Texas Rising guys sit down with legendary Texas political hand Mark McKinnon.   

We break down the Texas gubernatorial race, Senate races across the country, and what messages are resonating around the country.