If you examine any good map of Texas, you’ll notice a natural division of East and West Texas that runs from the eastern side of the Panhandle down to Abilene and San Angelo and on past Uvalde to Carrizo Springs and Laredo. To the west side of that line is arid and to the east is wetter and greener. And it becomes increasingly dry as you go west and increasingly humid as you go east. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explains the history of this geographical marker.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

The post The 100th meridian appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Steinbeck’s comments about Texas and Texans go well beyond his “Texas is a state of mind” quote. Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong explores.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Texas Standard is celebrating its 10th birthday by looking back on 10 years of covering Texas. One way we’re going to do that is with top 10 lists. We started by counting down our top 10 Stories from Texas from commentator W.F. Strong.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

The post Do you have a favorite W.F. Strong story? Here are our top 10 appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

Some of the most frustrating hours of our lives might be spent in a vehicle. After some hard times on the road, nothing can feel better than the perfect parking spot at the place you need to be. But how will you pull in? Texas Standard commentator WF Strong has some thoughts.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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On the western side of the Panhandle, right on the Texas/New Mexico border are two towns that were established just a few years apart in the late 1800s. They were separated by a line as thin as a goal line. They both still exist today — with populations of less than 1,500 each. But Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says their beginnings were very different.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says the Gruver Farm Scholarship Foundation has already made a multi-generational impact.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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A strongman politician is something we’ve heard a lot about recently. This Stories From Texas is about a strongman from history and a plan to set him up anew in Texas.

Texas Standard Commentator W.F. Strong dug up this story — one that you probably didn’t hear about in Texas history, for one, because it didn’t come to fruition.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Even though the words “Remember the Alamo” are available on t-shirts, bumper-stickers, and kitchen kitsch, the Alamo wasn’t always remembered with the reverence it is today. For a long time, the Alamo was used mostly as a warehouse. Even the church, which people rather universally think of as the Alamo, was used as an army depot for decades. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong has the story of two women who helped to change that.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

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Sometimes things happen in the world that just seem too coincidental to be coincidental. We have lots of words to describe these moments — luck, serendipity, maybe fate or destiny, perhaps a miracle?

Texas Standard Commentator WF Strong remembers one of these moments he just can’t explain.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

The post My brush with fate or serendipity appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.

These five Californians, including John Wayne and Robert Duvall, have made great Texans in movies.

The full transcript of this episode of Stories from Texas is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

The post Some of the best Texans have been Californians – on film appeared first on KUT & KUTX Studios -- Podcasts.