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The Most Generous Texan Of Yore? Dec 01, 2021

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Most Texans probably know the Brackenridge name. But, depending on where you’re from, you might have a different landmark (and namesake) in mind. In Austin, there was the area’s first public hospital. In Edna, there’s a more than one thousand acre Brackenridge Recreation Complex. But as Commentator WF Strong notes, the Brackenridge who lent his name to a park in San Antonio…

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Texas Navigator App Nov 17, 2021

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On Google Maps you can get navigator voices in English with either an American, British, Indian, or Canadian accent. Commentator W.F. Strong thinks they should offer a Texas navigator accent – one that also offers Texas expressions and colloquialisms.

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Peregrine Falcons Oct 20, 2021

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This is the time of year that Peregrine falcons make their incredible journey from Greenland to Argentina and Chile, a distance of over eight thousand miles. One of the most popular migration stopovers for Peregrines is Padre Island. There, they rest and eat for a few days. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong says it’s like a Buc-ee’s for birds – and then some.

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The Young Lieutenant Who Crossed the Wild Horse Desert Oct 06, 2021

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American history sometimes snuggles up close with what might be better termed American mythology. Take that story about a young George Washington chopping down a cherry tree. But other bits of history based quite a bit more in fact are less well known — though just as extraordinary. Texas Standard commentator WF Strong offers up one such story.

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Texas And The Art Of Understatement Sep 22, 2021

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Yes, everything may be bigger in Texas. And Texans are used to being pegged as exaggerators — the tellers of tall tales like Pecos Bill who roped tornadoes and shot stars from the sky. But Texas Standard commentator W.F. Strong says a characteristic of Texas conversation that doesn’t get nearly the attention it deserves is the frequent use of understatement.

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Words That Migrated Sep 08, 2021

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I showed a friend of mine a picture of me sitting at the edge of a thin ridge jutting out, about 300 feet above the Pecos River. He said, “I can’t look at that, it gives me the willies.” Oh, yes, the willies, goosebumps and shiverings triggered by our phobias. As an amateur linguist, I’m always wondering where certain expressions come from. How did the words end up as common words in English?

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The Texas Olympics Aug 12, 2021

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The Olympics — as we were all just reminded — are a fantastic display of athleticism of all sorts. For many of us, watching the games is a reminder of just how we could never do that thing that we’re watching other people do. But watching got commentator W-F Strong thinking there’s quite a lot Texans seem to be pretty good at. And he thinks maybe there should be a competition that would be open…

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Miles And Miles Of Texas Jul 14, 2021

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One way I know a book is special is if I keep thinking about it years after I first read it. Miles and Miles of Texas, 100 years of the Texas Highway Department, by Carol Dawson and Roger Allen Polson, is such a book. I first read it several years ago, and even recommended it on air back then, but ever so briefly. I was unable to do it justice in the ten seconds I had to devote to it that day. So…

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Long Before Elon Musk, A Different Man Had A Plan To Develop Boca Chica Jun 30, 2021

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One hundred years ago, Col. Sam Robertson stood on the same Boca Chica Beach in South Texas that Elon Musk owns today and dreamed a different dream. Instead of Musk’s spaceport, Robertson dreamed of seaports and an oceanside highway. Robertson owned 800 acres at Boca Chica, about 20 miles northeast of Brownsville and it was likely some of the same thousand acres now managed by Musk’s companies.

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There’s Something About A Person Named Tex Jun 16, 2021

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Tex is an incredibly popular nickname. It is so fitting for some… that it pushes their given first name entirely out of use. I thought it would be interesting to look at a few famous folks known mostly as just Tex. Tex Ritter is probably the most famous person named Tex. I doubt more than one in hundred Texans could tell you that Tex Ritter’s first name was Woodward. Full name: Woodward Maurice…

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