The Texas Miracle by the Texas Observer

Latest Episodes:

The Texas Miracle #31: Goodnight and Good Luck, Y’all! Nov 17, 2016

Show notes

This week, we present the final edition of the Texas Miracle, the Texas Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State.

We mentioned this a couple of episodes ago, but now it’s really time to say goodbye. Observer staffer Patrick Michels and Miracle host Andrea Grimes, are heading out to California — the Bay area — as he takes on a great new investigative reporting gig and Andrea restarts her freelancing career with a side of social justice activism. We’ll say a proper goodbye at the end of the show, so stay tuned.

On the show: We’re featuring — y’all! We asked Texas expats (Texpats!) to call into the Texas Miracle hotline to tell us what they miss most about home. The overwhelming winner? Tex-Mex food. We’ll be featuring your messages throughout the show.

We’ll head out to the Texas Tiki Shed for one last news roundup, discussing Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick’s top ten “legislative priorities” with Tom Philpott from Mother Jones, our resident anthropologist Dr. Jenny Carlson, and Observer managing editor Rose Cahalan.

And in our final edition of Strangest State, Patrick will regale us one last time with weird tales from far-flung Texas, including the downright adorable story of Texas’ biggest garbage truck fan.

The post The Texas Miracle #31: Goodnight and Good Luck, Y’all! appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #30: ‘I’ve Got a Bone to Pick With This Democratic Process’ Nov 11, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Observer‘s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: What the heck just happened, guys? And what the heck happens next? We’ll autopsy the election, and maybe American democracy, with confused British journalist and Observer freelancer Alex Hannaford, Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy, and the Houston Chronicle’s Bobby Cervantes.

Blake Rocap, legislative counsel for the pro-choice political org NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, will also stop by the Texas Tiki Shed to talk about what a Trump presidency could mean for access to legal abortion in the United States, since Texas could very well be be the source of another seminal abortion rights case, this one decided by anti-abortion, Trump-appointed justices.

And as usual, Observer staffer Patrick Michels takes us on a tour of the wildest and weirdest news from far-flung Texas, which this weeks includes tips on how to ride out the coming apocalypse… in luxury.

The post The Texas Miracle #30: ‘I’ve Got a Bone to Pick With This Democratic Process’ appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #29: See You Next Tuesday Nov 03, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: What should the media do when our elected officials — or those hoping to become our elected officials — use vulgar language not just casually, but in the most predatory and misogynistic ways? We’re talking, of course, about that Sid Miller tweet from Tuesday, and host Andrea Grimes will make the case for un-censoring ourselves.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with the Texas Tribune’s Bobby Blanchard, our own Patrick Michels and the Texas Miracle’s favorite anthropologist, Dr. Jenny Carlson, who’ll parse the meaning of Texas’ still stunning early turnout numbers and a shocking — a downright shocking — claim about queso.

And of course, things will get weird when Patrick, who trawls the pages of small-town newspapers week after week looking for the wildest Texas news, stops by to bring us strange stories from far-flung Texas, including the spooky tale of the jacuzzi of despair.

The post The Texas Miracle #29: See You Next Tuesday appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #28: Voter Turnout for What? Oct 27, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Texas Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State. This week: We’re revisiting one of our all-time favorite interviews — a conversation with a Central Texas hospice chaplain who’ll give us some tips on how to do right something you only get to do once: Die.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with everyone’s favorite journalistic trio, Lauren and the Bobbys! That’s Dallas Morning News reporter Lauren McGaughy, the Texas Tribune’s Bobby Blanchard, and Bobby Cervantes of the Houston Chronicle, who’ll take on Texas’ incredible early voting turnout numbers, engage in rampant speculation about the future of American democracy and help our host make a pretty serious dent in a box of wine.

And Observer staffer Patrick Michels, who trawls the pages of small-town newspapers week after week looking for the wildest Texas news, will also stop by the Texas Tiki Shed (along with Fizzy the hound dog, who took a particular dislike to yet another clown story) to bring us strange stories from far-flung Texas.

The post The Texas Miracle #28: Voter Turnout for What? appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #27: The Glittering Intellect of George W. Bush Oct 20, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: Remember when we all used to make fun of how dumb George W. Bush sounded? When his folksy ramblings were an embarrassment to Americans the world over? After the first eight minutes or so of this episode, you’re going to be damn near convinced the man was a certified genius.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with Observer staffers Naveena Sadasivam and Patrick Michels, plus Observer veteran Alexa Garcia-Ditta to talk about Rewire‘s deep-dive investigation into the anti-abortion program that Texas spends millions on each year, and the child welfare program our lawmakers don’t seem to want to allocate another dime to, plus a new fracking study that reveals — hold on to your hats, y’all — that fracking isn’t the healthiest thing on earth.

Patrick will also stop by the Texas Tiki Shed to bring us wild, weird and in this case fowl news in our Strangest State segment, featuring a (literal) turkey trot and a (literal) chicken toss.

The post The Texas Miracle #27: The Glittering Intellect of George W. Bush appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #26: Clowns on Kush Oct 13, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: Clowns, more clowns, and Capitol crime! And also dancing. By popular demand, our Dancing with the Stars correspondent Becky Grimes (host Andrea Grimes knows her as “mom”) is back on the show to break some tough news: We’re now down to just two Texans left on America’s favorite reality footwork show.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with Texas Monthly’s Dan Solomon and Houston Chronicle reporters Andrea Zelinski and Bobby Cervantes to catch up on the latest Ken Paxton securities fraud foibles, the San Antonio cops caught in Donald Trump gear and the Capitol-scaling criminal who vandalized a gubernatorial portrait to the tune of $10,000 in damage.

Oh, and we mentioned clowns, right? Observer staffer Patrick Michels returns for a very clowny Strangest State segment featuring the wildest and weirdest news from far-flung Texas. (Clown-phobic listeners are encouraged to skip the first ten minutes or so of this week’s episode. We’re very sorry. The clowns are not.)

The post The Texas Miracle #26: Clowns on Kush appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #25: The Patron Saint of Corpus Christi Oct 06, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Texas Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: Road trip! Staffer Patrick Michels and host Andrea Grimes head to Corpus Christi — not to spend a day at the beach (the surf is full of bacteria, we’re sad to report) but a day standing in line with literal thousands of Selena fans who lined up to witness the world debut of the Tejana superstar’s branded makeup line.

We also stopped by the flagship location of Texas’ favorite fast food chain, so that Andrea could take her first-ever (yes, first ever) what-a-bite of a Whataburger.

And as always, we’ll take the podcast out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with Austin journalist and food writer Paula Forbes, Observer contributor John Wright and staffer Naveena Sadasivam to talk about the creepy clown craze sweeping the nation, Baylor University’s latest Title IX failure and a Houston Democrat’s plan to put Texas ninth graders through police interaction training.

The post The Texas Miracle #25: The Patron Saint of Corpus Christi appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #24: Rick Perry Shoots for the ‘Stars,’ Misses Sep 29, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: Staffer Patrick Michels brings us wild and weird news from far-flung Texas. In the queue: the East Texas NASCAR enthusiast who won a year’s supply of Braum’s ice cream, a school district where teachers are armed and ready for battle, and the not-so-burgeoning “clown lives matter” movement.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with Texas Monthly’s Andrea Valdez, our resident anthropologist Dr. Jenny Carlson and our favorite New York import, freelancer Annamarya Scaccia, to reflect upon the Clinton-Trump debate, the state of Ted Cruz’s conscience and the role of capitalism in the socio-political oppression of bodily autonomy. (It’s a hoot, we promise.)

But sadly, this week Rick Perry shot for the stars — and missed. Perry’s three-week tenure on Dancing with the Stars is over, but not before our bespectacled former governor developed a bromance with fellow Texan, Vanilla Ice. We’ll get the Miracle’s Dancing expert, host Andrea Grimes’ own mom, on the line to break it down.

The post The Texas Miracle #24: Rick Perry Shoots for the ‘Stars,’ Misses appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #23: She Fought the Law — and the Law Lost Sep 22, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle, the Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: We talk to Stephanie Toti, the young lawyer who took Texas and its anti-abortion regulations all the way to the Supreme Court, and won. She’ll tell us what it was like going up against the guys of the Texas Attorney General’s office in the courtroom, and how she and her team at the Center for Reproductive Rights prepped to win the most important abortion rights case in a generation.

As always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news with Lauren and the Bobbys — Austin journalists Lauren McGaughy, Bobby Blanchard and Bobby Cervantes — who’ll catch us up on the latest campus carry kerfuffle at the University of Texas and debate the ethics of politics journalism — specifically, whether Politico’s latest reporting on the presidential race has gone too tabloid.

We’ll also analyze how former governor Rick Perry held on to his Dancing with the Stars spot by the skin of his boots with the world’s foremost Dancing with the Stars expert — host Andrea Grimes’ mom, Becky. What can Perry can do to stay in the running (or, perhaps, the foxtrotting) for that mirrorball trophy? Tune in to find out.

The post The Texas Miracle #23: She Fought the Law — and the Law Lost appeared first on The Texas Observer.

The Texas Miracle #22: Dancing with the Snark Sep 15, 2016

Show notes

This week on the Texas Miracle podcast, the Observer’s weekly compendium of everything you need to know, but maybe wish you didn’t, about the Lone Star State: We talk to Dallas performer Nicole Stewart, the co-founder of the live storytelling show Oral Fixation. Stewart was in the process of terminating a much-wanted pregnancy at 22 weeks on the day that Wendy Davis stood for her 13-hour filibuster against unconstitutional abortion regulations. Now, Nicole and her husband are sharing their experience through their true-life live storytelling series that’s sweeping abortion stigma out from under the rug with honesty, compassion and even humor.

Plus: former governor Rick Perry has made his reality television debut, and we’ll talk to the world’s foremost Dancing with the Stars expert about Perry’s moves.

And as always, we’ll go out to the Texas Tiki Shed to get caught up on the latest and greatest-slash-worst Texas news, which this week includes walking Texas stereotype Sid Miller’s New York Times debut, a troubling Houston Chronicle investigation into Texas public schools and the Texas climate change “skeptic” who heads up the House Science Committee.

The post The Texas Miracle #22: Dancing with the Snark appeared first on The Texas Observer.

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