Shows / The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode
The Houston Chronicle's biggest stories in audio form every weekday morning. Stay connected to the city in 10 minutes or less. Every episode includes a brief forecast by meteorologist Justin Ballard and is produced and edited by human editors using stories written by human journalists. It is read using text-to-speech technology.
Episodes
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — November 5, 2026
In today’s briefing, maps show how Democrats swept Texas races, Governor-elect Gina Hinojosa prepares to reshape state government and Houston leaders may…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — November 4, 2026
In a historic political realignment, Texas Democrats secured major statewide victories, flipping the U.S. Senate seat and the governorship while winning…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — November 3, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas is on track for record midterm turnout, an ICE agent appears in court after an aggravated assault indictment and Houston’s historic…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — November 2, 2026
Hispanic Christian support for President Donald Trump has fallen sharply, a federal immigration agent is indicted in Harris County, and Harris County stops…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 30, 2026
Texas officials sue Harris County over voter-information ads, prosecutors weigh charges after an ICE agent’s vehicle hit a Houston immigrant, and Houston…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 29, 2026
In today’s briefing, Greg Abbott’s fundraising edge meets a small-dollar surge for Gina Hinojosa, Houston police release new ICE interaction data and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 28, 2026
In today’s briefing, a major oil and gas group goes quiet in a pivotal election race, a transgender advocacy group can seek who is behind election mailers and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 27, 2026
In today’s briefing, Harris County prepares for possible election challenges in the Senate race, Ken Paxton turns to Texas Republicans for help and Memorial…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 26, 2026
Door-to-door canvassers are trying to turn neighborhood problems into votes, Texas election officials say state turnout totals are inaccurate, and Hindu…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 23, 2026
Republicans are spending heavily in South Texas congressional races they expected to win, Democrats are pressing Harris County voters during early voting and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 22, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas’ school voucher spending remains secret, a Democratic Senate nominee pushes for Houston turnout and a Chronicle analysis finds gaps…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 21, 2026
In today’s briefing, Harris and Dallas counties set first-day early-voting records, mysterious transgender student mailers unsettle Texas voters, and Houston…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 20, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston-area layoffs drop sharply from last year, a new U.S. Senate poll shows James Talarico narrowly ahead of Ken Paxton, and an Italian…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 19, 2026
Houston ISD’s homegrown curriculum is spreading beyond the district, U.S. Senate candidates James Talarico and Ken Paxton pitch affordability plans and early…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 16, 2026
Elon Musk’s Texas incentives become an issue in the governor’s race, Greg Abbott spends big in Harris County and Spanish-speaking Latinos report fears about…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 15, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston’s budget gap grows after property value reductions, Harris County reviews access to Flock camera searches, and a CenterPoint data…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 14, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston companies ride the data center boom, voters may decide limits on marijuana enforcement and no-knock warrants, and Harris County…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 13, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas regulators are increasingly using emergency orders that can stop people from working before cases are proved, Letitia Plummer leads…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 12, 2026
In today’s briefing, Harris County faces hard questions over possible Texans stadium funding, a Houston geothermal company signs a major Google power deal and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 9, 2026
A Houston outreach push helps families keep inherited East Texas land, Harris County Precinct Four is taking down Flock surveillance cameras and there's a…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 8, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas officials target a proposed Muslim-centered development, Willie Nelson endorses James Talarico for U.S. Senate and Houston sets new…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 7, 2026
In today’s briefing, Harris County Democrats could face local backlash in November, a Conroe immigration detention death draws federal scrutiny, and Texas…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 6, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas candidates are shifting their messages for a competitive midterm, Houston leads the nation in “accidental” landlords, and City Hall…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 5, 2026
Houston-area Salvadorans in the U.S. on temporary protective status face an uncertain future, Harris County homeowners face higher county tax bills and the…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — October 2, 2026
Amazon’s Wharton County data center clears a hurdle, Galveston ISD is ordered to post the Ten Commandments and Houston-area school districts face…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — October 1, 2026
In today’s briefing, a Democrat flipped a long-held Republican state Senate seat in Tarrant County, Texas’ Bluebonnet school curriculum gets a public price…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 30, 2026
In today’s briefing, pride banners return to Montrose after Houston removed rainbow crosswalks, a new Lake Houston agency aims to reduce flooding by dredging…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 29, 2026
In today’s briefing, a conservative Bellaire family confronts a deportation threat tied to a Texas legal agreement, prosecutors describe the killing of a…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — September 28, 2026
Energy executives dominate Houston’s top pay ranks, a teenager is charged in the killing of a Westbury High School student and Texas counties race to process…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — September 25, 2026
Texas’ energy grid handled record demand without calls for conservation, Houston revises damage claims after police totaled a student’s car, and the University…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 24, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston residents may see higher electricity bills, Texas taxpayers are expected to cover major World Cup costs, and Houston ISD is…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 23, 2026
In today’s briefing, Ken Paxton makes a more personal U.S. Senate pitch, Texas Rangers seek Camp Mystic digital records, and a federal judge orders air…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 22, 2026
In today’s briefing, Gov. Greg Abbott expands his pause on data center permits, Texas universities shift in national rankings, and Eli Lilly breaks ground on a…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 21, 2026
In today’s briefing, Tarrant County becomes a crucial midterm battleground, Texas is set to receive billions for border security spending, and Houston-area…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 18, 2026
In today’s briefing, Harris County adopts a property tax increase, contract deputy subsidies add pressure to the county budget and Texas hospitals regain…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 17, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas workers face rising heat-related injuries without statewide heat-safety standards, a pay deal for the see-ee-oh of Texas’ electric…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 16, 2026
In today’s briefing, Conroe ISD is missing thousands of state-created classroom materials, an Italian court is questioning extradition in a Houston murder…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 15, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston could lose more than two hundred license-plate cameras, a Texas candidate’s posts about University of Texas students draw…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — September 14, 2026
Groundwater contamination questions grow in East Texas, Galveston County’s November voting maps are blocked and Houston-area school districts ask voters for…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 11, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas Republicans sharpen their midterm message in Dallas, a Houston ISD magnet school challenges promised funding, and Harris County…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 10, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston’s mayor makes a property tax rate promise, a West Texas aquifer deal worries ranchers, and Sugar Land confronts a surprising…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 9, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston police changed how they investigate shootings by outside agencies more than a year before a fatal ICE shooting, Harris County sets…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — September 8, 2026
New research suggests generative artificial intelligence could reshape work for 1 in 6 Houston workers, Ted Cruz’s political action committee spent nearly…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — September 4, 2026
The number of homeless dying in Houston’s bayous is growing, Texas A&M regents cut hundreds of core courses and a Galveston County jury sentences James Elmore…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 3, 2026
In today’s briefing, pro-Paxton groups push China-focused Senate ads, a Harris County immigrant legal-aid program hits a funding snag, and Texas health…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 2, 2026
In today's briefing, Conroe ISD keeps its overall state rating as some campuses slide, Harris County weighs a property tax increase, and Texas lawmakers eye…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — September 1, 2026
In today's briefing, Houston keeps an eye on the Gulf, a Texas connection emerges in an apartment dispute hundreds of miles away, and Harris County rethinks…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — August 31, 2026
Governor Greg Abbott’s affordability plan leaves major cost questions, a federal record reveals new details in a fatal ICE shooting, and Rice University…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — August 28, 2026
Metro proposes fewer bus and rail service hours, prosecutors move toward a grand jury in a fatal federal immigration shooting and Tropical Storm Dolly…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 27, 2026
In today's briefing, Texas grapples with a data center boom, a federal judge rules on a detained ICE agent's release, and change is coming to the top of MD…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 26, 2026
In today’s briefing, a Texas book-removal push includes a Holocaust memoir set for classrooms, a witness to a fatal Houston ICE shooting is ordered released…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 25, 2026
In today’s briefing, Texas voucher dollars are reaching private school and homeschool families, what new polling says about a tight U.S. Senate race and why…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — August 24, 2026
Houston-area elected officials are getting raises, renters can seek money from a major settlement with landlords and Governor Greg Abbott wants federal…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — August 21, 2026
the University of Houston cuts about 40 percent of its core curriculum, children’s hospitals warn that proposed Medicaid restrictions could deepen funding…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 20, 2026
In today’s briefing, a watchdog raises concerns about thousands of plugged oil and gas wells across Texas, college-prep courses factor into Houston ISD’s state…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 19, 2026
In today’s briefing, a new study points to wider flood risk across Harris County, a former Brazoria County deputy heads toward trial in a fatal shooting, and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713 Commute Mode — August 18, 2026
In today's briefing, Texas colleges rethink core courses, Harris County could raise property taxes, and officials pause border construction in Big Bend…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode — August 17, 2026
Big money is flowing into the U.S. Senate race in Texas, Amazon’s proposed Wharton County data center raises questions about water and power supplies, and…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode - August 14, 2026
In today’s briefing, Houston’s top elected officials have new salary limits, ICE detained a Houston pastor at Bush Intercontinental Airport, and border…
- The 713: Commute Mode
The 713: Commute Mode - August 13, 2026
In today’s briefing, big companies are changing their headquarters to Texas, Harris County faces another state elections audit and a rescued sea turtle…