Shows / Houston Matters
Houston Matters
Houston Matters is a radio program airing weekdays at 9 am on Houston Public Media News 88.7 FM in Houston. During each hour, we’ll investigate the issues and ideas, people and places that make Houston…well…Houston! We’ll talk about current events, politics, education, health care, the environment, business, transportation, arts and culture, literature, sports and leisure. But we also hope that what we do each day on Houston Matters serves as the beginning of a…
Episodes
Houston MattersRemembering Dolores Huerta (Oct. 29, 2026)
On Thursday's show: We reflect on the life and legacy of labor activist Dolores Huerta, who died this week at the age of 96. Huerta co-founded the United Farm…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Oct. 28, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: We take a trip through a local haunted house…
- Houston Matters
Attitudes on data centers and AI (Oct. 27, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: New survey data from the University of Houston's Hobby School of Public Affairs looks at likely Texas voters' views on data centers and AI…
- Houston Matters
Data centers & air quality (Oct. 26, 2026)
On Monday's show: Fort Bend County Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner was arrested last week after she was indicted on federal charges of misusing public…
- Houston Matters
Finding Shackleton’s ship (Oct. 23, 2026)
On Friday's show: We recap last night's debate between candidates for Harris County Judge, Orlando Sanchez and Letitia Plummer. Also this hour: Maritime…
- Houston Matters
‘Forever chemicals’ in bayous (Oct. 22, 2026)
On Thursday's show: PFAs, those “forever chemicals,” have turned up in Houston’s bayous along with a lot of other waterways, according to a new report from…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Oct. 21, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We preview the upcoming debate between candidates for Harris County Judge, which you can catch Thursday night at 7 on News 88.7, on TV 8…
- Houston Matters
Effect of AI on literacy (Oct. 20 2026)
On Tuesday's show: Houston ISD has spent millions of taxpayer dollars building its own curriculum, and it is now sharing those materials with other school…
- Houston Matters
ICE incident under scrutiny (Oct. 19, 2026)
On Monday's show: When ICE agents ran into a man with a vehicle in Houston injuring him last week, the man they were targeting had actually been dead for…
- Houston Matters
Flock camera oversight (Oct. 16, 2026)
On Friday's show: Harris County commissioners have delayed action on the county’s Flock cameras after a county report found gaps in their oversight…
- Houston Matters
Astros’ next manager (Oct. 15, 2026)
On Thursday's show: With the news that the Astros are parting ways with Joe Espada, we discuss who might succeed him as the team's manager. Also this hour: As…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Oct. 14, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: Early voting begins in less than a week, and we’re t-minus three weeks and counting to Election Day itself. We break down the latest…
- Houston Matters
ICE, policing, & civil rights (Oct. 13, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: ICE agents in an unmarked SUV struck a Houston man during a pursuit over the weekend. That incident comes just months after an ICE officer…
- Houston Matters
Limiting school takeovers (Oct. 12, 2026)
On Monday's show: A group of educators, lawmakers, and education experts are calling on the state of Texas to limit the power that appointed boards and…
- Houston Matters
Essential Houston movies (Oct. 9, 2026)
On Friday's show: While Hurricane Isaias is heading far east of Texas, we take a closer look at the first Atlantic hurricane of the season and how it might…
- Houston Matters
HISD enrollment losses (Oct. 8, 2026)
On Thursday's show: Houston ISD has lost roughly twice the number of students district leaders had initially projected. We learn what the loss of nearly 10,000…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Oct. 7, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: In the latest installment of The Full Menu, local…
- Houston Matters
Dr. Renu Khator (Oct. 6, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: From core curriculum changes, to a centennial construction project, a lot is happening at the University of Houston these days. We talk with…
- Houston Matters
Money lost to vouchers (Oct. 5, 2026)
On Monday's show: Watchdog groups say Texas public schools lost nearly $300 million because of school vouchers. And Galveston ISD has a week to comply with a…
- Houston Matters
AI and jobs (Oct. 2, 2026)
On Friday's show: The Trump administration is seeking to ban diesel exports for 90 days to stifle rising fuel prices. But how might that hurt refineries and…
- Houston Matters
Prisons and punishment (Oct. 1, 2026)
On Thursday's show: Chris Brown, who serves as Mayor John Whitmire’s financial integrity director, has admitted to working 15-hour weeks for a $127,000 salary…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Sept. 30, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: We learn how the Trinity River has shaped the…
- Houston Matters
Child of a mail-order bride (Sept. 29, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: We remember former Houston health authority Dr. David Persse, who has passed away at age 66. And we get an update on the latest step toward…
- Houston Matters
New flu season (Sept. 28, 2026)
On Monday's show: We examine how the new flu season is shaping up. Also this hour: We discuss the future of commercial spaceflight, ahead of the latest SpaceX…
- Houston Matters
Voter registration backlog (Sept. 25, 2026)
On Friday's show: An error by the Texas Department of Public Safety has led to tens of thousands of voter registration applications being caught in a backlog…
- Houston Matters
Oversight of Flock cameras (Sept. 24, 2026)
On Thursday's show: City council members in League City are considering implementing a citizen-led committee to oversee the city's Flock Safety automated…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Sept. 23, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: From the pushback from the press in Washington, to the latest from the campaign trail, we discuss the latest developments in politics in…
- Houston Matters
Data centers pause (Sept. 22, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: Gov. Greg Abbott has ordered the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) to pause permits for new data centers until state…
- Houston Matters
Nuclear energy in Texas (Sept. 21, 2026)
On Monday's show: Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that nearly $12 billion in Medicaid funding for Texas hospitals will be restored, ending a standoff with…
- Houston Matters
West side growth (Sept. 18, 2026)
On Friday's show: Gas prices have been climbing for months, but it's diesel that is setting records. The average price hit $6.31 a gallon this week, the…
- Houston Matters
A 28th Amendment (Sept. 17 2026)
On Thursday's show: In what's being called the largest deregulation in the history the country's power industry, the Trump administration is repealing limits…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Sept. 16, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: Houston filmmaker Alexandria Stapleton talks about…
- Houston Matters
GOP candidate’s racist comments (Sept. 15, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: A candidate’s post of a photo featuring University of Texas students celebrating an upset win over Ohio State set off a public rift among…
- Houston Matters
Houston’s anthem (Sept. 14, 2026)
On Monday's show: The Texas Supreme Court blocked Galveston County from using a new precinct map in the November election. And Fort Bend County approved its…
- Houston Matters
Memories of 9/11 (Sept. 11, 2026)
On Friday's show: We look back at Sept. 11, 2001, 25 years later as we hear from Houstonians who were in New York the morning of the terrorist attacks there…
- Houston Matters
Expanding school vouchers (Sept. 10, 2026)
On Thursday's show: Texas Comptroller Don Huffines has requested legislators double the money behind the state’s private school voucher program to $2 billion…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Sept. 9, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: From this week’s GOP mid-term convention in Dallas, to the New Hampshire primary and other stories, we discuss the latest developments in…
- Houston Matters
Houston real estate market (Sept. 8, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: After years of scarcity, there is now a much greater selection of homes for sale in the Houston market. Despite that, Houston Chronicle…
- Houston Matters
NASA’s new space telescope (Sept. 4, 2026)
On Friday's show: A Galveston County jury has sentenced James Elmore, 61, to 20 years in prison for his role in a decades-old "Texas Killing Fields" case that…
- Houston Matters
AI and medicine (Sept. 3, 2026)
On Thursday's show: We discuss the recent deal the city of Houston made promising to never absorb The Woodlands in exchange for $50 million over the next four…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Sept. 2, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We get an update on the after effects of Tropical Storm Edouard after it made its way through southeast Texas. Also this hour: We discuss…
- Houston Matters
Tropical Storm Edouard (Sept. 1, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: Tropical Storm Edouard has formed moving in the Gulf and could bring heavy rain to parts of Greater Houston today. We have the very latest…
- Houston Matters
Tropical disturbance in the Gulf (Aug. 31, 2026)
On Monday's show: Fort Bend County commissioners voted last week to strip funding and staff from the office of elected County Attorney Bridgette Smith-Lawson…
- Houston Matters
How restaurants survive (Aug. 28, 2026)
On Friday's show: We get details on Pres. Trump's visit to Houston, with a RNC fundraiser last night and plans to bestow the Artemis II astronauts with a…
- Houston Matters
HPD chief a no-show at safety meeting (Aug. 27, 2026)
On Thursday's show: We talk with Houston Public Media’s Dominic Anthony Walsh about Houston Police Chief Noe Diaz being a no-show at a Houston City Council…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Aug. 26, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: We learn how the concept of cohousing works by…
- Houston Matters
City funds for Beryl repair (Aug. 25, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: The city of Houston has opened a program to provide funding to help homeowners whose property was damaged in the 2024 derecho or Hurricane…
- Houston Matters
Inflating school ratings (Aug. 24, 2026)
On Monday's show: More than 20 Houston-area apartment landlords are accused of using a shared pricing algorithm to push rents higher. We find out what a…
- Houston Matters
Avoiding eviction (Aug. 21, 2026)
On Friday's show: ERCOT has announced when its audit of data centers mandated by Gov. Greg Abbott will be complete. And a new report expresses concern over…
- Houston Matters
A/C in rental housing (Aug. 20, 2026)
On Thursday's show: We look at the forecast for hot weather as a heat advisory begins today with Justin Ballard, meteorologist with the Houston Chronicle. And…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Aug. 19, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: When Texas became a state in 1845, it might have…
- Houston Matters
Galveston redistricting (Aug. 18, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: We take a closer look at the redistricting saga in Galveston County. Also this hour: We get a primer on MUDs, municipal utility districts…
- Houston Matters
HISD school ratings (Aug. 17, 2026)
On Monday's show: We discuss state school ratings, and questions about reading proficiency at some HISD schools with Houston Public Media’s education reporter…
- Houston Matters
Comedian Ron Funches (Aug. 14, 2026)
On Friday's show: A representative from Pride Houston 365 will join us to preview Saturday’s rescheduled Pride Houston parade. Also this hour: As a recent…
- Houston Matters
Ballot measures in November (Aug. 13, 2026)
On Thursday's show: Marijuana enforcement and no-knock warrants will be on the ballot for Houston voters in November. And airport workers are getting a raise…
- Houston Matters
The week in politics (Aug. 12, 2026)
On Wednesday's show: We discuss the latest developments in politics in our weekly roundup. Also this hour: We preview a special screening on Aug. 27 at the…
- Houston Matters
New vaccine recommendations (Aug. 11, 2026)
On Tuesday's show: President Donald Trump has signed an executive order calling on federal health officials to scale back vaccine recommendations and to split…
- Houston Matters
Back to school at HISD (Aug. 10, 2026)
On Monday's show: Students at HISD go back to class today, with many students at other districts around Greater Houston beginning a new school year this week…
- Houston Matters
Back-to-school health (Aug. 7, 2026)
On Friday's show: We get updates from Houston Public Media reporters on several stories from Fort Bend County, Galveston County, and Harris County.Also this…
- Houston Matters
AI in the classroom (Aug. 6, 2026)
On Thursday's show: We learn why Moody's has upgraded the City of Houston's credit rating and what it means for the city and the rest of us.Also this hour: AI…