A Saturday conversation podcast series focused on humanizing the headlines.

Parents remain divided over whether to require masks in the classroom. For Carmen Campbell, there’s just too much uncertainty right now to feel comfortable sending her son back.
For Carmen Campbell, there’s just too much uncertainty right now to feel comfortable sending her son back to school. Listen in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
“Tired of putting bodies in body bags,” this Austin ICU nurse scaled back her hours in the hospital. Sheyla Moraes says this latest surge of the coronavirus pandemic is particularly draining because it was preventable.
Many Texas mothers, like Alicia Reed, are ready to return to work, but a lack of child care is keeping them at home. She worries how she will provide for her four children after her federal unemployment benefits are cut at the end of June.
Juanita Raji says she could have used more time on Medicaid postpartum and supports lawmakers’ efforts to extend coverage for new moms.
An East Texas doctor is on a mission to vaccinate her community against COVID-19. After months of testing for COVID-19 and treating patients, Dr. Carolyn Salter is determined to mitigate the spread of the virus in the region.
Family fights anti-trans bills at Texas Capitol: “I will walk through fire to see my child be happy.” Lisa Stanton and her daughter, Maya, say the slate of anti-trans bills at the Legislature could force them to move out of Texas.
Technical difficulties hampered the STAAR test. Patty Young, an Austin teacher, called it a sign. The middle school language arts teacher says the state assessments are causing kids unnecessary stress.
It will take more than a pandemic to stop Tim League and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Although the iconic theater chain is facing bankruptcy, League is optimistic about the future of his Texas-born business.
COVID vaccine brings home health workers, like Nancy Gallegos, some hard-fought stress relief. Gallegos says she’s endured debilitating job stress, but the San Antonio nurse has managed to find a few silver linings during the pandemic.
As racist attacks on Asian Americans rise in the U.S., Deqing Yang of Houston continues to support his community. In cities with diverse populations, people of Asian descent say they continue to be encouraged to help their fellow Texans weather the health crisis.
A year into the pandemic, many Texans still struggling financially and emotionally. Monica Jimenez is still weathering the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that started with her husband losing his oil field job. But the Brownfield native says she’s managed to find a few bright spots along the way.
“We are resilient people”: Texans share how they weathered the winter storm. From a new mom in Pflugerville who struggled to keep her baby warm to a Houston teacher worried about her students, listen to what some Texans endured in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
Jackie Tidwell, a sixth-generation Texan living in Seattle, made it her mission to get her 90-year-old grandfather in Corpus Christi vaccinated for COVID-19 and hopes others “have persistent grandkids like me.”
Medical volunteers, like Mayra Gomez, are stepping up in hard-hit Laredo to administer COVID-19 vaccine. The virus has overwhelmed hospitals in the border town. Garza says the COVID-19 vaccine is giving people hope.
In rural Texas, frustration with a disjointed vaccine rollout grows. Steve Johnson, 75, says trying to get his first COVID-19 vaccine dose in Wise County highlighted the shortcomings of the distribution plan.
A grieving daughter, a dedicated teacher and a former bar owner: We check back in with Texans about the pandemic and 2020. Like so many people, everyone we spoke to for this special edition of The Brief podcast said they’re ready for this year to be over.
She encountered long wait times and broken machines, but nothing could stop Gwendolyn McMillan Lawe from casting a ballot in Dallas. She reflects on the challenges she and other Black and Latino voters faced at the polls in November.
No job, no car and living on $85 a week: Some Texans, like Jessica Tyson, are facing economic crisis months into the pandemic. Tyson, an out-of-work hairdresser in Texarkana, says Congress cannot delay passing a second stimulus package.
He had a state-issued voter ID and says he still got flagged casting his ballot. Mike Wright says nothing made sense, and even the poll workers couldn’t explain it. But like millions of Texas voters this cycle, Wright says he was determined to cast his ballot.
For Brittani Castle, a COVID-19 “long-hauler,” symptoms have persisted for months. “I’m uncomfortable literally all day long.” Listen to her detail how the coronavirus has come to dominate her life.
Out of savings and without enough money for food, this North Texas woman is running out of options. Carrie Mansfield says that while more relief from the government would be welcome, she really just wants to get back to work.
Texas eased restrictions for nursing homes, but Jimmie Arnold still can’t see her mom and knows that isolation can be deadly. Her mother-in-law and mother were in the same nursing home in Bryan when Gov. Greg Abbott barred all visitation to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Listen to why Arnold says after six months, it’s taking its toll.
Mary Grace Scales, a nursing student at the University of Texas at Austin, says she’s grateful for hands-on training this semester, “It’s pretty hard to learn how to draw an IV online.”
For Amy Mason, the risk of her son contracting coronavirus outweighs the need for him to be in class. She says there are just too many unknowns for her to feel comfortable sending her 4-year-old to school at this point.
When sharing pencils isn’t safe, this San Antonio teacher is helping crowdfund extra school supplies. Listen to why Ambra Hernandez felt compelled to launch a Facebook group to help teachers fulfill their longer-than-normal wish lists.
Out of work and behind on rent, Anna Garza says the pandemic is taking a toll on her mental health. Since losing her job in late May, the South Texas mom says her anxiety and depression have made it “very difficult to try and keep it together.”
Ten members of Eliza Soliz’s family in South Texas have contracted COVID-19. The Hidalgo County school bus driver doesn’t want to be next. She says she’ll retire before subjecting herself to a busload of kids, many of whom lack access to health care.
Darcy Vogt Williams, a Texas teacher, weighs schools reopening, state guidelines and the coronavirus pandemic. Williams says districts want flexibility deciding how and when to start the new school year, given the pandemic.
Chris Bergeron is one of more than 30 bar owners suing Gov. Greg Abbott for an executive order that effectively shuttered bars. Listen to what Bergeron had to say about the order’s impact in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
This LGBTQ Texan says the U.S. Supreme Court ruling is a key step toward fully realized equality. Fran Watson, a Houston attorney who is a lesbian and represents LGBTQ clients, explains how it feels to finally be protected in the workplace.
Joshua Howell doesn’t want “thoughts and prayers.” He wants Austin police to take responsibility for critically injuring his brother at a recent protest.
Ashton P. Woods,founder of Black Lives Matter Houston, says this moment stands out because “no one can look away” from what happened to George Floyd.
Sara Sullivan wishes every Texan who wanted a mail-in ballot could get one, especially during the pandemic. She worries voting in person could put her grandmother at risk of contracting coronavirus.
As day cares reopen, Latonya Stott weighs the risks of sending her kids back. She explains why in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
In the weekend edition of The Brief podcast, Listen to Madison Garcia, 17, describe the backlash she says she faced from customers when enforcing the governor’s social distancing guidelines.
Odessa native Erik Mancha says this latest downturn in crude prices is unlike any other, largely because of the coronavirus pandemic. Listen to his account in the weekend edition of The Brief podcast.
She tried to get her at-risk brother out of a nursing home. Now he has COVID-19. Listen to Karen Jones’ story in this weekend edition of The Brief podcast.