Here are the stories on Texas Standard for Monday, Jan. 27, 2026. Check back later today for updated story links and audio.
Detainees protest conditions at South Texas migrant center
People detained at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas – many of them children – staged a spontaneous protest over the weekend, galvanized by the recent detention there of a five-year-old child from Minneapolis. Their actions are drawing attention to conditions inside one of the nation’s largest immigration facilities for parents and children.
Berenice Garcia, who covers the Rio Grande Valley for the Texas Tribune, joins Texas Standard with more.
Experts question Trump’s call to build new Navy battleships
As President Trump pushes to remake the U.S. military, he has proposed building new Navy battleships – vessels the Navy hasn’t constructed since World War II. Defense analysts say modern naval strategy favors smaller, more flexible ships and question the feasibility of the plan.
Steve Walsh reports from Norfolk for the American Homefront Project.
Cat-themed estate sale draws viral attention in Arlington
Hundreds of people descended on an Arlington home for an estate sale featuring thousands of cat-themed collectibles ranging from figurines to furniture. Photos from the event quickly spread online, prompting a second sale weekend.
KERA’s James Hartley reports on how a hyper-specific collection turned into a spectacle.
Huston-Tillotson Jazz Orchestra earns national recognition
Huston-Tillotson University’s Jazz Orchestra is gaining national attention after competing at the National Collegiate Jazz Competition in New York. The Austin-based band was the smallest school selected, and the only ensemble made up entirely of undergraduates.
KUT News’ Katy McAfee reports on how the program has grown in just a few years.
GLP-1 medications reshape health care in San Antonio
A newly approved pill version of a GLP-1 medication for weight loss is expanding access to a class of drugs already used for diabetes management. Researchers are also studying broader health benefits and long-term effects.
Josh Archote, who covers community health for the San Antonio Report, joins Texas Standard to explain how the rollout is unfolding locally.
Homeschooling memoir revisits one family’s experience
In his new memoir “Homeschooled,” Stefan Merrill Block recounts being pulled out of public school in Plano as a child and largely left to navigate learning on his own. The book explores his own challenging family dynamics, plus the broader cultural backdrop of homeschooling in Texas.
Block joins the Standard to discuss his experience and why he chose to tell the story now.
Gun rights debate resurfaces after Minneapolis shooting
After Border Patrol agents shot and killed a man in Minneapolis who was legally carrying a firearm, some federal officials suggested bringing a gun to a protest could justify law enforcement action. That’s news to many Second Amendment advocates, including former Texas state senator and land commissioner Jerry Patterson.
He joins Texas Standard to weigh in on gun rights, protests and public carry laws.
