- 1 hour 23 minutesHow Democrats and Progressives Can Save Social Security - Special LIVE Pod
As we all know, Social Security is under attack - and is also likely to be the top issue in D.C. in 2027 - after decades of Republican defunding and dismantling. We were proud to capture a town hall on this all-important topic earlier today at the Dallas County Democratic Party HQ, presented by Social Security Works: a non-profit dedicated to protecting and expanding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They believe that every American has earned the right to retire with dignity, access quality healthcare, and live free from poverty.
Today's headliner was former Governor of Maryland and Former Commissioner of the Social Security Administration Martin O'Malley, who traveled to Texas to promote our earned Social Security benefits, and lifesaving Medicare, and Medicaid.
O'Malley was joined by several North Texas congressional candidates:
- Kevin Burge: U.S. House of Representatives, Texas's 24th Congressional District
- Dan Barrios: U.S. House of Representatives, Texas's 32nd Congressional District
- Chelsey Hockett: U.S. House of Representatives, Texas's 5th Congressional District
- Danny Minton: U.S. House of Representatives, Texas's 6th Congressional District
Stick around thru the end for a one-on-one chat with Progress Texas Executive Director Kathleen Thompson and Governor O'Malley. Their emcee was Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman.
Learn more about Social Security Works at https://socialsecurityworks.org/.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
16 September 2026, 8:44 pm - 9 minutes 36 secondsSCOTUS Rejects Trump Mail-in Ballot Order, and More- Daily Dispatch 9/16/26
SCOTUS Rejects Trump Mail-in Ballot Order; Texas Railroad Commission Collision; Public Apologies Round the Horn
Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/15/donald-trump-supreme-court-loss-response-01076646
Dallas Morning News: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/article/texas-railroad-commission-oversight-hearing-22433375.php
Commissioner Wayne Christian tweet: https://x.com/Sarah4Texas/status/2099961546965123164
Austin American-Statesman: https://www.statesman.com/sports/longhorns/football/article/texas-football-arch-manning-holly-rowe-video-22432320.php
Dallas Morning News: https://www.dallasnews.com/arts-entertainment/music/article/jasmine-crockett-chris-brown-backlash-22430953.php
Rep. Venton Jones Apology: https://x.com/VentonJonesTX/status/2099903053956514105/photo/1
Other podcasts mentioned:
SCOTUS TCRP: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7o11V5faBmqS5Bzqjg4LsZ?si=PE5-mR6BRzWpdj4X9_e1cQ
Trump/Epstein memorial reading room: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5A7mco5LF0MNMEzxzsvYCZ?si=_KVP2iRqR-mdfpErNdKbxw
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! Sponsor and RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org
16 September 2026, 2:21 pm - 8 minutes 20 secondsFor Texas GOP, How Much Racism Is Too Much Racism? And More - Daily Dispatch 9/15/26
With conservative culture war architect Karl Rove now turning on GOP Texas Railroad Commission nominee Bo French, we're getting an update on where the line between open racism and more private racism now lies for Texas conservatives. And we do hope that the grownups surrounding Texas Longhorns star QB Arch Manning will have a word with him about whether or not violence against women is a laughing matter.
Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/14/bo-french-kal-rove-endorsement-jon-rosenthal/
Lone Star Left: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/republicans-pretend-to-be-outraged
Texas Observer: https://www.texasobserver.org/not-all-texas-republicans-are-condemning-bo-french/
Twitter: https://x.com/ProgressTX/status/2099841032468713653?s=20
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! Sponsor and RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
15 September 2026, 1:35 pm - 40 minutes 31 secondsUSPS and YOUR Mail-In Ballot Under Attack - Texas Civil Rights Project Series, Part 2
Special delivery for our listeners: your Article 1, Section 8 constitutional protections for the United States Postal Service (USPS), and equal right to vote are at risk. Why? Because of a Trump Executive Order threatening ballot-by-mail—and the USPS’ ability to protect that constitutional right doing what they do daily: delivering mail. For the second installment of our TCRP joint election protection and education series, TCRP staff Carl Blair and Steffany Aguirre join us to discuss USPS and mail ballots.
**Note that since our session for this episode, on Sunday, a new nationwide preliminary injunction prohibiting the USPS from implementing or enforcing their ballot mail Final Rule was handed down in a completely separate case than the ones we discuss in this episode - since this new injunction prohibits both mandatory and voluntary compliance and enforcement on the part of the USPS, states are now legally prohibited from working on compliance, even voluntarily. More to come.
Learn more about the Texas Civil Rights Project at https://www.txcivilrights.org/.
Learn more about voter protections and procedures in Texas at http://texasvoterprotection.org/ and https://govotetexas.org/.
Make a donation to support our ongoing discussion series with the Texas Civil Rights Project at https://act.progresstexas.org/a/tcrpseries.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
14 September 2026, 9:18 pm - 11 minutes 2 secondsYes: Voting For Bo French Makes YOU A Racist Too - Daily Dispatch 9/14/26
Through Sunday's episode surrounding racist comments made about non-white Texas Longhorns fans, folks appear to be realizing what we've known for a long time - Bo French, GOP nominee for Texas Railroad Commission, is an admitted, virulent racist - and placing a vote for him in November supports the institutional racism that plagues our state.
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/us/bo-french-racist-post-republicans-texas.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Politico: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/13/john-cornyn-bo-french-texas-students-01073901
Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/13/bo-french-john-cornyn-republican-texas-railroad-commissioner-ut/
Houston Chronicle: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/opinion/editorials/article/texas-republicans-stand-racists-party-22430386.php
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! Sponsor and RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
14 September 2026, 1:43 pm - 11 minutes 38 secondsAttempted Silencing Of Kimmel/Talarico Talk Backfires Bigly, And More - Daily Dispatch 9/11/26
Racking up over 1.5 million views - overnight - in the first 8 hours of its release, the Jimmy Kimmel interview with James Talarico forced off the air by Donald Trump's FCC is set to far surpass typical network viewership. On this 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Texas Republicans are leaning into anti-Muslim hate as a primary midterm campaign plank - while we recall Trump's lies and grift related to that tragic day. And it looks like the GOP midterm convention was a bummer for many of its attendees, as Grindr fails to function properly under heavy demand in Dallas.
The Kimmel/Talarico interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLDE9LrGpNk
KERA Dallas: https://www.keranews.org/news/2026-09-11/texas-republicans-target-islam-muslims-at-republican-midterm-convention
San Antonio Current: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/texas-news/gay-hookup-app-grindr-experiences-dallas-outages-during-republicans-trump-a-palooza/
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! Sponsor and RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
11 September 2026, 1:32 pm - 29 minutes 20 secondsGOP Dishonors 9/11 Anniversary With Attacks On Muslim Texans - In Progress
As the 25th anniversary of the 2001 9/11 terrorist attacks arrives on Friday, it's a good moment to look back at the rise in irrational bigotry that came in the wake of that horrible day - and to compare it to the dehumanizing rhetoric Republicans have decided is acceptable to use today, in the midst of a 2026 midterm election cycle.
We also discuss the dire importance of confirming your voter registration ahead of that critical election, as our very own Tatum Owens has discovered that she's on the infamous Texas "voter suspense" list! She's lived to tell the tale, and does so herein. Check YOUR sitch at GoVoteTexas.org.
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
10 September 2026, 8:16 pm - 10 minutes 48 secondsTrump Show Day 1: A Poorly-Attended, Culty Snoozefest, And More - Daily Dispatch 9/10/26
The first day of Donald Trump's two-day Dallas "convention" failed by far to fill the American Airlines Center, showing severely lacking interest in all matters Trump in Texas' third-bluest county. New polling shows good reason for GOP panic as Democrat Gina Hinojosa is now in a dead heat with Governor Greg Abbott - largely buoyed by a massive leftward shift among Texas Latinos. And Jimmy Kimmel's yanking of a James Talarico interview shows conclusively that American media is under attack by an authoritarian, conservative government - making YOUR support for fact-based, progressive independent media like Progress Texas all the more crucial.
Bobby Pulido on MS Now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tsrXkvg7BE
Fort Worth Star-Telegram: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article317189200.html
Lone Star Left: https://www.lonestarleft.com/p/a-plague-has-decended-upon-dallas
Axios Austin: https://www.axios.com/local/austin/2026/09/10/democrats-suburban-texas-austin-turnout
Newsweek: https://www.newsweek.com/greg-abbott-faces-worrying-poll-as-trumps-texas-rnc-begins-12423150
Cook Political Report: https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/house/texas-house/exclusive-new-poll-hispanic-texas-voters-shows-collapse-gops-2024
Variety: https://variety.com/2026/tv/news/jimmy-kimmel-live-james-talarico-youtube-fcc-1236856911/
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
10 September 2026, 1:35 pm - 54 minutes 28 secondsThe Democrats Respond In Dallas: Special LIVE Pod
Our Executive Director Kathleen Thompson took part in a press conference of key Democratic officeholders and nominees who gathered in Dallas as part of ongoing counter-programming to the Donald Trump bootlicking contest that the Republican Party is passing off as a "convention" this week. Sharp commentary herein from Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder (:00), Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (6:31), Houston City Controller Chris Hollins (13:23), Tarrant County Commissioner and Democratic nominee for Tarrant County Judge Alisa Simmons (19:29), Dallas County Democratic Party Chairman Kardal Coleman (25:48), and a Q&A from the assembled press (28:36), including a question from Progress Texas ED Kathleen Thompson (52:40).
Thanks for listening! Learn more about Progress Texas and how you can support our ongoing work at https://progresstexas.org/.
9 September 2026, 9:32 pm - 7 minutes 58 secondsWith Trump's Numbers In The Toilet, GOP Launches Dallas TrumpFest , And More - Daily Dispatch 9/9/26
The Trump rally masquerading as a midterm convention beginning today in Dallas is a sure sign that the GOP sees Texas slipping from their stranglehold - while Texas Democrats respond with grocery drives and a rally of their own. And the new documentary on Elon Musk shows the world's first trillionaire and Texas' worst transplant to be a one-man existential threat to global democracy.
Houston Chronicle: https://www.chron.com/texas/article/trump-texas-midterm-convention-22423270.php
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/08/movies/elon-musk-film-alex-gibney-venice-film-festival.html
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
9 September 2026, 1:28 pm - 8 minutes 15 secondsDesperate Trump Blitz Set To Hit Dallas, And More - Daily Dispatch 9/8/26
The GOP "convention" in Dallas this Wednesday and Thursday will feature no party business - focusing instead on a desperate, gaudy Trump sideshow designed to bolster flagging interest in his brand. Trump's "MAGA Inc." PAC has set a $10 million ad buy across Texas for Ken Paxton, out of similar desperation. Current Paxton ads goofily try to blame James Talarico for policies leading to Chinese landownership in Texas. Ted Cruz racks up a huge private airfare bill while he barnstorms for Paxton (but really for himself). And Beto O'Rourke warns of GOP election meddling both to come, and already underway.
Dallas Morning News: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/article/dallas-hosts-gop-midterm-convention-heavy-on-trump-22417111.php
Texas Tribune: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/05/texas-maga-inc-10-million-ad-spend-paxton-trump/
Houston Chronicle: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/article/ted-cruz-midterms-private-jets-22407804.php
San Antonio Current: https://www.sacurrent.com/news/politics-and-elections/at-san-antonio-rally-beto-orourke-warns-gop-may-use-intimidation-tactics-to-steal-midterms/
Join Progress Texas and BallotReady for another LIVE podcast recording session with Asian Texans For Justice during this year's TribFest in Austin! RSVP:https://act.progresstexas.org/a/atjtribfest
The midterm election approaches! Confirm your registration and make your voting plan NOW at GoVoteTexas.org. And see a handy ballot customizable to your home address from the Texas Tribune at https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2026/texas-general-election-ballot-november-2026/.
Check out the Substack version of the Daily Dispatch, which delivers each pod to your inbox and frequently includes extra video goodies: https://substack.com/@progresstexas
Progress Texas is now part of the lineups at KPFT-FM in Houston, Empower House Radio in San Antonio, and KZSM True Community Radio in San Marcos! Make a tax-deductible contribution to our radio initiative HERE.
Find our web store and other ways to support our important work at https://progresstexas.org.
8 September 2026, 1:14 pm - More Episodes? Get the App