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. More than 100,000 students sit on the waitlist, but critics argue there is little evidence vouchers are delivering on their promises to justify expanding the program.

Also this hour: We consider why the federal minimum wage hasn’t been raised in 17 years.

Then, as the Taliban retook Afghanistan in 2021, The New York Times scrambled to evacuate people that worked for its bureau there and their families. They ended up here in Houston. Why, how, and what happened next is the subject of the new book, The Last Free Women. We talk with the co-authors, Rebecca Blumenstein and Diana Kapp, ahead of an event at Brazos Bookstore Friday.

And, this weekend, Performing Arts Houston will present a concert at Jones Hall featuring the complete piano etudes of Philip Glass. Among the performers is Jiani Wu, an HSPVA alum and a current Rice University piano student, who performs and talks about Glass' music.

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