Houston Public Media
161 episodes listed below
Houston policy, culture, and daily stakes.
Hello Houston: The Commuter Cut is a short-form local affairs show built around practical interviews and Houston-area stakes. It moves from property appraisal protests and flood maps to water supply, redistricting, nursing shortages, libraries, chefs, theater, and neighborhood preservation.
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Hello Houston: The Commuter Cut is a shortened local affairs program for keeping up with Houston without sitting through a full news block. It treats civic systems as everyday matters, not abstractions. Property appraisal protests become a question of what evidence a homeowner should bring. Flood modeling becomes a way to see which places may be at risk over time. Water infrastructure becomes a kitchen-table problem about growth, drought, aging pipes, and the cost of waiting. The show often starts with a current local hook, then brings in someone who can explain the machinery behind it. That guest might be a deputy chief appraiser, a policy director, a law professor, an economist, a library foundation leader, or a chef talking about how conversation grew out of kitchen life. The format is interview-first, with callers and texts treated as part of the room. It has a public-radio polish, but not a sealed-off studio feeling. Questions can be direct, mildly amused, or plainly confused in a useful way. When a topic gets dense, the show asks for the version a resident can actually use. Houston is the anchor, yet the conversations often widen into Texas politics, energy transition, Supreme Court redistricting decisions, Middle East conflict, Florida redistricting, and the practical effects of national events on local people. Culture is not treated as a side dish. Segments on Chris Shepherd, the Tommy Tune Awards, Natsuo, public libraries, and preservation sit beside discussions of taxes and infrastructure. That mix gives the show a recognizable civic rhythm: a serious issue, a human example, a little banter, then another door into the city. Ernie Manouse appears as a recurring studio presence, joined by rotating guest hosts including Brandi Smith, Lisa Gray, and Michael Atkinson. The show is best for listeners who like local news with explanation attached. It is less about hot takes than usable context. Its value is in making Houston feel legible, one commute-sized conversation at a time.
Made for: For Houston-area listeners who want local issues explained without losing the human scale. It especially suits commuters, homeowners, civic watchers, culture followers, and people trying to understand how public decisions affect daily life.
What sets it apart: The show stands out by mixing hard civic utility with live conversational texture. It can move from appraisal evidence and flood mapping to chefs, libraries, and theater without losing its Houston-specific focus.
Hello Houston: The Commuter Cut is your connection to the heart of the Bayou City, but shorter, for our busy commuters. Every weekday, we dive deep into the stories that matter to Houstonians — from breaking local news to cultural happenings, community voices, and the everyday joys and challenges of life in our vibrant city.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
A Houston affairs magazine that places local performances and artists within the city's wider civic and cultural life.
Hello Houston: The Commuter Cut moves through Houston life as a guest-driven local magazine, with Ernie Manouse and guest hosts asking direct, practical questions about civic decisions and cultural work.
Flood maps before breakfast, Chris Shepherd by coffee: Houston has your attention now.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A local hour that links Pearland's mayor-elect with Houston's changing energy economy.
Hello Houston opens with Pearland politics and then turns to Texas's shifting energy economy, tying Quentin Wiltz's narrow win to the larger question of what comes next.
A practical Houston hour on appraisal protests, evidence, and community-minded nursing.
Hello Houston turns toward the practical side of Harris County property-tax protests, with Jason Cunningham, a deputy chief appraiser for the Harris County Appraisal District, urging callers to bring evidence instead of broad complaints.
Flood maps, Breaking Bread, and Natsuo event chatter keep the hour firmly local.
Hello Houston opens with a grounded look at flooding in Houston, as Frank Aces-Garcia explains how University of Houston engineers used artificial intelligence to turn decades of paper flood maps into digital data.
A civic Houston hour that treats water, voting maps, and the library foundation as live local stakes.
The hour moves from Texas water strain to redistricting and then to the Houston Public Library Foundation, with Ernie Manouse and guest host Michael Atkinson keeping the discussion tied to practical stakes.
A grounded Houston episode linking economic outlooks, everyday money decisions, and the effort to save a threatened building.
Hello Houston starts with the city's economic outlook, then narrows to the practical work of financial coaching before landing on a preservation story about a building once at serious risk of demolition.
County government, translated into everyday Missoula life.
Hello Houston opens with Pearland's mayor-elect Quentin Wiltz, fresh off a narrow victory and sounding tired but ready.
Hello Houston opens with Harris County property owners and the deadline to protest appraised values.
Flooding opens the hour.
Hello Houston starts with a Texas water warning that lands hard.
Hello Houston features Gus Fauché of PNC on Houston's economic outlook, Stephanie Majors on financial coaching that helped participants save over $1,100 and raise credit scores by 39 points, and Phoebe Tudor on historic preservation.
This episode discusses redistricting efforts in Florida and Texas, comparing political boundary changes and legislative actions between the two states.
This episode features a conversation with Foti, a former ABC 13 news journalist, discussing his background in Houston journalism, his experience at Alief schools, and the multicultural aspects of the community.
This episode discusses the escalating conflict between the U.S.
This episode discusses the upcoming Fleet Week in Houston, featuring interviews with organizers about the event's logistics, history, and expected impact.
This episode discusses Texas's $3.2 billion sales tax exemption for data centers, its impact on state revenue, and potential legislative changes.
This episode discusses the capture and killing of El Mencho, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and its violent aftermath in Mexico, featuring an interview with Tony Payan from Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy.
This episode discusses the EPA's recent repeal of the 2009 endangerment finding on greenhouse gas emissions, featuring an interview with an American Meteorological Society fellow to explain the scientific and regulatory implications.
This episode features an interview with Houston artist David McGee and curator Katya Zavastrovsky about his upcoming major museum survey exhibit at the Beachler Museum of Modern Art, exploring his work's interplay between image and text.
This episode features an interview with University of Houston students Dallas and Austin Buckhalter and David Gordon about organizing the Springstock Music Fest, a grassroots, all-ages festival in Houston showcasing Texas artists.
This episode discusses Houston's proposed apartment inspection ordinance aimed at cracking down on unsafe rental buildings, featuring an interview with council member Tiffany Thomas about community meetings and the legislative process.