In this week’s episode, we discuss the weapon used by the school shooter in Uvalde and new details that highlight how fear of the gun contributed to the botched police response.
Matthew Watkins
Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. Matthew is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended public schools and graduated from Texas A&M University. He’s spent nearly two decades in Texas journalism, and previously worked at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News. Matthew joined the Tribune in 2015 has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor and politics editor. As a managing editor, Matthew has guided the Tribune’s award-winning journalism and other reporting of statewide significance, including coverage of elections and legislative sessions to major breaking news and ambitious storytelling about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Texas-Mexico border, the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, the impeachment of Texas attorney general and battles over public education. He lives in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their two children.
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TribCast
TribCast: Will the Texas Legislature pay Ken Paxton’s legal settlement?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with James about lawmakers’ reluctance to spend $3.3 million on a whistleblower settlement for Attorney General Ken Paxton.
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TribCast
TribCast: How will Texas lawmakers cut property taxes?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Texas Tribune reporters Joshua Fechter and Patrick Svitek about the different proposals to reduce Texans’ property tax burdens.
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TribCast
TribCast: The politics of diversity, equity and inclusion on college campuses
On this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with higher education reporter Kate McGee about Texas leaders’ push to limit the role of diversity in hiring on college campuses.
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TribCast: Takeaways from Gov. Greg Abbott’s State of the State speech
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Texas Tribune politics reporters James Barragán and Patrick Svitek about Abbott’s prime-time address.
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TribCast: Will Texas avoid a recession?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Pia Orrenius, vice president and senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, about the 2023 outlook for the Texas economy.
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TribCast: Is Texas uniquely bad at disaster preparedness?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with University of Texas at Austin professor Michael Webber and environment reporter Erin Douglas about the state’s widespread power outages.
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TribCast: The fight against solitary confinement in Texas
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Jolie about a hunger strike in Texas prisons and a lawsuit seeking to reform the use of solitary confinement on death row.
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TribCast: Is bipartisan immigration reform a realistic goal?
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with Washington correspondent Matthew Choi and immigration reporter Uriel J. García about U.S. Sen. John Cornyn’s trip to the border and the odds of Congress passing a major immigration bill.
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TribCast: The Texas Legislature is off and running
In this week’s episode, Matthew speaks with James and Patrick about the fight over Democrats chairing committees in the Texas House and other highlights of the first week of the legislative session.