On Thursday’s show: We discuss our notions about prison and punishment in Texas. And we talk with Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, whose band performs Friday at the Continental Club.
Listen
On Thursday’s show: Chris Brown, who serves as Mayor John Whitmire’s financial integrity director, has admitted to working 15-hour weeks for a $127,000 salary but defended his work at a tense city council meeting. Houston Public Media’s Dominic Anthony Walsh tells us what happened and updates us on the latest developments from City Hall.
Also this hour: A federal judge has ruled that Texas has to accelerate its timeline to install air conditioning in all state prisons by the end of 2029. The judge seemed to suggest the state was slow-playing the installation, which may fit an attitude about prison conditions built around the notion that people in prison are being punished not by doing time, but how they do that time. We discuss that and other observations about the ethics surrounding Texas prisons…