Series Finale 2nd Verion

Howdy, and welcome to our series finale of Straight Backs Podcast. This semester has been so much fun, and we are all sad to see this podcast come to an end. Throughout this semester, we have dived into the history of Texas and what makes our state so great. I am your host, Conor Gregg, and in this finale, we will be looking back on the content we talked about in our podcast, our favorite readings, what we learned, and what the future of Texas could look like. Let us start with you, Adarsh. What was your favorite reading? Hey, guys. It's Atharsh here. This podcast series was definitely a very fun and informative ride. Just to highlight a few of my favorite readings, John Suman on the oil capital of the world and Anthony F. Lucas on the oil boom were my top picks because they both showed how the leading economic factor in Texas came to be and the impact it had on the state's economy and society as a whole. Now, this economic factor was oil. Anyways, I'll give it to Alyssa now. What did you think about this semester, Alyssa? I also have learned a lot throughout this semester. I thought that reading these articles made me appreciate history in a different way. It is interesting to see how Texas has changed and stayed the same over the years and the improvements our state has made. My favorite article was Margaret Williams' Grazing in Good Pastures because it shows the importance land and farming had to Texans, but at the same time, introduced new ideas and romance. From these readings, I can tell that Texans will continue to stay true to their morals while coming up with new ways to better Texas. This shows exactly why we made our podcast title, Straight Facts, because Texas is great. Adrian, did you have a favorite reading? So, I loved how Justin Bieber's Lone Star showed what daily life was really like for Mexican workers back then. Honestly, I enjoyed everything I read for the podcast. My favorite moments were when I got to discuss fictional books and they painted a vivid picture of the past. While doing this podcast, I learned how Texas slowly became a more equitable place. I believe this state will keep growing and progressing while staying undeniably Texan. So, Connor, what reading stood out to you the most over the semester? Connor Gregg here, and I've had so much fun with this podcast over this past semester. Although I am sad to see it go, there was one reading that stuck out to me the most. President Miraville B. Lamar's call for the expulsion of the Republic's Indians was one of my favorite readings. Just because it was a shorter reading does not mean that it did not hold an amount of importance. Lamar, in his speech, urged for the Texans to rally up and remove the Indians from their land. It was either going to be their lives lost or the Indians, and they had to make that crucial decision. I think the reason I like this reading is because it hints at the spirit of all Texans and how we can overcome forms of adversity and trials no matter what. Tell me a little bit about your favorite parts of the podcast, Crystal. I definitely enjoyed the podcast and getting to know my classmates. I also learned a lot about my ancestors. As someone who is Mexican-American, it's definitely great to see if Tejanos kept the cowboy lifestyle alive. Along with that, I learned a lot about how much we were mistreated and it seems that not much has changed. That's something that really isn't talked about as much as other things like slavery and whatnot. After I did the readings and had some time to reflect on them, some of those readings include El Congreso, the statement of the superintendent, and even the image of the cotton picking. Now with that being said, James, what was your podcast group learned about throughout the semester? This semester, our podcast group has learned many things from the first episode until now. We learned how to keep everything more organized and even getting involved in helping other members with talking points. Everything that we learned as a podcast group really helped us make sure that the last couple of episodes were done correctly and with passion. Overall, we worked really hard and believe that we did a great job this semester. Awesome. Now how do you think your group lived up to the group name, Straight Facts, Will? Our podcast lived up to the title, Straight Facts, very well. We gave effort every week to continue and try to learn the readings and new assigned readings. We implemented all of our facts and what we've learned in our recordings, which turned out to be very successful. Jeffrey, how do you think our podcast furthered our understanding of Texas history? Hey, this is Jeffrey Trost, and overall, the podcast was definitely interesting discussing the history of Texas. My favorite part article I got to discuss is Grovey v. Townsend, 1935. Discussing this article gave us an appreciation of how much of an improvement we have made when it comes to Texas law. It gave us a further understanding of the 14th and 15th Amendments, African American voting rights, and how judges may have ruled during this time period. I enjoyed listening and conversing with my classmates as we continued to learn more in regards to the development and history of Texas. Hello, this is Karina. Straight Facts was a podcast where we discussed accurate information from the reading we analyzed. You could say it was nothing but straight facts. My team members and I carefully read the readings and made sure to put accurate information in our podcast. We tried our best to summarize in a nutshell the readings to where the main points were talked about. Overall, we made sure to discuss all of the readings in our podcast with the main points being pointed out. All right, now we're going to pass it over to Liam. Liam, how do you think we upheld the glorious name of our team? This is your boy, Liam, speaking. I think as a group, we did a pretty good job representing our names. Every time anyone speaks during the podcast, we try to use every fact we can find from the readings to improve our statements with more facts. We try our best not to use any personal references since it can be inaccurate. So yeah, straight facts speak for all of us. Marlene, what is your most memorable moment in this podcast and what do you think was one challenge we might have faced during this journey? Howdy, this is Marlene. Some memorable aspects of this podcast was the introduction episode, in my opinion. So definitely nerves, being on an all-time high, and the adrenaline rush of starting something new. Although we started as complete strangers to each other, however, as we progressed through the semester, we slowly started getting to know each other and our different work styles. What I have learned is how communication and everyone's input and contributions were so important, regardless of how big or small our part was in the series. One challenge I believe we faced was finding a system that worked for how big our group was for this project to be successful in such a short amount of time. But we eventually found the rhythm when it came to getting down to recording and made straight facts what it is today. Liana, what were some key takeaways from our podcast series and how you are seeing Texas history being impacted today? Alrighty, guys. Howdy, y'all. It is Liana Martinez here for one last time on the Straight Facts podcast. And I have to say, getting to dive into these readings like Jesus Christ in Texas and the Texas Federation of Labor Demands and getting to see the progression that Texas has developed since the 1800s with more racial equality and labor progression for people in the minority places and even people in the higher places made my heart so happy. It specifically came through labor unions and federations. It was such a beautiful sight to see. As before, we had racism in the working class. It was being attacked. And it specifically symbolized that. And we got to see that through Jesus Christ in Texas. I mean, this man got hanged. I mean, that was crazy. Can we agree with my group? My straight facts group being preaching. I mean, yeah, for real. Very symbolic. Therefore, it was really fascinating to see justice continue to develop further into the 21st century, which I'm happy to see. And yeah, it was very awesome to hear all my teammates' perspective on this and on the readings. So yeah, it proved to be very educational and informative experience, which I was very happy to be a part of. And I'm going to go ahead and pass it back to our host because we got some more stuff to talk about because this was a great series and I ain't done yet. Hey, this is your host, Connor Gregg, speaking again. I'm just going to loop back around to everyone. I just want everyone to tell me what your favorite takeaway was from the series, this podcast with Spencer. Did you enjoy it? How'd you do? And again, what was your favorite takeaway? Hey guys, it's Liana here again. So for my key takeaways, it was really enjoyable to get to meet my group members and just kind of see what I was working with here. At the very beginning, I honestly didn't know that much about Texas history, but then getting into it, I got to learn more about Texas at the very beginning. So especially landscape wise, you get to see the different development. As you can see, immigrant groups come in, how the Mexicans interacted with Texans during that time, and different conflicts. I didn't realize how angry people were at people. And I loved getting to see the tension become to different friendships. It was very wonderful. And yeah, so that was very nice. And it was very interesting to hear different people's groups' perspective on it. And I'm going to go ahead and pass it over to my girl Alyssa, where she's going to give us some more straight facts, because we got more and more to speak about it. A key takeaway I had was that Texas to this day has really changed their mindset when it comes to culture. It's kind of crazy to read back on times where we were so mean to certain cultures, such as the Indians and the Mexican Americans and the African Americans. So it's really great to see how much we have changed and evolved. Now I'm going to pass the phone to Adarsh, where he's going to hype us up. All right, I'm sure we all love this beautiful state of Texas. And I'm not saying that we're better than the other states or anything. But just to flex a little bit, the state of Texas did account for 42% of the national crude oil production and 27% of its marketed natural gas production in 2022. This just shows that Texas by itself almost contributes to half of the nation's oil. And without us, all of the other states would probably be suffering because we produce too much oil. And without us, they wouldn't have any. Hello, this is Karina again. I just want to talk about the struggles that we encounter as doing this podcast. It was fun, but we did have situations where we were all stressed because we weren't going to get it done on time or we went over time limit. But overall, I'm very happy that it turned out how it did and that we have a little bit more experience on how to record a podcast. And it was sure a way to get to know all my team members and work all together. And even though it was stressful, it was pretty fun to do. Awesome. Awesome. Let's get this train rolling. Will, what are your thoughts on Texas history right now? Texas history is one of the most rich states in the United States when it comes to interesting facts and stories. In particular, the Alamo really stuck out to me and everything that goes into that. The 13 day standoff, not 12, as Darby said, 13 day standoff. It was just very intriguing to me and I loved writing my paper about that. I really enjoyed this class and I really enjoyed talking to everybody about all the fun facts about Texas history. So thank you a lot. As someone who's from Houston, it was cool to read a little bit about how the Astros and how their name, the stadium, came about and all the history behind that. It's kind of unfortunate to find out that there was lots of millions of dollars involved in vacancy, but it's kind of cool to just hear about a team that I grew up watching and continue to watch. All right, now we're going to transfer back to our host, Mason. Mason, what's your take on this? Texas' future is still being shaped by its past as an independent nation, its involvement in the Civil War, and its economic might. Policies and societal standards are influenced by the state's distinctive cultural blend and dedication to individualism. Texas' historical tendency and independent spirit will probably steer a future that strikes a balance between tradition and innovation while preserving a distinctly Texan identity as the state tackles issues. Marlene, what is your most memorable moment in this podcast and what do you think was one challenge we might have faced during this journey? Hey, this is Marlene and going off of that, I believe Texas' history shapes the way Texas is today through various political movements and that impact us now and for the future to come. It is almost like a path worth of rich history for all of us to reflect upon to build our own paths for the betterment of the state now and for future generations to come. And this can be swayed in or looked at in different perspectives, both in a good sense and on the bad side of things as well, which is really important for us to acknowledge that the actions that we create now will forever change the way the future is later down the road, whether it is decades or even centuries from now. Our actions is more impactful than the way that we think it is. That's some good news. Okay, Owen, we're going to go ahead and pass over the mic to you. Owen, give us the good stuff. Give us your take on this info. Hey guys, it's Owen Jefferson here, now digging deeper into this discussion. I really can't believe how much fun the podcast were and how great it was to get to create these with this group. We got to dive deep into Texas' literature and history in a way I didn't expect to enjoy so much. This has been such a great semester experience to have, and from it, I learned a lot. My favorite reading slash moment that we touched on through the podcast was definitely Juan Augustine Morphy, A Glimpse of San Antonio, 1778. This was my favorite reading slash moment because it was the first reading we dove into and spoke about for our podcast as a group, which at first was awkward due to how different it was for all of us, but began to grow into something more comfortable than more fun. This reading also gave insight into the beginnings of San Antonio for Americans, which is the same as it was for the beginning for us. Hey, Jenna Richardson here, and I wanted to start off by saying that the podcast has been the most unique and effective way of learning about history in my experience. And to end off, an article titled Governor Richard Koch to Samuel Bell Maxey really stood out to me because of the behavior that was shown. And it really talks about how some believe that Indians should stop following their tribes and governments with an end goal of making the Indian way of life disappear. That only the military power of the government can make these changes in how Indians act and behave. And overall, just the lack of empathy and care for others was really eye-opening. So, Karina. That's great, Jeffrey. Now, how do you think the podcast furthered our understanding of Texas history? This is Jeffrey. Bouncing off what was previously said, this podcast series allowed us to continue to learn about the development of Texas. I hope the listeners and the other people participating in this podcast were able to learn more about how the history of Texas shaped the state and how we got to be the state we are today. This podcast allows us to share different views and opinions focused around Texas, which I think is important to better understand the history from different perspectives. Jeffrey, that was such an amazing take. And now I'm going to give you my side of the story because this series has been an entire boost of straight facts that we have been sending to our viewers. And man, we ain't done yet. We ain't done yet, folks. So, here's my take. Hi, guys. It's your girl, Liana Martinez, again. Thank you for passing the mic back to me with just one last time as we're getting closer and closer to the very end. But thank you. And I wanted to point out some key moments that I want to point out to my group here was that, I mean, at the very beginning, we were kind of getting to know each other and we weren't really sure about what this relationship was going to look like. And it was a rocky beginning. And honestly, it is still kind of a rocky ending as we're still trying to figure out how this whole big team effort is. Fifteen people is a lot of people. But I love getting to work with them and getting to build on this relationship. It was a great team effort. And especially as we get to see how Texas continues to develop, because we started back in kind of 1800s with Texas. And Texas is definitely more, it was more of an exclusive kind of thing. Like, you're not welcome to the party unless we invite you kind of thing. And I like how Texas became much more diverse. And it was more welcoming to people. And we get to see that in the different friendships they got to move towards. And I know for my family, it's definitely impacted it. I'm a fifth generation Texan. And I'm very happy to be so. But I'm also part Mexican. And I love it. I love it very much. But that would not have happened if the different relationships wouldn't have happened. And I get to see it in the different cattle drives that happen. I mean, like, wow. We get to see the marketing economy and just the way that they move forward. And it's a wonderful experience. And I just like to see it because I feel like throughout the documents, reading seven all the way to reading 12, it's kind of just Texas kind of like really training, truly gaining its strength back and being like, hey, we're here to stay. We're going to fight. And it's like we have all this union coming forward. They're fighting racism. Women are fighting getting some rights. And it's wonderful. They're like, hey, Texas is here. Texas is big. And they're back in power. So that's my take. And it was definitely a highlight for me to get to see Texas gaining strength and strength within our group, because it's a lot. So very wonderful. Yeah. And I'm going to pass it on to our next friend. Okay, now with all that being said, we're going to hear from my guy, Adrian, and he's going to go ahead and give us his own perspective on his favorite portions of Texas history. And we're going to dive even deeper into Texas history, because like we said, we got more straight facts to be spit into our viewers in this short little time period that we got with y'all. So let's go ahead and hand the mic over to my guy, Adrian. So I'd have to say my favorite moment in the series was probably discussing Justin Bieber's Lone Stars during episode four. I just found it really interesting looking at Texas history through basically the lens of a little kid. I don't know. It really put things in perspective. All righty, guys, this is your host, Connor Gregg. And that's a wrap for our podcast series, Straight Facts. Thank you all for joining us throughout our lessons as we got to look at the development of Texas and got to hear each other's viewpoints on Texas. Transcribed by https://otter.ai