Houstonians’ opinions on a wide range of issues (April 28, 2026)

Houstonians’ opinions on a wide range of issues (April 28, 2026)

From Houston Matters by Houston Public Media

April 28, 2026 · 50 min

About this episode

The episode discusses Houstonians' opinions from the Houston Area Survey, the impact of data centers on electricity demand, the complexities of college sports payments, and features a conversation with violinist Joshua Bell about his upcoming performance.

On Tuesday's show: We get highlights from the annual Houston Area Survey from Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research, which takes stock each year of Houstonians' thoughts and attitudes on a variety of issues facing our region. Also this hour: The state of Texas is all in on the development of data centers. But just how much electricity will they demand from the power grid, and what does it mean for the rest of us? Then, college sports have entered a new era in which athletes can get paid , through name, image, and likeness agreements. But it’s a complicated world for those students and their families to navigate. We contemplate the legal complexities. And Grammy Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell will be in town next week to perform with the Houston Symphony . His performance will include works he commissioned from five celebrated modern composers called The Elements . We revisit a 2022 conversation with Bell when he was just getting starting on the project. Watch

People in this episode

Guest: Joshua Bell

Topics covered

  • Houston Area Survey
  • data centers
  • college sports
  • name image likeness
  • Joshua Bell
  • Houston Symphony

Keywords

  • Houston Area Survey
  • data centers
  • electricity demand
  • college sports
  • name image likeness
  • Joshua Bell
  • Houston Symphony
  • The Elements

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Books & works: The Elements

Places: Texas

More episodes of Houston Matters

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Houston Matters podcast page.