There's everywhere else in the United States, and then there's Texas.

It's big, it's proud, it's got a lot going on, and it takes a daily news show to keep up with it all.

The Texas Standard tackles politics, business and tech, the arts, and the people and things that make Texas unique.

It's smart, fast-paced, relevant, and sometimes

even a little fun. After all, it's the news from a Texas perspective. Subscribe to the Texas

standard wherever you get your podcasts. Podcasts have become our constant companions.

At the gym, on our commutes as we get dinner on the table or putter around in the yard.

These voices in our headphones can sound like intimate, compelling conversations by people we actually know. Maybe we should

get some real friends? From KERA in Dallas, this is Think. I'm Chris Boyd. It is, of course,

easier to just click play on our favorite podcast when we head out for a run than to track down a real

life conversational partner to keep us company, let

alone somebody willing to talk about only what we want to talk about. But as some of us spend more

hours listening to podcasts than interacting with our fellow humans every day, my guest worries

this is changing us and leaving us vulnerable to confirmation bias, even misinformation.

Liel Leibowitz is editor at large for Tablet and was co-host of the podcast Unorthodox, which ran from

2015 until 2024. His recent essay for Tablet is titled, Our Podcasts Ruining Our Lives, the Insidious

Charm of chat.

Leal, welcome to think.

Hello, what a pleasure to be here.

So your podcast Unorthodox earned some very devoted fans who adored the program.

They adored you as co-host for listeners who don't know the show.

Will you tell us a little about it?

...