In this special bonus episode, The Texan Optimist host Becky Bullard sits down with Sarah Xiyi Chen, the Senior Supervising Attorney for Voting Rights at the Texas Civil Rights Project. Ahead of the 2026 election in Texas, they get nerdy about the inner workings of the voting process -- diving deep into voter fears, misinfo, suppression, and ways to counterbalance all the negative.

LINKS -

INCREDIBLE Texas election protection resources here: ⁠https://www.texasvoterprotection.org/⁠

Sign up to be a nonpartisan poll monitor in Texas here:

⁠https://mobilize.us/s/1EgHQd/r⁠

Do YOU still need to vote? Early voting ends Friday, 10/30! Election Day is November 3!

Check ⁠Vote411.org⁠ to see what’s on your ballot.

If you are in Travis County, see ⁠VoteTravis.gov⁠ for polling locations with times — a few locations are open until 10pm this Thursday and Friday, 10/29 and 10/30 ONLY!

Buy books from my Bookshop (your purchase helps support my work!): ⁠https://bookshop.org/lists/the-texan-optimist-book-list⁠

Follow the Texas Civil Rights Project:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/txcivilrights⁠

⁠https://www.txcivilrights.org/⁠

THANK YOU to:

Record ATX - ⁠https://www.recordatx.com/⁠

Lady Diarist - ⁠https://ladydiarist.substack.com/ ⁠

The Hudspeth Foundation - ⁠https://hudspethfoundation.org/⁠

NOTE:

The Texan Optimist is a prospective grantee of the Texas Civil Rights Project.

Host Becky Bullard welcomes guest Meghan Ross to get into LBJ’s legacy on civil rights, his transition to the presidency after JFK’s assassination, his nickname for his peen, and so much more.

Get email updates about The Texan Optimist podcast, support our work with a tax-deductible contribution, or reach out for sponsorship opportunities at TheTexanOptimist.com

LINKS:

Watch Meghan’s show “How We Grieve” on PBS!

https://www.pbs.org/show/how-we-grieve/

October 29: See me speak on a Future Forum panel at the LBJ Library! “Beyond the Newsroom: Covering Texas Today”: www.lbjlibrary.org/events/future-forum/2026-10-29_beyond-newsroom-covering-texas-today

Check out Meghan’s other work: https://meghanrross.com/

Buy books from my Bookshop.org link (your purchase helps support my work!): https://bookshop.org/lists/the-texan-optimist-book-list

Visit the LBJ Library: https://www.lbjlibrary.org/

More reading and sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/to-fight-for-civil-rights-lyndon-b-johnson-settled-for-the-middle-ground-180981482/

https://www.aaihs.org/the-hidden-history-of-the-civil-rights-act-of-1960/

https://www.universityarchives.com/auction-lot/type-1-photo-of-jfk-after-1960-convention-nod-vis_cd848ac9b0

https://www2.gwu.edu/~erpapers/mep/displaydoc.cfm?docid=erptoc

https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/televised-address-to-the-nation-on-civil-rights

https://www.britannica.com/event/Birmingham-Childrens-Crusade

https://www.ms.now/msnbc/lyndon-johnson-civil-rights-racism-msna305591

​​https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/what-the-hells-the-presidency-for/358630/

THANK YOU to:

Record ATX - https://www.recordatx.com/

Lady Diarist - https://ladydiarist.substack.com/

The Hudspeth Foundation - https://hudspethfoundation.org/

On this solo episode of The Texan Optimist, host Becky Bullard gets into the story of the Texans who ended the all-white primary for the entire country. Thanks, Dr. Lonnie Smith! He won the Smith v Allwright Supreme Court case with the help of NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall and many other brave folks.

Get email updates about The Texan Optimist podcast, support our work with a tax-deductible contribution, or reach out for sponsorship opportunities at TheTexanOptimist.com

LINKS:

In Austin? Come out and hang! October 10: Gay History Month Screening with author Dale Carpenter! https://www.thetexanoptimist.com/events/gay-history-month-screening-of-the-texan-optimist

Buy books from my Bookshop (your purchase helps support my work!): https://bookshop.org/lists/the-texan-optimist-book-list

13th Documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8

THANK YOU to:

Record ATX - https://www.recordatx.com/

Lady Diarist - https://ladydiarist.substack.com/

The Hudspeth Foundation - https://hudspethfoundation.org/