Americans spend half their free time looking at screens: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

Americans spend half their free time looking at screens: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly logo in blue and white [https://cdn.hpm.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/28061724/GBU-Banner.jpg] A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to a rotating panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/good-bad-ugly/] of it all. This week, our panel weighs in on these stories: * Missouri City officials approving a road redesign [https://www.houstonchronicle.com/neighborhood/fort-bend/article/after-11-train-crashes-missouri-city-moves-fix-22357133.php] to keep trucks from getting hit by trains at a certain crossing * The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission dropping its demand [https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/07/23/trump-admin-drops-demand-names-jewish-penn-employees] for the University of Pennsylvania to turn over a list of Jewish employees * A survey showing that Americans spend half their free time staring at screens [https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/23/heres-the-no-1-way-americans-spend-their-leisure-time.html] Our panel of non-experts this week includes: * Bob Sanborn, CEO of Children at Risk [https://childrenatrisk.org/] * Raúl Ramos [https://www.uh.edu/class/history/faculty-and-staff/ramos_r/], associate professor of history at the University of Houston * Natalie Arceneaux [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliearceneaux/], president of Arceneaux International Consulting Watch

New rainbow flags coming to Montrose: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly logo in blue and white [https://cdn.hpm.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/28061724/GBU-Banner.jpg] A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to a rotating panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/good-bad-ugly/] of it all. This week, our panel weighs in on these stories: * Two updates on how community response and negotiation behind-the-scenes are paying off, from Montrose getting a new rainbow flag display [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/lgbtq/2026/07/15/557177/houston-montrose-rainbow-banners-lgbtq-pride-mayor-whitmire/] to Memorial City ice skaters getting more time on their rink [https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2026/07/15/houstons-memorial-city-mall-ice-rink-to-stay-open-until-removal-in-december/] * An AI-derived film called Odysseus: The Fall [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/ai-generated-feature-odysseus-the-fall-1236646751/] scheduled to hit streaming services at roughly the same time as Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Odyssey_(2026_film)] Our panel of non-experts this week includes: * Marcus Davis [https://thebreakfastklub.com/about-tbk/marcus-davis/], owner of the Breakfast Klub restaurant * Mustafa Tameez [https://www.outreachstrategists.com/team/#mustafa-tameez], media and public affairs consultant and the CEO of Outreach Strategists * Jennifer Hadayia [https://airalliancehouston.org/our-work/our-team/jennifer-m-hadayia-mpa/] of Air Alliance Houston Watch

An age limit on prediction markets: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly logo in blue and white [https://cdn.hpm.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/28061724/GBU-Banner.jpg] A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to a rotating panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/good-bad-ugly/] of it all. This week, our panel weighs in on these stories: * One of the nation’s top hurricane forecasters lowering its outlook [https://www.chron.com/news/article/houston-hurricane-summer-prediction-22337496.php] for storms during the Atlantic hurricane season * Texas lawmakers may try to curb prediction market use [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/health-science/2026/07/08/556508/texas-medical-association-tma-prediction-markets-age-limit-gambling-addiction/] among Texas minors Our panel of non-experts this week includes: * Vivian Ho [https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/vivian-ho/], health economist at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine * Joy Sewing [https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/joy-sewing/], news columnist with the Houston Chronicle * Mary Flood [https://www.androvett.com/people/mary-flood], legal consultant with Androvett Legal Media & Marketing Watch

Austin competing with Houston for an NHL team: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly logo in blue and white [https://cdn.hpm.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/28061724/GBU-Banner.jpg] A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to a rotating panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/good-bad-ugly/] of it all. This week, our panel weighs in on these stories: * The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo's plans to build new facilities [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/events/houston-livestock-show-and-rodeo/2026/06/24/555376/houston-rodeo-new-arena-complex-nrg-park-harris-county/] * Houston finally having the inside track on an NHL expansion team -- unless it ends up in Austin [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/sports/2026/06/23/555336/hockey-houston-nhl-austin-texas-expansion/] * An AI-replication of actor Michael Caine’s voice being used to narrate an audiobook of The Odyssey [https://variety.com/2026/biz/news/michael-caine-ai-odyssey-audiobook-1236787620/#article-comments] Our panel of non-experts this week includes: * Joy Sewing [https://www.houstonchronicle.com/author/joy-sewing/], news columnist with the Houston Chronicle * Charles Kuffner, who writes the political blog Off the Kuff [http://offthekuff.com/wp/] * David Branham [https://www.uhd.edu/faculty/branhamd.aspx], professor of political science at the University of Houston-Downtown Watch

A shuttle bus to Buc-ee’s during the World Cup: The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the week

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly logo in blue and white [https://cdn.hpm.io/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/28061724/GBU-Banner.jpg] A lot can happen in a week. Some of it good. Some of it bad. Some of it downright ugly. When faced with intriguing developments in the week’s news, we turn to a rotating panel of “non-experts” to parse The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/topics/good-bad-ugly/] of it all. This week, our panel weighs in on these stories: * Texas joining the states investigating FIFA [https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/texas/2026/06/09/554054/texas-ag-ken-paxton-opens-investigation-into-fifa-over-2026-world-cup-ticket-sales/] over its World Cup ticketing policies * A sign welcoming World Cup fans to Houston showing a Chilean flag [https://www.khou.com/article/news/local/texas-flag-chile-fifa-fan-fest-houston/285-a34a4120-2f41-4a43-8f5f-bcdaa9d058bd] instead of Texas * A shuttle bus to Buc-ee's [https://www.chron.com/texas/article/bucees-fort-worth-world-cup-22299859.php] being included in public transit for World Cup visitors in Dallas Our panel of non-experts this week includes: * Mustafa Tameez [https://www.outreachstrategists.com/team/#mustafa-tameez], media and public affairs consultant and the CEO of Outreach Strategists * Vivian Ho [https://www.bakerinstitute.org/experts/vivian-ho/], health economist at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine * Natalie Arceneaux [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliearceneaux/], president of Arceneaux International Consulting Watch