Made in Austin 2026

Austin PBS to broadcast annual community celebration for the first time

This is the fourth Made in Austin celebration, but the first time viewers can watch from home.

Austin's community media landscape will be on full display on August 13 as Austin PBS hosts its first live broadcast of Made in Austin, an hourlong celebration of its local programming. This will be the fourth annual Made in Austin, which was previously just an event for supporters; now viewers can watch or listen to the event as it happens.

The celebration will feature talks and performances by journalists, filmmakers, and other community members who contribute to PBS programming in Central Texas. Viewers will also get a preview of what's coming in the next season, plus other upcoming educational initiatives and community partnerships, a press release says.

The schedule features:

Conversations about journalism with the teams behind Austin InSight, Overheard with Evan Smith, and Decibel.
Previews of a documentary about Carrascolendas, one of the country's first bilingual educational TV series and a product of Austin PBS; the "traumedy docuseries" How We Grieve; and a behind-the-scenes look at eclipse photography, Eclipse Outlaw Chase, among other titles.
A bespoke spoken word performance, Dear Future Austin, by Austin hip-hop artist Qi Dada of Riders Against the Storm.
An announcement about the second season of High School Quiz Show: Austin, plus stories about PBS Austin in the educational sphere.
A celebration marking 30 seasons of Central Texas Gardener, including highlights from the season and some tips from host Jon Hart Asher to lead Austinites into fall.
Learning about opportunities to support and engage with Austin PBS.

"Every day, Austin PBS invites viewers into the lives of remarkable people and communities across Central Texas," said Austin PBS president and CEO Luis Patiño. "With this year's Made in Austin, we're turning the cameras around and opening the doors to our home. This live broadcast is an opportunity to celebrate the community that makes our work possible while sharing a first look at the stories, programs and ideas that will shape what’s next for Austin PBS.”

Viewers can tune in via Austin PBS on TV, the PBS App, and the Austin PBS YouTube Channel on Thursday, August 13, starting at 7 pm.

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New report ranks Texas the 7th worst state to have a baby

Photo by Karina Syrotiuk on Unsplash

The best places to have a baby are in the Midwest and the Northeast, not the South, according to the report.

Texas might be a family friendly state, but it certainly isn't baby friendly, according to a new WalletHub study.

Texas earned a dismal rank as No. 45 in WalletHub's 2026 report "Best and Worst States to Have a Baby," which compared all 50 states and the District of Columbia based on 31 "baby friendliness" metrics, such as affordability, health care accessibility, infant care costs, and others.

The top five best states to have a baby, in order, are: Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire.

Texas ranked 7th worst overall in the U.S. because of how expensive it is to have a child in the state, and because of its low prevalence of healthcare professionals for mothers and children relative to other states.

Across the four main categories in the report, Texas landed 47th nationally for its medical costs, 42nd in healthcare quality, and its baby- and family-friendliness both ranked 34th best in the country.

WalletHub says the average cost for a conventional delivery in the U.S. comes out to more than $15,700, and families with health insurance have an average out-of-pocket cost of about $2,600. The report doesn't break down state-by-state charges, but it ranked Texas 35th and 36th respectively in the national comparisons of states with the lowest costs for hospital cesarean and conventional deliveries.

The cost of childcare is another factor hindering the state's overall performance, although it isn't terrible: WalletHub says Texas has the 23rd "best" annual cost of early childcare on average.

Here's how the report broke down the rest of Texas' ranking:

No. 27 – Parental leave policy score
No. 27 – Infant mortality rate
No. 28 – Rate of low-birth weight
No. 44 – Midwives and OB-GYNs per capita
No. 36 – Pediatricians and family medicine physicians per capita
No. 33 – Childcare centers per capita

According to WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo, expecting families should consider living in the states that "minimize costs while providing top-notch care for both newborns and their mothers."

"[The best states] also continue to be good environments for parents even long after the birth, with high-quality pediatric care, affordable and accessible child care, and a strong economic environment that makes providing for a child easier,” Lupo said.

Mississippi (No. 51), Alabama (No. 50), Florida (No. 49), New Mexico (No. 48), Nevada (No. 47), and South Carolina (No. 46) all join Texas at the bottom of the list as the worst states to have a baby.

wallethub texas reports families