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The Magnolia Standard in 5 Minutes
Every issue of the paper, read aloud, in about five minutes.
Every Tuesday and Friday, the day each issue comes out, we post an audio briefing: a quick rundown of what is in the issue, then each story in brief. On Saturdays the Realistic Money column comes out in audio too. It fits the drive to work, the school pickup line, or any stretch when your hands are busy.
How to listen
- Right here. Tap the red button on the front page, on any issue, or on the money column. It keeps playing with your phone locked.
- In your podcast app. Search for "The Magnolia Standard in 5 Minutes" or use a link: Pocket Casts Any app that takes a podcast address can follow it with this one:
https://themagnoliastandard.news/podcast/feed.xml - In the car. Once it is in your podcast app, it shows up on the car screen through Apple CarPlay or Android Auto like any other show.
- ¿Lo prefiere en español? The Magnolia Standard en 5 Minutos
Every episode
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October 10, 2026 · 5:03
Realistic Money, October 10: Mortgages at 7.40, a big Wednesday ahead
Freddie Mac's 30-year average rose to 7.40 percent while stocks finished a winning week near their record, and a hurricane shut most of the oil pumped in U.S. Gulf waters. Then Medicare's open enrollment, which starts Thursday, and how next year's Social Security raise gets set on Wednesday.
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October 9, 2026 · 5:05
Issue 43: The Quilt Walk Edition
Celia Hernández, who grew up in Magnolia and brought Don Tomate Meat Market's third store to FM 1488; the Montgomery Quilt Walk on October 16 and 17, with a church on Pond Street full of quilts and the cemetery tour on Saturday; and the county commissioners' unanimous vote asking the Legislature for limited power over land use outside city limits.
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October 6, 2026 · 5:00
Issue 42: The National Night Out Edition
Magnolia's National Night Out, Thursday at Unity Park, with free food, emergency vehicles for kids to climb into and five public safety agencies, plus the city's first Fall Festival there November 7; two Montgomery County 4-H members who finished first in Texas, and the enrollment fee that rises November 1; and a Tomball salon's state filing for a twelve thousand square foot building on Honea Egypt Road.
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October 3, 2026 · 4:41
Realistic Money, October 3: Hiring stalls, mortgages climb
Employers added 29,000 jobs in September and the odds of an October Fed increase fell to about one in six, while the 30-year mortgage rose to 7.28 percent. What that does to a house payment, the Fed's inflation gauge measured a new way, and the European rule that changes the customs form on parcels sold overseas from November 1.
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October 2, 2026 · 5:08
Issue 41: The Fire Prevention Week Edition
Fire Prevention Week starts Sunday with a national theme about charging lithium ion batteries, and the district behind the Magnolia Fire Department takes requests for free smoke alarms; the Magnolia library's October, built around a murder mystery the region voted to read; and Magnolia West High School's two lost days after its campus well ran dry.
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September 29, 2026 · 5:19
Issue 40: The Old Plantersville Road Edition
A free cemetery tour in Montgomery where reenactors tell the stories of a 1941 Yankee, a boy who survived a hunting accident and the Texas Flag Lady; Montgomery's eight point three five million dollar contract for its fourth water plant; and three restaurants on the way, from biscuits on FM 1488 to a Texas Roadhouse filing on Eva Street.
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September 26, 2026 · 4:38
Realistic Money, September 26: Mortgages cross 7 percent
The ten-year Treasury yield at its highest since 2007 and the 30-year mortgage at 7.03 percent, what that does to a house payment, oil down 8 percent for the week, gold and silver lower, and how Montgomery County property tax bills can be paid, with what each late month costs.
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September 25, 2026 · 4:50
Issue 39: The Ten Days Edition
Ten days to register for November, where Magnolia votes early now that the county has posted it, and the six names in the appraisal board race; Aaron Watson and Travis Tritt on Wright Road for Boots For Troops; and the Magnolia ISD bond gets its builders, with the first school breaking ground in March.
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September 22, 2026 · 4:43
Issue 38: The First Day of Fall Edition
Lone Star College crosses 100,000 students with tuition frozen, the monarchs reach Magnolia's latitude in early October, August home sales split four ways across four ZIP codes, and a Pinehurst plant shop sells down to its shelves before it closes September 30.
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September 19, 2026 · 5:06
Realistic Money, September 19: The week the Fed raised rates
The Federal Reserve's first rate increase since 2023 and what it reaches on a household statement, oil above 100 dollars, a record for Texas diesel, gold and silver up anyway, a Texas law that gives five business days to cancel a door-to-door solar contract, and two new laws on repair parts and gold.
About the voices
The voices are computer generated. The newsroom writes the script from each issue’s stories, and every figure you hear is in the full story with its source. If you hear a mistake, write to editor@themagnoliastandard.news.