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The Playlist: My Name

The Academic Building at Texas A&M University was about to have its name changed to the "Governor Rick Perry ’72 Building," but the governor declined the honor. This inspired the first song on this week's playlist: "My Name" by Kevin Morby.

The Academic Building at Texas A&M University was about to have its name changed to the "Governor Rick Perry ’72 Building," but the governor declined the honor. This inspired the first song on this week's playlist: "My Name" by Kevin Morby.

The easiest way to enjoy the playlist is to download Spotify, a free program. But even without it, you can still follow along. Here are the other selections for the week:

Our second song is TV On The Radio's "Trouble," which is included as a nod to the bad week had by U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, who had admitted to owning the website Blow-Me.org and was accused of sexual harassment.

An online petition to honor Tim Cole, who died in jail while serving time for a rape he did not commit, with a posthumous honorary degree is amassing signatures, so our next song is "Petition" by Tennis. And then, because state Rep. Scott Turner is trying to defy the odds in his bid to become the next House speaker, we have "The Odds" by Jake Bugg.

The homicide rate in El Paso has almost doubled since last year, but officials say it doesn't have anything to do with Mexican cartels and spillover violence. So, we put "Safe" by Travis on the playlist. The University of Texas at Austin announced the creation of a new center to teach athletes responsible decisionmaking, inspiring the selection of "A Better Man" by Keb Mo.

Next we have Metallica's "Battery," because battery storage could revolutionize the state’s electrical grid, but to do so also requires a fundamental change in state law. Jews are not moving to Brenham, so arrangements have been made to move Texas' oldest Orthodox synagogue from there to Austin, which is why the playlist includes Tom Petty's "Time To Move On."

Perry is planning a farewell speech to the Legislature, so we have "So Long, Farewell" from The Sound of Music. And finally, because of the season and the White House's decision to ease sanctions on Cuba, we close with Celia Cruz's "Feliz Navidad."

Enjoy!

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