Karen Olsson
Features
The Final Frontier
Karl Gebhardt and Gary Hill, two astronomers from the University of Texas at Austin, are racing to solve one of the greatest mysteries in science: What is dark energy? How does it work? Can it explain the origins of the universe? There’s only one problem. Dark energy may not actually exist. April 2008
Keep Out!
Which is worse: looking the other way as millions of illegals stream across the border or building an unconscionably expensive and impractical fence that few in the Valley (a) want or (b) believe will make a difference? November 2007
Human Mate Selection Is a Many-Splendored Thing
David Buss understands how Stone Age hookups made us who we are—but can that help me get a date? June 2007
Eating A Dead Horse
Even if you’ve never dined on the delicious remains of a noble steed, you probably have an opinion on whether the state’s two slaughterhouses should remain open. Boone Pickens does. And Charlie Stenholm. And Bo Derek. Not to mention the many traders and “killer buyers” for whom business is business. December 2006
Keep Waterloo Weird
In this excerpt from Karen Olsson’s forthcoming novel set in a fictional state capital (wink, wink), a reporter for a weekly newspaper watches a rural conservative who “shares your values” announce his candidacy for governor. October 2005
About a Girl
Audra Thomas can't read these words and, in a few months, wouldn't remember them anyway. Nevertheless, she has an extraodinary sense of the world around herand of herself. August 2003
Mr. Right
The line on James Leininger is fairly simple: He's a doctrinaire conservative who spends millions supporting candidates and causes he likesand opposing those he doesn't. That makes him one of the most influential players in Texas politics in the post-Bush era. November 2002
The Evolutionary
What do you do when you win a $295,000 MacArthur “genius” grant? If you’re biologist David Hillis, you keep teaching at the University of Texas as if nothing happened, and you keep chasing frogs. June 2000
Columns | Miscellany
No Place Like Home
Bienvenidos a Farmers Branch, the headline-worthy Dallas suburb where the biggest hard-liner on illegal immigration could soon be known as Mr. Mayor. May 2008
The Old College Try
The mayor of El Cenizo is 23, is still in school, and lives with his mother. But he’s serious about making life better in his impoverished border hometown. August 2006
The Buck Stops Nowhere
Is the Texan who oversaw Abu Ghraib a hero, a villain, or both? April 2005
The Gay Non-Issue
The election of a lesbian sheriff in Dallas County is a reminder of how far we’ve come, in a very short period, on the question of sexual orientation. January 2005
Party Crashers
If we had more than two big-time candidates, maybe we could have a genuine presidential race in every state. Even Texas. October 2004
Reporter
Fred Garza
Tick Rider January 2008

Chisum Trail (Sat Jul 5 at 12:13 PM)

Oh Big Brother, Where Art Thou (Fri Jul 4 at 9:30 AM)

Clay Felker (Tue Jul 1 at 11:15 AM)

Madam, I'm Adam (Sun Jun 22 at 4:34 PM)

Eating Vancouver (Mon Jun 30 at 10:04 PM)


