Ryan Vogt

Web extras

Food Obsessed

Senior editor Patricia Sharpe on ranking the state’s best new restaurants. (February 2007)

Crime and Punishment

Senior editor Pamela Colloff talks about racism in rural Texas and Billy Ray Johnson, who was brutally beaten in the East Texas town of Linden. (February 2007)

Making a Move

Senior editor Katy Vine on writing about the chess phenomenon in Brownsville. (February 2007)

Vroom!

Senior editor Michael Hall on driving a race car at the Texas Motor Speedway. (February 2007)

Head Coach

Kristy Curry has the eyes of the Lady Raider Nation upon her. (October 2006)

Doubting Dell

Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on writing about computer giant Dell. (October 2006)

Up and Away

New-media director Charlie Llewellin on hiking across Texas. (October 2006)

Set Him Free

Senior editor Michael Hall on talking to Richard LaFuente, who some believe was wrongly convicted of murder in 1986. (October 2006)

Texas History 101

In the fifties and sixties, the kings of the Dallas burlesque business were brothers Abe and Barney Weinstein, and their competition, Jack Ruby. (September 2006)

Texas Tidbits

The mascots, the rituals, the hand signs—these are just a few of the reasons why we love Texas universities. (September 2006)

Happy Trails

A recent trip to the Schulenburg Festival left us wishing for the good old days. (September 2006)

Book Review

Senior editor John Spong on writing about controversy at a private school in Austin. (September 2006)

Across the Border

Contributing editor Dick J. Reavis on reporting from Mexico during that country’s presidential election. (September 2006)

Minister of Faith

Senior editor Nate Blakeslee on interviewing Republican preacher David Barton. (September 2006)

Texas Tidbits

The element most conspicuously absent from our tour of the University of Texas Tower was any mention of sniper Charles Whitman. (August 2006)

Happy Trails

For most of my life as a provincial San Antonian, I had often heard about this wondrous place in Austin called Barton Springs. (August 2006)

Texas History 101

Today, the McDonald Observatory considers catering to star-savvy folks serious business. (August 2006)

A Life’s Calling

Writer-at-large William Martin on writing about T.D. Jakes, one of the nation’s most famous ministers. (August 2006)

Free and Easy

Writer-at-large Suzy Banks on thinking about fun things to do for free. (August 2006)

Down and Out

Writer-at-large Cecilia Ballí talks about former Cameron county sheriff Conrado Cantu. (August 2006)

The Deadly Tower

Senior editor Pamela Colloff talks about tracking down eyewitnesses and listening to their accounts of Charles Whitman’s shooting spree from atop the University of Texas Tower. (August 2006)

The Last Von Erich

Associate editor John Spong on retelling a tragic family epic—the rise and fall of Dallas’ pro wrestling dynasty. (October 2005)

Texas History 101

The Alamo: A Crash Course (October 2005)

Pedal Pushers

Contributing photographer Wyatt McSpadden, who shot this month’s feature “Tour de Texas,” describes how a plum assignment became a poignant father-son journey. (October 2005)

Mid-century Memphis

Former Texas Monthly senior editor Robert Draper on assembling an Eisenhower-era time capsule, including the memories of a teenage calamity and the recollections of the Panhandle town that still bears its scars. (October 2005)

Quiz Show

Writer-at-large Anne Dingus on testing your Texas know-how one riddle, rhyme, and pun at a time. (September 2005)

Mineral Hells

Associate editor Katy Vine discusses how she pieced together the small-town murder saga for this month’s feature “Girls Gone Wild”. (September 2005)

Medical Drama

Executive editor S. C. Gwynne on examining one of the state’s most litigious, at times lethal, MDs. (September 2005)

Man of the Cloth

Senior editor Michael Hall on tackling Mack Brown—UT’s minister to footballers, alums, and Saturday fans alike—who’s made donning burnt orange cool again. (September 2005)

Texas Tidbits

Dig into the archives of some famed Texas music halls, and you may hear history whispering more than just melodies. (September 2005)

Texas History 101

Rough Riding, South Texas-Style (September 2005)

Fame Game

Writer-at-large Don Graham on why Cormac McCarthy wouldn’t win a popularity contest against John Grisham or Tom Clancy—and why that’s a good thing. (August 2005)

Fry Daddy

Writer-at-large John Morthland on channeling Calvin Trillin and chasing down all things chicken-fried. (August 2005)

Preacher Man

Contributing editor William Martin, who wrote this month’s cover story, on the rise of America’s largest church, positive thinking versus old-time religion, and why Joel Osteen doesn’t cry on camera. (August 2005)

Border Patrol

Writer-at-large Cecilia Ballí discusses the plight of violence-ridden Nuevo Laredo. (August 2005)

Texas Tidbits

Oil wells in Luling. (August 2005)

Texas History 101

The last battle of the civil war was fought in Texas—a month after the war officially ended. (August 2005)