Wayne Baize, one of America’s most admired cowboy artists, lives amid the soaring mountains and wide-open plains. But his eye is drawn to something else entirely.

Every year, hundreds of Texas high schoolers are aggressively recruited by the nation’s top college football programs. It’s a dream come true, but some kids must go through the bewildering process alone. And according to the rules of the NCAA, there aren’t many places they can turn to for help.

After two decades of sluggish albums, ZZ Top has returned to raunchy, bluesy form. And the little ol' band from Texas owes it all to a hip-hop anthem from the streets of Houston.

Read this National Magazine Award-winning story about how the Legislature slashed funding for women’s health programs in 2011 and launched an all-out war on Planned Parenthood that has dramatically changed the state’s priorities. A year later, the battle is still raging, and the stakes could not be higher.

In this exclusive excerpt from his forthcoming cookbook, Hugo Ortega shares the secrets of the humble dishes of his homeland.

Former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Tom Stehn didn’t want to get involved in a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. But when a U.S. marshal showed up in his driveway, he realized he had one more chance to help out his beloved, endangered whooping cranes.

The grand opening of a new H-E-B in McAllen drew crowds—including several who showed up to hear a native son read from his collection of locally set short stories.

Stray dogs, baby-blue guayaberas, matters of pigskin loyalty, and the proper disposal of beer cans at the beach.

Before Robert Scott stepped down as the state’s education commissioner in July, he told anyone who would listen that high-stakes standardized exams were ruining the public schools. But is it too late to learn from his lesson?

Kevin Wu on being a YouTube comedian.

The singer-songwriter shows us where he writes.

A new album by Fergus & Geronimo.

A new album by Grandfather Child.

On her new album, Summer Skin, and more.

Can education reform save a declining Austin high school?

Tommy Lee Jones’s charming new romantic comedy.

Wyatt McSpadden, Oscar Casares, Michael Berryhill

“I have to believe God sent Larry Hagman on a special mission to earth to test the limits of just how much fun one guy can have in a lifetime.”