Articles

A Change of Scenery

A new look for Texas Monthly.

He Ain’t Going Nowhere

How did Guy Clark become the most revered songwriter in Nashville? One hard-won tune at a time.

The Earth Is There to Catch Us When We Fall

My life with horses.

TM Talks: A Conversation About the Shale Boom

On November 19, Texas Monthly writer Loren Steffy moderated a conversation with several energy experts to discuss the current shale boom and its impact on the future of energy in Texas. Click to view video.

The Other Side of the Story

When I was fourteen, I had a relationship with my eighth grade history teacher. People called me a victim. They called him a villain. But it's more complicated than that.

How Long Will This Shale Boom Last?

We asked three experts in the oil field to come together to discuss that very question and to debate whether this latest boom will treat Texas, and the nation, any better than the last two.

Sitting in Legal Purgatory

Jerry Duane Martin killed a correctional officer as he tried breaking out of prison, and tonight he will be executed. But the man who tried escaping with him, and who some believe is also culpable for the officer's death, hasn't been convicted of the six-year-old crime.

Best-Selling Gay Novel Turns Fifty

John Rechy, whose novel "City of Night" was wildly successful when it was published in 1963, grew up during the Depression, the youngest of five children born to a Mexican family in El Paso.

Wrongfully Convicted Grandma Freed

After Fran Keller spent 21 years in prison based on allegations by children who said they were sexually abused in a satanic ritual at her and her husband's day care, she was finally released.

Sweepstakes Rules: Santa Fe

Prize package includes a two-night stay in a suite at the Inn and Spa at Loretto and a $200 dining credit to Luminaria Restaurant. Winner will also receive two days of daily lift tickets for a family of four from Ski Santa Fe. RULES & REGULATIONS

A Natural Recreation Area for the Texas Coast

Five years ago Hurricane Ike wreaked havoc along 120 miles of the state's shoreline. In its aftermath, Rice University researchers helped create an innovative plan in which the natural coast can be both a protection from future storms and a boon to the state economy.

Quesada, Sera

The founder of the Grammy-winning Grupo Fantasma is striking out on his own. For his next act, will he remake Latin music again?

Awesome Photos of Houston’s Rap Scene

The new book "Houston Rap," makes it clear that by the time the city's rap scene began attracting national attention, its roots were already strong.

This Exoneree Never Lost Hope That He’d One Day Open His Dream Business

Christopher Scott spent nearly thirteen years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. When the state realized its error and exonerated him, he used the money he received for his wrongful conviction to open a men's wear store.

“If Bev Goes Down, She’s Going to Take a Lot of People With Her”

Bev Kearney, UT's former celebrated track-and-field coach, filed suit against the university yesterday. The smart thing to do would be to make the whole thing go away—though it might benefit the larger world of college athletics to have the whole sordid mess played out in public.

Jail Time May Be the Least of Ken Anderson’s Problems

What will an independent audit of Anderson’s old criminal cases turn up?

Better Off Red

It’s not all sweetness and light in the grapefruit groves of the Rio Grande Valley.

Innovative Health Care From Houston Is Saving Lives in Malawi

Two Rice University professors find a way to multiply their prize money and their research to help save premature infants.

Why Rice University’s Massive Open Online Courses Are Attracting Attention and Scrutiny

This year, faculty at Rice will teach almost two dozen free online courses to thousands of students and teachers around the world as part of a movement to make higher education more accessible. What's in it for Rice students in Houston and beyond?

Not Your Typical Hell House

Like many churches across the nation, Bethel Church, in Temple, produces a hell house, a faith-based haunted house. These houses draw severe criticism for stoking the culture wars, but Bethel's leaders want to be open and tolerant in their messaging. Are they succeeding?

The Feds and Fracking: A Chicken or Egg Question

Federal officials like to remind the public that the invention of hydraulic fracturing owes a great debt to government funding and support. Houston oilman George P. Mitchell would have disagreed.

Texas Business Report: Making a Killing In the Funeral Industry

America's leading death-care provider, based in Houston, charges 42% more for its traditional funeral services; Torchy's taco is suing the Texas Taco Company; bags might not fly free at Southwest; and more.

So, Is It Art? Talking to Prada Marfa Artist Michael Elmgreen

Elmgreen thinks TxDOT needs to change their definition of an advertising sign.

So, Is It Art? Talking to Playboy’s Creative Director of Special Projects, Neville Wakefield

Whose idea was it to install a Playboy sculpture in Marfa?

Wandering Oswald

An interview with Peter Savodnik, author of "The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union."

Texas’s Losingest High School Football Team Determined to Win

Scarborough High School, in Houston, has suffered through a 44-game losing streak dating back to September 2009. The team's seniors could graduate without seeing victory. But the Spartans still rush the field every Friday night, hoping their luck will turn around.

No Place Like Home

A lucky respite at the Marriott.

Meanwhile, in West Texas . . .

The Tall City gets taller.

Roar of the Crowd

Readers respond to the October issue.

TM Talks: Boom

How Texas Lost the World’s Largest Super Collider

The Higgs boson, a particle that has shaped the theories of modern particle physics, was discovered at a super collider in Geneva. It was a hugely significant moment for Big Science, one that received a Nobel Prize earlier this year—and it should have been discovered in Texas.

Texas Business Report: You Can Now Buy Stock in Arian Foster

This week the Texans running back became the first professional athlete to go public in a new financial exchange that allows investors to buy and trade shares tied to an athlete’s future earnings.

Kids for Sale

For the last several centuries, Texas was cattle country. Now, with worldwide demand for goat meat growing, and drought threatening to put cattle ranchers out of business, should Texas be goat country?

Anthony Graves Establishes Scholarship

Graves used funds he received from the state for his wrongful conviction to set up a law school scholarship in the name of Nicole Cásarez, the Houston attorney and journalism professor who fought for eight years to secure his freedom.

Sweepstakes Rules: Nutcracker Market

Prize includes two tickets to the Wells Fargo Preview Party, valet parking and drink tickets. JJoin in for holiday shopping on Candy Cane Lane. It’s Houston Ballet’s Nutcracker Market. Thursday, November 7 through Sunday, November 10 at Reliant Center. Celebrating 33 years, this holiday shopping wonderland just gets

The Assassination at 50

In November 1973, Texas Monthly, which was still in its first year of existence, marked the tenth anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy with a profile of Lee Harvey Oswald’s mother, Marguerite; the cover, however, went to Tom Landry. Two years later, in November 1975, the

The Texanist: How Do a Husband and Wife Resolve Backyard Barbecuing Duties?

How do a husband and wife resolve backyard barbecuing duties? Illustration by Jack UnruhQ: My wife has recently taken a keen interest in my backyard barbecuing duties. In fact, last weekend she asked me if I wanted her to start cooking the beans from now

Getting to Know Mr. Rogers

Kenny Rogers, who has a new album, ‘You Can’t Make Old Friends,' talks about country versus pop, choosing duet partners, and never letting the audience down.

The Class of ’63

The good, the bad, and the most self-indulgent of this year’s JFK assassination books.

The Man Who Was There

For fifty years, journalist Hugh Aynesworth has been one of the foremost authorities on the Kennedy assassination for one simple reason: he saw it all.

One Talk Show That Will Never Book a Kardashian

On “Smart Girls at the Party,” an Austin-based Web series hosted by Amy Poehler, the guests are decidedly nonfamous teenagers talking about their lives.

Texas Business Report: Dell Finally Goes Private

A Done DellAfter months of delays and deliberations, Dell Inc. shareholders voted Thursday to take the company private in a $24.8 billion buyout from CEO Michael Dell and the Silver Lake Partners investment group. The deal, which is expected to go through by November 1, comes after a lengthy

The Willow Collection Launch

David Yurman, in partnership with Texas Monthly, celebrated the launch of the Willow Collection at The Domain in Austin. The event was hosted by Karen Oswalt, Texas Cultural Trust Immediate Past Chair. Guests admired the jewelry, while sipping champagne and noshing on delicious hors d’oeuvres such Carpaccio on brioche crostini

Why Michael Morton’s Prosecutor Finally Resigned

After endless denial of wrongdoing, Ken Anderson, who put Michael Morton behind bars for 25 years for a crime he did not commit, resigned from the bench days before his own civil trial was set to start.

Roar of the Crowd

Readers respond to the September issue.

Sweepstakes Rules: New Braunfels package

Prize package includes a two-night stay at Log Cabins at Jacobs Creek, a two-night stay at Hill Country Cottages, and gift certificates to the city’s best attractions, shops, and restaurants.. RULES & REGULATIONS FOR THIS CONTEST: ENTRY DEADLINE: November 25, 2013 Rules & Regulations

Sweepstakes Rules: The Boulders

Prize package includes two nights in a luxury two-bedroom Pueblo Villa, two rounds of golf at The Boulders Golf Club, two signature spa treatments at the world-class Waldorf Astoria Spa at The Boulders, roundtrip sedan transportation from Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport to The Boulders. RULES &

No, English People, It’s Not Illegal To Masturbate In Texas

The popular mythology of Texas around the world does include some less-than-flattering stereotypes. Some of these perceptions have at least a basis in reality; when Lewis Black took to the streets of New York for a Daily Show called “Fuck You, Texas,” he did so in response to ads run

Drought Kills Lakeside Business

When Lake Travis drops below 660 feet, visitor spending drops by up to $33.8 million, resulting in lost jobs and shuttered businesses. Carlos’n Charlie’s, a 500-plus-seat Mexican restaurant, is the latest casualty.

Ten Banging Covers

In Texas Monthly's 40 years of existence, firearms have graced the covers of 23 issues. Here are ten of our favorites.